MMA Stuff » Training

Slosh Pipe Log Carry

Jimmy — Sat, 28 May 2011 17:46:32 +0000

Guest Post: This is a guest post by Rob also known as Combat Trainer. Rob is a CSCS and specializes in MMA strength and conditioning.

Fighters are always looking for new ways to take their MMA training to new levels. They are always searching for ways to improve their bodies, to be lean, mean fighting machines. In sports it is vital that athletes have a strong and stable core. Fighters are no different than other athletes and need to have a strong core as well.

Many still teach their athletes that doing countless amounts of sit-ups and crunches will improve the strength of the abdominals. I cannot remember the last time I actually had one of my fighters or any of my athletes perform a sit-up or any variation of the sit-up to improve their core strength.

As a fighter you must ask yourself, how often do I flex my abdominals in the same manner I do when doing a sit-up? The answer is obvious, none! That is because in life and in any sport including MMA your abdominals are used as stabilizers, not in a motion of contraction. The core is there to help stabilize and support the spine and help prevent injury. Some other benefits of a strong stabilizing core is that a fighter will have better balance, with this balance comes more efficient movements leading to being a more powerful fighter through your punches and kicks.

One of the best ways to work your core is through the use of what is called a Slosh Pipe. A Slosh Pipe can be constructed very easily. Go to the local hardware store, pick up a nine foot, four inch in diameter PVC pipe. Buy some caps for it and some sealant. The first step is to cap one end of the PVC pipe. Then fill the pipe up with around thirty pounds of water. Cap the other end and boom you have yourself a Slosh Pipe. Why is it called a Slosh Pipe? You will feel why when you pick it up.

When you go to pick up the Slosh Pipe you will see why it will help with stabilizing your core. The water moving throughout the pipe forces you to contract your core and stabilize your body. In the video below you will see as I pick up the Slosh Pipe as if I am carry a log on my shoulder. You will see how the water moving from one end to the other forces me to use my core to stand upright and continue to walk with it. As the pipe tilts towards the back you will feel your abdominals contract and help keep your body upright. This is just one of the many movements you can do with the Slosh Pipe and challenge your core.

For more MMA strength and conditioning training you can also visit my site http://combattrainer.com. There I offer online training programs to help you reach your goals and become the complete combat athlete.

MMA Training for Balance and Coordination

Jimmy — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 22:45:34 +0000

Every athlete needs well developed core and stabilization muscles, but perhaps no one needs it more than mixed martial artists. Strength in these areas is an absolute must for mma fighters for several reasons: increased balance, coordination, muscular endurance and stability – all which are very important attributes for mma fighters.

The ability to stay balanced and on your feet, such as BJ Penn’s almost impenetrable take-down defense, when you have strong powerful wrestlers and judo fighters constantly attempting single legs, double legs, and hip throws has a lot to do with how well you have trained your balance and coordination.

Balance and coordination is also the foundation for powerful strikes and take-downs, so developing these attributes in your mma training workouts will not only help you defensively but offensively as well.

The best way to develop your balance and coordination is to include core training and balance training in your mma training workouts.

Core Training

The core is perhaps the most important part of the body mma fighters must strengthen and develop. The reason being is that the core is the where the body’s center of gravity is and where all movement begins.

That means every punch, kick, take-down, throw, or any other offensive (or defensive) move begins at the core FIRST.

The core is also responsible for stabilizing muscle movement as well as initiate muscle movement. Without getting to much into details, all you need to know at this point is that you sure as hell better be developing your core muscles.

MMA Training Exercises for Developing the Core

Core Stabilization: Any exercise done on the stability ball will automatically develop core stabilization. Example exercises are:

Stability ball training of all kinds (both core and non-core exercises such as dumbbell shoulder presses)
Planks
Floor Bridges

Vertical Crunches: Any crunch exercise where you are flexing your core in a linear movement. Example exercises are:

Floor crunches
Cable crunches
Sit-ups
Leg raises

Twisting Movements: Along with standard crunches and sit-ups, twisting movements are vital for developing power and coordination in any movement that requires twisting your torso, such as punching and kicking. Example exercises are:

Cable Wood chops
Cable rotations
Medicine ball rotation chest passes
Bicycle sit-ups

Core Power Training: Along with strength, it is important to develop core power, which will contribute the most in increasing power in your strikes. Example exercises are:

Medicine ball slams
Sledgehammer training
Medicine ball pull-over throws from the stability ball
Medicine ball wood-chops

Balance Training

Balance training is the other half to balance and coordination training. Having good balance will keep you on your feet when it’s needed most, such as Anderson Silva’s going to need going up against Demian Maia next month for UFC 112.

