A striking seminar has been held in Madagascar following the discipline's introduction in March ©GAMMA

The Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts (GAMMA) has held a striking seminar with the Madagascar KENPO Federation & MMA GAMMA (MKF) as athletes prepare for the Madagascar MMA Championships next month and the GAMMA World Championships in December.

More than 20 athletes and coaches attended the event, which was led by MKF President Parfait Rakotoni.

Striking MMA was introduced by GAMMA earlier this year as a discipline aimed to help athletes transition into MMA from other combat sports.

"From now on we can train athletes according to MMA and Striking MMA rules, which will bode well for future international tournaments," said Rakotoni.

"I would like to thank all the participants as well as our hosts for making the seminar so successful."

Striking MMA recently debuted at the GAMMA Asian MMA Championships in Kyrgyzstan in August.

Singapore hosted the inaugural GAMMA World MMA Championships in 2019 ©GAMMA
Singapore hosted the inaugural GAMMA World MMA Championships in 2019 ©GAMMA

It allows takedowns, but prohibits ground-and-pound moves, making it a smoother entry into the sport from martial arts like boxing, kickboxing and muaythai.

"We applaud GAMMA Madagascar for introducing their athletes to the new discipline of Striking MMA," added GAMMA President Alex Engelhardt.

"We hope that it encourages more Malagasy to take up the sport of MMA and we look forward to seeing them compete at the GAMMA World Championships in December. 

"In the meantime, we encourage all Member Federations to hold similar introductory seminars in their regions for athletes, coaches, and referees alike."

Madagascar is one of more than 100 GAMMA members of GAMMA.

The next edition of the GAMMA World Championships is due to take place in December, but a host is yet to be announced.