The joy of being a writer is that you’re constantly introduced to strange and exotic worlds and none more exotic then the world of MMA. The Octagon is that 8-sided cage measuring 30 feet in diameter and enclosed by a six foot high metal chain-link fence. That is the wild world of Rowdy Rhonda Rousey, a woman I would not mess around with.
Last week a friend of mine who is a mixed martial arts student told me she was preparing for a charity event called Grappling for Autism and her offer to meet her MMA instructors and watch her train was too good to resist. My friend is Irene Tufano a college astronomy professor and also the mother an autistic child.
Truth be told I did work with a former UFC champion years ago in an effort to quell his anxiety before a match so I was familiar with the rigors of this world. The history of mixed martial arts goes back to ancient Greek and Roman times when it was called Pankration which combined grappling and striking. Since then it has grown into the sport of mixed martial arts by combining Eastern jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, judo, and karate with boxing and wrestling from the West. Competitions started in France in the 1850’s where various full-contact combat sports were pitted against each other to see which the best was. The sport was pushed further by the Gracie family from Brazil and today you have a global movement.
So I put back my shoulders, jumped into my car and drove to the UFC Gym on 2020 Jericho Tpke. in New Hyde Park. My gracious host for the day was Brandon Adames who is one of the gym’s directors. He walked me through is ultra-high tech gym with all those tread mills, cycling rooms, cafes, kid rooms, boxing bag areas, weight rooms and rope pull machines. I could only imagine how much money this place cost to put together. I was there at 11 AM on a Tuesday and full expected to see an empty gym. Wrong. Apparently there are many people who either want to get fit or want to know how to grapple.
I stepped into the Octagon and witnessed Irene tussle with one of her instructors. And I took the photo you see above so as to distract them which then allowed me to exit the cage without getting ripped apart. I then got to sit with Brandon, Irene and another wrestler named Abena George and asked them why an event to increase awareness of autism. It turns out that Brandon’s brother is on the autism spectrum as well so they both Irene and Brandon both have concern and compassion for kids with this condition. Autism is considered a neurodevelopmental disorder and there are many famous folks who suffer with it. Noted celebrities on the spectrum include Dan Aykrod, Daryl Hannah and the wildly funny Andy Kaufman. People often speculated to be on this spectrum include Albert Einstein, Carl Jung, Franz Kafka, the world’s finest philosopher Fredrich Nietzsche, Andy Warhol, Henry Thoreau, Mark Twain, cartoonist Charles Schultz, Bob Dylan and the creator of Pokémon Satoshi Tajiri. These people have some level of social deficit, communication problem and a tendency to have repetitive behaviors and interests.
So what is a more worthy cause than to grapple for autism? The beauty of these mixed martial arts classes and why they are so appealing is that they import the Asian values of respect through bowing, hard work, discipline, and dedication. If you want to learn more about the amazing world of MMA, this very impressive UFC Gym or if you simply want to lend some support to autism research go down to the UFC Gym on Saturday April 30th at 9 AM and join in the fun. And for more information about the event contact autismradio.org.