MMA fighters often find themselves in unstable positions more often than not, so training your balance appropriately will ensure you’re comfortable and effective in the ring or cage when you find yourself in these positions.

MMA Training Exercises for Developing Balance

Stabilization Balance: The ability to stay on one leg without losing balance is key. Some example exercises are:

Standing on one-leg: practice holding your leg straight out
Single Leg exercise: Have your part attempt to take you down while he has you in a single leg
Have a partner throw a tennis ball at you while standing on a medicine ball

Balance Strength: Having balance strength is important for movements such as standing back up when you have your opponent’s leg to attempt another single leg. Some example exercises are:

Single leg squats with the TRX
Single leg Dumbbell Step ups

Balance Power: The ability to be explosive on your feet while still maintaining balance and posture is a must have attribute in mma. Some example exercises are:

Single leg box jumps
Side to side single leg jumps over a medicine ball
Shadowboxing with a 12 inch rope tied between your ankles (great exercise for footwork too)

About the Author

Derek Manuel is a personal trainer specializing on strength and conditioning for mma fighters. Check out his complete reviews of the top mma workout routines on the web today at http://www.bestmmatrainingworkouts.com/

Follow Derek’s MMA Strength and Conditioning Blog

Follow Derek on Twitter

Women in MMA

Jimmy — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 22:32:33 +0000

A Guest Post by my friend Nicole

Women in MMA. Say what you want but more and more women are taking up an interest in the male dominated sport. I am one of those women. I don’t have a background in wrestling. Never took a karate class in my life. I did, however, play sports growing up. Volleyball, basketball, softball, track & field, and soccer didn’t lead me on the path to MMA. How did I get in to the sport? Now that’s a story. I was 18 years old and met a boy who told me everything I wanted to hear. We ended up in a relationship together. For the first few months everything was fine. Eventually, he became very controlling and dictated who I could hang out with, what I could wear, who I could talk to and he had to know where I was at all times. If that wasn’t bad enough, he started getting physical and would hit me every time we got in an argument. I can’t tell you how many times I was thrown against walls and beaten. To make matters worse, I was a very religious girl and was waiting until marriage to have sex and he raped me for “the good of the relationship.” I was so weak and after 2 years of putting up with it; I finally left him. I was broken and scared but I knew I never wanted to be subjected to that again. I didn’t want to be a victim. I signed up at LA Boxing a few blocks from my house and started doing kickboxing. I became obsessed with it. For me, it was my therapy, strength and empowerment. I had been doing that for a couple of years when an old friend of mine invited me to train with her at De La O Jiu Jitsu. I had always loved watching MMA but I never knew where to go about training for it so I jumped on the opportunity. After one class, I was hooked. I cancelled my membership at LA Boxing and started training at De La O Jiu Jitsu. The rest is history.

Now getting started with jiu jitsu was very frustrating and uncomfortable for me. Having to make physical contact with boys and be in somewhat awkward positions was very hard at first. It was also difficult being one of the few girls. It’s like the guys wanted nothing to do with you. I had to gain their respect and show them I wasn’t there to try and hook up with them because they were fighters. I have also dealt with several injuries since I started training. I’ve had broken toes, sprained fingers, torn calf, cuts on my knees and elbows, fat lips, and even 2 shoulder surgeries. I’ve never let any of that hold me back.

MMA has been a blessing to my life in so many ways. It’s helped me with my self esteem. It’s made me stronger, faster, and more aware. It’s helped me lose a tremendous amount of weight. It’s helped with my anxiety and anger and has given me the confidence and strength to avoid terrible relationship choices like the one I made that got me into training in the first place.

