Combat sport

Some combat sports (and their national origin) include boxing (Greek-British), Brazilian jiu-jitsu (Japanese-Brazilian), catch wrestling (British-American), jujutsu (Japanese), judo (Japanese), freestyle wrestling (British-American), Greco-Roman wrestling (French), karate (Chinese-Okinawan-Japanese), kickboxing (numerous origins, mainly Southeast Asian), Lethwei (Burmese), mixed martial arts (numerous origins), Muay Thai (Thai), sambo (Soviet/Russian), sanda (Chinese), savate (French), taekwondo (Korean), Vale Tudo (Brazilian), pankration (Ancient Greek), luta livre (Brazilian), and folk wrestling (various).

In the German Renaissance, sportive combat competitions were known as Fechtschulen, corresponding to the Prize Playing in Tudor England.

Professional boxing became popular in the United States in the 1920s and experienced a "golden age" after World War II.

[3] A study conducted by Greenwell, Hancock, Simmons, and Thorn in 2015 revealed that combat sports had a largely male audience.

In combat sports the use of these various techniques are highly regulated to minimize permanent or severe physical damage to each participant though means of organized officiating by a single or multiple referees that can distribute penalties or interrupt the actions of the competitors during the competition.

In combat sports, victory is obtained from blows, punches or attacks to the head to a point of physical injury that the opponent is unable to continue.

A scientific experiment, conducted in 2015 by Dr Andrew McIntosh of ACRISP at the Federation University of Australia, tested the impact of seven different head guards in combat sport.

The results of the experiment revealed the benefits of the combination of a glove and headguard in maximising the impact energy attenuation.

[13] A study conducted by Lystad showed that combat sports with little to no protective gear such as MMA or boxing has an injury incidence rate range of 85.1–280.7 per 1000 athletes in comparison to another striking combat sport like Taekwondo which has a large amount of protective gear such as pads, headgear, mouth guard and gloves, has an injury incidence rate range of 19.1–138.8 per 1000 athletes.

Classification of unarmed combat sports
The Pancrastinae statue demonstrates the pancratium , which being similar to modern MMA featured a strong grappling element. This statue is a Roman copy of a lost Greek original, circa 3rd century BCE.
Two martial artists sparring in ancient Cambodia as depicted at the Bayon temple
Conor McGregor , José Aldo , and Dana White at a press conference for the fight between McGregor and Aldo . This shows the two fighters posing for media, increasing revenue and interest in the fight.
Iranian Kickboxer, Hamid Amni, during the Asian Kickboxing championships 2017