The videos below combine the excitement of people sitting around a table with the action of folks who like talking about MMA.

This is surely gonna be a slobberknocker!

Ok, maybe not…but during the course of five hours over the last two days, the Canadian Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee considered Bill S-209, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (prize fights).

This Act will clear up “concerns” that the Criminal Code of Canada under Section 83.2 prohibits MMA. This was never the case, in fact Canadian Heritage Minister, James Moore, appeared before the City of Vancouver in December 2009 to confirm this fact. But still, there were some folks (*cough* unelected political hacks posing as helpful bureaucrats at the City of Vancouver *cough*) who thought it was, so the Federal Government has now decided to make it crystal clear.

Coupled with the news from Monday that in British Columiba, Premier Christy Clark and Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, Ida Chong will be forming an Athletic Commission, this has been an eventful week in Canada for combat sports.

My take is this Act will pass through the majority led Conservative Senate and House without any problems.

I will have more to say later about the videos below (including some excellent and insightful comments from UFC’s Tom Wright), but until then, check out these action packed Senate hearings!

In the first video from May 9, 2012:
The Honourable Bal Gosal, Minister of State (Sport)
Nada Semaan, Associate Deputy Minister (Canadian Heritage)
Dan Smith, Director Policy and Planning, Sports Canada (Canadian Heritage)
Dr. Teresa DeFreitas, Sports medicine consultant (As an individual)
Ken Hayashi (As an individual)
Patrick Reid, Executive Director (Edmonton Combative Sports Commission)

The second video from May 10, 2012 (or as I say, the main event) features:
Tom Wright, Director of Canadian Operations (Ultimate Fighting Championship)
Rory MacDonald, UFC Welterweight Fighter (Ultimate Fighting Championship)
Dr. Samuel Gutman, President and Chief Medical Officer (Rockdoc Consulting Inc.)
Ryan Leef, M.P., Yukon

After years of working with various stakeholders including Athletic Commissions, all levels of Governments, media, fans, combat sports companies, etc this is a welcomed move.

In October 2010 I said in a 24 Hours interview: “I think it’s [the formation of a Provincial Athletic Commission] going to happen within two years. Promoters want to be professional, and to do it they have to pay the taxes, fees and have protection from the government.”

This Legislation replaces local commissions with a single Provincial body; ensures participant safety is paramount; codifies and unifies the rules of the sports; and has consistency with fees, taxes, etc.

A Provincial Athletic Commission under the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development will allow large scale MMA organizations like Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to work with a professionally run Commission who are not held to the moral whims of unelected staffers (*cough* City of Vancouver *cough*).

STORY CONTINUES TO DEVELOP – UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY

On May 31, 2012, the Bill passed the BC Legislature to become law!

Read BILL 50 — 2012 ATHLETIC COMMISSIONER ACT

Dave Teixeira Discusses Bill 50 with The Score’s Mauro Ranallo

UFC’s Marc Ratner Discusses Bill 50 (and more!) with The Score’s Mauro Ranallo

From the Vancouver Sun:

Vancouver Athletic Commission member and lawyer Jonathan Tweedale is happy the province has stepped up.

“It’s been a long time coming,” he told me. “This is a great development for MMA in the province. The ones who will benefit the most will be the fighters themselves, who will be protected by better (and more consistent) regulation.”

Comm. Svcs Min @Ida_Chong says new Prov. Athletic Commish to oversee boxing/MMA will be paid thru fees charged to industry, not gov. #bcpoli

May 7, 2012 4:17 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@CKNW

CKNW

Looking at the figures from the first two events held in Vancouver, UFC 115 had a reported gate of $4.2 million and UFC 131 did $2.8 million. So 5% of would be $210,000 and $140,000 respectively. Plus the various fees for the event, licenses, etc. Now…imagine a HUGE event at BC Place and those figure would be two to three times higher.

Copy of News Release from the Government of BC:

Athletic Commissioner Act introduced in the House

VICTORIA – The Province is taking steps to establish a Provincial Athletic Commissioner, who would regulate and supervise professional contests such as boxing, kick-boxing and mixed martial arts.