Currently, I train 6 days a week: 4 days of MMA/Jiu Jitsu and 2 days of Muay Thai. I’m a blue belt under John De La O. It’s been about one month since I’ve been back from an 8 month hiatus due to 2 shoulder surgeries. I thought I’d be struggling more with my comeback but everything seems to be going relatively well. Granted, I still have my bad days but I’m getting better and better and I’ve never been more fired up to train than I am right now.

I hope to compete in the future but I still have to let my shoulder get its strength back. Just being a part of the sport has been life changing. I’m a completely different person. If you’d like to follow me on my journey check out my blog: http://nizzicole.unfilteredmma.com

Changing MMA Schools

Jimmy — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:24:34 +0000

I spent over 2 years at the same MMA gym that I started at. This school transitioned me from an out of shape, normal kid into a fighter. This school laid the foundation for my MMA training. It’s been 6 months but I’ve switched MMA schools to begin a new chapter in MMA.

Why did I switch MMA schools?

I barely saw the main instructor
No advanced MMA classes
No sense of “team”
No mentoring

I had a sour experience after my first fight. I had two training partners that helped me prepare for my first fight, but I feel like an instructor should of been there for me everyday. So I made the switch to a new gym. I see the main instructor everyday, learning many new things and improving every time I train. If you are no longer progressing with your skill, it’s time to move on.

MMA Link Roundup

Jimmy — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:32:16 +0000

The great thing about the internet is the wealth of information. Sometimes too much information, here is a round up of few sites that I find valuable and hopefully you will find use of them.

Find MMA Gym
This site is a great resource to those who want to start training MMA or need a new gym. What makes this site so great is the amount of information that you can find on it. You can look up MMA gyms based on zip code, city, or state. Once you type that in you get a nice list of gyms. Each listing features all the basic contact information of the MMA gym. There is also a very descriptive background, rating, and user comments area so you can get a better feel for the gym. There is also a section that goes over the Gym/School specialties (for example: grappling, stand up, mma).

Mixed Martial Arts
This website has a lot of information, such as MMA news and training articles. I use this all the time to look up records of fighters. Any person who actually fights will be automatically put into the database. You are able to modify your profile by verifying yourself via email.

Performance Workouts
This is a great resource if you want to throw together some sort of strength and conditioning plan. They show lists of workouts with videos according to: Strength, Stability, Power, Speed, Agility, and Flexibility.

What sites do you think are useful? Share them and tell us why!

My First Fight Checklist

Jimmy — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:11:17 +0000

Ad: Get your boxing equipment for less.

A few months ago I decided it was time to test myself and fight in the cage. I felt confident enough in my couple years of training that I would be able to hold it down. If you do not think you’re going to win, you’re not going to win.

Prerequisites:

Time: Fortunately for me I’m still a college student that does not have a family or a full time job. 15+ hours a week are spent on training. A part time job with flexible scheduling helps me work around my training.
Planning: The usage of training logs and spreadsheets have helped me track my workouts. If you use a daily planner, it helps to put your workouts in.
Lifestyle Changes: I gave up a lot of my partying and hollering at trollymogs (see: floozy). You don’t have to become a recluse and not hangout with anyone. Just stay away from late night partying and large amounts of of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Badass Fight Shorts
Even if you win, you still lose if you have silly fight shorts. Fashion is the most important thing about preparing for a fight. You won’t see me kicking ass and taking names in Vale Tudo Booty Shorts. That’s why I rock Contract Killer (thanks Shaun at Limitless MMA) fight shorts. The name alone will definitely have my opponent pissing himself.

Badass, no?

Technical Skill
My technical skill was just a little bit more important than my fight apparel. I sat down and analyzed myself, which were my strong points, what were my weak points, how can I improve myself? I focused on my weak areas and polished up my strengths. I’ve seen it in the cage on the amateur level many times, fighters who can’t fight. These dudes look like their only training was throwing wild hooks on a heavy bag at their local gym.

Strength & Conditioning
It’s amazing that technique can conquer strength, any Jiu Jitsu practitioner will confirm this. Now if my opponent is has technical skills at my level, strength and conditioning will give me the upper hand. A majority of my conditioning comes from MMA training, although I do supplementary strength and conditioning in some mornings. I try to train smarter and not longer in my A.M strength and conditioning workouts. They include Kettlebells, Barbell Complexes, Circuit Training, Sprints, and other fun things.

