# MMA beginner looking for startup advice



## Spinback (Jun 5, 2008)

Basically I'm looking for any advice you guys can give a beginner who doesn't have many resources to work with.

I live in a small town in Ontario, Canada, and MMA is basically nonexistant here. I train where I can though; I used to do a karate/jiujitsu combined class and worked to about a blue belt level there. I've also taught myself a lot of BJJ from instructional videos. I train my ground game by rolling with guys I know from my highschool's wrestling team, mostly guys who weigh about fifty pounds more than me to make up for my superior technique. For standup all I really do is point sparring, but I know there's a couple boxing clubs around here and I'm trying to find a kickboxing one to join.

Pretty much any advice or pointers is welcome-- training tips, diet ideas, online resources-- anything to help point me in the right direction. I'm not in the greatest shape right now, but I'm working on it and I shape up pretty fast. I have a very strong natural knack for fighting, and I'm really looking to complement it with the right training and techniques.


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## allenjp (Jun 6, 2008)

This is an interesting dilemma, I am not an mma practitioner per se but I do follow it closely so perhaps I can offer a little, (very little) insight. I would say that a boxing club is an excellent place to start. If you want to work on your conditioning, they are great, and as far a developing proper punching technique for maximum power they have no equal. 

I would caution you against learning BJJ only from videos though. You certainly can learn the basic techniques, but there are many, many nuances and small details that are easily missed in that way. These details are precisely what cause failure in a move that may work everytime you practice it, but when going full force against someone who is good at BJJ (and you will if you're going to compete in mma) they will exploit those weaknesses quite readily. My advice would be to learn wrestling if that is what is available in your area. Wrestlers have great balance, an incredible base, great conditioning and learn a lot about positioning and leverage. Many guys who started out in greco-roman wrestling have had great careers in mma. They just have to learn to adapt the wrestling to mma rules and train Jiu jitsu to adapt to that as well. If you want to go into mma, chances are you'll be able to travel to train at some point, and then you can practice BJJ with a real instructor, and other guys that know what they're doing.

In short, if there is no "mma" training available in your area, learn different styles and do the "mixing" yourself. That's the way a lot of guys start. 

Just my 2/100 of a dollar.


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## MJS (Jun 6, 2008)

Spinback said:


> Basically I'm looking for any advice you guys can give a beginner who doesn't have many resources to work with.
> 
> I live in a small town in Ontario, Canada, and MMA is basically nonexistant here. I train where I can though; I used to do a karate/jiujitsu combined class and worked to about a blue belt level there. I've also taught myself a lot of BJJ from instructional videos. I train my ground game by rolling with guys I know from my highschool's wrestling team, mostly guys who weigh about fifty pounds more than me to make up for my superior technique. For standup all I really do is point sparring, but I know there's a couple boxing clubs around here and I'm trying to find a kickboxing one to join.
> 
> Pretty much any advice or pointers is welcome-- training tips, diet ideas, online resources-- anything to help point me in the right direction. I'm not in the greatest shape right now, but I'm working on it and I shape up pretty fast. I have a very strong natural knack for fighting, and I'm really looking to complement it with the right training and techniques.


 
Not sure how much MMA/BJJ there is in your area, but you may want to look into contacting Andrew Green.  He is one of the Technical Admins here on this forum and is from that area, so he may be able to offer some suggestions.  

If you do have the chance to study BJJ with someone, I'd highly suggest that, as you'd get more out of that, than a dvd, although I do understand the situation you're in.  

As for the workouts and diet, what is your plan right now?

Mike


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## TheOriginalName (Jun 10, 2008)

Hey there,

Firstly let me just say that i am not a fighter as such. I train in an MMA style but it's for the self defence and fitness aspects primarily not the fighting aspects. 

That said, a few quick things: 

1 - Conditioning. Undoubtably you know how quickly rolling with someone will get you gassed. So conditioning is vital. Get running and get to the gym. The more cardio you can do the longer you will last in the ring. 

2 - Diet. I personally believe fresh is best. However i strongly recommend going to a dietician or the like to get a food plan made up based on where you are at the moment and where you want to be. 

