Asked to teach MMA and never trained in "MMA"

[Makalakumu]

An interesting situation came up at my place of employment (a secondary school). We have these elective classes that we can teach and these electives classes bring in some skill that the teachers have that make us unique. One of the skills that immediately popped into my mind was martial arts and I was stoked for the opportunity. The problem is that they already have a Tae Kwon Do class and in order to differentiate between that and what I would do, they would like me to teach MMA. Here's the problem, I've never trained in MMA. I've trained in karate, jujutsu, judo, kali, boxing, thai boxing, and tai chi, but never actually in the sport of MMA. The closest thing that I've ever done to MMA training would have to be Minnesota Kali Group martial arts. It's Inosanto Blend JKD which is like non-competitive MMA that includes weapons. I've also competed in full contact karate tournaments, full contact mock weapon sparring, judo competitions, and high school wrestling, but never in MMA.

I would really like to teach a martial arts class and this is what my principal would like, but I don't know if I should since I've never actually set foot in an MMA studio. One idea I had was to just mix and match all of the arts I've trained in a JKD format, but I think the students are going to be expecting real MMA as it is one of the most popular sports out here in Hawaii. What do you think?

 

[Tez3]

An interesting situation came up at my place of employment (a secondary school). We have these elective classes that we can teach and these electives classes bring in some skill that the teachers have that make us unique. One of the skills that immediately popped into my mind was martial arts and I was stoked for the opportunity. The problem is that they already have a Tae Kwon Do class and in order to differentiate between that and what I would do, they would like me to teach MMA. Here's the problem, I've never trained in MMA. I've trained in karate, jujutsu, judo, kali, boxing, thai boxing, and tai chi, but never actually in the sport of MMA. The closest thing that I've ever done to MMA training would have to be Minnesota Kali Group martial arts. It's Inosanto Blend JKD which is like non-competitive MMA that includes weapons. I've also competed in full contact karate tournaments, full contact mock weapon sparring, judo competitions, and high school wrestling, but never in MMA.

I would really like to teach a martial arts class and this is what my principal would like, but I don't know if I should since I've never actually set foot in an MMA studio. One idea I had was to just mix and match all of the arts I've trained in a JKD format, but I think the students are going to be expecting real MMA as it is one of the most popular sports out here in Hawaii. What do you think?

You have all the componants of MMA there! That's all it is honest! All those put into the same fight.

MMA is what it says it is, MIXED martial arts and you have the arts right there. There may be little things like keeping a wider stance than boxers and karatekas do to avoid takedowns or knowing when to go for a takedown but MMA isn't mystical or different at all. What you have already is real MMA.

The difference is if you want to have people start fighting, then you have to know about weight cutting, conditioning, wraps, cornering etc. If they don't want to compete you have all the tools you need. If you need any help give me a shout be glad to help!

We don't do weapons but do have amateur and pro rules fighters, have a look at some BJJ, not so very different from judo though in BJJ you never turn your back to an opponent. We teach the arts separately to start with then start to mix them up. we don't teach wrestloing as such, it's more of a rarity here unlike America where I believe it's a popular sport in itself.

Would you have them wearing Gis or make it no Gi?

 

[Makalakumu]

I have some BJJ training, enough to go to the studio down the road and role sub for sub with their experienced blue belts. We would be training without uniforms and probably not competing anywhere. I see the class more as a way to give the student some experience so they could go into one of the main MMA studios around here and train if they wanted to. Also, I think adding some weapons would be cool. That would be a unique experience for the students, not to many MMA studios ever even think about weapons training.

 

[Tez3]

I have some BJJ training, enough to go to the studio down the road and role sub for sub with their experienced blue belts. We would be training without uniforms and probably not competing anywhere. I see the class more as a way to give the student some experience so they could go into one of the main MMA studios around here and train if they wanted to. Also, I think adding some weapons would be cool. That would be a unique experience for the students, not to many MMA studios ever even think about weapons training.

We have weapons which we get out now and again but as you say it's time constraints more than anything. MMA for competition takes up most of the training time, we tend to do weapons perhaps in the week before fights as training has to be fairly light then, no risk of injuries. We hide the tri-staff from our instructor who loves it but it does get a bit hairy sometimes when he's stopping it lol!

