Posts Tagged ‘MMA clothing’
Dozens of brands have tried to imitate the graphic designs and incredible artwork that is characteristic of Affliction clothing, but few, if any, have succeeded. As you probably are aware, Affliction features a variety of skulls, dragons and other edgy designs on their clothing and apparel. Naturally, this style of clothing has developed a devout following among MMA fighters and fans alike.
Turn on any MMA fight, whether it is UFC, WEC or any other organization, and you are sure to see dozens of people donning Affliction and other similar clothing. Through their distinctive designs and images, Affliction has effectively created a fashion counterculture. Now you can see people on the street and even in night clubs wearing the unmistakable threads.
MMA stands for mixed martial arts, which is a full-contact combat sport allowing a variety of fighting techniques in their competitions. The techniques used in MMA come from established martial arts traditions, but include other fighting methods as well. In recent years MMA has grown their fan base from a small, cult following to millions of devout fans around the world and transformed into a brand name with MMA shirts and merchandise
Modern MMA competition became known in United States mainstream culture when the Ultimate Fighting Championship was founded in 1993. Skilled practitioners of various fighting arts were matched against one another in no-holds-barred competitions, in theory to find the most effective martial arts techniques for real-life unarmed combat situations. As the years went by, MMA promoters incorporated additional rules into official competition–not only to increase athlete safety, but to promote widespread acceptance of the sport. Following these alterations to the sport’s guidelines, Pay-Per-View television ratings generated by MMA fans have grown to levels achieved by other popular sports such as boxing and professional wrestling.
It’s a bloody world of MMA where two men enter and one comes out victorious. Amazing battle rages on filled with a mix of martial arts. How exciting can this be? I remember back in the days when I watched the movie “Bloodsport” starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. True champion in the movie. UFC is the real thing, baby.
In the UFC report, champion “Rush” Georges St. Pierre and challenger “Outlaw” Dan Hardy will line up in the welterweight showdown for a March 2010 date in Newark, New Jersey. I will definately put on my Silver Star George St-Pierre Tee shirt to watch this match. Who’s the champion now?
When MMA-inspired graphic tees went mainstream, I was hardly surprised. In fact, I had been wearing these graphic tees for almost a year before they started sprouting up in bars, clubs and gyms across North America. It’s not that I’m particularly fashion-savvy, just that I recognized how influential the mixed martial arts phenomenon could one day become. Tap Out clothing is just one of the many popular brands. The sport seems to be the heir apparent of boxing, which was once as popular as baseball.
Over the years, interest and pay-per-view sales for the sweet science have declined considerably. It seems that Russians are dominating most weight classes, and the sheer number of belts can be confusing. Mixed martial arts seems to have addressed the problem of competition, as the best fighters are pitted head to head several times a month. And it goes without saying that the violence inherent to the sport provides fans with a jolt of excitement.
Blood sports have appealed to humanity since time immemorial. In the first few centuries AD, Roman citizens welcomed the opportunity to view violent spectacles inside the confines of the Coliseum. Whether it was a pair of slaves fighting to the death or a battle pitting man against some exotic beast, the crowd couldn’t get enough. Skipping ahead a few thousand years, boxing once counted it among Americans’ favorite spectator sports. Some called the “sweet science” barbaric, but they had yet to see mixed martial arts.
MMA has become so popular in recent years that it’s subsumed many of the fans who previously supported professional wrestling. The distinct difference between the two sports – and the factor that works in MMA’s favor – is that cage fighting is completely real. Entire MMA clothing lines and subcultures have sprouted up around the sport, and monthly pay-per-views bring in millions of dollars as a matter of routine.