Differences between Martial Artists, Fighters, and Athletes

[biscuitsbrah]

This discussion is mostly about mma but if you feel it applies to other combat sports feel free to chime in.

What do you think the main differences in these categories are? I feel like the one that stands out to me is that fighters are often willing to take the most punishment to get the job done, while that may not necessarily true for athletes or martial artists. I feel like fighters aren’t thinkers either, just kind of comes natural to them.

I also believe everyone who fights has a certain percentage of each category in them, just some lean heavily towards one side.

You have guys that are clearly ma’s like Anderson or Wonderboy and guys who are fighters like Garbrandt and BJ Penn and then you have athletes like Gsp and Woodley.
But what confuses me is someone like Nick Diaz who could be easily classified as both martial artist and fighter. Especially when I tend to think of fighters and martial artists on the opposite ends of the spectrum

Thoughts? Also what do you think Fedor was? He was kind of an anomaly to me. If I had to pick I would choose fighter but he was clearly a percentage of all 3

 

[j123]

There was a topic on this a few months ago, but I'll reiterate my thoughts

-Martial artists look to improve and focus on the technical and tactical aspect for the love of the system. Focused on wining the fight in the most ideal and economical way

-Athletes are a mix, but their sole purpose is to "win the game" regardless if it may or may not be "real". Stuff like shutting a guy down with lay and pray or compu strikes is okay with these types. Winning is fine even though the other guy has taken little damage, but you're ahead on points.

-fighters are the batshit cray ones who just thrive on fights and living in the heat of the moment. eg. A guy who have dirt shit terrible striking, but willingly stand and bang with a superior striker just to proove a point

To me:
GSP, Woodley are athletes
Zabit, Jon Jones, Conor, RDA, Wonderboy, TJ are martial artists (there's more for sure, but these pop to the top of my head)
Perry, Diego, Lawler, Jeremy Stephens, Cody are fighters

Personally, I feel not everyone fits in the box of any, there's usually a blend, eg. Cowboy being martial artist and fighter.

To me Fedor is more martial artist than the other categories

 

[dudeguyman]

 

[shincheckin]

i guess we would have to know how you define, martial artists, athletes, and fighters, when i first read it, i was thinking we were comparing martial artists, so people that practice MA's, vs athletes in other sports, vs fighters.

after reading your post though, seems like I interpreted it a different way.

I would say that generally speaking, smart fighters are the most successful

 

[tekkenfan]

i use to think that whoever had the better technique would always win till around purple belt then i met tim kennedy and holy hell he showed me what real fighting was and it rained with good well known guys before

my idea of a martial artist is someone who is afraid of having a weakness and tries to be as technical as he can always trying to evolve in all aspects of fighting say a gsp type or anthony pettis

fighter type would be a robbie lawlor nick diaz nick also likes to learn and tries to evolve but he has such a fighter mentality that he just gets in that brawling zone

i think guys like phil davis and jon jones are examples of athletes i dont think jones is a martial artist or fighter a fighter is a guy who can keep strong and keep going even when losing i think jones doesnt do well if he starts to get bested

 

[georgegreece]

How about diego sanchez?

 

[panamaican]

I think I'm going to parrot @j123 here.

A martial artist is someone who is dedicated to the study of fighting. They see martial arts as a lifestyle that goes beyond the fighting itself. To be cliche, combat is a journey through they experience self-discovery beyond the martial art itself.

A fighter is someone who enjoys the aspect of fighting for the joy of fighting itself. They can be as technical as anyone else but it's not about a personal journey related to anything except being a better fighter.

Athletes are people who see fighting as way to test themselves physically and "win" at something. They're not on a personal journey of self-discovery and they don't love fighting just to fight. They might love "winning" and they love getting better at something. But an athlete would be just as happy winning at any sport that the athlete excels at. Fighters and martial artists are happiest winning at combat sports.

None of that above suggests martial artists, fighters or athletes are intrinsically better at combat sports than the other. At the end of the day, it still boils down to what you train, how hard you train, your physical gifts and how much you want it.

 

[tekkenfan]

diego is a weird one when eh fights he goes caveman fighter mode but he loves his martial arts too he elft jacksons for 2 years to train directly under saulo in gi bjj to become a better technical grappler