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Bachelor thesis
Mixed Martial Arts and
Kickboxing in Amsterdam
Bachelor Thesis Human Geography Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
Author: Zico Broekstra (6172253) Email: zicobroekstra@hotmail.com Phone number: 0681999120
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Abstract
There seems to be an increase in the popularity of more brutal forms of martial arts. In this bachelor thesis the popularity of mixed martial arts and kickboxing is researched through literature studies, in-depth interviews and questionnaires. Interviews with three mayor or former mayor organizations of MMA and kickboxing events have been held to see who organizes these events today. All three organizations agreed on doing the best for the fighters; give them the podium they deserve. Since the existence of It’s Showtime from Simon Rutz, fighters started to earn a lot of money through professional kickboxing. The other two organizations took this path that Simon started and went on with it, giving young talent the chance to become starts.
To get a picture of who follow lessons in MMA or kickboxing in Amsterdam, 169 questionnaires have been filled in by people following lessons at three different MMA or kickboxing schools. Out of these questionnaires came that most people follow lessons for the workout the sports give, female more often follow lessons for the workout while men also follow lessons because the like the sports and the particular martial arts skills learned.
People who like the sport will feel safer on the street due to following lessons for a longer period of time, while people who do it for the workout only feel safer when they get fitter. Men are keen to avoid a fight when they are training for a longer period of time while women do not show a trend towards rather avoiding a fight now they are following lessons in MMA or kickboxing for a longer period of time. That men rather avoid fights after following lessons in more brutal forms of martial arts is in line with the theories about martial arts and the conclusions that came out of the interviews.
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Preface
To finish my bachelor in Human Geography, may I present to you my bachelor thesis about MMA and kickboxing in Amsterdam, a subject I am very interested in as it also has a link to my personal life because I follow lessons in kickboxing myself. In this bachelor thesis I will show the skills I have learned and the tools I now master to set up a research all by myself. Although I have done most of the work myself I could not have written this bachelor thesis without the help of my supervisor Jan Markusse and all the respondents that took the time to help me with my research. Also to the MMA and kickboxing schools that helped me in collecting questionnaires. I really want to extend my thanks. My special thanks go out to the University Library for being open at such ridiculous times and for the GIS working space because of the big screens. Thank you for reading my thesis, I hope you enjoy it.
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Table of contents
Abstract 2 Preface 3 Table of contents 4 Chapter 1 Introduction 5Chapter 2 Theoretical framework 7
§ 2.1 MMA and kickboxing 7
§ 2.2 Global and local processes 9
Chapter 3 Research design 14
§ 3.1 Sub questions 14 § 3.2 Type of research 15 § 3.3 Hypothesis 16 § 3.4 Research units 17 § 3.5 Research methods 18 § 3.6 Operationalization 19
Chapter 4 Who organizes fights 24
§ 4.1 Simon Rutz 24
§ 4.2 Ali Günyar 27
§ 4.3 Rachid Lamalam and Sebastien van Dusschoten 29
Chapter 5 Role safety, power and security and workout 33
§ 5.1 People following lessons in MMA or kickboxing 33
§ 5.2 Safety 35
§ 5.3 Power and security 38
§ 5.4 Workout 41
Chapter 6 Role global and local processes 43
§ 6.1 Global processes 43 § 6.1 Local processes 45 Chapter 7 Conclusion 51 Discussion 56 Bibliography 57 Appendices 60
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Chapter 1
Introduction
Introduction
This bachelor thesis will be about the growing popularity of Mixed Martial Arts, following MMA, and kickboxing in Amsterdam. MMA is a sport conceived in the USA and was meant to let people from all different kinds of martial arts fight each other to see what form of martial arts was the most effective. The sport was an enormous commercial success and has been the most popular form of martial arts since (MMA central, 2014). Kickboxing is a combination of boxing and eastern martial arts such as taekwondo and karate and became popular in the early 70’s.
In the last years there seems to be a growing interest in these more brutal forms of martial arts in Amsterdam. This growing popularity in the sports came with positive and negative stories (Delp, 2006). People following lessons become more secure about themselves and are more able to defend themselves when necessary. Badr Hari being arrested and sent to jail for one and a half years due to beating someone up so badly that he had to stay in the hospital for months is one of the negative stories about the sport. Badr Hari is the former world champion in kickboxing.
The scientific relevance in this bachelor thesis subject is the fact that there has not been any research in this subject in Amsterdam. A few articles about MMA and kickboxing in the USA have been written but none about Amsterdam or the Netherlands, while Dutch competitors in the sports top the rankings.
The focus of this bachelor thesis will be the people who follow lessons in MMA or kickboxing and the organizations that organize fighting events. Through questionnaires, in depth interviews and literature studies a broader picture will be made about these two disciplines in Amsterdam. For this bachelor thesis a research question that combines all those factors has been made. The research question in this bachelor thesis will be;
Is the popularity of kickboxing and mixed martial arts in Amsterdam the result of safety issues, the feeling of power and security or the workout that the sports give, and how do global and local processes influence the popularity of mixed martial arts and kickboxing in Amsterdam?
6 In the following chapter the relevant theories in this research will be set apart. These theories form
the framework where the empirical results will be tested.
The third chapter will describe the research design of this bachelor thesis, this will include the operationalization of the concepts and the research and sub questions will be pointed out to give a more clear picture of how the questions are going to be answered. This chapter will also explain the research methods that will be used and how these are going to be performed. The fourth till the sixth chapter will involve the empirical results and the feedback towards the theories, also first conclusions will be made to answer the sub questions. The last chapter will be the conclusion where an attempt will be taken to answer the research question. Hypothesis about the popularity of MMA and kickboxing in Amsterdam will be given together with possibilities for further research.
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Chapter 2
Theoretical framework
This chapter will explain the theoretical concepts that will be used in this research. Although this research is mainly empirical some theoretical concepts have to be set apart. The reason for choosing Amsterdam as the research location will be explained and which martial arts school will be researched will be shown. The sample of people that are involved in this research should be representative for the population, all people following lessons in MMA or kickboxing in Amsterdam. Therefore different kinds of MMA and kickboxing schools are involved in this research.
MMA and kickboxing
MMA and kickboxing are the more brutal forms of martial arts that are very popular these days. In this paragraph the two sports will be further explained.