Community, Sport and Cultural Development Minister Ida Chong introduced Bill 50 – Athletic Commissioner Act – in the legislature today

The proposed act would establish a consistent framework to oversee the conduct of these professional events throughout the province. This legislation would not apply to amateur contests.

The commissioner’s primary focus would be to ensure the safety of competitors and officials.

If local governments do not want such contests to take place in their communities, they would be able to prohibit these events by passing a bylaw.

Quotes:

Ida Chong, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development –

“The benefit of having a provincial athletic commissioner would be that every professional contest would be subject to the same rules and regulations, whether it was being held in Vancouver, Nanaimo or Vernon.”

“Since sports such as kick-boxing and mixed martial arts are very popular and are taking place without a consistent regulatory framework, it makes sense to be proactive about creating this position to increase the safety of athletes and officials, as well as to provide certainty for communities and the industry.”

Quick Facts:

• The role of the commissioner would be to oversee the conduct of professional contests such as boxing, kick-boxing and mixed martial arts throughout the province, with a key focus on the safety of competitors and officials.

• The key duties of the commissioner would be to:
  • Ensure a consistent standard of qualifications and safety protocols for all participants and officials through a uniform licensing and permitting framework.
  • Ensure compliance with the proposed act and its regulations, through the use of suspension or cancellation of licences and event permits, as well as administrative penalties.

• The Community Charter and the Vancouver Charter now provide for the establishment of local athletic commissions to authorize public events. Such athletic commissions may regulate professional boxing and similar activities, contests and exhibitions.

• At least nine B.C. municipalities currently have athletic commissions. If the Province establishes an athletic commissioner, both the Community Charter and Vancouver Charter will be amended to remove the authority to create local commissions.

Joe Trasolini (NDP), Christine Clarke (BC Conservatives) and Dennis Marsden (Liberal) took part in the all-candidates meeting for on April 11th just as the Vancouver Canucks took to the ice for game one of their playoff series against the LA Kings.

I will save my written commentary (mostly because I am too busy to write it) and say watch below for 1) the response to my question on having an Athletic Commission in BC to regulate Mixed Marital Arts (MMA) SPOILER: Trasolini believes MMA means the participants must KILL each other to win; 2) my question on the candidate’s favourite social media platform SPOLIER: Trasloini says it is “Tweeter” and 3) the complete near two hour debate is here for your viewing pleasure.

Voting day is April 19th.

This is why Fight for the Cure in Ottawa tonight really caught my attention. The idea is folks in “white collar careers” face off in a boxing ring to raise money for cancer research.

With this in mind, two politicians – Liberal MP Justin “Remember My Last Name Is” Trudeau and Conservative Senator Patrick “Bet You Never Heard of Me Until Now” Brazeau decided that following a Twitter battle a physical bout was needed.

Trudeau, at 40 years of age, 6′ 2′, 175lbs with some boxing skills PUMMELED the 37 year-old, 5′ 10″, 183lbs Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Brazeau like the Bloc Québécois in the 2011 election. Honestly, this was an upset. In fact the only person I heard who picked Trudeau to win was Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White!

The event was hoping to raise $200,000 for cancer research and with online sponsorship of the fighters sitting at $31,000 hopefully other sponsorships and live ticket sales make up the difference.

Did you miss the fight as broadcast on Sun News Network (motto: Yes we are still on the air!)? Well, I have it below in English and French for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!…and make a donation for the cause, won’t you?

TRUDEAU VS BRAZEAU – FULL FIGHT – ENGLISH

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced this week that they are tired of dealing with the ever changing rules surrounding doing Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) events in the City of Vancouver and will most likely not return in 2012.

I agree with UFC.

I have been involved in this process for years and while the City of Vancouver are to blame for incompetence, the Province of BC is responsible for dragging their feet.

I certainly understand that the formation of an Athletic Commission to regulate and protect combat sports participants is not the highest of priorities, I would say it is a non priority.

To be clear, there have been NO deaths in MMA at sanctioned events. A Province wide Commission would ensure unsanctioned events like the one in Kelowna this past Summer where one of the fighters almost died because the event did not follow the basic safety precautions a Commission would have imposed.