Nutrition
I had to make my target weight class meaning I had to cut 15 lbs. I was burning calories like crazy and burning fat but I sometimes would feel terrible training. The root of the problem was my terrible eating practices, junky foods high in saturated fats and no micro nutrients and a lot of fast food. Quickly, I made the move to change my eating habits. I started eating more whole foods and trying to eat very healthy. The change took time, but I did it little by little. This allowed me to cleanly cut weight and have plenty of energy during training and throughout my day.

This is all the areas I addressed. My fight hasn’t happened yet, so we’ll see if my checklist was good. Anything I’ve missed, anything you can add to the check list? Leave a comment. If you think I was serious about how I look in the cage, have a sense of humor please.

MMA Conditioning When Training for a Fight

Jimmy — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:14:30 +0000

Ad: Martial arts supplies at great prices.

This is a guest post from Derek Manuel

Conditioning for a mma fight is, unlike many other sports, not black and white. When most people think of the word conditioning, they think of how far and long an athlete can run or perform a certain exercise without sucking wind. This only refers to one aspect of conditioning. The word “conditioning” is often interchanged with the word cardio, which is short for cardiovascular conditioning or endurance, but the two are NOT the same thing.

Let’s break down what exactly conditioning is in relation to a mixed martial artist and how we can put it all together so that a fighter can prepare his conditioning to the best of his/her ability.

Cardiovascular Endurance

Cardiovascular endurance can be broken into two parts: aerobic and anaerobic. Aerobic, which literally means “in the presence of oxygen,” refers to slower but longer paced exercises, such as jogging where oxygen is the main energy pathway. Anaerobic, or “in the absence of oxygen,” refers to high intensity training where energy is not derived from oxygen, but rather through alternative energy pathways that call upon an element called “phosphates” that are stored in our skeletal muscles. However, there is a very limited supply and phosphate gets used up very quickly (within a matter of seconds), though all the phosphate will be replenished usually in 5 minutes or less.

In a mma fight, both aerobic and anaerobic endurance are equally important. The better your aerobic endurance, the faster your heart will be able to supply your muscles with oxygen, which means the faster you can recover your wind, or “catch your breath.” The better your anaerobic endurance, the longer you will be able to perform high intensity exercise without slowing down.

However, there is a slight twist here. Although aerobic endurance serves as a good foundation for your overall conditioning, developing your anaerobic endurance is generally more beneficial for mma fighters. This is because studies have shown that aerobic endurance carries over less to anaerobic endurance, meaning that if you do a lot of low-intensity long distance running, you won’t see much improvement in, say interval training where you do high intensity sprints for 10 – 30 seconds, rest for a minute, and repeat for a certain amount of times.

However, on the flip side, anaerobic endurance carries over to aerobic endurance very well, so if you do a lot of interval training, this will improve your ability to jog for longer periods of time or for longer distances; in other words, increase your aerobic endurance. Conditioning your anaerobic endurance also carries over to mma more because it better develops your speed, power, muscle mass, and even fat loss then exercises that are mainly aerobic in nature.

As I stated earlier though, cardio is only one aspect of conditioning. If you were to get to the point where you can jog 5 miles or more non-stop without breathing hard and you can do dozens of wind sprints in a short amount of time with minimal rest, and that’s ALL the “conditioning” you did, I guarantee you will still run the risk of “gassing out” out in a high intensity mma fight. Why? Because although your cardiovascular endurance may be in great shape, you are still lacking a very important form of conditioning: muscular endurance.

Muscular Endurance

If exercises like jogging or cycling are mainly a form or cardiovascular endurance, then muscular endurance is the capacity of a muscle or a group of muscles to perform repeated contractions against a given load for a relatively long period of time.

However, muscular endurance can even still be broken down into three different types:

1) Muscle endurance – The capacity to contract a muscle or group of muscles regardless of the weight during a relatively long period of time (example: doing 100 pushups or doing as many pushups as you can within a five minute time period)

2) Strength Endurance – The capacity to exert maximum or near maximum strength for a relatively long period of time (think bench pressing your 1-3 rep max for as many reps as you can in a five minute period)

3) Power Endurance – The capacity to exert maximum or near maximum strength quickly (power = strength x speed) for a relatively long period of time (example: doing cleans with your 1-3 rep max for as many reps as you can in a five minute period)

All three of these types of muscular endurance are equally important, on top of your cardiovascular endurance, for a mixed martial arts fight. If you are scheduled for five, 5 minute rounds and you go the distance, your cardiovascular endurance will definitely come into play (more anaerobic in the beginning and more aerobic towards the end).