Your BJJ sounds more than enough! Better than mine! I think the only thing is the transitions from stand up to ground work and vice versa but if you know karate Bunkai or it's equivalant in TSD/TKD it's fairly obvious knowing when to takedown I've found. I love the freedom that MMA gives to be able to do whatever techniques work for you. It's the ideal way to become well rounded.

 

[Makalakumu]

Well, it's either MMA or I propose to my principal (and ask my sensei if it's okay) if I can teach jujutsu. I'm training in Dan Zan Ryu right now, so that is always an option.

Also, good point about karate bunkai, that and no gi judo should provide the framework to transition from stand up to grappling. We aren't going to compete. I don't feel comfortable with that.

We'll have lots of sparring though. I want to make sure they get the real feeling for it.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Hey there,

In my opinion you are more qualified than most of the people teaching MMA out there. The last one I ran across who just started teaching had only a couple of years of high school wrestling. With your strong tang soo do background as well as the boxing background plus the bjj then you are good to go. Give it a shot!

 

[Tez3]

The difference between TMA and MMA classes is cosmetic basically, a typical two hour class for us is something like pad work punching combinations, these can be just punches or with knees, kicks elbows etc. Kicking drills on kick bags. Then various ground techniques with their escapes. We may do take downs and their defences too. At the end a sparring session either standing or on the floor. Once students are a bit more advanced we'll mix the two together. The only problem is fitting all the things in, we try to do a range in one session as we have people who can't always come regularly but it's hard to run out of things to teach!
Techniques are only put on until they can be felt, tapping out is good! Boxing gloves are worn for pad and bag work as well as sparring. MMA gloves are often worn for groundwork but if not competing not necessary.
Usually they are warmed up and stretched before class but we give them fitness drills useful for MMA, ladderwork, tyre drills etc and stretches which usually come from BJJ. All it hasn't got is bowing, Gi's ( though sometimes BJJ ones) linework and kata. I bet everyone recognises the class otherwise! It's really no different to a good TMA class.

 

[Makalakumu]

Hey there,

In my opinion you are more qualified than most of the people teaching MMA out there. The last one I ran across who just started teaching had only a couple of years of high school wrestling. With your strong tang soo do background as well as the boxing background plus the bjj then you are good to go. Give it a shot!

Poking around on your site, IRT looks like MMA with tools. Do you think that's a fair appraisal? I'm looking for some ideas on how to construct things in my mind.

Thanks, everyone for the input so far.

 

[SensibleManiac]

You could teach a number of the arts you have experience in but honestly it seems to me that you are ready to teach MMA like many others here have said.

Here's my main experience with MMA; Muay Thai, Boxing, Kick Boxing, Greco roman, BJJ, Judo, and RBSD. And I have a very complete grasp of MMA. I have done a little MMA training, that is as a combat sport in of itself but less than all the other arts and I have a VERY complete understanding of the game.

It sounds to me like you do too.

 

[Tez3]

Training MMA as the competitive sport it is, will be no harder than teaching a TMA class.
You may have to think though whether you want to teach them things like how to fight against the cage or ropes, using the cage or ropes, how to keep working when on the ground as competitively they will be stood up if not working, about what's allowed under the rules, that sort of thing. They are part of MMA as much as kicking and punching even if you don't compete.

If it helps I can give you my instuctors email address for any questions? He's seriously more experienced than most, trains pro MMA fighters as well as teach us amateurs, we run a professional promotion too.

 

[jks9199]

Be honest with your students about what you're teaching. But you've got the skill set to teach MMA, especially in the setting your describing. You're going to be teaching basic skills & conditioning, and hopefully giving them an appreciation to understand what they see when they watch a fight. I doubt they'd be giving you enough time to work with the students for them to really compete. Maybe work a "for fun" competition with one of the schools in the area between similarly experienced fighters, but that'd be about it.

 

[Skpotamus]

When my school first started fighting NHB (before the MMA catchphrase came about). Nobody had trained in MMA. What we had were guys trained in different things that would show each other what we were doing. Lots of fun, good hard training.

Be open and honest with your students about what you are teaching. I personally felt like I learned a LOT more in that setting than going to actual MMA gyms. Being able to discover things that work for you on your own is half the fun of martial arts. Have fun and charge ahead.