The fix is simple, blend the operating principles of the Athletic Commission from the State of Nevada and Province of Ontario to form a British Columbia Athletic and Entertainment Commission. The revenues from events would cover the cost of the Commission while driving tourism dollars in our economy and we help contribute to building the faster growing sport in the world.

Here is the 8 minute audio from my CKNW radio interview today with Simi Sara.

NOTE: in the audio I say section 183 in the Community Charter…I meant section 143.

UPDATE: Here is my interview on CFAX radio from August 9th.

An “amateur Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)” event held last week in Kamloops proves once again that British Columbia needs an Athletic Commission to sanction combat sports and that the British Columbia Medical Association’s (BCMA) renewed call to ban MMA is misguided.

The promotion “So You Wanna Fight” held a combination boxing / MMA show in Kamloops on July 23rd. The amateur event was not held under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts - the rules Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) uses. Instead, the rules allowed for a fighter to compete multiple times in one evening, no doctor at ringside and fighters were not permitted to be on the mat grappling for more than 30 seconds – this way more knockouts were encouraged.

Mike Boyer, a 35-year-old body-builder, without benefit of MMA training and on disability due to injuries sustained in a car accident when he was seven years old, entered the ring for the first time on July 23rd. He won his first match and then his second match of the night. This earned him a medal and a $500 prize.

It also earned him a foot-long surgical scar on his head.

After his victory Boyer, “…started feeling lightheaded and sick to his stomach. When he vomited, ambulance attendants came to his aid and rushed him to RIH [Royal Inland Hospital], a ride he doesn’t remember. A CT scan revealed bleeding on the brain. He underwent six hours of surgery.”

From this, new BCMA President, Dr. Nasir Jetha said, “We need stronger legislation. This sport should be banned.”

Jetha is half right – we do need stronger legislation in BC in the form of an Athletic Commission which operates in the same manner as the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

An Athletic Commission governing “combat sports” – MMA, boxing and pro-wrestling – at both amateur and professional levels would have rules in place to protect the fighters. Pre fight medicals, post fight check ups, weight classes, common rules for the sport and medical staff at ringside would be some of the protections in place.

As it stands in BC, amateur events – which denotes the participates are not paid – are not regulated by the Province or the few cities in BC where there are Athletic Commissions (eg., Vancouver, Nanaimo, Victoria, Kelowna). The organization MMABC offers to regulate or oversee amateur MMA events in BC but this is not mandatory nor is MMABC currently a recognized sanctioning body. Their focus is on participate safety which should be the focus of promoters and would certainly be the mandate of a Province wide Athletic Commission.

The “amateur MMA event” heading where fighters are not paid is a huge loop hole. Promoters get around this by paying the participants to set up chairs, “winning” a prize, putting up posters or consulting on the event – but not for actually taking part in the event – nudge nudge, wink wink.

A Province wide Athletic Commission would prevent this from happening.

The promoter of the Kamloops event, Don Arnott, told CBC before the bouts started:

“In 20 years and over 3,000 matches, have you ever heard of negative thing after any event, where there’s been somebody hurt or it’s been bad?” he said. “There hasn’t been. There’s been no bad publicity, there’s been no negativism on, it’s never happened.”

Doh.

I met with Arnott at one of his events in Coquitlam in April 2010. We spoke in great detail about his fight rules (which he liked) and sanctioning of the sport via an Athletic Commission (which he did not like).

I was curious as to what he thinks now so I visited his two websites – which are now both down. His Facebook page and Youtube channel are also down. Hiding online info does not bode well for his claims that he runs safe events. He also has yet to return my phone message.

Using Google cache I was able to take some screen captures of parts of his now down sites (see the photo gallery at the end of this piece).

Some interesting things from these screen captures:

1) From the “So You Wanna Fight” website (all punctuation and world capitulation as on the site): “So You Wanna fight is power packed with Rough Tough Bikers, Bouncers, Brawlers, Red Necks, Ruff Necks, No Necks and Guys and Gals that “Think They’re Tuff”. The roughest, toughest men and women from across North Amercia are ready to get it on. Each even is loaded with adrenaline charged grudge fights in Boxing and MMA. Lot of fun. Lots of Action and Lots of Knock-Outs. If you like non-stop Fighting this is for YOU!!” In short, nothing about trained fighters. This is 1980s / 1990s “tough man” fights which is NOT MMA and therefore should be banned.