MMA
First mixed martial arts, MMA, a sport officially conceived in 1993 by the UFC. This sport combines different styles of martial arts; the original idea was to see which sport would be the most effective in a free fight. The very first fight only lasted for 13 seconds when Gerard Gordeau kicked out a few of Teila Tuli’s teeth. The sport hardly had any rules at all, biting en stabbing someone in the eye where a few of the existing rules. This takes us back to the arena fights from the old Greek and Roman eras, where the surviving fighter would be the winner. Although the sport immediately was a great success, some extra rules were introduced to guarantee the safety of the athletes (Dooly, 2013). MMA was the first sport to introduce the pay per view construction; people could see a fight on television after paying for it. This was a big commercial success in the United States of America but did not really get off the ground in Europe. The nearly bankrupt UFC bought the sport and put it in a new jacket, making rules and introducing weight classes. Together with the reality series, ‘The Ultimate Fighter, it became an enormous success (Wall street journal, 2009 & Miller, 2008).
Kickboxing
Kickboxing originates from the combination of boxing and eastern martial arts and became popular during the 70’s. The sport was established in 1974 to let people from the more traditional martial arts like karate and kung fu compete with each other under the usage of common rules. It is a strictly regulated sport, respect for teachers and opponents are a key element in the sport. The sport offers
8 exercise to all kinds, professional athletes, people trying to get fit and people that want to work on their self-defense (Delp, 2006).
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Global and Local processes
Globalization of martial arts
MMA and kickboxing are both a combination of different kinds of martial arts that slowly evolved into the sports they are today. The reason for these forms of martial arts to evolve in this particular way has a lot to do with globalization. Globalization is a difficult concept that can be understood in a lot of different ways. It involves the expansion of increasingly instantaneous telecommunication networks, the opening of markets and internationalization of finance markets and the deregulation of those finance systems, which makes traditional nation states, lose more control over their own economies and societies (Bowman, 2010).
The deregulation of the global finance markets that started around the 1970’s had the effect of outflanking all the government’s ability to intervene into their own economy, raising taxes or minimum wages simply led to the capital being moved elsewhere (Bowman, 2010). Castells (2000) explains the radical transformation of the global power relations through the following comparison. First nation states where a sort of receptacles for holding water. They all had the ability to control the flow of water coming in and out through fixed conduits to other receptacles, other nation states. Globalization turned the tables for the nation states, now instead, most receptacles see themselves being emptied of water, money, and instead of controlling their water they float around on the seas, bobbing along, carried by the ebbs and flows of the sea of finance.
But not only the financial world was being influenced by this new phenomenon, globalization, also culture, identity and even forms of martial arts started flowing around the world. The development of the international media is also a big part of the reason that martial arts started to spread, originally martial arts was spread through the military, margins and migration.
Historically, martial arts developed around areas and sites that where in conflict, and their spread came through cultural and social diasporas that spread out from these historical areas and sites. However, since the 1970’s, easy availability of mass media caused martial arts to spread through these new forms of interconnections, making it easy to spread and transform in many ways. The media made people aware and gave them knowledge about martial arts styles from different cultural contexts (Bowman, 2010).
Global success of Bruce Lee’s films and the upcoming of Kung Fu TV series in the beginning of the 1970’s gave martial arts a big boost. These films and shows effectively introduced kung fu to the western society, leading to kung fu and karate schools popping up everywhere in the western world
10 (Thompson 1993). These schools mostly made various claims to authenticity through some sort of connection to an authentic East Asian lineage. This claiming of an authentic connection to Asia has faded through time but did not disappear (Bowman, 2010).
Postmodern martial arts
Right up to recent times the major propellant to developing martial arts has been strongly related to cultural requirements and necessities like defense, conquest, security, domination and survival (Kennedy and Guo, 2005). Is the recent past the nature of the borders on which martial arts develop have arguably been transformed. Instead of martial arts developing on the lines of conflict and warfare, in the contemporary technology and information replete context, innovation of martial arts today is taking place on the borders between styles and approaches. There is strong reasoning for the postmodern proliferation of martial arts; military methods have become increasingly technologized, virtualized and dehumanized. The distance between warfare and computer game-play have increasingly been blurred (Hables Gray, 1997). In modern times, hand to hand combat is decreasing and even in the public space arms like knives and guns are used more often when a violent encounter occurs. Therefore unarmed combat either increases or declines altogether, also the reasoning for following lessons in martial arts can differ. Health, sport, discipline and simple fun can become more significant in other contexts.
Martial arts, migration, military and media
Historically martial arts mostly developed on the context of the margin of empire, places where colonizing powers or governments where being resisted. Examples are Kali and Eskrima in the Philippines, Capoeira in Brazil and also Salit in the Dutch East Indies. They originate from a military point but have spread in various ways, ways that are mostly linked to media. Their initial development was linked to military, and the older forms of spreading are linked to migration, the best example of this is Okinawan karate. Although karate was first linked to people associated with military training, the real global spread and representation of karate was due to amazing tales, fantastic legends and fantasies popularized first in travel literature and later in films and Television (Krug, 2001). Krug (2001) says Asian martial arts first appeared in Hollywood films around the 1930s and became a common good in the 1960s. This proliferation of martial arts relates to the military and global geopolitical processes and events at the time. Also the proliferation of the cinema was a cause for martial arts to become a new familiar form of knowledge in the West, also a lot of soldiers who had been in Asia and learned eastern martial arts started their own schools in the West. A standardization and institutionalization of martial arts arose; this institutionalization took the form of formal lesson structures, uniforms and the coloured belt system that arose in the Western Karate scene. This new form of karate had the lethal moves either removed or redefined, in this way the
11 sport has been sanitized. What was once a locally orientated form of martial arts was suddenly globalized and westernized. Karate became connected with the discourses of health, sport and various ideas and beliefs about oriental mysticism and spiritual movements. Krug (2001) thinks martial arts have since then, until the present day been in a relationship not only with the sport in general but also more with bodybuilding as a reason to start following lessons in martial arts.
Forms of martial arts
Globalization in martial arts occurs in the sense of fragmentation and splitting of development. Combinations, re-combinations with often unexpected elements borrowed from different societies, styles and cultural traditions created many different styles of martial arts circumnavigating the world. Firstly Judo and karate became the popular martial arts of the West, mainly influenced by the American movie and television industry. Later these sports were combined with western sports like wrestling and boxing, together they formed the martial arts researched in this bachelor thesis, MMA and kickboxing.
