I want to compete, how do I know when I'm ready?

[45ACP]

The obvious answer is, "ask your coach" but aside from that? What are some things I need to know about competing in KB if I've never done it before? Any specific techniques I need to have mastered completely?

About me:
- Spent most of my childhood/early teens training TKD on and off with my father, who is/was a 2nd degree BB competitor/instructor from a legit school (well, legit as far as TKD goes)
- Started training what I'd describe as AKB (along with BJJ and wrestling) about 8 years ago
- Trained for about 3 years at a gym with a very good MT program
- Competed in sub grappling once and was surprised by the level of intensity (which I know I'd have to be prepared for in a KB match)
- Current gym has great BJJ coaches but is lacking in the striking department (I can consistently get the better of my coach in stand up sparring - but partly due to the fact I have a massive reach advantage)
- 6'0" 170 lbs in pretty good shape with very long limbs (when I competed in BJJ I cut to 160lbs)
- lead hook, straight right and rear round kick are my best weapons (plus a good enough spinning back kick to land it consistently in sparring)
- I'm 39 years old

Also, I'm curious about rule sets. I know elbows and knees to the head are usually illegal at the amateur level, but what about knees to the body, clinching/sweeps, spinning shit, etc?

I haven't decided yet that this is something I'm definitely going to try, I'd just like to get as much info as I can so thanks for any replies.

 

[jonander50]

Do it dude, my amateur record is shit because I went too soon, I started as a personal challenge and to become acclimatized to fight, Im saving fights now and preparing them more, I encourage you to try it.

 

[Reyesnuthugr]

1) Go to a gym with several active, winning amateur/pro fighters.

2) Spar with several of the fighters, as is normal.

3) If you do well against them without inordinate effort, then you may be close to being ready and just need a tuneup.

4) If they are giving you problems during the spar (be honest with yourself), you feel like you have to elevate the aggression just to keep up, and you're not impressing them with your skill (nevermind "heart" in a spar-- not the time/place), then you're not ready.

 

[MisterHappy]

Rules will vary by state if you're in the US. Here, sanctioned ammy MMA fights are no elbows, knees to the head and no head kicks. The latter is often not the case for smokers or unsanctioned "visitor sparring" events. I would suggest getting involved with a few of those from reputable gyms before official ammy fights both for experience and also because at your age your state will likely want a shit ton of medicals done before sanctioning you that make it entirely cost prohibitive for older guys like us who are just training for enjoyment and not trying to turn pro. They are also a great way to gauge how you'll respond in a sanctioned fight and what you need to work on before doing so.

 

[shincheckin]

after reading your post and all the training you have done. it sounds me to like you are ready, just make sure your stamina is good, and you should be good to go. Also, ask your coach.

 

[j123]

The obvious answer is, "ask your coach" but aside from that? What are some things I need to know about competing in KB if I've never done it before? Any specific techniques I need to have mastered completely?

About me:
- Spent most of my childhood/early teens training TKD on and off with my father, who is/was a 2nd degree BB competitor/instructor from a legit school (well, legit as far as TKD goes)
- Started training what I'd describe as AKB (along with BJJ and wrestling) about 8 years ago
- Trained for about 3 years at a gym with a very good MT program
- Competed in sub grappling once and was surprised by the level of intensity (which I know I'd have to be prepared for in a KB match)
- Current gym has great BJJ coaches but is lacking in the striking department (I can consistently get the better of my coach in stand up sparring - but partly due to the fact I have a massive reach advantage)
- 6'0" 170 lbs in pretty good shape with very long limbs (when I competed in BJJ I cut to 160lbs)
- lead hook, straight right and rear round kick are my best weapons (plus a good enough spinning back kick to land it consistently in sparring)
- I'm 39 years old

Also, I'm curious about rule sets. I know elbows and knees to the head are usually illegal at the amateur level, but what about knees to the body, clinching/sweeps, spinning shit, etc?

I haven't decided yet that this is something I'm definitely going to try, I'd just like to get as much info as I can so thanks for any replies.

