I want to start doing MMA. What do I do to get started?

[cTreazy]

I won't argue that all fights start standing, I will argue that its easy to get knocked out however. Many amateur MMA hopefuls make the mistake of viewing jiujitsu/wrestling as a defensive measure in an MMA bout, and focus on striking as their main offensive strategy.

This is a mistake for two reasons
1. Even in high level pro fights, its common place(happens in every fight that last longer than a few seconds) for fighters to miss, or over commit on a punch or kick which leaves them entangled in the clinch, which leads to a struggle for the take down unless both fighters are determined to keep the fight standing and in striking range.
2.Judging. Unless the fight is finished, the winner of MMA bouts are almost always determined by cage control. Meaning, you can smash your opponents face, but if you spend most of the fight with your back against the fence, or on the mat you are probably going to lose the fight.

All fights start standing, all fights end on the ground (99% of fights end on the ground with the other guy on top.)

Let me make it simple for you. Mixed Martial Arts is an arena in which competitors test themselves to see if they can apply in a real fight, any martial arts techniques they have learned. There is no official road map to competing in MMA, and fighters have proven time and time again that no single style or technique can be ruled out of being effective in a real fight. So really the choice is yours as to what training and which martial arts styles/techniques you will try to apply to the fight.

That being said, a large percentage of limited/no rules fights eventually find the action going into the clinch and then to ground, so its probably in your best interest to become a proficient grappler.

Alright thank you for your input. I really like the idea of putting my time into mostly wrestling and BJJ because I think it would be better to have an amazing ground, takedown, and clinch game during a fight. Because if you are really good at those you can make the fight go where you want it to go. Like if just focus on Muay Thai or boxing I will get destroyed on the ground. So at the end of the day you think I should do wrestling and BJJ now and then later start doing MMA? Some of the other people were saying I should just focus on only training MMA. I just feel like I wouldn't excel at anything so I feel like if they did excel at one thing they would win. What are your thoughts on that?

 

[cTreazy]

This might be a minority opinion but I think it would help you alot to take some karate or tkd lessons. Since you don't want to be exposing yourself to head trauma, you could at least spend some of your time doing striking. Karate/tkd teaches some great kicks and footwork. Plus those exercises teach you great leg dexterity and flexibility, which will help with your wrestling and bjj.

Do you personally do Karate or TKD? If so is it good and do you enjoy it?

 

[cTreazy]

I agree with most of the serious previous posters: wrestling for all remaining time in high school, bjj or club wrestling in the off season. Other than that, get enough sleep, get good grades and try not to take any of this too seriously.

Alright thank you for your input. I am just nervous about wrestling because I've never wrestled in my life and I feel like if I start now it's to late. What do you think?

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

Do you personally do Karate or TKD? If so is it good and do you enjoy it?

oh yeah I've done it.I did 6 or so years of shotokan and tang soo do(old tkd). when i started martial arts again I jumped right in to sparring amateur muay thai guys and did well. keep in mind I did full contact as a kid. The fundamentals of speed, timing, balance, leg dexterity will help you in mma and kickboxing. I use the front kick, roundhouse, and spinning back regularly. I'll pm you some drills you can do on your own. Do them and you will be ahead of the game when you start muay thai or kickboxing for your mma.

 

[cTreazy]

oh yeah I've done it.I did 6 or so years of shotokan and tang soo do(old tkd). when i started martial arts again I jumped right in to sparring amateur muay thai guys and did well. keep in mind I did full contact as a kid. The fundamentals of speed, timing, balance, leg dexterity will help you in mma and kickboxing. I use the front kick, roundhouse, and spinning back regularly. I'll pm you some drills you can do on your own. Do them and you will be ahead of the game when you start muay thai or kickboxing for your mma.

Alright cool I think I will start doing some TKD over the summer and get some good balance and striking. Is it possible to do like both TKD and BJJ over the summer or would that be to harf to do?

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

Alright cool I think I will start doing some TKD over the summer and get some good balance and striking. Is it possible to do like both TKD and BJJ over the summer or would that be to harf to do?

hm well tkd could be good recovery days from your bjj. It comparatively easier on the body imo. You should find a good ITF gym and make sure they know you are interested in eventually doing full contact fighting. I think those vids will help you alot.

 

[cTreazy]

hm well tkd could be good recovery days from your bjj. It comparatively easier on the body imo. You should find a good ITF gym and make sure they know you are interested in eventually doing full contact fighting. I think those vids will help you alot.

Alright cool thank you. I think I will end up trying both this summer. I wasn't really thinking about putting alot of training on my body until I really got older. So since TKD is good on your body I really think I will do that so I can get some good striking. Thank you so much for the help

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

Alright cool thank you. I think I will end up trying both this summer. I wasn't really thinking about putting alot of training on my body until I really got older. So since TKD is good on your body I really think I will do that so I can get some good striking. Thank you so much for the help

no problem bro, I'm sure we all want you to succeed. Another thing you might want to look into is amateur boxing, although you may want to wait a little while. Cody Garbarant,Miocic and Mcgregor are some guys you might be interested if you want to see how it translates to mma. but for now TKD is great.

 

[cTreazy]

no problem bro, I'm sure we all want you to succeed. Another thing you might want to look into is amateur boxing, although you may want to wait a little while. Cody Garbarant,Miocic and Mcgregor are some guys you might be interested if you want to see how it translates to mma. but for now TKD is great.