Traditional martial arts vs modern self-defense training
Self-defense is defined as using different strategies to keep you safe from physical and emotional harm that is initiated by an attacker (Nower, 2007). Self-defense training is something that is needed to require such skills. The content of self-protection instruction is can quite differ. The training can involve traditional martial arts, modern self-defense, classroom education, videotape instruction or a combination of those approaches that combine both physical techniques and knowledge. Traditional martial arts and modern defense training are the two most popular forms of learning defense. Traditional martial arts are derived from traditional Asian cultures and consist of self-protection systems and codified training and practice made for fighting (Nakamura, 2001). Modern self-defense is mostly a combination of traditional martial arts plus wrestling and boxing. MMA is in that sense the perfect modern self-defense technique as it combines all styles of martial arts (Breitenbecher, 2000). Traditional martial arts do not have a big focus on escape strategies but rather on to disable the attacker as quickly as possible, also the ‘one strike, one kill’ concept is part of the traditional martial arts. These techniques are, when trained well, very reliable for moments where arousal, emotion and anxiety are present (Eysenck & Calvo, 1992). Modern self-defense programs are very variable in the content, focus and intensity of training. The techniques are a combination of traditional martial arts, boxing and wrestling. It is due to the trainer if these techniques are used in the right way, some techniques can only be learned in years of training while others can be learned in a few weeks.
12 Self-defense and martial arts for women
The techniques trained during modern self-defense differ for every trainer, when self-defense training is focused on women, training should be different than training used for men. Angleman et al. ( 2009) argue that training for women should be more focused on training kicks with the legs, as legs are the strongest point of a women and can inflict considerable damage to an attacker. Traditional martial arts are better for learning techniques and a trainer will adjust the program to any individual program while modern self-defense is a ‘one size fits all’ approach. A key for success in self-defense is continuous practice, a technique or move should be an automatic reflex regardless of the form of training. Traditional martial arts techniques are not easy to learn and often not applicable to real life threat situations, modern self-defense like krav maga is more effective and is easier to learn. Hybrid martial arts like modern Karate or kickboxing are the best choices for women. With modern karate and kickboxing specific training for each individual is learned and moves are relatively easy to learn (Frazer & Russel, 2000). All studies done on self-defense regarding women are based on the feeling of safety and not on the increase of preventing, escaping or countering an attack. Hybrid forms of martial arts seem the most suited for women as traditional martial arts mostly takes time and is originally designed for men (Angleman et al., 2009).
Cultural geographies
The reason to start following lessons in MMA or kickboxing can differ for different cultures. In Thailand, Muay Thai is a national sport being thought to kids from as early as the age of 4. National competitions for kids are spread all around the country while in many western countries brutal forms of martial arts are not allowed to be thought to kids under 16 (Green, 2011). Wrestling however is a big sport in the United States; children from a young age are put on wrestling lessons. While wrestling might be less aggressive and brutal as Muay Thai is, switching to MMA in quite common as wrestling techniques are combined with kickboxing (United States Youth Wrestling, 2014).
Controversy
There is a lot of controversy over brutal forms of martial arts like MMA and kickboxing, on the one hand they are the sports frequently shown in a negative light by the media due to links with the mafia and other gangs, and on the other hand there are a lot of people finding confidence and safety in the sport. In the USA the legislation involved with MMA is a difficult story, as the sport allows almost everything in the ring and a lot of injuries and even deaths occur. Fights within the cage have to follow rules made by the UFC, problems occur when people that are trained in MMA use their skills outside of the cage. Daum (2011) writes about the problems that occur and the legislation that is needed with people that are trained in MMA, these conclusions can be used in this bachelor thesis
13 to see if and how these problems occur in Amsterdam. Lacking of legislation caused for unsafe fights to happen, with devastating results for the fighters.
Brown & Johnson (2000) write about the education of a person through physical education, the physical medium is a tool to teach people to feel more secure about themselves and to behave responsibly toward others throughout their lives. The writers see martial arts as a tool to teach people about life and giving people more security, safety and confidence. In this bachelor thesis research will be done into why people are following MMA or kickboxing lessons, this theory suggests that safety, security and confidence can be the main reason for people to follow lessons.
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Chapter 3
Research design
In this chapter the research design of this thesis will be set apart. First the sub questions will be explained, and then the hypothesis will be given followed by the operationalization of the variables used in this thesis.
Sub questions
To answers the research question, it is necessary to split the question up in several sub questions that are more measurable and answerable. These sub questions will be answered through empirical and theoretical research; this will be explained further on in the research design chapter. The sub questions for this thesis are:
Who organizes MMA and kickboxing fights and since when are fights organized in Amsterdam?
What role do safety, the feeling of power and security and the workout MMA and kickboxing gives have in the reason to follow lessons in MMA and kickboxing in Amsterdam?
What role do global and local processes play in the popularity of MMA and kickboxing in Amsterdam?
These sub questions can be answered through empirical and theoretical research; each question has its own form of research that will be fully explained later on in this research design. The first question is going to be researched through in-depth interviews with organizations that organize fights in MMA and kickboxing, also literature studies will be done to get a clear picture of who organizes fights and how they are being organized. The second question is answered through analyzing the spread questionnaires amongst people following lessons in MMA or kickboxing with SPSS. The third question will partly be answered through literature studies, partly through the in-depth interviews and will be further explained through the questionnaires that will be spread amongst the people that follow lessons in MMA or kickboxing.
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Type of research
The type of research that is used for this bachelor thesis is a case study; the subject and the research question are a typical case in Amsterdam. A case study is a descriptive, exploratory or explanatory analysis of a typical group (Yin, 2009). In this case the group that is being researched is the people following lessons in MMA or kickboxing in Amsterdam. The goal for this thesis is to find out why this group is following lessons in the brutal forms of martial arts, and what variables play a role in the decision to start following lessons in these disciplines. Also the organizations that organize fights will be researched; the role they play in the popularity of MMA and kickboxing will be set apart. This research is unique because it has never been done; also a comparable case in another city has not yet been undertaken. This makes it a unique opportunity to do a case study that will be exploratory and hopefully also explanatory.
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Global processes
Hypothesis
In this paragraph the most important theoretical assumptions are being shown, this model gives a clear picture on the hypothesis of how the popularity of MMA and kickboxing in Amsterdam can be explained.