 

[Makalakumu]

Well, a little bad news, the class isn't going to work out this year, I'm sorry to report. Maybe, I'll be able to teach this class next year. Thanks for all of the input, because I'm totally stoked to give this a try.

 

[Tez3]

Well, a little bad news, the class isn't going to work out this year, I'm sorry to report. Maybe, I'll be able to teach this class next year. Thanks for all of the input, because I'm totally stoked to give this a try.

That's a shame but it'll give you time to get everything together so that when you start you can train them to be a pro team lol! You can save up and bring me over to help........!

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Poking around on your site, IRT looks like MMA with tools. Do you think that's a fair appraisal? I'm looking for some ideas on how to construct things in my mind.

Thanks, everyone for the input so far.

We are definitely utilizing tools on a regular basis and it certainly is a tool based application of Martial Science yet I have IRT practitioners entering MMA competitions and being quite successful. Still in the end we are all training for personal protection and hoping to have a skill set that may allow us to survive in a moment of extreme violence. In that type of situation skill sets involving weapons/tools are very, very important in my opinion.

Sorry to hear about the class not happening but plan for next year and give it a go!

 

[Tez3]

I was thinking that you would probably have to see what the students are expecting, if it's training for MMA comps they probably won't want weapons or even the SD aspect of it. They will expect techniques to be competition specific though that's only usually a matter of varying it slightly and is always worth pointing out the 'original' that can be used to good effect for SD.
Over here, when a class is said to be an MMA one it's specifically for competitive fighting and the students expect to be trained to fight in the cage/ring with the coach finding them suitable promotions in which to fight as well as advise on opponents etc. If the class is called cross training, the students expect to be taught different techniques from different styles including weapons for SD and fitness, that sort of thing. The cross trainers tend to distance themselves from MMA. Here, what you call the class will dictate what type of students you get but I guess it saves disappointment!

 

[goldwarrior]

When I read the title of the thread I thought "Oh, No! Not another person who thinks he can teach!" It sounds like you are qualified! How many years of martial arts experience do you have in total?

If you get the opportunity to teach a class next year, just be honest with the students. Tell them "This is my first time teaching!" Give them the option to drop the class, and find someone who is a more experienced teacher.

I've found that a lot of time people want some simple moves for getting out of dangerous situations. Such as someone choking you, coming at you with a knife, grabbing you, etc. If you want the college to run a class, my suggestion would be to teach that. Rather than focusing on MMA competition fighting. That's usually what colleges like to see, and what people will sign-up for.

 

[Tez3]

When I read the title of the thread I thought "Oh, No! Not another person who thinks he can teach!" It sounds like you are qualified! How many years of martial arts experience do you have in total?

If you get the opportunity to teach a class next year, just be honest with the students. Tell them "This is my first time teaching!" Give them the option to drop the class, and find someone who is a more experienced teacher.

I've found that a lot of time people want some simple moves for getting out of dangerous situations. Such as someone choking you, coming at you with a knife, grabbing you, etc. If you want the college to run a class, my suggestion would be to teach that. Rather than focusing on MMA competition fighting. That's usually what colleges like to see, and what people will sign-up for.

I think you may be a little confused as Mauna has considerable martial arts teaching experience , he was asked to teach MMA which he hasn't taught before. MMA as in competition fighting type MMA (which is actually what it is), you know the fighting in rings and cages stuff. He was asked not him asking and the premise was teaching the basics of MMA so the students could go off to the pro gyms with some good solid background behind them, plus he was going to teach some weapons to make it a bit different for them. All the SD stuff he already does.

Oh and yes I train and teach MMA, pro fighters too.

 

[Makalakumu]

I think you may be a little confused as Mauna has considerable martial arts teaching experience , he was asked to teach MMA which he hasn't taught before. MMA as in competition fighting type MMA (which is actually what it is), you know the fighting in rings and cages stuff. He was asked not him asking and the premise was teaching the basics of MMA so the students could go off to the pro gyms with some good solid background behind them, plus he was going to teach some weapons to make it a bit different for them. All the SD stuff he already does.

Oh and yes I train and teach MMA, pro fighters too.

Yeah, thanks, Tez3, that's the basics. I've operated my own dojo since 2000 and I've trained in MA since I was a kid. MMA would be something new, my principle, who is a fan, heard about the arts that I am trained in and have rank and asked me. The class won't go this year, but probably will next year.