FROM ARTIST ART IN NO HOLDS BARRED TO ARTISAN ART IN MMA

AN ELIASIAN ANALYSIS OF FIGHTS

Abstract

This essay analyzed the transformation processes from no holds barred to MMA based on Norbert Elias' concept of artisan art and artist's art. No holds barred and MMA take the place Elias assigned to music; while the Gracie family is the empirical character that, as Elias did with Mozart, helps to understand the two configurations. The first (artist's art) is a freer fight, less rigid, with less control; the second (artisan art) is aimed to the audience, the media and business. The sportization process, permeated by configurational transformations that modified the market, production and consumer taste, resulted in a decrease in the possibility of fighters acting as 'martial artists'. The high control of rules and actions limited the artist's art.