The concepts safety, power and security, workout and the global and local processes will be further explained in the operationalization. The concepts safety, power and security and workout will be handled as explanatory variables that influence the popularity of MMA and kickboxing in Amsterdam. In this causal model the relationship between the explanatory variables and the depended variable is being influenced by the local processes while global processes influence all the variables.
Workout Power and security Popularity of MMA and kickboxing in Amsterdam Safety Local processes
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Research units
The research units in this bachelor thesis are the people following lessons in MMA or kickboxing in Amsterdam. Because it is impossible to reach everyone that follows lessons in MMA or kickboxing in Amsterdam, it has been chosen to take questionnaires from people following lessons among six different MMA and kickboxing schools in Amsterdam. Everyone in those six different schools should have the same chance of getting in this research; therefore different times and different level groups have been chosen to spread the questionnaires amongst. The six different MMA and kickboxing schools are R-Grip, XENASports, VandeVathorst, VosGym, Vu sportcentrum and the USC. These schools are all located in Amsterdam, and all have a different kind of people following lessons, the USC and Vu sportcentrum are both university gyms, while VosGym and VandeVathorst are both located in Amsterdam West, an area with mainly non-western immigrants (CBS.nl, 2011). All MMA and kickboxing schools have two kinds of trainings, training for amateurs and training for people actually fighting in the ring, competition fighters. To give everybody an equal chance to get into the research, visits to the amateur and competition fighting classes will be made. As there is not a sampling frame where a randomized sample can be taken from, this way the sample should be as representative as possible for the population. Classes will be visited at different times, so anyone following lessons will have an equal chance of getting in on the research, also multiple weeks of taking questionnaires will be done so if someone is sick he or she still has a chance the week after. The questionnaire will also be spread online through the Facebook pages of the six different MMA and kickboxing schools, in that way people that for some reason did not go to the lessons in the week during the research are still able to fill in a questionnaire.
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Research methods
In this thesis different research methods are used to answer the research question and its sub questions. The methods that are being used are in-depth interviews, questionnaires and literature studies.
In-depth interviews
Laying contact with organizations that organize fights is done get interviews with managers of these organizations. Contact is been made through email, Facebook and phone calls. Contact is made with Simon Rutz, the former owner of It’s Showtime, one of the biggest kickboxing event organizations in the world that held big kickboxing events in the Amsterdam Arena. Also contact has been laid with Ali Günyar, a former fighter and now owner of Team Günyar, an organization that organizes big kickboxing fights in the Netherlands. Contact has also been made with Cor Hemmers, CEO of Glory Netherlands, the organization that bought It’s Showtime in 2012. An interview has been held with Rachid Lamalam and Sebastien van Dusschoten the two replacing CEO’s of Glory. Glory now organizes MMA and kickboxing fights throughout the world. The interviews with these three key players in the world of organizing MMA and kickboxing fights have been written out and analyzed with Atlas.ti. These analyzes will be further explained in the answering of the first sub question. The item list used during the interviews can be found in the appendices.
Questionnaires
Questionnaires have been spread at the six different MMA and kickboxing schools described earlier. The questionnaires started with some personal questions, involving gender, education level and age. Afterwards Likert scale questions about safety issues, workout and the feeling of power and security have been asked. Further explanation will be given in the operationalization paragraph. The questionnaire can also be found in the appendices.
Literature studies
Literature studies have been used to explore the history of MMA and kickboxing and how these sports globalized. Multiple articles about martial arts have been used to get a more clear picture of how the sports work and have evolved through time. Statistical data from CBS and O + S Amsterdam have been added to the data.
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Operationalization
The reason for people to start following lessons in MMA and kickboxing can vary, safety, power and security and a good workout can all be reasons to start following lessons in these disciplines. Although these variables are quite clear to work with, it is necessary to operationalize these variables into more measurable indicators. The concepts global and local processes also have to be operationalized to make them more measurable.
Safety
Safety is a concept that seems quite clear but has to be transformed into a variable or indicator that is more measurable. First the concept safety is going to be split up in different dimensions; the dimensions used in this thesis are the feeling of safety, objective safety, self-defense and statistical safety. These dimensions are not yet measurable so they are going to be divided into different variables or indicators.
The feeling of safety
The feeling of safety is going to be measured through a set of questions in the questionnaire that is spread among the research population. In the questionnaire, one paragraph regarding the feeling of safety is put in. The paragraph contains a set of propositions with a Likert scale 1 to 5, 1 is completely disagree and 5 is fully agree, 3 is neutral. The propositions are:
I feel safe, alone at night, in Amsterdam
I have no problem with walking around, alone at night, in Amsterdam
I feel safer, alone on the street, due to following lessons in MMA or kickboxing After following lessons in MMA or kickboxing, I more often travel alone at night
With these four propositions, anyone following lessons in MMA or kickboxing that fills in a questionnaire can get a score between four and twenty. The score shows the feeling of safety someone has, later on in the thesis there will be calculations with SPSS to see if different kind of people score different scores. An extra question in the questionnaire is do you ever feel threatened on the street? Answers are never, sometimes, often and really often.
Objective safety
Objective safety is going to be measured through two questions in the questionnaire. The first question is: Did you ever have a physical confrontation on the street? The possible answers are no, yes before I followed lessons in MMA or kickboxing and yes since I am following lessons in MMA or kickboxing. When someone fills in yes they also have to give an indication of what kind of physical confrontation it was. The second question is: Did you ever have a physical confrontation on the street
20 where 112 was called and the police or ambulance was involved? For this question the same answers are possible as with the first question regarding objective safety.
Self-defense
Self-defense can be measured in different ways, the amount of time spent on following lessons in MMA or kickboxing can be an influence on the ability to perform self-defense when necessary. Also the same question that has been asked during the feeling of safety, I feel safer, alone on the street, due to following lessons in MMA or kickboxing, can indicate if someone feels safer, the score on this question is perhaps higher when people are following lessons in MMA or kickboxing for a longer period of time. If a person has been in a physical confrontation after he or she started following lessons in MMA or kickboxing they have to fill in what kind of physical confrontation this was. People might be able to withstand the attacker now they follow lessons in MMA or kickboxing.
Statistical safety
Statistical safety is going to be measured through crime rates; these will be found on the O + S site of Amsterdam, the site on statistics of all kinds. The crime rates belonging to the different districts in Amsterdam have been linked to the districts in the dataset in SPSS.
