ya. that is one of the reasons most people that do traditional martial arts don't consider MMA martial arts at all, but in fact combat sports. It kinda sucks though that if you look at the fighters in the UFC they almost all do Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai. There are some who do other systems like Militech Fighting Systems (Matt Hughes, etc) but that is basically built on BJJ and Muay Thai, so ya...The diversity is gone. I'd love to see an open weight class again. Has anybody seen Vale Tudo fights? Those things are brutal and not legal in the U.S but are mainly fought in Brazil. For those who don't know, Vale Tudo fights are no holds barred where there are literally no rules. You can kick the guy in the nuts if you want. There is no time limit, so fights can go on forever.

that was a brutal fight. just watching Cro-Cop fall down and watch his knee bend it, I cringched. Muay Thai is nice, but there are other arts that are great too. Kyokushin Karate adapted for MMA (they don't allow punches to the head in Kyokushin competitions) is just as good as Muay Thai. San Xou out of China is becoming a popular art to use since it is similar to Muay Thai but it incorporates take downs too (judo like). I would really want to train in Combat Sambo but the only training is on the East Coast.

MMA is great, however, the current UFC isn't that great. there are far better organizations than the UFC (such as old Pride FC, King of the Cage). I would love to fight in MMA and have done Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but I just don't have the dedication required to do it.

well technically, if you want to get down to the constitution and stuff, there is no right to smoke. Since we have rights to do whatever as long as it doesn't harm another (in theory) and since the smoke from cigarettes/pipes/etc. has been shown to cause damage to people, it shouldn't really be protected by any constitutional law, so banning it from bars isn't overstepping the bounds of the government.

I'm not saying that it is right, but I'm just saying that is a perfectly legitimate defense of banning smoking in any area that you do not own.

Personally, the scariest law I can think of off the top of my head is that anti-suicide laws. Where if you attempt suicide and fail, you can be put in jail. Now I find that the most authoritarian law ever made. If I want to kill myself, it is my decision and not the government's. I also agree with the seat-belt thing, if I don't wear a seat-belt and it get into a bad accident, the other person isn't hurt more because of it, only I am. Now there should be responsibility with that, such as a parent should keep their seat-belt on to increase the odds of them living in a crash and being able to support their kids. But ya...

thanks for the thoughts. I go to NIU and actually avoided the area of the shooting (by sheer coincidence) because I went to class early to meet a friend to study. It's been a very, very rough day and am just amazed at the support (not only locally but globally) that has been shown for everybody that has been involved. As I waited for my class at 3:30 (the shooting was around 3ish I believe) there was a girl who came up to the building I was in crying and then she fell to the floor. I only saw her briefly before she turned her back towards me, so at first I thought she was the one who was shot. It was a very confusing few hours but around 8 PM CST the president of NIU (John Peters) gave a press conference announcing that there were 6 people dead (including the gunman) and 22 injured. I had a class in the room last year and am just surprised that everybody who was shot didn't die. The stage is high and everybody is in a chair so the only way to get hit is the chest or head. (so far 2 of the 3 or 4, it isn't clear how many, people who were shot in the head have died).

Thanks for all of your support.