The real test

You’ve heard of the Ultimate Fighting Championships where protagonists battle with no holds barred. It’s the closest thing to a waterfront brawl only fans pay to watch the gladiators survive the real test of superiority.

In the US and Japan, duels of the "ultimate" variety sell out consistently. Alvin Aguilar, a local martial arts practitioner, says this type of competition became mainstream in 1994 and its popularity has grown to epic proportions.

Aguilar knows the potential of the Filipino fighter. In the last five years, he has sent fighters to compete overseas and his warriors brought back five gold and three silver medals.

With the growing interest in "ultimate" fighting–thanks to TV–among local fans, Aguilar decided to stage the first and only real invitational mixed martial arts extravaganza in the Philippines at the Casino Filipino Amphitheater on Nov. 23, starting at 7 p.m. It’s his way of giving the Filipino fighter the opportunity to showcase his skills and rise to the next level.

"It is through this competition where I hope to form a mixed martial arts team that can represent the Philippines in international tournaments," says Aguilar. "I hope this will be the start of establishing our fighters in the world stage."

The organizing group is called the Defense Tactics Center and Aguilar is the tournament director. He calls it "Mayhem in Manila"–The Universal Reality Combat Championships.

Aguilar says several martial arts will be represented by the fighters, namely, gracie jiu-jitsu, yaw-yan (sayaw ng kamatayan), sari-an, boxing, submission fighting, suntokaran, todo bakbakan (Filipino freestyle fighting), pentjak silat, judo, freestyle wrestling, taekwondo, kyokushinkai karate, P.M.A. karate, away kalye, pancrase, dumog, and tracma.

Aguilar doesn’t explain the intricacies of yaw-yan or todo bakbakan or away kalye but obviously, the different forms of fighting point to one thing–forget the Marquess of Queensberry. There are no rules in a mixed martial arts tournament. It’s survival of the fittest. Fighting clean won’t get you anywhere. Fighting dirty will. If you fight with style, it may or may not be a plus. The bottom line is what counts. How you get the job done is irrelevant. It’s all about getting the job done, making your opponent cry uncle. That’s the bottom line.

Aguilar says a mixed martial arts tournament allows competitors from different "persuasions" to battle each other using rules which do not favor any form of fighting. It’s more like fighting without rules.

"In the past, one could never find out who had the better style or fighter because they would both be limited by the rules of each art," continues Aguilar. "Let’s say, for example, a boxer were to fight a taekwondo jin. Under taekwondo rules, he would definitely lose as you are not allowed to punch the face which is a boxer’s specialty. The same would hold for the jin in a boxing match as he would not be able to use his strength, the kick. In this type of matches, the better art and practitioner surface because techniques are put to the test in the most realistic manner."

Aguilar says tickets will sell for P280 each on a first come, first serve basis. For ticket inquiries, call the Red Corner Gym at Tel. 867-8059.

It should be quite a show.