Power and security
Power and security are concepts that are not measurable variables yet, as with safety, these concepts first have to be split up in different dimensions. The dimensions that will be used are the feeling of power and security, real power and security and involvement in fights.
The feeling of power and security
The feeling of safety is going to be measured through a set of questions in the questionnaire that is spread among the research population. In the questionnaire, one paragraph regarding the feeling of power and security is put in. The paragraph contains a set of propositions with a Likert scale 1 to 5, 1 is completely disagree and 5 is fully agree, 3 is neutral. The propositions are:
I feel more powerful on the street since I follow lessons in MMA or kickboxing I feel more confident on the street since I follow lessons in MMA or kickboxing
In chapter 5 calculations with SPSS will be done to check if people answer differently on these propositions when they have a different age, education level, sex or have spent less or more time training. These calculations will be corrected for their reason in following lessons and the district they are living in.
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Real power and security
To measure the real power and security the following questions in the questionnaire have been asked:
I would rather avoid a fight since I follow lessons in MMA or kickboxing
I would not evade a fight very quickly now I follow lessons in MMA or kickboxing
Both propositions can be answered through a Likert scale going from 1 to 5, where 1 is completely disagree and 5 is fully agree, 3 is neutral. The answers will be combined to get a total score on real power and security. Because the second proposition is a negative questions the score will be turned around, 5 will be 1, 4 will be 2, 3 stays 3, 2 will be 4 and 1 will be 5. Afterwards the two scores will be added up.
Involvements in fights
To measure the concept involvements in fight questions about physical confrontations on the street have been asked. They are explained in the safety paragraph, and will also be used in this paragraph to measure if somebody with a different education level or age has a bigger chance to get involved in fight, this will be measured with SPSS.
Workout
Workout is a more measurable concept than safety and power and security but is still not a concept that can be measured without dividing it into dimensions with different variables and indicators. The dimensions that have been used are fitness and the time spent on following lessons in MMA or kickboxing.
Fitness
Fitness is measured through a set of Likert scale propositions in a questionnaire, the Likert scales are from 1 to 5, where 1 is completely disagree, 5 is fully agree and 3 is neutral. In the questionnaire a paragraph regarding fitness is put in. The propositions in the paragraph are:
I feel fit, I have a good stamina
I started following lessons in MMA or kickboxing to work on my fitness and stamina By following lessons in MMA or kickboxing my fitness and stamina gets better
The scores on these propositions can differ for different kinds of people; with SPSS calculations have been done to see if different kind of people score differently on the variable ‘fitness’.
22 Amount of time spent on following lessons in MMA or kickboxing
Another part of the workout is the amount of time spent on following lessons in MMA or kickboxing, to get an answer to this question, two questions in the questionnaire have been asked. The first question is: How long have you been following lessons in MMA or kickboxing? Please fill in
an answer in months.
The second question is: On average, how many hours a week do you follow lessons in MMA or kickboxing?
The two answers will be combined to get the total amount of time spent on following lessons in MMA or kickboxing. As the first question is in months and the second one in weeks the average amount of hours have to be multiplied with the average amount of weeks that is in a month. With 3 normal years and 1 leap year every 4 years, the average amount of days in a year is 365.25. When you divide this by 12 you have the average amount of days a month, 30.4375. This amount has to be divided by 7 to get the average amount of weeks in a month, 4.348. So the average amount of hours spent a week has to be multiplied with 4.348 before being multiplied with the total amount of months spent on following lessons in MMA or kickboxing. This calculation gives the most accurate answer in the total amount of time spent on following lessons in MMA or kickboxing.
Global en local processes
In the hypothesis local processes influence the relationship between the independent and dependent variables, to examine this, this concept first has to be made into more measurable variables. Global processes influences all the variables and therefore also has to be made into more measurable variables and dimensions.
Global processes
Global processes are transformed in different dimensions; the dimensions that are used are commercialization, popularity and global brands. These dimensions will be divided in different variables.
Commercialization
Commercialization is measured through a set of different variables. These variables are the amount of fights on television, the amount of money a fighter can win in a fight and forms of distribution. These variables have been measured through literature studies.
Popularity
Popularity can be measured through the amount of people watching fights on television. Also the amount of countries that distribute the fights on television is a way to calculate the popularity of the
23 two disciplines. Also what time fights are broadcasted is a tool to see how popular a show is on television.
Global brands
Global brands are measured through literature studies on the global brands and also with interviews with the organizations that organize MMA or kickboxing fights.
Local processes
Local processes is transformed in different dimensions, the dimensions that are used are popularity, safety and accessibility. The dimensions will be divided in different variables.
Popularity
Popularity is measured through a question in the questionnaire. The question is: Why did you start following lessons in MMA or kickboxing? It is an open question and the answers will be categorized, which will give an indication of why people start following lessons in these disciplines and if these reasons differ for different kinds of people.
Safety
Safety is measured through statistics on safety on the street, crime rates and raid figures have been used to get a picture of the safety issues.
Accessibility
Accessibility is measured through the amount of schools giving lessons in MMA or kickboxing in Amsterdam. Also the costs for following lessons and the costs of buying equipment are important for people to start following lessons or not. The estimated annual costs for following lessons in MMA or kickboxing will be compared with other popular sports in Amsterdam.
24
Chapter 4
Who organizes MMA and kickboxing fights and since when are fights organized
in Amsterdam?
In order to get a clearer picture in who organize fights in Amsterdam and how they do this, this chapter uses in-depth interviews. Interviews with CEO’s of organizations who organize fights have been taken. The first in-depth interview was with Simon Rutz, the former CEO and owner of It’s Showtime. The second interview was with Ali Günyar, the owner and CEO of Team Günyar. The third interview was with Rachid Lamalam and Sebastien van Dusschoten, the two replacing CEO’s of Glory.
Interviews
In order to get more information from people actually organizing fights in Amsterdam, three interviews have been done. All interviews had the same item list so the interviewees had the same subjects to discuss; in addition extra questions have been asked when an interviewee had information in a specific subject. The interviews have been analyzed with Atlas.ti to see what subjects the interviewees spoke about the most and to get an overview of all quotes.
Interview Simon Rutz
To explore who organizes fights in Amsterdam and how these organizations work, an interview with Simon Rutz was held. Questions about Simon his organization and what role he played in the popularity of the sport have been asked. In this paragraph a summary with the most important outcomes will be given.
