About us

The International Association of Combative Sports is a non-profit and non-government organisation that promotes combative sports and martial arts education globally. 

A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport, usually with one-on-one combat. Determining the winner depends on the particular contest's rules. In many fighting sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent or by disabling the opponent. Mixed martial arts, boxing, wrestling, savate, kickboxing, mallyuddha, karate, muay thai, sanda, tae kwon do, judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, sambo, and fencing are examples of combat sports.
 

Folk wrestling exists in many forms and in most cultures and can be considered a cultural universal. The ancient Olympic Games were largely composed of sports that tested skills related to combat, such as armoured foot races, boxing, wrestling, pankration, and chariot racing, amongst others. Combat sports were first recorded during the Olympic Games of 648 b.c. With pankration. Pankration allowed competitors to use all striking and grappling techniques. The only rules for this sport in its origin were no biting and no eye gouging. A winner was decided by submission, unconsciousness, or even the death of an opponent. It is common for matches to last for hours. Pankration grew in popularity during the Hellenic period. Matches were in small square arenas to promote engagement. This tradition of combat sports was taken even further by the Romans, who had gladiators who would fight with weapons, sometimes to the death.
 

Through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, the tournament became popular, with jousting as the main event. While the tournament was popular among aristocrats, combative sports were practised at all levels of society. The German school of late mediaeval martial arts distinguished sportive combat (schimpf) from serious combat (ernst). In the German Renaissance, sportive combat competitions were known as fechtschulen, corresponding to the prize playing in Tudor England. Out of these prize-playing events developed the English boxing (or prizefighting) of the 18th century, which evolved into modern boxing with the introduction of the Marquess of Queensberry rules in 1867.
 

Amateur boxing has been part of the modern Olympic Games since their introduction in 1904. Professional boxing became popular in the United States in the 1920s and experienced a "golden age" after World War II.
 

The creation of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is attributed to the Grace family of Brazil in 1925, after Asian martial arts were introduced to Brazil. Vale-tudo, wrestling, muay thai kickboxing, and luta livre gained popularity. Modern Muay Thai was developed in the 1920s and 1930s. Sambo was introduced in the Soviet Union. Modern taekwondo also emerged after the Japanese occupation of Korea and became an Olympic sport in 2000. Sanshou, as part of modern Wushu, has been developed in the People's Republic of China since the 1950s. Kickboxing and full-contact karate were developed in the 1960s and became popular in Japan and the West during the 1980s and 1990s. Modern mixed martial arts developed out of the interconnected subcultures of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and shoot wrestling. It was introduced in Japan in the form of Shooto in 1985 and in the United States as the Ultimate Fighting Championship [UFC] in 1993. Unified rules for mixed martial arts were introduced in 2000, and the sport experienced a peak of popularity in the 2000s. With the popularity of MMA hitting its peak in the 2000s, it allowed for multiple brands and promotions to become established and form legitimate businesses. The most well-known promotion for MMA is the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as of 2016. This is due to being able to purchase most of the other competitors, such as Strikeforce on March 11, 2011, and World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) in late 2006, which later merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) after its final fight on December 16, 2010. There are still other promotions working, such as Bellator MMA, one championship, and many others.
 

Popularity of combat sports by gender

Males have been the gender that will often react, enjoy, and seek out combat sports due to them being a male-dominated sport. For many years, combat sports were a male-only sport, with the first recorded female combat sport event in the United States on March 28, 1997. A study conducted by Greenwell, Hancock, Simmons, and Thorn in 2015 reported that men had more experience watching and seeking out MMMA events than women. With this interest in combat sports, companies and promotions such as UFC or Bellator MMA have aimed advertising towards the male demographic, as combat sports are more prevalent within that gender.
 

Modern Sports

Today, athletes usually fight one-on-one but may still use various skill sets, such as strikes in boxing, which only allows punching; taekwondo, where punches and kicks are the focus; or muay thai and Burmese boxing, which also allow the use of elbows and knees. There are also grappling-based sports that may concentrate on obtaining a superior position, as in freestyle or collegiate wrestling, using throws such as in judo and greco-roman wrestling, or using submissions as in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Modern mixed martial arts competitions are similar to the historic Greek Olympic sport of pankration and allow a wide range of both striking and grappling techniques.

Combat sports may also be armed, and the athletes compete using weapons such as types of swords in western fencing (the foil, épée, and sabre) and kendo (shinai). Modern combat sports may also wear complex armour, like sca heavy combat and kendo. In gatka and modern arnis, sticks are used, sometimes representing knives and swords.

The IACS General Assembly is the supreme body to make with Founder Members, Council, National, International, and Associate Federations, and Honorary or Nominated Members. 

The IACS Executive Council is the administrative body to make all decisions according to statute, elected by the General Assembly. 

The National Association of Combative Sports (NACS) is the official national unit to represent the country. NACS has voting rights in the General Assembly if they continue to be active members for the last 2 years. 

International Martial Arts Organisations: IMAO is the Official Discipline Unit to Represent Sports. IMAO has the right to vote in the General Assembly if they have been active members for the last 2 years. 

The IACS Associate Members have no voting rights in the General Assembly, but they can be present in the General Assembly and give suggestions only. 

The IACS Executive Council nominates new honorary members and advisors for the promotion and development of IACS; they have no voting rights in the General Assembly.