Alternate arts for MMA

(Searching was disabled so I couldn't search for an approrpriate thread)

I've been doing mixed martial arts for 2 years now. My ground game is decent but my striking sucks. I seem to have a hard time getting down the muay thai aspect of striking, especially doing the kicks fast without telegraphing. Some of my friends who practice more TMAs than me say that my stand up style and the guys I train with lacks "soul." It got me thinking that with everyone in MMA basically doing the same things we standup, maybe I should look for an alternate standup art that might gel together better than muay thai has been so far.

Anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking about some kind of karate or tkd, but I'm up for anyone's suggestions. thnx in advance.

 

Whatever you do, find a decent dojo with a legit instructor and where they SPAR! And where they have a few open-minded guys who don't mind some full-contact brawling from time to time.

But be warned. Boxing, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, and the like are much easier to pick up and get proficient in a short time than any TMA. TMAs are good once you train for minimum 5-10 years, if you train under a good instructor. But if you think that doing a TMA will manage to make you a good striker sooner than MT, you're mistaken. Coming from a 100% TMA guy, this. TMA requires a long-lasting committment.

To be honest, if you're looking into MMA first and foremost, you should probably cross-train in a decent MT-only gym.

 

Ah, alright, thanks.

I am looking mainly into MMA, so maybe I'll just stick with muay thai. But I do like keeping open minded about things.

 

Look around and try something different. I was surprised how easy it was to learn Muay Thai techniques, coming from a Kung Fu background, simply because a lot of techniques in TMA's are a little more complex. Doesn't hurt to try something new.

 

Who cares about soul, the only thing that's important is that you can learn how to not get hit and learn how to hit.

 

If MT isn't really doing it for ya, why not try a few boxing classes, or go all out boxing because boxing is the best for hands and that probably will make you a more proficient striker faster. Personaly I'd say just keep in MT cuz like nething it takes time and kicks are a great thing in MMA.

 

maybe its me, but I dont think changing arts is going to make you better....if you dont like muay thai, thats one thing, but if youre just going to quit it because you dont think youre getting it, my advice would be DONT QUIT.....just practice....no matter what you do, you get out what you put in.

 

don't look for "exotic styles" or something "different" just for the sake of it. Muay Thai and boxing are the bedrocks of stricking. The reason why you are telegraping your strickes is because you have been taught poor muay thai. Go to an MMa gym or try a different muay thai gym. Look at the people who do MMA for a living (ie fighters/teams) and see what they are doing. Don't take advice about MMA stricking from pure stand up fighters. MMA fighers and MMA coaches know more about MMA stand up than any pure stand up fighter. MY advice, go to an MMA gym.

 

Good post.

Whether you're training in boxing or MT or Kyokushin or whatever, the whole thing changes when you train for MMA and thus must learn to deal with someone shooting in on you. Not just your stance, but even the way you throw strikes will probably have to change.

And has been said before, NEVER quit anything just because you think you aren't getting it. If you have a problem with the way things are taught at the gym then that's fine, but if you decide to stop just because you're having some trouble then you may be setting a bad precedent for you.

Here's a secret: I can't throw a jab for shit. I have over a year of boxing and over four months of MT under my belt, and my jab still ain't that great. Everything after that has been alright, but I can't jab well and I still can't bob properly. If I had decided to stop there because I was having trouble I wouldn't have learned everything else I have since then.

 

If you're going for MMA in the near future, the best would be to try to stick with the Muay Thai training or maybe switch it up to some Kickboxing if you don't want to do MT anymore. TMA takes quite a bit of training to be sufficient in a fighting situation.

 

If your problem is telegraphing, then you are already half way to solving it. Idtenfiying what is wrong is tough, but you got it down, so just work on ways to stop telegraphing.

Here are a few suggestions:

- film yourself sparring, try to identify the movements that give you away and work on eliminating them
- practice feinting, turn your weakness around by feinting your telegraphs instead of followin through with them.
- focus mit work

 

I don't telegraph my hands or anything like that, but it's my kicks, I always feel like when I am throwing the kicks that I am almost heel hooking the leg that I am basing on, either that or I am off balance when I throw them and I am not being explosive enough. Not to mention I still telegraph. But since you all suggest I stick with mauy thai and keep at it, I think I will then. Thanks for the advice.

 

sounds like you need to slow things down and learn the mechanics better. "heel hooking" yourself when throwing kicks means you're not planting the base foot down at an angle so you can throw the roundhouse and not strain your ankle. Your kicks will be weak if you don't learn this.

the next thing you have to learn is to pivot your heel so that you can once again achieve that roundhouse with the right base. Power and speed depend on it, so practice it. sometimes your foot positioning or the "opening" for the kick to land requires that you get that foot up there without having planted the base foot at an angle. So now you have to bring the kicking leg up and right about as you turn your hip over and bring the leg around to connect you pivot the foot your standing on at a 45 degree angle to your target (or more, but not less)

A good way to develop speed once you've gotten the basics down and the kick feels natural, is to circle a heavy bag and simply put your foot to the bag in one split second and motion.
Don't be satisfied with the kick unless you literally make contact from the time you started execution in about the time it takes to say "one".

There's a few tips.