MMA training is serious business, and in order to become successful, it is imperative that you find a professional gym that offers a myriad of training options. You need to become skilled in multiple fighting styles, training with experts in each of the main components of mixed martial arts.
While you can’t depend on boxing solely as a skill, it is an important part of MMA training. The advantage of sharpening your boxing skill set is that you will improve your hand skills, and boxing includes a great deal of conditioning that will make you a stronger MMA fighter. Find an MMA gym with skilled boxing coaches that offer classes ranging from beginning skills to professional-level boxing. However, don’t expect to simply rely on those boxing skills. Many a tough boxer has been thrown to the ground by an expert wrestler.
Wrestling is another huge component of MMA training. If you have watched even one MMA match, you can clearly see the advantage of having strong wrestling skills. Being able to take down an opponent and pin them to the mat is huge. Greco-Roman wrestling is one of the most ancient sports, so while MMA might seem like something new, it is truly comprised of a variety of ancient fighting techniques.
Muay Thai, a form of martial arts that includes boxing, Muay Boran and kickboxing, is also an important training element. Muay Boran is the ancient art that evolved into modern Muay Thai, with an emphasis on hand-to-hand combat. You will need to learn punching techniques, elbow techniques, kicking skills, as well as knee strikes and foot thrusts. One of the advantages of Muay Thai is that it is fairly simple and straightforward and fairly easy to incorporate into your fights.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is another big part of your MMA training. One of the key components of Jiu Jitsu is honing one’s ability to force one’s opponent to the ground. This is especially important if a fighter is smaller than his opponent. Using Jiu Jitsu techniques, a smaller fighter can often overwhelm the opponent using grappling techniques. Jiu-Jitsu offers a variety of methods to get one’s opponent to the mat unlike Greco-Roman wrestling or Judo which rely mainly on takedowns.
Conditioning and strength training classes are another key part of MMA training. Staying healthy and building strength will help you maximize your MMA techniques. Find an MMA gym that offers condition and strength classes that can be tailored to fit your needs.
The bottom line is that the more well rounded you are with your fighting skills, the more effective you will be against your opponent. So, find an MMA gym that emphasizes strong training in a variety of key areas.