2) The fight application Arnott had on his site asks the fighters to list their win / loss record for “Street Fights, Hockey Fights, Backyard Boxing, Helmet Fights etc.” Clearly not the sign of a professional organization.

3) It appears this Kamloops event was sanctioned by the “Canadian Amateur Combat Sports Council”. Well, the CACSC is owned and run by Arnott, the promoter of the event. This is not a sanctioning body, just a website used to confuse the participants and other interested parties into believing the events are safely run and sanctioned.

So let’s be clear, this Kamloops event where the untrained Boyer was seriously injured was NOT an MMA event. This was an unsafe and unsanctioned fight.

There is not been a single death in MMA where the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts have been used. While there have been injuries, there has not been an injury in severity as suffered by Boyer.

As I did last year, I urge the BCMA to work with the MMA community and BC Government to form an Athletic Commission like the one in Nevada. Banning MMA will drive the sport underground or onto Indian Reservations where such sanctions are not recognized.

The protections a Commission can provide for participants are huge plus the revenues collected from from dozens of “small” events, two “medium” sized World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) shows and one large UFC style event each year would pay for the operation of this commission.

I want to point out to BCMA President Dr. Nasir Jetha that his favourite sports of mountain climbing, soccer and golf each individually have more deaths and serious injuries in the last year than the entire history of MMA. Yet, he is not calling for the banning of these activities. Why? Because he – like many others not familiar with the rules and history of MMA – have a bias against the world’s faster growing sport due to perceived risk.

Hopefully, the BCMA will open their mind to MMA and that the BC Government gets moving on forming this Commission. Soon.

Boy, do I hope so. Especially after reading this article in today’s Vancouver Sun newspaper where, allegedly, young MMA practitioners / students – most under the age of 12 – took part in a seemingly full contact tournament. Weight classes were not enforced; age groups were diverse and males grappled with females. To say this is unsafe and paints MMA in a bad light is an understatement.

The tournament was organized by Maple Ridge based “The Fightpit” instructor Don Whitefield who really should have known better. So too should the parents who entered their kids into the matches with such lack safeguards.

Just like in boxing and hockey, contact elements of MMA should not be introduced until early to mid-teens. This promotes the fundamentals of of the sport and allows the kids to learn the skills they will need to get to the next level.

Thankfully an overwhelming majority of MMA schools, coaches and fighters share this view and the tournament from this past weekend was the really bad exception to this rule.

For more, here is my interview on CKNW’s Bill Good Show from this morning.

…and here I am on Dave Dickson’s CFAX radio program in the afternoon:

ADDITION: This was posted on the Vancouver Sun forum purportedly by the event organizer:

Of course the topic, the Canadian Medical Association’s (CMA) call for a ban on Mixed Martial Arts.

Enjoy!

Michael also coined the phrase “fluffy pom-poms of death” when reminding listeners of one of my most quote facts – that there are more injuries and deaths in cheerleading than in MMA. BTW – Fluffy Pom-Poms of Death would make a totally awesome band name.

Here is the interview.

July 16th – British Columbia Medical Association (BCMA) receives a proposed motion from “a Vancouver area neurologist” calling for a Canada wide ban on MMA and submits two studies to support his cause.

End of July – BCMA forwards this motion and others to the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) for inclusion in debate at the CMA Annual General Council Meeting at the end of August.

August 13th – BCMA President Dr. Ian Gillespie appears on CKNW radio in Vancouver and is taken to task from host Michael Smyth for lack of knowledge. I speak with almost 100 media outlets to date on this issue almost all supporting the MMA community’s position that MMA should not be banned, but rather regulated.

August 13th to 16th – Emails and phone calls to the BCMA to discuss their motion are not returned.

August 17th – Scathing email from the BCMA is sent to me and copied to Michael Smyth of the Vancouver Province and CKNW and to Chris Parry of the Vancouver Province. I send a reply and again ask to meet.