It’s Showtime
Simon Rutz is the founder and former owner of it’s Showtime, an organization who organized kickboxing fights in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe. He sold the company to Glory in 2012 and has been retired since. He was also the former manager of many famous kick boxers, like Badr Hari and Melvin Manhoef. He made kickboxing the popular sport it is today, and helped legends like Badr and Melvin to become famous. He was the first person to make the athletes real stars, earning a
lot of money and fame.
‘Ja, dat is een van de dingen die ik wilde doen, dat was vroeger niet zo. Echt van de vechtsporters
sterren maken.’
25 Simon tells more about the dream he created for the fighter, by making them stars and changing the way the sports are distributed so the fighters start to earn a lot of money. In combinatie met de droom dat ze het op televisie zien, dat ze sterren kunnen zijn, en dan horen ze
bedragen die ze kunnen verdienen.
Translated, in combination with the dream they see on television, that they can become a star, and they hear what kind of money they can make. Simon talks a lot about the global processes, the television shows that have been distributed to around 180 countries. He is proud of the way he brought the sport to a new level, giving it the attention it never had before. Furthermore he speaks about the television contracts he had with those 180 countries, in the Netherlands being RTL 7. Global processes
Simon Rutz spoke 15 times about global processes in his interview, being the subject he spoke about the most. He spoke about his own organization, It’s Showtime, and about other organizations, Glory, K1 and the UFC. He explains how the system with pay per view works in the United States and how it is difficult to get a similar system in Europe. A pay per view system is a system where people watch the fights at home on their televisions but have to pay per fight. These prices can be quite high; 50 dollars for a fight is no exception. Simon thinks people in Europe are not prepared to pay such amounts of money to see a fight on a television screen. That system, which works in the United States, generates a lot of money, which will also partly come to the fighters themselves. Simon thinks in the long term kickboxing has a bigger chance of being the biggest martial arts, UFC is doing a good thing in the United States, Canada and Brazil but in most countries Kickboxing is the most popular martial arts. He states that a standing fight is more interesting than a fight on the ground and therefore kickboxing potentially a bigger audience. Another problem with the UFC is that most fights are being held in the United States, and with the pay per view system the fights are being held prime time. This makes it difficult for European viewers as most fights are being held in the middle of the night.
Local processes
Simon Rutz spoke 11 times about local processes in his interview, being the second most spoken about subject. He started It’s Showtime in 1998, but kickboxing fights are being organized since 30 years earlier according to Simon. He did change the kind of events around a fight; he was the first person to really make a show around the fights. He states that that is also one of the reasons the youth started following lessons in kickboxing in such large numbers. He thinks it is a shame that big fighting events cannot be organized anymore in Amsterdam, like the events he used to organize a few years ago in the Amsterdam Arena. Although there have been problems in the past, Simon thinks organizing big fighting events in Amsterdam will soon be possible again. New legislation for
26 promoters is introduced; an example is the BIBOB research every promoter first has to get through. When you have an approved BIBOB more things become possible, according to Simon. He believes in the background Glory is talking with the city of Amsterdam to get a fight in the Amsterdam Arena once again.
Power, security and self-defense
Simon Rutz spoke 8 times about power, security and self-defense. Although the media create a different picture, Simon thinks most people starting lessons in MMA or kickboxing would rather not use their skills on the street. Also scum youth can be taught a lesson, taught respect and how to act on the street without using their fists. He thinks that in most cases, people learn more respect and would rather not fight on the street now they follow lessons in MMA or kickboxing. Discipline and respect are very important inside and outside the Dojo, he thinks most people become a better person and maybe only a few actually use it on the street. Learning kickboxing actually gives people a future, also by having a chance to become a professional. Most will get on the right path rather than becoming bad. He also believes that people that want to intimidate on the street will not follow lessons in martial arts but would rather buy a gun or a knife. This corresponds with Harbles Gray (1997) who thinks fights in the streets are being held with more than only the fists. Simon thinks that for little kid’s parents it might be a safe feeling if their kids know how to defend themselves.
Workout
Simon spoke about the workout the sport gives only two times, stating that most people probably follow lessons to get in shape. He thinks 99% is just following lessons and only 1% will actually try to become professional, the rest will mainly do it for the sport and the workout.
27
Interview Ali Günyar
To get a broader picture of who organizes kickboxing fights an interview with Ali Günyar was held. Ali is a former professional kick boxer and current organizer of big kickboxing events. Together with his brother he leads Team Günyar, the organization they themselves own. Team Günyar was also going to organize the fight with Badr Hari the 17th of May but Badr chose to fight in Dubai instead.
Team Günyar
Team Günyar is an organization that is owned by Ali and his brother; they try to organize the biggest kickboxing fights in the Netherlands. They started organizing fights in 2001; from then on they had an annual event until 2006. After a break of 2 years they started organizing fights again, bigger and more often. Currently they organize two to four fights a year with around 2500 guests. The fights are mostly broadcasted on television; Team Günyar has contracts with Eurosport. It is Team Günyar’s biggest priority to get the fights on Dutch television, this way they want to attract more people to kickboxing.
Global processes
Ali says there used to be a lot of big organizations organizing big fights in the Netherlands but they slowly faded away, partly due to legislation. Although there is a decline in fights being organized an increase in people following lessons can be seen. After football, MMA and kickboxing are probably the second and third biggest sports at the moment, when you don’t count going to the gym as a sport. Ali thinks it is a shame that martial arts and kickboxing in particular have such a bad name in the media. Ali thinks it is a shame that only the negative news about kickboxing is being spread and not all the positive things. He and his brother try to get the sport in a more positive flow, media wise. He thinks MMA could help getting the sport in a more positive vibe, especially the UFC which is popular in a lot of countries and has a better reputation than the kickboxing organizations. The biggest downfall in Ali’s opinion is the way the sport is treated now, you can train as much as you want but you cannot show it in a ring, not legally. Only some events are being held but not enough to give the lower guys a chance. Ali thinks there is a lot of economic potential in kickboxing, not only for fighters but for promoters, television and merchandising companies. Kickboxing is cool to watch on television, not like Karate with all the rules no one understands. ‘als je een karatewedstrijd, met die beknopte regels, gaat uitzenden, iedereen gaat zappen.’ Translated, if you send out a karate match, with all those difficult rules, everyone will change channels. He says karate is just not the sport to watch on television, kickboxing is far more interesting, the same thing Simon Rutz said. Ali says the government should start stimulating kickboxing instead of discouraging it. There is a lot of economic potential in kickboxing, the same counts for football but because the interests are so big no one discourages it, the same should be done with kickboxing to maximize its full potential.
