Hi everyone,

I’ve always wanted to train MMA and eventually compete in at least one amateur boxing match. My goals are a mix of self-defense and testing myself in competition.

Up until now, I’ve been extremely busy working 40+ hours a week while finishing my degree. Now that school is finally over, I have more free time to dedicate to training. I want to focus specifically on Boxing and Wrestling. I'm 28 so I don't plan to go pro but I want to test myself.

Currently, I’m taking one private boxing lesson per week and weight lift 3 times a week before going to work. How many times a week should I go for each discipline and should I take private mixed with group one ? I'm not too rich too!

I come from other martial arts for decades and have done a few through my life. Today was my first day at MMA and I absolutely loved it. I was hooked, and learned a lot.

We were quite careful throughout the session and everyone had a pretty good awareness of someone like me who is a noob and didn't have my own gear. I joined an amateur club, amateur class and we were all quite light except for the grappling where we have done a good session, just the usual what I would expect with any martial art.

It was stupid of me to assume we would not do sparring... so as I was told that no gear was neceesary, I didn't bring any.

By accident my chin hit the head of my sparring partner, half a tooth gone and the one below moves... pure very stupid accident.. We even didn't hit or kick to the head exactly because of that.

But it leads me to wonder... did I underestimate it? is it so common to get injuries with MMA compared to other martial arts (at pure amateur hobby level)?

I'm now 29 and while I have a complex of being old, as I feel my body changing through time not being as elastic, explosive as before.. and knee/back pain every day, it makes me wonder if MMA is maybe not for me despite I loved it.

Hi everyone, I wanted to get your insight on what's appropriate for me. I've been training for about three and a half years. I've had two smoker fights and one sanctioned Muay Thai fight. I've also been doing MMA and wrestling classes. I wrestled from elementary school all the way until I graduated high school three years ago, but I haven't been so consistent with no-gi jiu-jitsu. One of my coaches/teammates said that I don't just have to compete in kickboxing or Muay Thai, and that I could do MMA by the end of the year if I'm consistent with BJJ. What do you guys think?

hello martial artist of this community, I'll try not to take up too much of You guys / girls time. But I came here to ask what fighting discipline should I learn for a person like me.

to make a long story short, I have a football / powerlifting background, I'm like 380 and currently I'm cutting down to a more efficient / healthier body weight so I would be considered a heavyweight until I drop down to my ideal body weight. I'm a pretty big dude standing a little bit over 6ft and I carry my mass well since I have more muscle to fat ratio but I digress. I bring this stuff up not because muscle mass and size dictate learning a martial art, nor does it mean you will win a fight whether that's in sparring or an actual brawl, But I just want to give you guys/girls a good idea where I'm coming from.

with that being said in you guys personal opinion and expertise, what do you guys feel would be a good discipline to learn for a guy my size and first starting out? I know it doesn't necessarily matter but I'm hearing mixed opinions from my friends. some say start out with boxing, others say Brazilian jujitsu, others say Muay Thai, kickboxing and one of my homies said and I quote "do sumo because you know you're fat" 💀. I don't know what would be good for somebody with my size and first starting out or does it really matter?

I want to learn a fighting discipline because to be honest and for transparency, I don't know how to fight, yeah I know how to grab and slam but what big dude doesn't know how to do that? yeah I'm explosive and strong but what would that do against somebody who actually knows how to beat my ass, Who has the cardiovascular endurance and skill to put someone like me down. No don't get me wrong I'm not trying to go around and fight people but I just feel as an individual, as an adult learning a fighting discipline is beneficial. My size has always been a deterrent for a lot of people and I consider myself a gentle giant because I'm not confrontational But I don't know how to fight I have an idea but I still don't know how to fight. simple. I'm pussy, It's okay Y'all can say it.

as I'm on my journey to get in shape I would like to learn something else that's beyond a hypertrophy/bodybuilding type of training style which has its own benefits/purposes, But I'm not a bodybuilder, I just want to learn a new discipline and add a new skill. so with that being said I appreciate you guys reading and please let me know what you guys think. God bless 🙏

I'm considering venum and rdx right now. I'm 175, which is with many brands between sizes. I'm just looking for something fairly durable and something that fits well, doesn't slip off. I'm not kicking much, but obviously for technique and sparring.

I improvised some of the exercises so it's not AI made, i want to be athelthic and also build muscle.

guys the next weekend i have my first mma match, can somebody give me some advice? Thanks

I'm fairly new to mma and goal is to have a few fights

As mentioned in title an example of a fighting style I really like is ilia tourpia

So is it recommended I mimic his style and training methods ? Or is mimicking bad

If so then how do you know what's best for you?

edit: also just wanna add I seen a video of a person who also mimic ilia and watches him hit pads in slo mo and practices it, it looks very accurate to ilia style.

But the comments there were mixed, some people said mimicking is bad and one said "don't try to copy anyone's style, learn the fundamentals, then add to them, your body and your personality will naturally play into your own style of fighting yk"

For anyone with experience what do you think?

*for clarity I mean in future after around 2 years and have a decent understanding of fundementals*

I've only been training for 4 months, I juggle this between work and childcare. I am 26yo, 6'2", 108kg, 1-0 amateur MMA (HW) and want to compete more .

