How to Get Into MMA
If you love MMA – then the opportunities to take part in the action are becoming more plentiful. As well as just watching, you can now even enjoy MMA betting, when the thrills are multiplied tenfold. However, more people than ever are actually looking to physically get in on the action.
Here we are looking at how to get into MMA for beginners…
Training Program
First, you need to get yourself a training program. There will be many options available to you – and you need to choose the right one for your budget and your skill level.
Teaching Yourself?
Becoming an MMA fighter is all about hard work and dedication. You need to practise the movements and footwork along with muscle responses to become a competitor. As such, it is essential to learn the skills from knowledgeable coaches.
If you have a couple of years of experience, you can refine your skills on your own, but you need to get the basics from a proper coach.
Getting Into It With No Experience
You can start from nothing – as long as you are dedicated and inspired. With enough passion, you can start learning quickly and improve week by week. If you have a good coach, you have as much chance of going far as anyone else.
You need to learn three key fundamentals:
- Awareness
- Reflexes
- Efficiency
By mastering these, you can become a well-rounded MMA fighter with an edge over your competition and they can’t be taught, only learned.
What You Need to Know When You Get Into MMA
Before you get started, here are some of the things you need to know:
- Injuries happen. You need to listen to your body. If you do get injured, don’t let it demotivate you. Be patient, wait to recover and remember your passion.
- Train with experienced fighters: if you can train with more experienced fighters you will learn faster and possibly suffer fewer injuries.
- Worry about being good rather than looking good: Think about how effective your punches and kicks are rather than how good they look.
- Stay humble: Don’t think you know better than anyone else. If you have a coach telling you how to improve, listen.
- Watch the best fighters: As well as practising your skills at the gym, spend time watching the best fighters. You will learn more – and you may be able to pick up tips and tricks that you can try.
- Don’t always spar heavy: Don’t keep sparring with someone that is just looking to punch your head off. Use a controlled setting to enjoy light sparring and practice techniques.
- Focus on defence: Defence is every bit as important (if not more so) as attack. Make sure you spend time learning how to defend yourself.
Getting into MMA
Getting into MMA training isn’t difficult. You just need to find a gym and commit to attending a few sessions each week.
Some proper MMA gyms will run their own fight nights to give newer talent a platform – a place to put on a show and hone their skills. This is the best way for newbies to deal with stage fright and understand the adrenaline that they have to contend with when performing in front of people.
Getting the Right Equipment
You will also need the right equipment. A good MMA gym will already have a lot of the equipment you need – gloves, shin guards and hand wraps. However, you will need to provide your own mouthguard… for obvious reasons.
If you do intend to take it seriously, it is good to invest in your own equipment – and use gloves and shin guards that have been adapted to you and no one else. It’s also a lot more hygienic.
You should invest in boxing gloves, hand wraps, a mouthguard and shin guards. Having good equipment will also help you to feel more confident.
And that’s it! You’re set to start your MMA journey. Start off practising, then gym fight nights. You can then hit the amateur fight nights and who knows where you can go from there!
