It seems that MMA has become very respected and popular lately, and with good reason. However, the arts are truly that - an art; while MMA is more of a sport. Little respect by practitioners of MMA, little attention to "defense-only" spirit.

However, the martial arts seem to be getting a very bad rap lately in that many high ranking martial artists are getting their rear-ends whooped by MMA guys.

There is a lot of value in self defense techniques, not used in MMA. It just seems like anyone that says they study one martial art is disregarded nowadays, but it takes so much time to get good enough to be competitive in MMA. Tough to know what style to take in today's culture.

Are most people aware of MMA or is it that I am familiar with it, so it seems like the rest of the world has less respect for the traditional arts?