If the fight is in large a boxing match, where you are throwing dozens and dozens of punches, this will heavily tax your muscle endurance, such as your shoulders.

If the majority of the fight is fought in the clinch, or where you are shooting for takedowns or defending them back and forth, a lot of this requires quick and explosive strength, or power, to take your opponent down. If you plan on being able to continuously use the same or very similar level of maximum strength and power even into the 3rd, 4th, and 5th rounds, then you’re going to need strength and power endurance.

Putting it All Together

As you can see, doing a bunch of bicep curls and bench presses in your garage and jogging around your block every other day is simply not going to get you in the right condition when training for a fight. You have to keep in mind all of these elements, and train appropriately for them.

So how do you do that? I’d thought you’d never ask.

I will give you an example for a mma fighter who is training for a fight coming up in 12 weeks. Keep in mind that this is just a general example, as each fighter is different and requires a conditioning program that is more geared for their specific needs.

Depending on the fighter, who he/she is fighting, what his/her strength and weakness are, how far out the fight is, and how good of shape the fighter is already in all play a factor on how the strength and conditioning program should be designed. But for sake of example, I’ll show you a brief overview of how you might incorporate a full mma conditioning workout into your training.

Let’s say the fight is scheduled for 3, five minute rounds. Using Stephen Coveys “Begin with the end in mind” principle out of his phenomenal book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, let’s first be clear on where the fighter should be in terms of conditioning at the end of the 12 weeks.

Generally, the conditioning goal for a mma fighter to reach right before a fight is to have maximized his cardio conditioning, starting from a strong aerobic base and ending on a strong anaerobic base that is geared specifically for the length of time in each round, and to have developed his power endurance to the highest level possible.

So first you train strength (though building your strength should be a never ending task, preferably during times when you don’t have a fight scheduled for a long time), then your muscle and strength endurance, then transmute this new strength into power, and finally into power endurance when the fight is getting closer.

We can do this by training your conditioning in this specific order in a 12 week pre-fight program:

Phase 1 (Week 1-3) – For the first three weeks, a fighter may want to focus on developing strength with the most basic compound movements (i.e: squats, bench presses, weighted pull-ups, deadlifts, etc.) as well as begin to develop a foundational base for aerobic endurance.

Phase 2 (Week 4 & 5) – In the next two weeks, a fighter may want to continue to work on basic strength, but also work on muscle endurance by adding 1 or 2 extra sets of maximum reps at the end of each exercise (such as doing pushups after finishing the last set of heavy bench presses), as well as begin to shorten the distance while picking up the pace in his/her endurance training (from 45 minute jogs to 25-30 minute faster paced runs)

Phase 3 ( Week 6 – 9) – At this phase, the fighter is going to want to focus on strength and power exercises, and begin to make the focus of his/her cardio anaerobic (interval training, running as fast as you can at a 5 minute round pace, uphill sprints, etc.)

Phase 4 (10 – 12) – The final few weeks, the fighter should combine his strength and endurance training into one, such as using “power complexes” or circuit training. This is where the fighter trains strength, power, muscle endurance, and cardio all into an exercise for a set amount of time (usually the time of each round in a fight)

This is just a general example of how a fighter might want to plan his 12 weeks for an upcoming fight so that his conditioning is developed for optimal performance come fight night.

All the elements of conditioning are included, so instead of just being able to “run for a long time without sucking wind” the fighter will actually have a fully functional and conditioned body to continue to push the pace NO MATTER WHERE THE FIGHT GOES.

Keep in mind that this just a conditioning side of a mma fighters workout, and where it fits into a fighter’s regular schedule of skill training, flexibility training, recovery time, and all the other important aspects depends on the each fighter’s situation.