Spoiler: Rules

no elbows (unless you reach B-class which is 4+ fights -- exhibitions included)
no knees to head until A-class 10+ fights

knees to body, legs, arms are fine

only exception to this is if your opponent is so bad at clinching they escape by ducking out and eat a knee you intended for the body, thats on him then

when catching a kick, you can only step forward once and strike, you can't catch his leg, blitz forward. Think of it like basketball and going for a layup. You could absolutely catch -> step forward + punch, step forward + knee, step forward + dump

clinching: no judo throws, no double legs. You can kind of hip toss, it has to look like a kick or a knee, so you could hip toss but its them being dumped over your foot or knee

Spinning shit is fine, some orgs might have an issue with spinning backfists due to people sometimes rushing in and end up eating an elbow when they jam in

Spoiler: What to prep and expect for your first fight

I'll tell you this now, its your first fight, and its gonna be a nasty, ugly brawl, expect 8 years of your technique to fly out the window. Novice fights are very aggressively fueled where both fighters press forward to and end up in a clinch. Repeat this every 20-30 seconds. The rounds are short as well 3 x 2 min. Its a very high intense pace, like a sprint. Don't make the mistake of training for 5min rounds as your body will be used to pacing your tank over a 5min period while the 2 min is a burst. You will end up fighting ugly, if you're a very technical type that fights "pretty", you have to know how to deal with a swarmer who gets in, because at this level the fight is that.

You will need to focus on the bare essentials so your body can pick it up when shit hits the fan, which is immediately.

• Basic combination - 1,2,3,kick is a nice one
• retaliate ASAP, never let your guy get more than 3 strikes off you. The longer you wait, the worse the following strike could be. He could end up doing 1,2,3 flying knee / live kick
• clinch escape + attack
• ring control
• Solid guard. High guard is basic and it works

More important than technique is you have to learn how to fight. I'm not talking about technique, I mean competitive drive to win aggressively, and punish this guy for even thinking it was a good idea to hit you. This is the hardest step for most people who aren't aggressive by nature. Myself included when I first started competing.

Judging criteria is based on aggression, effective striking, and ring control. If you back up all fight, even if you tag the guy going backwards, you have a decent chance of still losing a decision. The other guy presses forward while being aggressive, he's won 2/3 criterias. Aggression + control are binded to each other.

Enjoy the camp, hopefully your coaches and team will prepare you so you won't get beat up. Its possible to lose a fight, but with a good team you won't get beat up, and can continue training and exercising the following day / week.

Best of luck, most importantly enjoy it.

 

[ctrlaltdelete]

solid reply from @j123

i would recommend a SMOKER before an amateur fight. usually, there is more of an age range there than amatuer fights. Your first match should be against someone mid to late 30s, somewhere around the same experience.

your comment about 'intensity' is right on and its good that yourr expecting it. my first smoker i treated a lot like a sparring match - i wasn't comfortable "turning it up."

Ive heard a term thrown around here, "white collar " / " blue collar " athletes. you should be matched up with a fellow white collar practitioner. not someone that is young and hungry, even if they have a little less experience.

 

[j123]

solid reply from @j123

i would recommend a SMOKER before an amateur fight. usually, there is more of an age range there than amatuer fights. Your first match should be against someone mid to late 30s, somewhere around the same experience.

your comment about 'intensity' is right on and its good that yourr expecting it. my first smoker i treated a lot like a sparring match - i wasn't comfortable "turning it up."

Ive heard a term thrown around here, "white collar " / " blue collar " athletes. you should be matched up with a fellow white collar practitioner. not someone that is young and hungry, even if they have a little less experience.

Smokers are a good way to break it in, I took 3 before my first sanctioned bout. These days though its kinda shitty, smokers are just a platform used by camps to shit on others. Kinda like the Olympics. By definition, its just hard sparring to get green guys in, these days they send in their killers and hide the records just to make a statement.

But if your opponent is chill then its a good exp. The coaches at the end of the day will know if its a good fit. Certain gyms are more gym war culture so yeah they'll treat it like the real thing, whereas a more regular gym will be willing to play the game.

They don't really match it by white / blue collar. Just exp level, by physical attributes, then the coaches come to an agreement if its a good match

 

[AusTosh]

you'll be fine... I did my first full contact karate (knockdown rules) tournament after only 6 months of training shinkyokushin. then another 1 month later, then another 2 months after that when I started.

