Danielle Azoulay
Staff Reporter
Fight until you drop. It is the fundamental idea behind Mixed Martial Arts, otherwise known as MMA, and what four McDaniel ROTC students find themselves doing three days a week.
“MMA is basically where a bunch of guys come together with a bunch of different art forms and fight,” said freshman John Wahman. According to Wahman a fight generally lasts three rounds and a winner is declared by knockout or by submission. Submission occurs when arms or legs are broken, or when an opponent is about to have a bone break and gives up.
Wahman said the worst injury he has seen during training was a severely broken nose with a fountain of blood pouring out. He himself says his worst was a severely injured neck which caused him to be unable to turn his head for several days.
So why do they do it?
Sophomore John Lower says, “We actually hit each other, it is a lot of fun, and a great stress reliever.”
Along with Wahman and Lower, Freshmen Joey Buttrum and Zach Morris also participate in MMA.
In order to avoid injury Buttrum says, “I never let my ego get in the way, it is not worth it. If they have the move I’ll give it to them.”
According to Buttrum the only protective gear worn are gloves, shin pads, mouth guard, and a cup. Headgear is optional.
Lower said that a basic day of training consists of bag work, a stand up sparing session where they rotate between three or four different partners, and a thirty minute grappling session.
None of the four students have had a fight yet. They all wish to gain a little more experience before scheduling their first one.
Lower, with a background in Jiu Jitsu feels that his grappling is pretty good but would like to improve his boxing before scheduling a fight. At this point in time “I would get destroyed. I don’t want to commit suicide,” he said. He does however see himself scheduling his first fight around this time next year.
So far Lower says that the coolest boxing move he has learned is the “Superman Punch,” which is when you fake a kick and then jump up and punch your opponent at the same time. Where as Buttrum says that one of his favorite moves so far is a spinning back fist.
The four students currently train at Carroll County Kenpo, which is only a short distance from McDaniel, located off of Route 97.
The college used to have an MMA club, but once the students who ran it graduated, it fell apart.
Lower says, “Once I get a little more experience under my belt I would like to reinstate the club.”