Hopefully now you realize that conditioning is not just cardio, but includes all the facets of endurance that is required in mma. Cycle your conditioning workouts similar to the phases that I have provided above based on when your fight is, and you’ll be right on track to developing the type of conditioning that will have you pushing the pace for all 5 rounds without slowing down or feeling worn out. As I have always said, strength and conditioning fits right in with boxing, Muy Thai, jujitsu, wrestling, and judo as far as a mandatory “art” you must practice if you are to be a true mixed martial artist.

About the Author

Derek Manuel is a personal trainer specializing on strength and conditioning for mma fighters. Check out his complete reviews of the top mma workouts on the web today at http://www.BestMMATrainingWorkouts.com

Follow Derek’s MMA Strength and Conditioning Blog Here

Follow Derek on Twitter

16 Ways to be a Mixed Martial Douchebag

Jimmy — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:40:13 +0000

Ad: Get your karate gi for less.

The great thing about MMA gyms is the sense of belonging. The sense of community and team. You train hard together, exchange tips, help each other out just like family. I don’t know if every MMA gym has one of these but there’s always “that guy” that signs up at my gym. I try not to judge people so I give him benefit of the doubt for the first few training sessions but the reality is he’s a mixed martial douchebag.

You’re a mixed martial douche because:

You can bench 400lbs and think strength is everything.
You can’t follow directions. If you’re told do 3 sprints and 10 sprawls, I’m pretty sure it’s a simple set of directions. Don’t ask the instructor to repeat himself after EVERY set of instructions.
You slam when you roll.
You smell really bad before you even get started training. Not to be a baby, I don’t expect everyone to smell like roses and sunshine, but lets be serious.
100% is all you know, when you spar or roll. Lets be real, we’re trying to train, not hurt each other, k thanks.
You constantly interrupt class with your douche antics.
You don’t stop giggling during class. You obviously aren’t working hard enough if you can giggle.
When you roll all you do is lay ontop of the person.

Here are some additional things people on twitter responded when I asked “What do you hate that others do during MMA training?”

@chokewho: Don’t train! Trying to kill instead of “training”. Hate those mo fo’s!
@kimawesome: I hate it when others “accidentally” grab my boob… but I know the truth, it’s no accident.
@VegasMMAWarrior: I hate it when people come do the gym and show NO respect for the sport and show no respect for all of the fighters.
@adccfighter: fart
@Mr_Cagefighter: hit the cup during a clinch match with their knee after the first one its alls fair! After that u are catchin an elbow on your face
@FRANKTRIGG: try to explain what I did wrong just so they can get a break.
@BonelessThurs: when padholders are lazy with it… just cuz you’re not striking doesn’t mean you can just stand there! Get into it!
@lsucindy: What I hate? In my MMA, only 1 guy works w/me. Teacher/other students say guys = scared of “losing” to me (class = learning, NOT losing)

Have any other ways you can be a mixed martial douchebag? Drop a comment.

5 Tips for Starting Your Amateur MMA Career

Jimmy — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:40:00 +0000

Ad: Cheap prices on sparring gear.

Here is a guest post from a buddy and rising amateur MMA star, Eric Center

The exploding popularity of the Mixed Martial Arts has given rise to a legion of young men who want to see if they have what it takes to survive in the octagon. Promotions like the UFC and shows such as The Ultimate Fighter have turned professional fighters into overnight celebrities. I myself had a black belt in “Couch-Fu” over a year and half ago before I decided to become an “Ultimate Fighter”. One fight, two broken feet, 45 lost pounds, and countless hours in the gym later I have learned a lot about what it takes become an athlete and a mixed martial artist. As I prepare for my next two amateur fights this summer in Las Vegas, I want to share with you 5 tips on starting your amateur fight career.

1. Find a good gym to train at – The first step in starting your amateur fight career is to find a gym to train out of. Depending on your location this maybe a difficult task. I myself train out of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. Xtreme Couture happens to be a full MMA gym that contains a cage, ring, mat area, workout area, sauna, etc. If you live in an area that does not offer such a facility, don’t be afraid to join a Jiu-Jitsu school or a kickboxing academy. Many of them offer cross training and are cheaper in price. Here are a few things to look for in a gym:

Price – Some gyms can cost as much as $200 a month or a cheap as $40. Remember, you are investing in yourself so if you have the funds go for the better facility.