 

[YoungCashMoney]

First few fights skills don't matter, go in there and fight with ur heart and u will win & u will see fight experience progresses u very fast. Just make sure u are in shape, thats really all u need. I had my first amateur fight 2 weeks after stepping into the gym, fought a guy with 9 fights who had already won a novice tournament and was 7-2, I whooped his ass the first round and dropped him hard (I guess for the first time) in the second with a right hand left hook, ( I literally only knew how to throw the 1-2-3, so I repeatedly used speed to just chuck 1-2-3's out there ). Ended up getting stopped in the 3rd, because I completely unprepared for the level of conditioning necessary, not to mention only sparring three times for real with actual fighters before that. I didn't get stopped off punches - it was actually bullshit, I took a knee when circling cuz I just couldn't keep my hands up anymore even tho I wasn't really getting hit, when I hit the ropes I knew this kid was about to light me up, I figured I'm probably way ahead on the scores, so I took a knee. Got up at 2 seconds and leaned up against the ropes (letting my weight drop on them, I want my mf break if I took a knee for this), and the referee stopped it at 4. Had 30 seconds to go, it was his home gym though so I'm not too surprised

The whole thing was rigged against me from the start, Floyd Sr. wasn't super sharp about matching me up either (he said I'll whoop anyone it doesn't matter, lol), but I definitely got matched with someone so experienced because Floyd Sr. is my trainer.

Point is: I lost because of conditioning, but even tho I had barely trained a few weeks I was still able to compete and get the better of an amateur who had been boxing years. Just go in there and as my coach said to me : fight like you've never fought before, and have fun. JUST make sure u are in shape!

Also, since that incident with my fight, I had Floyd sr call me a quitter for weeks, got mentally beaten down about it, even tho I didn't quit, taking the knee was what I thought was the most tactical option. Since then though because of that experience : I have never once gone down since then. I had never been down in sparring anyway but still, after that, it became impossible for me to go down unless my body shuts down.

 

[freaky]

Show us your sparrring vids and we 'll give you a more accurate answer.

 

[45ACP]

All awesome responses, really great info. Thanks everyone.

I'm going to try to get down to my old gym as there are quite a few successful ammy and pro mma and muay thai fighters down there and I'm sure my old coach would love to help me test myself. Smokers sound like a good idea to get started from there.

Show us your sparrring vids and we 'll give you a more accurate answer.

I'v never taken a video of me sparring, but I'll try to get some and post them here.

 

[AusTosh]

All awesome responses, really great info. Thanks everyone.

I'm going to try to get down to my old gym as there are quite a few successful ammy and pro mma and muay thai fighters down there and I'm sure my old coach would love to help me test myself. Smokers sound like a good idea to get started from there.



I'v never taken a video of me sparring, but I'll try to get some and post them here.

what is a smoker if you don't mind me asking?

 

[j123]

what is a smoker if you don't mind me asking?

Exhibition bout, doesn't go on your record, think of it as a mock fight. Well... at least on paper it is, but both guys have been prepping for weeks and the fear of the unknown pops up, so they end up treating it like the real thing.

Depends on your area, if legalized sanctioned bouts are banned, the local guys there will rack up their records in smokers. Technically smokers are illegal.

The difference is in the kill. In a real fight, you'd go and try to give the guy brain damage or torture him, and its cool. Smokers, you do that, ref separates and tells you to cool off. Fighter safety is more important to the ref in these type of bouts as there is no winner.

Sometimes its funny though, I saw one where dude got headkicked KO'd, and at the end both fighters had their arms raised.

 

[Uchi Mata]

Don't have much to add to the good responses already, other than make sure you get good hard sparring in before fighting. I didn't do much hard sparring before my first fight, assumed I'd just be able to turn it up, and that was really dumb. I was overwhelmed by the power and aggression because I hadn't been seeing it in the gym. If you're sparring with experienced fighters, have them turn it up a little. You need to get used again to taking a hard shot and returning fire. My gym has a few guys getting ready for fights in a couple weeks, and our sparring nights are not fucking fun right now, it's a bit of a war. But they need that to be mentally ready, and so will you.

 

[45ACP]

Don't have much to add to the good responses already, other than make sure you get good hard sparring in before fighting. I didn't do much hard sparring before my first fight, assumed I'd just be able to turn it up, and that was really dumb. I was overwhelmed by the power and aggression because I hadn't been seeing it in the gym. If you're sparring with experienced fighters, have them turn it up a little. You need to get used again to taking a hard shot and returning fire. My gym has a few guys getting ready for fights in a couple weeks, and our sparring nights are not fucking fun right now, it's a bit of a war. But they need that to be mentally ready, and so will you.

