I'd Like to Start Training in MMA? Any Advice Please?
hey there, im 26 and never done any martial art or self defence before in my life, but ive really got into the UFC over the last couple of years. would it be wise to start training in just kickboxing first for example?? any advice is very welcome, cheers.
Just some random advice. Finding an instructor is always helpful but you want to gain as much information as possible and paying a bunch of different instructors is just not practical so you may want to do some independent learning on your own. When you do, you should know that videos will always be a lot more descriptive than books.
Dont train kickboxing. Train muay thai ( thai kick boxing), Brazillian jujitsu, mix martial art and western boxing.
No, even if you do become good at kickboxing it won’t mean anything because you will still get owned in grappling. Just go straight into MMA so you can be well rounded.
try ballet
If you are serious about studying MMA then I would suggest wrestling for your take downs, Muay Thai or boxing for your striking and BJJ for your ground work!
Good luck!
Its always good to get a foundational base in something. I think Wrestling/Boxing/Judo is a good place to start for a couple yrs, then work your way into BJJ/Muay Thai etc.
You’ll get stronger by wearing TAPOUT and AFFLICATION shirts!
It depends on what type of fighter you’d like to be. If you’d like to be primarily a stand up fighter, absolutely start with kickboxing. Start with whatever you feel most comfortable with, and whatever you feel drawn too. To succeed in the sport you will need well rounded skills, that means you’ll have to dabble in wrestling, and BJJ at a minimum, but there’s nothing wrong with developing a strong base. If you have no prior martial arts training, jumping right into wrestling, BJJ, and muay Thai, or kickboxing, and boxing, all at once might be a little daunting. Choose one aspect of the sport, get started, see how you like it, and if so pursue it further.
Ideally you will find a true Mixed Martial Arts gym. There are certain aspects of each individual art that need to be modified to meet the needs of a mixed martial artist. The most mundane things like grip points in BJJ, and stance and footwork in kickboxing and boxing. If you train each art separately, your instructor will not point out these crucial modifications and you may be training really bad habits. Bad habits that you don’t want to carry with you into the cage.
If you were younger I would point you down a different path.
By nature some people just grasp certain ranges of combat better.
I think you would be best served by finding a TRUE MMA gym, one that actively trains fighters and whose instructors are professional fighters or have a proven track record.
There are plenty of new found MMA Mcdojo’s popping up, or places that were already McDojos that just threw MMA up on their sign. A Mcdojo is fast food Martial Arts.
Yes, in actuality you could train individual arts over the course of 5 to 6 years to gain a functional understanding in them, and then train MMA to learn how to put it all together.
At 26, you probably got better things to do and to spend money on, and basically you aren’t training MMA then.
YOu are interested in training MMA, then train MMA. Skip the base arts, go to a place that already puts the whole game together and has legit instructors in the base arts and it is all under 1 roof and 1 price, and the time you want to devote to it is up to you.
Just to make you aware going in, MMA is A LOT of conditioning, going so hard on circuits and exercises that you are wretching. It is also a lot of pain, you will get hit in the face, you will get joint locked, compressions, muscle slicers, spinal misalignments and all sorts of nasty things that hurt a lot. You will get choked, you will probably get choked unconscious a few times, you will have nasty bruises, sprains, and will have to walk around with black eyes and busted lips.
You will also learn more about yourself then you can ever dream.
But my advice is if you want to learn MMA, learn MMA. You can get everything you need at one good MMA gym.
If you are going to train in mma, go to a gym that trains in every aspect of mma. If you get your boxing training in a boxing gym it doesn’t prepare you for things such as takedowns and clinch techniques. Stances vary from mma to traditional boxing. It is best to learn how each of these techniques work together with the other to become a complete more well rounded fighter.