August 19th – BCMA meets with me to discuss their motion. They indicated that due to procedure, they could not pull the motion from the CMA and cited a third study in their literature review of MMA.

August 24th – Contentious debate of the motion hits the CMA floor. Motion is put over to the next day.

August 25th – The following motion: “The Canadian Medical Association advocates for a ban on Mixed Martial Arts prize fighting matches in Canada.” passes and was supported by 84% of the assembly. 15% abstained and 1% voted against the motion.

List of Blog posts from this site:

BCMA Wants MMA Banned in Canada – August 13, 2010
More BCMA MMA Media – August 16, 2010
Radio with Me & Dr. Ian Gillespie – Sort Of – August 16, 2010
So, the BCMA Emailed Me Today – August 17, 2010
Interview with Mauro Ranallo – August 17, 2010
Met with the BCMA Today – August 19, 2010
Bruce Allen and Chris Parry Weigh in on the BCMA vs MMA Debate – August 19, 2010
Tom, Dave and the Rock Doc \m/ – August 22, 2010
“Ontario Government did their homework” – Tom Wright, UFC – August 24, 2010
Canadian Medical Association passes motion to ban MMA – August 25, 2010
My Email to the CMA – August 25, 2010
Doctors and their smear job on Mixed Martial Arts – CKNW – August 25, 2010
CMA Processes Motions Baaaaa – er, I Mean Fast – August 25, 2010
More MMA on CFAX Radio – August 25, 2010

Info on how and why MMA was sanctioned in Vancouver with links to medical studies.

For Google news search results on the BCMA call for the MMA ban, click here and for the news search results on CMA’s call for the MMA ban, click here.

Good Morning – I am an MMA advocate based in British Columbia and had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Ian Gillespie of the BCMA in advance of the motion to ban Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) was presented at your meeting.

I am interested to speak with someone at the CMA to see what information was used to support the motion; what if any question arose from debate which I or others may answer; and what steps your organization will now take to have the sport of MMA banned in Canada.

Regards,

Dave Teixeira.
President, Dave.ca Communications Inc.
dave@dave.ca
(604) 418-9177

And now we wait.

Oh – here is a screen capture as proof I sent the web form mail. Don’t want THAT excuse popping up again.

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) just approved the following motion as brought forward by the British Columbia Medical Association (BCMA): “The Canadian Medical Association advocates for a ban on Mixed Martial Arts prize fighting matches in Canada.”

The motion was supported by 84% of the assembly. 15% abstained and 1% voted against the motion.

Prior to this vote, a motion to refer the motion to the Board was defeated by 62% of the assembly.

NEW NOTES:

According to the Globe & Mail newspaper: “The vote came after often contentious debate among 250 doctors at the meeting in Niagara Falls, Ont.”

Vancouver Sun – Doctors vote for ban on professional MMA without studying issue

More on this as the day develops. Until then – here is more information on the ban.

The first with Tom Wright, UFC’s Director of Canadian Operations. This is a brief clip from a longer interview which will appear on Live Audio Wrestling tonight.

The second clip is my interview with Christy Clark on CKNW from Friday.

The final clip is with Dr. Samuel Gutman who is known as the Rock Doc. He was at ringside for UFC 115 in Vancouver is does not agree with the BCMA’s stance on MMA.

Angry, loud CKNW commentator and possible Vancouver Mayoral candidate Bruce Allen jumped in with both feet yesterday and guess what? He does not like the British Columbia Medical Assocation’s proposal to ban MMA in Canada.

Bruce has been a fan and supporter of MMA for a number of years so it is great to see him add his voice to the ever growing opposition of the BCMA’s proposal.

Listen to what Bruce says:

Also Chris Parry from the Vancouver speaks once again on this issue in today’s paper. His article is awesome due to his passion and ability to spell my name correctly.

BCMA continues firing at own feet. But at least they can fix the wounds.

Sharon Shore, senior manager of media relations at the BC Medical Association, doesn’t have a high opinion of myself, nor Province scribe Michael Smyth, nor Prov MMA blogger Spencer Kyte, nor local combat sports promoter Dave Teixeira.