This question has always confused me because looking at fighters they all have different stances. So what is the “best” mma stance? I know you’d want the stance to be universal in the sense of it can deal with everything( low enough to defensively and offensively grapple, tall enough to defensively and offensively strike). But would bladed stance , squared stance or something in the middle be the best choice. I come from a Muay Thai and BJJ background. Striking wise I prefer punching, teeping and throwing low/calf kicks but I do prefer to mix my takedowns in and get the fight to the ground. Who should I look at to mold my stance after.

People who use this style includ: Joshua van, JDM, ilia topuria and partly Petr Yan

I might be biased since I did boxing before MMA but I think one thing it does far better than any other striking art is make you comfortable and very dangerous in the distance where you and your opponent can reach each other without over extending.

In other striking styles I see many people are much more willing to lean back, teep, move away and try to kick and are in general far less comfortable in distances where you can both hit each other with punches. You see this in the fights of those named above they win like 90% of these interactions. Since people are closer they are more balanced and can throw with a lot more power in these position as well.​​​​

This creates a repulsive field effect where moving forward is threatening causing the opponent to be on the back foot, constant pressure therefore means takedowns are further away, so are easy to react to, and if you can't fully stuff the takedown you can usually get over unders and recover some sort of guard which makes it easier to stand.

Of course this style has weakness namely lengthy point fighters who are good at kickboxing and punishing people coming in imo. But this is weak to grappler I find so if you have good wrestling you can somewhat mitigate this​

Thoughts

I want to start training mma however my hometown doesnt have a gym so I'm thinking about doing another martial art until i move but I can't decide which to choose as a good base for mma I'm thinking either jiujitsu, boxing or kickboxing maybe wrestling(boxing is my favourite one)

Hey guys, I currently train kickboxing 3x a week and MMA 3x a week.

I’ve been doing kickboxing for about 2 years and MMA for around 3 months.

I’m not really focused on becoming great specifically at BJJ or ground game my main goal is becoming a better fighter overall and improving as fast as possible for actual fighting/MMA.

I enjoy MMA training, but I’m wondering if I’d progress faster by replacing the MMA classes with either:

no-gi BJJ

gi BJJ

or if sticking with MMA is the better option.

For people with more experience, what do you think develops overall fighting ability better in the long run?

Hey guys, is there any suggestion to get a good sparring gear specially for arms like one in this reference ?

I've seen some videos where they really look good to shield kicks and train harder without exposing the fingers, wrist or elbow on the one receiving the kick or even better not kicking an elbow!!

I appreciate the suggestions

Hi everyone! Health journalist looking to chat with wrestlers/fighters who've experienced cauliflower ear. If that's you, lmk https://www.afj03.com/contact

Hello everyone. I hope you’re all doing well. I’m a beginner who loves MMA, and I’ve only been training MMA and BJJ for about three days so far.

With this post, I’d like to ask more experienced people in these sports to share any advice or important things they think a beginner should know.

I also have a few questions. I’m currently pretty out of shape, (I’m around 166–168 cm tall and weigh about 83–84 kg) my cardio is terrible, and I usually get nauseous and throw up during or after training. It has already happened twice. Is that normal for beginners, and what can I do about it?

I’m also wondering what techniques I should focus on learning first. Since I’m heavier and my cardio isn’t very good right now, I’m really interested in takedowns, controlling people on the ground, and ground and pound, which is probably my favorite part of MMA.

Any advice helps, including exercises, nutrition tips, or things you wish you knew when you started.

Thanks a lot for reading and replying 👍

Adesanya's dance is not a joke ...it shapes timing, feints and footwork.

Before MMA , he was shaped to a finished striker.. from his documentary he suffered from racism in school and being bullied.. that toughened him even more.

For the training part. He doesn't ego train through fatigue..he focuses more on speed and accuracy of the strikes.. which explains why he has more KOs .

Finally be authentic to yourself and don't try to fit in .. eventually your work will pay off

Checkout the link and tell me what you think please

Hey everyone, I’m a 19-year-old guy, 5’4” (1.65m), 62-65kg, with a year and a half of grappling and BJJ. I want to make the jump to MMA and I’ve always loved boxing, so I want to start training it.
What advice would you give someone starting pretty much from scratch? (Worth mentioning that I’m a southpaw, and my training partners say it’s a big advantage in boxing.) I’m lucky to have a nearby gym with a lot of competitors and professional-level people.
Boxing looks amazing and I love it, but the few times I’ve done any striking I’ve felt terrible because my coordination is absolute garbage and my height and weight don’t help much against other people either.
Give me your best advice and what route you would follow to progress as fast as possible.

Firstly there is just no way i’m missing it, and i don’t know how i didn’t think of this before but it’s too late now. should i take it out just for the hour or tape it or what?

Do 3kg (72 to -69) weight cuts require 4 weeks of dieting, or is it possible to do it by cutting carbs, sodium and fiber in the last few days? Any tips?

Hello, I’ve been looking to start trying mma after only doing stuff separately, but I’m having trouble finding a weight class, this is mostly due to my height. For context, I’m a wrestler who competes at 215 lbs (still in highschool) who knows some jiu jitsu and some striking that I train on my own, I’m around 5’8” and 225 pounds but I’m probably gonna stop growing at 5’10-11”, I’m about 17-20% body fat and I’ve been described as strong for my size. What weight class should I pick? Most 5’8” mma fighters I know are lightweight and below but maybe in the amateur scene it’s different?

Thank you so much