I know exactly what you mean. This is great advice for anyone competing in combat sports for the first time, and something I wish someone had told me before my first BJJ tournament. I basically treated it like a roll at the gym, and wasn't prepared for the intensity at all. I learned from that and will not make the same mistake again.

 

[j123]

Don't have much to add to the good responses already, other than make sure you get good hard sparring in before fighting. I didn't do much hard sparring before my first fight, assumed I'd just be able to turn it up, and that was really dumb. I was overwhelmed by the power and aggression because I hadn't been seeing it in the gym. If you're sparring with experienced fighters, have them turn it up a little. You need to get used again to taking a hard shot and returning fire. My gym has a few guys getting ready for fights in a couple weeks, and our sparring nights are not fucking fun right now, it's a bit of a war. But they need that to be mentally ready, and so will you.

Personally I'd say leave hard sparring (power wise) for 3x in a camp. Though keep the intensity and speed, and make sure your partners are sparring properly.

Lots of people make the mistake of throwing a combo, feeling satisfied, then back out letting you out of the corner. That alone is gonna screw with you on fight night. You're gonna get used to it, then come fight night, well your opponent doesn't exactly want to let you off the ropes and will keep teeing off until the cows come home.

Speed is also a major issue, people slowing down thinking speed = power and you end up tai chi sparring, and it ultimately hurts the technique.
It affects catching, kneeing, and sweeps.


Keep this in mind @45ACP . If your partners do this, tell them to cut it out. Its fighting where you can get injured, last thing you need is going in there unprepared and end up getting hurt.

 

[DoctorTaco]

“You’re never ready, it’s just your time”.

Chael sonnen

 

[BwamSolid]

Spoiler: Rules

no elbows (unless you reach B-class which is 4+ fights -- exhibitions included)
no knees to head until A-class 10+ fights

knees to body, legs, arms are fine

only exception to this is if your opponent is so bad at clinching they escape by ducking out and eat a knee you intended for the body, thats on him then

when catching a kick, you can only step forward once and strike, you can't catch his leg, blitz forward. Think of it like basketball and going for a layup. You could absolutely catch -> step forward + punch, step forward + knee, step forward + dump

clinching: no judo throws, no double legs. You can kind of hip toss, it has to look like a kick or a knee, so you could hip toss but its them being dumped over your foot or knee

Spinning shit is fine, some orgs might have an issue with spinning backfists due to people sometimes rushing in and end up eating an elbow when they jam in

Spoiler: What to prep and expect for your first fight

I'll tell you this now, its your first fight, and its gonna be a nasty, ugly brawl, expect 8 years of your technique to fly out the window. Novice fights are very aggressively fueled where both fighters press forward to and end up in a clinch. Repeat this every 20-30 seconds. The rounds are short as well 3 x 2 min. Its a very high intense pace, like a sprint. Don't make the mistake of training for 5min rounds as your body will be used to pacing your tank over a 5min period while the 2 min is a burst. You will end up fighting ugly, if you're a very technical type that fights "pretty", you have to know how to deal with a swarmer who gets in, because at this level the fight is that.

You will need to focus on the bare essentials so your body can pick it up when shit hits the fan, which is immediately.

• Basic combination - 1,2,3,kick is a nice one
• retaliate ASAP, never let your guy get more than 3 strikes off you. The longer you wait, the worse the following strike could be. He could end up doing 1,2,3 flying knee / live kick
• clinch escape + attack
• ring control
• Solid guard. High guard is basic and it works

More important than technique is you have to learn how to fight. I'm not talking about technique, I mean competitive drive to win aggressively, and punish this guy for even thinking it was a good idea to hit you. This is the hardest step for most people who aren't aggressive by nature. Myself included when I first started competing.

Judging criteria is based on aggression, effective striking, and ring control. If you back up all fight, even if you tag the guy going backwards, you have a decent chance of still losing a decision. The other guy presses forward while being aggressive, he's won 2/3 criterias. Aggression + control are binded to each other.

Enjoy the camp, hopefully your coaches and team will prepare you so you won't get beat up. Its possible to lose a fight, but with a good team you won't get beat up, and can continue training and exercising the following day / week.

Best of luck, most importantly enjoy it.

Man thank God I saw this thread. First MMA fight coming up in December. Good info all around.

 

[j123]

Man thank God I saw this thread. First MMA fight coming up in December. Good info all around.

Have you competed before in striking or grappling?