Hardly a newsflash for anyone who heard Dr Ian Gillespie’s interview with Smyth on CKNW last Friday, wherein Gillespie, who wants MMA banned across Canada, admitted he hadn’t actually ever seen an MMA contest, nor did he know the rules, nor did he have injury/death rates on the sport. But he’d still like to ban it. Obviously.

If you heard Teixeira and myself on CKNW on Monday, you would have heard us both reacting in a fairly gobsmacked nature that someone in such a high and responsible position wouldn’t first watch a few minutes of the sport he wants to ban, or talk to some practitioners of the sport, perhaps some trainers, or even the ringside doctor from the recent UFC event, before going national with their push to ban. If they had, they would have heard unanimous opinions that say the opposite to what the BCMA assumes: That MMA is more violent than other sports and we should be protected from it.

Both Teixeira and myself suggested that the more sensible option might be for the BCMA to push the province to establish proper oversight of the sport, with more pre-and post-fight medical testing of fighters, and perhaps higher standards of ringside care. That’s the sort of push nobody would complain about – ever. We want more of that. We’re dying for that.

Instead, the BCMA is going into ultra-defensive mode.

From an email by Shore today, The only negative media we have received is from Mike [Smyth] and his pro-MMA Province co-hort Spencer Kyte.”

She might want to keep more of an eye on the media – Teixeira has done 40 interviews since Friday, by his reckoning, and the story has been featured (either negatively towards the BCMA or in neutral terms) by Sportsnet, ESPN, TSN, Montreal Gazette, Vancouver Sun and the Province, among many others, according to Teixeira’s observations on his blog.

She continued, “Our research consisted of lit reviews — of which there are few because the “sport” is so new.” (Putting irony quotes around the word ‘sport’ really demonstrates the BCMA’s even-handed attitude on the topic, doesn’t it?)

She goes on, “Plus many of the studies out there have been done on behalf of the MMA franchise (not unlike drug effectiveness studies undertaken by Merck or Pfizer).  The information we relied on includes the British Medical Association, which also calls for a ban of MMA sporting events; and the John A. Burns School of Medicine, Honolulu, Hawaii.”

Interestingly, Sharon makes no mention of “watching MMA” or “talking to people involved in the sport.” She wipes any research that backs the safety levels of MMA as being paid for by “the MMA franchise.”

I assume by ‘MMA franchise’ she means the UFC, which to my knowledge has never paid for any research on the topic, but regularly quotes from a Johns Hopkins Medical School study that says it’s safer than boxing due to the number of ways a fight can end early that don’t involve head trauma.

The recent death of a fighter in South Carolina was tragic, but it came exactly because of a lack of pre-fight testing of fighters and, in this case, a fighter who was 6’7″ being allowed to fight severely underweight as a 155lb lightweight. Proper medical oversight might have determined he had a dangerously small amount of body fat, and that shots to the head would have done more damage as a result – all assessments that have been made in the post-fight investigation. The South Carolina situation is something nobody wants, but the BCMA would ensure it was the norm.

I didn’t write a story about the BCMA ban proposal when it first came to light because, after discussions with editors at The Sun, we figured it was a non-story – “someone at the BCMA wants a media profile or is looking for some busy-work” was my first thought. But the story has stuck around, largely because the BCMA keeps on admitting to the fact that they put zero thought into this proposal, and the media keeps saying “seriously?”

So today I emailed Sharon the following:

If your people have read all the scientific papers on the topic, presumably they’ve seen the research in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, which said “it appears that basketball has a 10% higher injury rate than wrestling, 50% higher injury rate than boxing, and more than seven times higher injury rate than martial arts.” (http://www.jssm.org/combat/2/11/v6combat2-11.pdf)

I also asked when the proposals for banning dirt biking, lawn bowls, softball, cheerleading and fishing are coming, since they’re all sports with a far higher death/injury rate than MMA. I don’t expect any answers will be forthcoming.

I train in the disciplines involved in MMA whenever I can, and that, combined with a change in diet and a weekly pick-up soccer game, has seen my health markedly improve over the last twelve months. But the BCMA doesn’t want my thoughts on the validity of MMA, no matter how beneficial it has been for me.

