Everybody reading this has already heard about the recent attempt by
the former "Boxing Commision" ( now the "Athletic Commission") in
West Virginia to cancel an upcoming sport-jujitsu tournament.
The purported motivation of this deed is an effort by the state to
ban Ultimate Fighting competitions. Many people across the country
were startled and offended by the hype and marketing of UF when it
first came to television watchers attention. A number of states
started efforts to ban such "barbaric" events in "cages" from their
localities, with varying success. This seems to have been the
motivation in West Virginia, if you take this Commissioner Allred at
his word:
West Virginia- 3-21-05:
MMA:" New rules and regulations through our State Legislature
banned "Ultimate Fighting" and anything resembling this very sport.
Obviously, this would incorporate MMA. We do not allow choke holds,
submission holds, and contestants must use regulation boxing gloves
(which basically does away with grappling) and events must take place
in a regulation boxing ring. The movement made by our Legislature was
simply for the purposes of "safety" - we do not believe that ultimate
fighting type events are safe and do not wish to see such events in
our state.
Professional Kickboxing: Legal in West Virginia.
Amateur Kickboxing: Not allowed. I have never been approached about
an amateur kick-boxing event, but our regs / rules state that all
amateur contests must follow the rules of the USA Amateur Boxing
Federation; however, I will try to review this matter in the coming
days to provide you with an answer."
Steven A. Allred, Chairman West Virginia Athletic Commission
That was posted on a site which shows the 50 states attitude toward
MMA & kickboxing. Of course, sport-jujitsu doesn't even fall under
the average understanding of MMA (with our strict regs. for safety,
ensuring that children and the elderly can train and compete as they
please), but this Allred guy and his fellow commissioners apparently
are unable to distinguish between Ultimate cage fighting/NHB and a
traditional martial arts based tournament along the lines of judo or
karate. Their confusion would be at least a little more
understandable were they attempting to regulate sport jujitsu Full-
Contact fighting (where they again would be off-the-mark, but one
could see how they might make such a mistake), but that is not the
case. This is a plain good-old-fashioned sport jujitsu tournament,
with freestyle sparring, self-defense displays, and grappling—
suitable for grandma & the youngest kids to not only watch, but
compete in.
( There are rumors that, as in several other states, the real
motivation behind this attempt at suppressing a martial arts
tournament is that those who control boxing (and "toughman" "rough n
rowdy", etc) do not want the competition of mixed martial arts' more
interesting and exciting style, or that, unable to suppress it, they
want to control it themselves $$$$...) While it is true that this
WAS the former Boxing Commission, it would be absolutely unfair to
make allegations of such misbehavior without solid evidence.
Which leaves us with the "misunderstanding" motive...an ignorant
person supposes, with their inability to discriminate, that "if it
walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...." etc. Choke holds!
Arm bars! Holy cow, we have
UltimateNoHoldsBarredMixedMartialArtsCageFighting!!! Ride boys,
ride! We'll cut them off at the pass, with a legal document!!
It is especially unfair that they decide, at this late date, to stop
a tournament where hundreds of people have already taken vacation,
made motel reservations, committed to various tournament expenses and
etc.
More importantly, they threaten the ongoing well-being of a
wonderful, traditional and developing sport, one which people of all
ages can participate in, and one with all the benefits of any sport
as well as some special benefits, such as the ability to walk self-
confidently in greater safety through a sometimes dangerous
contemporary environment.
You all may be assured that we here in West Virginia, at the current
heart of this misguided power-grab, will do our utmost to see that
things are put right....that those who are either ignorant or
possibly corrupt are educated or replaced; if boxing commissioners
don't have a clue when it comes to martial arts, then there is a need
to get some people on the board who do know that whole wonderful
world.
p.s. Here is a double quote from the state of Michigan, nicely
illustrating the problem of confusion:
The only sport that is licensed and regulated in Michigan is
professional boxing. Kickboxing and other forms of martial arts are
not unlike all other sports (baseball, football, basketball, etc.);
there is no state involvement whatsoever. (Right!!)


Mixed martial arts is a completely different issue. This terminology
has become the generic name for "Ultimate Challenge" type of
competitions. These type of competitions are illegal in Michigan.