3 - Get Technical. Almost anyone can throw a punch\kick. The difference between good and great however is the technique. So find the best coaches you can (even if they are only specifically boxing or karate or wrestling) and get them to give you the best technique they can. Drill it over and over again so that your fighting style will be so technically strong it will overwhelm your opponent. You can never be too technical. 

4 - BJJ: Get an awesome coach. You mentioned that there isn't much around you in the way of BJJ. This just means that you might have to be the one that travels. Find an awesome instructor (not just any instructor but an awesome instructor) and give them a call. They them what you want to do and ask if you can travel to them for a few hours of intense training. You might only be able to do this 1 or 2 a month\year but it will be well worth it if you learn and then drill it when you get home. 

And lastly, always thing about how you can combine things - how do you smoothly and quickly transfer from a punching combo to a takedown  - how can you best combine karate with boxing with wrestling with BJJ??

And always be ready to try things plenty of times - the first 10 times you might fail but the 11 time you might pull if off and suddenly it will all work for  you.

All this is just my thought - best of luck


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## PictonMA (Jun 10, 2008)

Where in Ontario do you live?


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## jimmylee7706 (Aug 1, 2008)

I just started taking MMA classes a few weeks ago, my instructor told me that I needed to work on BJJ more than anything else right now. So I'm taking some BJJ classes a few times a week as well. Even in my MMA class the beginners start with BJJ before sparring standing up. I've been blogging about what goes on in the beginning stages of MMA classes you should read it if you get time.

http://mmabeginner.blogspot.com/


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## army (Aug 7, 2008)

i'm in the same boat in a way but i don't have the paddles to get there, i'm deployed in afghastian and don't really have any instrusctors over here to help train tech. but i am looking for mostly is workout plans so i can get a little more cut and flexibilty so when i do get into a class i will havae better recovery time, and not maybe not feel the pain as bad, i am trying to get into the MMA style of trianing just for the self-defence and fitness part i'm not trying to compete at all just in it for the training, so if i could get any advice it be great regards a workout plan.

thanks


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## TridentOne (Sep 24, 2008)

Online resources are usually a good idea, especially to give you of idea of what to expect at a certain school or training program.


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## Tez3 (Sep 25, 2008)

army said:


> i'm in the same boat in a way but i don't have the paddles to get there, i'm deployed in afghastian and don't really have any instrusctors over here to help train tech. but i am looking for mostly is workout plans so i can get a little more cut and flexibilty so when i do get into a class i will havae better recovery time, and not maybe not feel the pain as bad, i am trying to get into the MMA style of trianing just for the self-defence and fitness part i'm not trying to compete at all just in it for the training, so if i could get any advice it be great regards a workout plan.
> 
> thanks


 
May be able to help as we have guys across there as we are basically a military club. 
I assume you have DVD players and stereos? Bas Rutten does very good CDs for workouts in MMA and MT. also there are a great many videos done by good MMA fighters to help with techniques. I know that a lot of Royal Marines are into MMA and we have two commando brigades there at the moment if you can get in contact with them? 
if you have trouble getting Bas Ruttens CDs I can send you copies, I'm not sure about the DVDs, I have some but they are British formatted, if you can play them however you'l be welcome to them.


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## Dave Leverich (Sep 25, 2008)

Don't forget the wrestling part of the equation. Wrestling is probably one of the biggest influences, best bases, to start with. Now if I only had a time machine...

If there's a boxing gym, great stuff there too.


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## Andrew Green (Sep 25, 2008)

Spinback said:


> Pretty much any advice or pointers is welcome-- training tips, diet ideas, online resources-- anything to help point me in the right direction. I'm not in the greatest shape right now, but I'm working on it and I shape up pretty fast. I have a very strong natural knack for fighting, and I'm really looking to complement it with the right training and techniques.




Do whatever you can, as well as you can.  If there is no submission grappling school, focus on wrestling and get yourself training with whatever team is there. 

If there is no kickboxing, focus on boxing.

On top of that you can add some submissions and kicking from various sources, but put most of your effort into what you have the best opportunity to do.

If you ever find yourself in a city that does have those things, even if only for a day or two try to find a club that will let you drop in for the day.

But do what is there, don't try to do what isn't there.  Once you have a decent base in those things you will have much better luck trying to integrate things that come from sources that are not as good (videos, books, etc)


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