Nor have they talked to fighters, trainers, the parents of the thousands of kids across the lower mainland who are getting in shape with MMA classes, or the seniors who I’ve seen rolling in jiu-jitsu classes all over town, or the men and women who are ensuring they can defend themselves against attack by learning how to incapacitate an attacker without throwing a punch.

They don’t seem to have much of a problem about sports where there’s a real risk of death or disfigurement (go see how many softball jersey-wearing Emergency Room patients there are at VGH every weekend, or the paralysis numbers out of cheerleading, or maybe check the figures on the number of people who die while playing lawn bowls). Instead, someone at the BCMA doesn’t like MMA, was concerned that UFC 115 resulted in a few elite fighters breaking their hands/feet while throwing punches, and decided we should all just stop doing it.

Interestingly, while maintaining that the proposal is full speed ahead, Shore is also backpedaling on the proposal – not that it won’t be delivered as promised, but that it really doesn’t mean anything until doctors across the country vote on it, and that they might not even get that chance.

“This is one of about 20 resolutions that run the gamut of health and safety that the BCMA is bringing to CMA’s conference.  At the national conference, at least 200 resolutions from medical associations across the country will be discussed and voted on by doctors.  There is no guarantee that this particular resolution will even make it to the General Council floor for discussion. Usually upwards of 300 resolutions are brought for discussion – not all of them make it because of time constraints.  If this resolution makes it to the floor, is discussed and passed (or not passed) then that will be news.  We did not seek out this recent media interest.”

Hmm. ‘We did not seek out this recent media interest.’ That’s weird, because also in Shore’s email is this: “While you, Mike and Chris were busy telling local audiences that the BCMA must be retreating, has gone underground and is no longer taking media requests — we were busy doing national media.”

So bottom line – the BCMA doesn’t want the media they’re doing, they haven’t seen the sport they want to ban, they got no negative media except for people from both Vancouver dailies, ESPN, Sportsnet and even Montreal media, and they’ve looked at all relevant studies except the studies they don’t like (which they assume were bought and paid for by ‘the MMA franchise’.

Yes folks, this is what a gong show looks like.

Note to the BCMA: If you really want to do something beneficial for B.C. residents, push the province and the federal government to give doctors a seat at the table regarding how MMA is officiated, regulated and improved. That way, you’re part of the solution, not the problem.

This was my first face-to-face with BCMA President Dr. Ian Gillespe who brought into the meeting Jonathan D. Agnew, Assistant Director of Policy and Geraldine Vance, Director of Communications & Public Affairs.

I expressed the concerns on their motion. Namely no consultation with the MMA community and their call for an all out ban vs better regulation. I reiterated that having medical associations working with the MMA community is very much welcome.

They took the time to explain that the motion was brought to their caucus as a delegate motion by a Vancouver area Neurologist. Caucus then agreed and passed to the CMA. I asked if they could remove or modify the motion and they said no as the motion was already filed with the CMA.

You will recall the BCMA cited two documents for their decision. Today they provided an additional piece to me – a 2006 report from the British Journal of Sports Medicine entitled “No hold barred sport fighting: a 10 year review of mixed martial arts competition”. In short the reviewer watched 642 MMA recorded fights from Japan and the US during the time period of 1993 to 2003. The problem with this of course is the rules from that era do not reflect the rules now used. So yes, head butts, kicks when the opponent is down and strikes to the spine will be in those 642 fights – but not now.

I pointed this out and brought them up to speed on the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts where many of the debilitating blows in the study are now outlawed. Of course after the late 1990′s (and in the Unified Rules) there are gloves, weight classes, matching of fight / skill records and more protections are in place for the participants. In short, this 2006 study is as out dated as using bloodletting or leaches in surgery. I wish I had said that leaches line in the meeting…but sadly only thought of it now.  But I did say the sport has evolved considerably from the time frame in the study.