28 Local processes
Ali talks about a federation that is going to be introduced that will be the overruling organization around events, he thinks organizations like his are going to have problems with that. Ali thinks it is strange that some smaller kick boxing events hardly have any rules to follow and for the bigger ones it is hardly possible to legally organize a fight. The municipality does not know what is going on in the kickboxing scene but still does not allow fights to happen. The current policy from the municipality is also strange according to Ali, they subsidize gyms to give lessons to troubled youth but that same youth is not allowed to show their skills in the ring. Smaller fights are allowed but fighting a big event is not, that is not stimulating the youth to train as hard as they should for professional kickboxing. With the amount of training someone who professionally fights has to do, they should have a good wage to come with that. Ali says the municipality does not give kickboxing the chance to grow to its full potential.
Power, security and self-defense
Ali says his first priority with people starting lessons at his gym, is to help change him or her into a better person and then into a better kick boxer. He does not only give them kickboxing lessons but also life lessons. Ali thinks when fighters can train a lot but cannot express themselves in the ring and cannot earn money with it, the chance of getting involved with crime becomes bigger. Especially young talented guys get tricked into working for people who do not pay any taxes. Ali thinks that normally no one from his classes will use his or her kickboxing skills outside the ring. He teaches them responsibility and especially when not to use their skills. He also thinks that fights on the streets these days, especially when it is between people from gangs or whosoever are not being fought with fists but with other weapons.
Workout
Ali thinks kickboxing is very good for your stamina and general health; this is becoming a general idea. Even all those diet programs on television involve a lot of kickboxing lessons, just because it is a good way to burn fat and get in shape. It is a very intense form of training, although according to Ali, amateur training has become much easier. A lot of parents do not want their kids to get beaten up during training, according to Ali this used to be the case when he was still young, the trainer could do whatever he wanted.
29
Interview Rachid Lamalam and Sebastien van Dusschoten
To get a broader picture in who organizes kickboxing fights, an interview with Rachid Lamalam and Sebastien van Dusschoten was held. They are the two replacing CEO’s of Glory international, at this moment the biggest organizer of kickboxing events in the world.
Glory
Sebastien van Dusschoten is one of the replacing CEO’s of Glory but his main job is fighter logistics and fighter administration. Glory Netherlands, where they are placed, is the center of the worldwide organization. When a fighter comes in from talent operations, they take care of everything until he is in the ring. Flights, tickets, medical checks, Everything that is necessary before a fighter can enter the ring is the responsibility of Sebastien. Next to Glory Netherlands there is also an office in the United Kingdom, they are responsible for everything that has got to do with promotion and IT. At this moment Glory has 12 events every year, about eight in the United Stated and about 4 in Europe, these figures can differ per year. At this moment no fights are being organized in the Netherlands, as they cannot get permission to organize big events. Glory took over It’s Showtime from Simon Rutz, Sebastien and Rachid are both former employees of It’s Showtime. Rachid Lamalam has two functions in Glory next to being the replacing CEO. During the fights organized in Europe, Rachid is the floor manager. For the events being organized in the United States, Rachid organizes everything around the production of an event. A big part of his job is getting the visa for everyone involved during a fight, so not only the fighters, but also people from production, medical staff and everyone else involved. Everything around production before a fight is Rachid’s responsibility, photo-shoots,
administration and everything backstage during a fight.
While most fighters are from Europe, most fights are being organized in the United States. The biggest market for kickboxing fights is in the United States, for the events but also for television. Fighters from the United States are starting to come up now they have a big platform to show their skills but it needs time. In the Netherlands we have a gigantic pool of talent, mainly because former pro fighters start to train their own pupils. Glory would like to organize events in the Netherlands in the future but are now being stopped by the mayor of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Events in the Amsterdam Arena and Ahoi Rotterdam are not allowed by these mayors for various reasons.
Global processes
Sebastien and Rachid spoke 27 times about global processes, as Glory is a global organization this is
logically their most spoken about subject.
A big problem they have with organizing fights around the world is the legislation; legislation can differ for every county and in the United States for every state. As a kickboxing organization they have a lot of rules to obey, with their own words; kickboxing is always under a magnifying glass.
30 Rachid and Sebastien have to make sure they obey every rule and do not make any mistakes. As quick as they turned into the biggest organization in the world, they can fall apart and be banned. Glory is hoping for American fighters to arise and becoming a Rocky alike legend. They had a similar situation with Pat Barry, a fighter who fought some good fights last year against Russian fighters. Although Americans really like kickboxing, the sport is not going to last without an all American hero, according to Rachid. Therefor they have implied talent scouts in the United States to make sure American talents stay in the kickboxing sport and do not transfer to the UFC or normal boxing. With Glory as a big platform where they can earn a lot of money, American kickboxing is in the rise. SPIKE TV is the current broadcaster for the fights in the United States, a big player with a lot of potential viewers. K1 and It’s Showtime changed the rules for kickboxing and Muay Thai to make it more interesting for television, no clinching and only 3 rounds compared to the normal 5 rounds. This made it more interesting to watch, Glory continued that path. According to Rachid is MMA a very interesting and cool sport to watch, the only problem is that sometimes you have ground fights where you would see two guys cuddling for 4 to 5 minutes. Kickboxing with the current rules is according to them more interesting to watch as their will not bet any ground fights or clinching. In the Netherlands the fights are broadcasted on RTL 7 a week after the actual fight. As the fights are primetime in the United States it is more interesting to broadcast the fights on a different time in the Netherlands. Rachid also states that it is necessary for them to have fighters from all countries, only fighters from the Netherlands would eventually be non-profitable as it would not be interesting anymore for other people to watch, comparable with speed skating. So talent operations will search for talent from all around. Another thing a fighter needs, especially in the United States, is charisma. A fighter should be able to handle himself in front of the camera, especially Americans really like a part of showmanship. With Glory it is even in their contract, promotional stuff and interviews are obliged.
In the United States they act more like stars, a lot of guys also know that if they are good in their sport they can get a scholarship for the University. So when they are from a more poor part of the States they know that through sports they can achieve fame and money. In the Netherlands this professional attitude against sport is still lacking.
