00:10
JENNIFER: You can get hurt in football, you
can get hurt in soccer, you can get hurt in
baseball, letting him fight in a cage and
teaching him to protect himself and be able
to defend himself in the real world? I see
no problem with it.
00:23
COMM: Mixed Martial Arts, as popularised by
the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is one
of the world's most brutal sports. But incredibly,
MMA is growing in popularity in children as
young as four.
00:37
BUNNY: Some critics say it's like cockfight,
it's just people who don't really understand
the sport, who've not trained in it before.
00:43
MARIA: I like MMA because it helps me protect
myself.
00:45
ALBERT: Red corner wins.
00:50
BUNNY: Martial arts has been a part of my
life throughout my life and I love it, and
this is what I do for a living. And it's what
I'll do until I'm walking around with a cane
and I can't do it no more.
00:59
BUNNY: I have both adults and children, we're
teaching them mixed martial arts. We're teaching
them some jiu-jitsu, we're teaching them some
kick boxing, we're teaching them boxing, some
Taekwondo, just a mix of martial arts and
since we do that it is mixed martial arts.
01:15
COMM: Two of Bunny's most promising students
are sisters Maria, aged eleven, and Valery
who is nine. And they have no qualms about
going toe to toe with the boys.
01:26
VALERY: Most of my NAGA competitions I had
to fight boys because they couldn't find any
girl matches for me.
01:31
MARIA: It is a little nerve wracking but you
get used to it after a while.
01:37
VALERY: Boys are more aggressive and crazy
sometimes.
01:39
MARIA: And they get mad faster.
01:41
VALERY: Some boys, if they get submitted they
get mad.
01:47
BUNNY: Those two girls will stand up and meet
boys toe to toe, head to head, they don't
fear a boy at all and you'll see no change
in their performance, no change in how they
execute.
01:59
COMM: The sisters who also enjoy gymnastics
and painting were introduced to the sport
by their parents, who are both martial arts
black belts.
02:05
ALBERT: They're a little different, the older,
Maria, she more calm I guess. She's a little
bit more, like to play more defence, let the
other person make a mistake and take an advantage
and the younger Valery is a little bit faster,
a little bit more aggressive. She likes to
attack. Not to wait for the other person to
come in.
02:29
ALBERT: You never know when you're going to
need what, in life, it's better to know it
and never need it than need it and not be
able to do it.
02:39
COMM: And they aren't the only parents who
see the benefit of the sport for this children.
02:43
MISTY: The truth of the matter is there are
bad people out there, and this is to prepare
him in the event if something were to happen,
if he were to get in a bad situation, he would
know how to handle himself.
02:54
SKIP: We knew it was dangerous but no matter
what type of sports you play there's some
kind of danger involved in it.
03:00
ELI: I think it's just a great builder it
teaches them restraint, balance, great physical
endurance, it's a very active sport.
03:09
COMM: While children in the United States
can compete in mixed martial arts, it is not
legal for them to participate in the full
contact version, UFC style.
03:18
BUNNY: We do not do what you see on TV, children
when they're grappling, they can't punch each
other where adults can. Children are not allowed
to punch each other. But when they do punch
each other it's called stand up, when we teach
them stand up training then we put the headgear
on, and boxing gloves and mouth pieces, and
we stand over the and supervise them. And
we wear shin and instep pads for the shin
and feet. And we watch them and we don't even
have to wait until they tap. If a child has
an arm bar out for instance, we don't have
to wait until it's locked and the child says
"ugh" we see the position is there, we call
it anyway.
03:54
BUNNY: I've been teaching children for many
years, and I've never had a child hurt in
MMA.
04:01
COMM: And Bunny is unphased by any criticism
he receives.
04:04
BUNNY: You still have those critics that quickly,
when they hear the name MMA, oh children are
doing it, that's child abuse or whatever but
once the truth comes out and they see it,
it's like oh I understand. We definitely are
against violence. Definitely, and we've stressed
that. Children get out and we find that they're
doing anything, even showing other kids some
of their techniques out on the playground
at school or anywhere, we warn them first
time and we tell the parents that they have
to take them out the second time. Because
that is not what we teach.
04:38
COMM: And as the club grows Bunny is hopeful
some of the children will continue the sport
into adulthood.
04:44
BUNNY: Football has peewee football, soccer
has peewee soccer, every sport just about,
basketball has got peewee. Well now MMA has
peewee.
04:52
BUNNY: Now MMA stars of tomorrow are be kids
that are peewee stars of today.