Dr. Gillespie asked if regulation increased safety. That is a good question. I believe it has since regulation in part supports the Unified Rules of MMA which provided medical exams, weight classes, rounds, etc. He asked how the rules in Vancouver differ from those in South Carolina where a fighter died recently. That State does not use the Unified Rules and thus a pre fight MRI for the fighter was not required – a procedure which may have detected an existing medical issue in the fallen fighter. In Vancouver the Unified Rules are observed.

We both agreed that head injury prevention are paramount concerns and that having Provincial regulation would be good – especially since none exists now. [Note BCMA contacted me that the crossed out statement was not correct in light of the resolution forwarded to the CMA. My notes differ slightly but I believe this is semantics in that which the resolution is in place the BCMA cannot support regulation but should the motion fail - in my estimation - they will support a Provincial Commission.]

The BCMA will forward the exact wording of their motion to me when is it prepared by the CMA. The way motions are prepared for the CMA conference is quite a bit different from similar meetings I have attended. The wording will be available by early next week before the vote takes place on Wednesday, August 25th.

All-in-all, anytime folks can get together to learn about the other side’s view, that is a good thing. I do believe once the motion at the CMA is handled the BCMA will work with the MMA community in BC to advance the goal of Provincial regulation and assist in directing how amateur MMA associations can develop.

Will I and others still speak out on the BCMA proclamation to ban MMA in Canada? Absolutely. Will I be looking forward to seeing the BCMA working with MMA groups? Yes – and that will happen. Soon. Especially since I left with Dr. Gillespe’s receptionist an awesome Dave.ca T-shirt. How can he say no to me now?

But this morning, I took a chance when I saw an email in my inbox from him and I was glad I did. Chris replied to Sharon Shore, the BCMA’s media person who sent out a scathing anti-MMA email yesterday afternoon.

Chris usually reserves this level of anger and frustration to when he hears the words “last call” or if the buffet is running low of “meat in sauce”, so you know he is passionate on the issue of MMA being banned in Canada.

So with Chris’ permission, here is his reply – what do you think?

Let me get this straight, Sharon.

Your representative – the person pushing this proposal and leading your organization – admits he’s never actually watched an MMA event and doesn’t know the rules, but you’re claiming your organization has been reviewing all the scientific research available and is ready to draw a conclusion that would ban a sport that has been a professional endeavour for over fifteen years in North America and is rated as the number one fastest growing fitness activity in North America?

Really? Wouldn’t “watching some of it” be a reasonable part of that research? Wouldn’t talking to participants, trainers and officials be a part of that research? Maybe you could have talked to the parents of some of the tens of thousands of children learning the aspects of the sport in martial arts gyms across the country?

How on earth can Dr Gillepsie go into the national media scrum and pontificate on a topic without first watching ten minutes of it on TV? Would you like me to send him a DVD so he can catch up on what MMA actually is before your group attempts to ban it?

If your people have read all the scientific papers on the topic, presumably they’ve seen the research in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, which said “it appears that basketball has a 10% higher injury rate than wrestling, 50% higher injury rate than boxing, and more than seven times higher injury rate than martial arts.” (http://www.jssm.org/combat/2/11/v6combat2-11.pdf)

Dirt biking, lawn bowls, softball, cheerleading and fishing are all sports with a far higher death/injury rate than MMA – are proposals to ban those also around the corner?

If you really want to benefit the population of B.C., maybe your organization could petition the provincial government to get nutritional information on restaurant menus and build more sports fields – you know, useful stuff that will have real impact in the community – rather than trying to ban an activity that people like myself (and my kids) are using to get in shape and stay healthy.

Lastly, you’re right, I didn’t contact Dr Gillespie for comment, because after listening to his interview with Michael Smyth, it was clear he didn’t have anything to tell me that might be backed with even the most cursory piece of topical knowledge. Instead, I called five fighters and trainers – three of which trained as boxers earlier in their careers, and all three of which tell me MMA is far less dangerous in their actual real world experience, that MMA fighters have far longer careers (Randy Couture is 46 years old and still fighting for world titles after fifteen-plus years in the pro MMA game) – and all of them hold the same opinion… That the BCMA is making a fool of itself by looking to ban something rather than properly oversee it and bring higher standards to officiating and pre-/post-fight care.

Yours,
Chris Parry
(Pro-MMA cohort)