Translated from Agence France-Presse (AFP) article (6 June 2016) Pictured above: MP Patrick Vignal (centre) with IMMAF President Kerrith Brown (right) and CFMMA President Bertrand Amoussou (left) – All photos courtesy of CFMMA Condemned by French political and sports authorities, banned from event venues, MMA will probably get a legal status similar to recognition in the medium-term anyway, as an inevitable conclusion of its growing success with viewers, as well as with practitioners. The signs of change are abundant: a first event organized in Paris in the face of the Ministry last September; a ministry directive published two months later to control the practice; a Parliamentary Mission appointed last April. And eventually the reconsideration by the Council of Europe of the recommendation which serves as basis for France to forbid MMA competitions, a combination of several martial arts and combat sports. The famous R99-11 suggests that member states “forbid and prevent free fights such as fights in a cage”, notably considering the dangerousness and the violation against human dignity. The Député of Hérault Patrick Vignal (Socialist party) who has been appointed along with the Senator Jacques Grosperrin (Republican party), by Manuel Valls to conduct a 6-month mission to study the practice of “mixed combats”, outlines without ambiguity the philosophy of their report: “Banning has never inspired me. Each time there is a ban, it is circumvented”, he said to AFP. Last Saturday, during the first general assembly of MMA organized in a venue in the east of Paris, the MP, who is also a judo teacher, wondered quite unambiguously: “How do we teach MMA? I would not be able to do it. It will need to be structured, to create a degree. We will not only draw an overview of the situation but also make propositions in our report, ”. A framework is indeed necessary for safety reasons at first. Not recognized, not controlled, MMA can be taught by anyone today, in contrast to other martial arts under qualified federations. As old as the iPhone Inflexible in their prohibition stance, “a hostile fallback position”, according to Patrick Vignal, the successive ministers, whatever their political colour, have not seen or wished to anticipate the MMA wave: today approximately 30,000 practitioners – whose number is hard to assess due to the artistic blur around the practice in clubs which sometimes change the discipline’s name – and several hundreds of thousands of viewers of professional fights broadcast on Kombat Sport TV channel. These fights, notably at UFC, the US professional league, are responsible for the passion of MMA practitioners, “one of the only sports to have grown from the top”, underlined Kerrith Brown, president of the international federation (IMMAF) during the meeting. “Other sports grew over several centuries and had time to define methods and values. MMA is as old as the iPhone.” The dazzling media success, along with effective lobbying, has somehow annihilated the position of successive governments in France. Today, the fight is succeeding. “The fight of ideas, the media combat” reckoned Hugues Moutouh, the former Chief of staff of Bernard Laporte, one of the only vocal MMA fans within the executive circles. Still, a framework has to be found or created for MMA. It is no secret that numerous martial arts or combat sports federations would happily consider absorbing the discipline along with its approximately 50,000 members. [caption id="attachment_10030" align="alignnone" width="850"]
MP Patrick Vignal with Xavier Foupa-Pokam AKA Professor X[/caption] [caption id="attachment_10031" align="alignleft" width="850"]
IMMAF Board Member and CFMMA President Bertrand Amoussou[/caption] [caption id="attachment_10032" align="alignleft" width="850"]
Professional MMA competitor, Xavier Foupa-Pokem AKA Professor X[/caption] [caption id="attachment_10034" align="alignleft" width="850"]
French Amateur MMA team head coach and IMMAF Coaching Committee representative, David Pierre-Louis[/caption] ]]>
