Hello,
As Cady and Paul stated, this is not a new issue and can probably be said of other martial arts. When general discussions forums like this were more popular (before Facebook and Twitter came along), forums like Bullshido flourished and people there delighted in telling us all how bad aikido was as a martial art. Here we have a waiting list in our kids' class because there is not enough space -- and K1 and MMA fighting is quite popular here in Japan.
Best wishes
Peter Goldsbury,
Forum Administrator,
Hiroshima, Japan