That fighters should have a professional attitude is not more than logic thinks Sebastien, but now the fighters are being put under a magnifying glass in such a bad way that they cannot do anything wrong anymore. Rachid says, Hoge bome vangen overal wind, overal en vooral bij het kickboksen, High trees catch a lot of wind, especially with kickboxing. A Dutch phrase meaning that important people attract a lot of attention. They have to watch everything they do and cannot afford to make a single error.
31 When stating the hypothesis, that martial arts are becoming more brutal and therefore more commercially successful, they both did not agree. With both kickboxing and MMA far more rules are implied since the beginning. Also the medical staff en reports the fighters have to have has increased enormously. After a KO they have to do a lot of checks and cannot fight for at least six weeks. Also boxing, one of the very first martial arts, is still the most profitable martial arts according to Sebastien. And for television they think the sport might have gotten more spectacular but not more extreme, due to all the rules and medical staff arranged.
Local processes
Sebastien says there are a lot of smaller kickboxing events in the Netherlands every weekend but the really big events slowly disappeared. You used to have It’s Showtime, SLAM, balance and many more but they are all gone now. The big events have problems with legislation, strange according to Rachid because the smaller events do not have any legislation at all. And all the last incidents, like the one in Hoorn where there was a shooting (NHD, 2011), where at small events. And due to incidents like the one in Hoorn mayors do not want big kickboxing events in their city anymore. Big kickboxing events are not allowed anymore in the Netherlands and smaller events, like the one in Hoorn, still happen every weekend. Rachid says that their job is to sell tickets and have a good event, they do not have to check who is coming to their fights. If a person has been to jail for his crime and is now free, you cannot tell him where not to go. Rachid says that for every football match, hundreds of thousands of euros is spend on police force by the city, never a single penny was spent on a kickboxing event. They paid for security themselves and did not need help from the city. Their audience is probably better than the audience of the average football match but kickboxing is once again under the magnifying glass. They never had any damage made to the city by their audience while the football audience smashed half the city apart, and that was when they won. The thing is that football is more interesting on the commercial side, and therefor they can get away with far more.
Sebastian also talks about the accessibility of kickboxing. While a lot of sports are quite expensive or boring, kickboxing is both affordable and fun. Even people who start kickboxing for the workout get a more secure feeling and learn martial arts as a bonus. Also the offer is huge, with more than 20 schools only in Amsterdam; kickboxing is the third biggest sport after football and going to the gym. For poor kids or for trouble making kids subsidies go to kickboxing and MMA schools with the so called ‘sportpas’ to get the kids to sport and learn them some discipline. The strange thing according to Sebastien is that they cannot show their skills on a big stage in the Netherlands. With It’s Showtime a few years ago they used to do more than the acquired rules, they even had bomb checks and no alcohol before 10 P.M. Strangely enough they could not do events anymore while they worked so hard on following the legislation and even doing more. Bigger events also have the
32 resources to do better checks, detention gates etc. It’s Showtime in the Netherlands before and Glory all around the world now are far more professional than all those small events that are allowed. Another problem in the Netherlands is that the legislation is not cared for nationally but can differ per city, they do not follow the same line and that makes it even more difficult for an organization like Glory to organize an event in the Netherlands.
Power, security and self-defense
Sebastien thinks there are probably people following lessons in MMA or kickboxing to get more secure. Probably some parents also put their kids on martial arts so they feel more secure about themselves. Further a lot of pity-crime criminals are being put on martial arts by the police to teach them respect. A friend of Rachid has a martial arts school and 50% of his income comes from kids who are obliged to follow lessons by the police. People also use martial arts to get frustration out of their system, using the sport to abreact. People used to do martial arts for self-defense but this has changed; now it is more for the sport and the workout.
Workout
They both agree on martial arts and especially MMA and kickboxing being really intense sports. Even top models are now using kickboxing to get in shape, as you train every aspect of your body. Every MMA or kickboxing training is 90% workout and only 10% actual fighting. With MMA and kickboxing you do learn to collect pushes and kicks and it is not a lot of giving but mainly taking.
33
Chapter 5
What role do safety, the feeling of power and security and the workout MMA
and kickboxing gives have in the reason to follow lessons in MMA and
kickboxing in Amsterdam?
In order to get a clearer picture in what role safety, the feeling of power and security and the workout MMA and kickboxing give, 169 questionnaires have been filled in by people following lessons in MMA or kickboxing in Amsterdam. These questionnaires have been spread among people following lessons at the VosGYm, R-Grip, VandeVathorst, USC, Vu-sportcentrum and Xenasports.
People following lessons in MMA or kickboxing
169 questionnaires have been filled in by people following lessons in MMA or kickboxing in Amsterdam. In this paragraph, what kind of people filled in the questionnaire will be set apart.
Age
The average age of people following lessons in MMA or kickboxing in Amsterdam is 26,46. The standard deviation is 6,478; roughly 80% is between the age of 20 and 36. The mean is 26 and the mode is 22, 23 people in total have the age 22, this is probably due to the high amount of students that filled in a questionnaire in the two university schools. The oldest person who filled in a questionnaire is 54 and the youngest 13.
Sex
64,5 percent of the people that filled in a questionnaire was male, 34,9 percent was female and ,6 percent was unknown. Women are on average a bit younger than men, 26,04 compared to 26,45.
Education level
34 As can been seen in figure 1, the average education level is really high among people following lessons in MMA or kickboxing in Amsterdam. More than 75% has been to university or university for applied science. This is higher than the average percentage higher educated people in Amsterdam, which is 38 %( O+S Amsterdam, 2012). This is probably due to the high amount of students that filled in a questionnaire.
Time spend training
On average a person who is following lessons in MMA or kickboxing in Amsterdam has been following lessons for 35,34 months, and on average 3,76 hours a week is spend on training. To compute a new variable ‘total time spent training’, these two variables have been multiplied with each other and then with 4,348. This is on average 679 hours in total, not taking in account that people maybe have injuries or go on holiday. On average men have been training for 39,87 months and women for 27,54 months, also women train slightly less hours a week, 3,58 compared to 3,84 for men.
Neighborhood
The neighborhood that someone lives in has been requested in the Questionnaire.
Independent variables
The variables that have been set apart above are the independent variables in this research, causality between the independent and dependent variables will be searched for.
