Arkansas Code of 1987 (2023) › Title 17 - PROFESSIONS, OCCUPATIONS, AND BUSINESSES (§§ 17-1-101 — 17-107-311) › Subtitle 2 - NONMEDICAL PROFESSIONS (§§ 17-10-101 — 17-56-202) › Chapter 22 - BOXING, WRESTLING, ETC (§§ 17-22-101 — 17-22-306) › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS (§ 17-22-101) › Section 17-22-101 - Definitions

As used in this chapter:
(1)
"Amateur" means a person who has never received nor competed for any purse or other compensation in an amount that exceeds the sum established by the State Athletic Commission in its rules for:
(A)
Expenses of training; or
(B)
Participating in a combative sports contest or exhibition;
(2)
"Boxing" means to compete with the fists;
(3)
(A)
"Combative sports" means boxing, kick boxing, wrestling, martial arts, Muay Thai, or any combination thereof, or any form of hand-to-hand, elbow-and-foot, or foot-and-leg competition in which:
(i)
A blow is struck which may reasonably be expected to inflict injury; or
(ii)
A surface for fighting is used that may reasonably be expected to inflict injury.
(B)
"Combative sports" does not include student training or an exhibition of a student's skill when:
(i)
Conducted by a martial arts school or an association of martial arts schools;
(ii)
The student's participation is for health and recreational purposes rather than competition;
(iii)
The intent is to use only partial contact; and
(iv)
The scoring technique is based only on points.
(C)
"Combative sports" does not include professional wrestling;
(4)
"Exhibition" means any engagement in which the participants show or display their skills without necessarily striving to win;
(5)
"Kick boxing" means any form of boxing in which blows are delivered with the hand and any part of the leg below the hip, including the foot;
(6)
"Manager" means any person who directly or indirectly controls or administers the combative sports affairs of any professional participant of the same;
(7)
"Martial arts" or "mixed martial arts" means any discipline in which the participants utilize kicks, punches, blows, strikes, or other techniques, including without limitation any form of judo, kung fu, karate, and tae kwon do, ju jitsu, or any combination thereof;
(8)
"Match" means any engagement in which the participants show or display their skills while striving in good faith to win;
(9)
"Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or club;
(10)
"Professional" means an individual who is eighteen (18) years of age or older and who, as a means of obtaining pecuniary gain:
(A)
Competes for money, prizes, or purses in combative sports contests or exhibitions; or
(B)
Teaches, instructs, or assists in the practice of professional combative sports;
(11)
"Professional wrestling" means an event or form of combat between two (2) or more participants, whether the outcome is predetermined or not, in which a participant:
(A)
Delivers or appears to deliver blows to his or her opponent's body;
(B)
Executes throws to his or her opponent's body; or
(C)
Applies holds to his or her opponent's body;
(12)
"Promoter" means any person, club, organization, corporation, or association, and in the case of a corporate promoter includes any officer, director, employee, or stockholder thereof who produces, arranges, or stages any professional boxing, kick boxing, wrestling, or martial arts match or exhibition; and
(13)
"Wrestling" means any form of combat between two (2) or more participants in which a participant delivers blows to his or her opponent's body, executes throws to his or her opponent's body, or applies holds to his or her opponent's body.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 923,§ 1, eff. 7/24/2019.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 386,§ 7, eff. 7/24/2019.
Amended by Act 2017, No. 252,§ 2, eff. 8/1/2017.
Amended by Act 2013, No. 1096,§ 1, eff. 8/16/2013.
Acts 1999, No. 1085, § 1; 2009, No. 781, § 1.