Alright cool thank man. Yeah I was liking the idea of boxing once I go to college( so when I turn 18). Like if I'm not good at MMA and it doesn't work out I really wanted to get into boxing. Literally one of my favorite sports, but yeah I think if I did BJJ, TKD, and Boxing that would be a really good combination. I wouldn't be the best at takedowns, but I would be good in the ground because BJJ, I would be good at kicking because TKD, and I would be good at punching because Boxing. I feel like the three would compliment each other nicely

 

[Y'all Musta Forgot]

I am 15 about to turn 16, and my parents said that when I turn 16 I can start training for MMA. My question is what should I start training in? I have no experience in any Martial arts, but I was wondering what I should start doing. I was thinking about just doing BJJ (and only doing BJJ) for around 3-4 years then start training for MMA. Or should I just go to the MMA gym in my city (Springfield, Missouri) and just specifically train MMA. I don't want to start fighting until I'm around 22 and have lots of experience. Thank you for taking time to help me

get the fuck off the computer or phone and go to a gym. Just tell let u know u can't play this shit like u can Baseball.

 

[cTreazy]

get the fuck off the computer or phone and go to a gym. Just tell let u know u can't play this shit like u can Baseball.

I have to wait until I turn 16 to go to a gym but I will. What are your thoughts in what I should specialize in (like BJJ, Muay Thai, Boxing, etc.)?

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

Alright cool thank man. Yeah I was liking the idea of boxing once I go to college( so when I turn 18). Like if I'm not good at MMA and it doesn't work out I really wanted to get into boxing. Literally one of my favorite sports, but yeah I think if I did BJJ, TKD, and Boxing that would be a really good combination. I wouldn't be the best at takedowns, but I would be good in the ground because BJJ, I would be good at kicking because TKD, and I would be good at punching because Boxing. I feel like the three would compliment each other nicely

yeah they would def all be good for you. but def learn the wrestling bro. sign up for that right quick.

 

[cTreazy]

yeah they would def all be good for you. but def learn the wrestling bro. sign up for that right quick.

Do you think I will be screwed starting wrestling my Junior year? Is it to late to start wrestling?

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

Do you think I will be screwed starting wrestling my Junior year? Is it to late to start wrestling?

no not at all dude. you are still very young and developing physically and mentally. Trust me I got asked to join the wrestling team my sophmore year and I'm still kicking myself for passing that up. I would kill to be in your shoes right now. Who knows, maybe you could wrestle in college too.

 

[cTreazy]

no not at all dude. you are still very young and developing physically and mentally. Trust me I got asked to join the wrestling team my sophmore year and I'm still kicking myself for passing that up. I would kill to be in your shoes right now. Who knows, maybe you could wrestle in college too.

Alright cool now that you say that I'm definitely going to join wrestling next year. Also are there places I go to during the summer to learn wrestling?

 

[Jimmy Jazz]

Alright cool now that you say that I'm definitely going to join wrestling next year. Also are there places I go to during the summer to learn wrestling?

yeah definitely, there are wrestling camps and wrestling schools/clubs for people your age. might want to hit up the grappling forum.

 

[cTreazy]

yeah definitely, there are wrestling camps and wrestling schools/clubs for people your age. might want to hit up the grappling forum.

Ok I will do that. I think I will try to find a wrestling camp over the summer, so I don't get totally screwed in wrestling.

 

[ItsTimeToShrekYouUp]

If u wanna get good at mma heres how you should prioritize things
1. MMA
2. Wrestling
3. Boxing
4A. Muay Thai/kickboxing
4B. Strength and conditioning
5. Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Anything else is optional
Fights start on feet and wrestling dictates where fights go and can help stall opponents to steal rounds. Fights start on feet so get used to having to strike with people. You need wrestling to use your bjj and most of what you do in bjj has little crossover to MMA because strikingly and scoring. Boxing seems more relevant in the octagon because punches make up the vast majority of strikes throw and knockouts. Few top guys are proficient kickers but many of them have knockout power in their hands. Wrestle-boxers have been and will always be the most successful style of fighters in UFC history.

 

[cTreazy]

If u wanna get good at mma heres how you should prioritize things
1. MMA
2. Wrestling
3. Boxing
4A. Muay Thai/kickboxing
4B. Strength and conditioning
5. Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Anything else is optional
Fights start on feet and wrestling dictates where fights go and can help stall opponents to steal rounds. Fights start on feet so get used to having to strike with people. You need wrestling to use your bjj and most of what you do in bjj has little crossover to MMA because strikingly and scoring. Boxing seems more relevant in the octagon because punches make up the vast majority of strikes throw and knockouts. Few top guys are proficient kickers but many of them have knockout power in their hands. Wrestle-boxers have been and will always be the most successful style of fighters in UFC history.

Alright thanks KS man for the feedback. From what everyone has told me I'm going to go with wrestling my last two years in school. Then do BJJ in the summer, and once I turn 18 go with boxing. I think doing that will really help me out. Thanks alot for the feedback.

 

[ItsTimeToShrekYouUp]

Alright thanks KS man for the feedback. From what everyone has told me I'm going to go with wrestling my last two years in school. Then do BJJ in the summer, and once I turn 18 go with boxing. I think doing that will really help me out. Thanks alot for the feedback.

No problem man. It sounds like u got the right plan. Put in the work and good luck