The People – Training mixed martial arts is about helping each other and gaining knowledge in the various disciplines of mma, not killing each other. If the gym you are considering is filled with a bunch of individuals who are looking to hurt more than help or who think the way fighters behave on TUF is an good example of how one should act, you should consider your next option.

The Classes – As a mixed martial arts fighter you have to be well versed in many fight disciplines. If the gym your considering doesn’t offer at least one Muay Thai (or kickboxing), wrestling, jiu-jitsu, and boxing class I would cross train at other gyms or look elsewhere.

2. Find your niche – The biggest mistake I made when I first started fighting is I tried to do too much too soon. I would take every class that was offered just to say I took it. After 6 months I felt like I was not learning anything but just going through the motions. That is when I decided to focus on Muay Thai because it came naturally to me. For the next few months I concentrated on my striking and learning basics. After that I branched out and focused on the other aspects of fighting but always staying true to what I am best at. Now when I fight I have a confront zone that I know I can win the fight in. If you have a combat sport background (wrestling, boxing, etc), use that as your base but focus on the area that you may not have much knowledge about. Don’t be intimidated of people who are better than you in the areas you are weak in. You NEED them because steel sharpens steel. When I roll in jiu-jitsu class I seek out the best grapplers because I know rolling with them, in time will improve the weakest part of my game.

3. Get into fighting shape! – This one is very important because in mixed martial arts, CARDIO IS KING! During a fight you use your whole body not just your legs and arms. It is critical that you are in the best shape as possible during the night of your fight. If you are just starting off in the gym is task is going to be hard. The key is to remember why you are killing yourself and keep your eye on the prize. Understand fighting is a lifestyle and you are going to have to make changes in your life outside the gym. For example, slowly over time I stopped smoking and I have cut back drinking socially. The days I can’t make it into the gym I stay active breaking a sweat doing light exercises in my room and shadow boxing. You will have situations when you can’t make it into the gym for days at a time, it is important to stay active during these times, trust me.

4. Find a mentor – At Xtreme Couture I have lucky enough to train under some very well know instructors but a two stand out from the rest. My Muay Thai instructor, Joey Varner and Affliction fighter Jay Hieron both have taken me under their wing and have given me knowledge about everything from fighting to everyday life situations. They keep me motivated and focused. Also, seeing Jay knock people out left and right gives me goals to work for. Find somebody who is a good role model and don’t be afraid to pick their brain for information.

5. Keep a positive attitude – You have to realize that when it comes to fighting, you will have good days and bad days. The key is to roll with punches and squeeze every bit of knowledge from your instructors/training partners as you can. Don’t be afraid to ask a million questions from every in the gym. I’ll walk up to Randy Couture and ask him a question about fighting because mixed martial arts is a learning process is always evolving. Never forget why you are spending your time, money and health on mixed martial arts. Show everybody respect, this is a big one in a combat sports gym. Fighters have an unspoken brotherhood that has unwritten laws, the biggest is respect. If you keep a positive respectful attitude, the fighters at your gym will be much willing to go out of their way to help you and support you when you fight.

The biggest lesson I have learned so far in my young MMA career is hard work does really pay off. Over time you see yourself change physically and emotionally. You will become a stronger person inside and out and this will spill over into other parts of your life. Keep a warrior attitude, stay focused, show respect and you will be well on your way to have a successfully Amateur MMA career.

Follow me on twitter @VegasMMAWarrior
Email me with your questions: EricCenterMMA@gmail.com

MMA Training Mistake #3 – Mouthpiece

Jimmy — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 15:25:38 +0000

Here’s a mistake that I made from the start. This may not to apply to everyone however, it depends on your goals with MMA. If you’re in it to learn how to fight and for fitness, it’s not a big deal but if you’re competing make sure you start training with your mouthpiece in.

I’m not talking about wearing your mouthpiece during sparring for safety reasons, I’m talking about wearing it throughout your whole training session. In my opinion, I think it’s pivotal that you wear a mouthpiece during the whole session because it will help you learn how to breathe with your mouthpiece. I remember when I was at NAGA World Championships last year, I had trouble breathing because I wasn’t training with my mouthpiece.

Wear your mouthpiece at all times! Not only for safety but for breathing.