new to MMA

[SouthPawJD21]

hey yall, i am starting MMA and had a couple concerns.i have some experience in boxing but know almost nothing of MMA.almost every time me and my friend sparr, we always come out pretty beat up.are there any concerns i should know about?and also when i watch UFC those guys seem to be able to take face shots pretty well most of the time.have they gotten use to head shots?

[Tiger J]

Don't spar hard. That's how you get injured. I suggest you train some Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai. They go a very long way in MMA.

Try not to get hit by big shots (obviously) when you fight. They're lethal when it comes to the ending of the fight. Unlike boxing, if you go down, it's most likely finished. If you got a glass jaw, work on your defense PRETTY HARD

[SouthPawJD21]

so u cant help it if u cant take a punch?u cant just take hits or anything?what would u reccomend between brazilian ju jitsu or mui thai?

[Heavy D]

Both....It's MIXED martial arts. BJJ helps with your ground game, especially submissions. Muay Thai works the striking game, and helps with knees, elbows and kicks, which boxing doesn't touch (obviously). Straight up boxing is good to work just your hands, and learning to evade those huge shots, and wrestling will help you get take downs and is useful for perfecting your control while Ground and Pounding.

As far as taking a punch goes, its just something you generally either have, or don't. You'll learn to roll with punches and kicks, and other ways to soften the blows a bit. People also say getting hit a lot tends to let you take the blows better as well, but I think thats just because you've damaged youre brain so much that you cant really feel the strikes any more. Either that or you just learn to roll with them better over time.

[Tiger J]

Heavy D knows whats up.

[Heavy D]

I'm looking to get into it myself, so I've put a bit of research into it. Basically, once I can afford to train, I'm gonna try my damnedest to get into BJJ and boxing classes, and my boss is an ex-professional kickboxer trained in muay thai, PLUS he trained with rickson gracie and one of the other gracies, so I'll be spending some time with him :P

[SouthPawJD21]

when u say "roll with the punch" does that mean give with it?

[athlete.not.fighter]

yeah it just means to move in the direction of the punch so it doesn't hurt as bad.
you should look into leg kicks. a pushing kick and a round kick. that'll greatly expand you stand up game since you already box. i think stickgrappler.tripod.com is a good place to get some info on muay thai combos and stuff like that.
a great place to go for submission grappling is bjj.org. the only problem with that site is most of the techniques they show use a gi, which most mma fighters seem to not like. i don't realy like them personally. just imagine how to make them work by grabbing their body and not a gi. That'll help your ground game.
i guess the only thing you'd be missing is throws, takedowns, and clinching. also some general info and terminology on ground work.
i got into mma about a year ago and i love it! so if you have any questions, even if they are really open ended, ask because i'd love to try to answer them.

[SouthPawJD21]

hey thanks alot ill probably take u up in the questions after a while

[raleights]

Also build the muscles up around your neck if you wanna take punishment better, it's like a shock absorber for any strikes you receive. The last thing you want while taking a solid shot, is a skinny neck. Speaking from experience btw, I've taken shots before I built mine up and after, huge difference. And while knowing BJJ is necessary, try not to do too much if you're a casual MMAer, it causes this nasty shit - and thats mild compared to what I see on the professional fighters.

[Prometheus]

the only problem with that site is most of the techniques they show use a gi, which most mma fighters seem to not like. i don't realy like them personally. just imagine how to make them work by grabbing their body and not a gi. That'll help your ground game.

I train at an MMA school, and I have to disagree about the gi thing. Learning to work with a gi will really accelerate your learning curve once you take it off. Think about it like this...You learn to work in situations where a guy can grab your clothes and basically push/ pull you as he sees fit. Now that you've learned to deal with that, you take off the gi and get rid of all the holding places that he had. How much more effective are you now? Besides, having a gi on will REALLY make you learn to defend the chokes and armbars! About 90% or better of the gi techniques can be easily adapted to no-gi/MMA.

[athlete.not.fighter]

yeah, now that you call me on that, i've been to two schools and they wear gis, and i can't say that most fighters prefer no gi because i don't know most of the mma fighters.
i'm not sure though how gis help you learn to defend chokes and armbars. i'm not saying your wrong, i really don't know. so if you want to tell me, you can teach me something new . now that you say it though, i'll bet gis do accelerate learning. thats the only reason i can think of that schools want you to have them.
it does seem, to me atleast, that in competition, gis are not prefered.
me and my sparring buddies do without when we can, since, like you said, 90% or better of the techniques can be modified to no gi apps. so why not train without if we're going to compete without.
by the way, since we're on the subject, do you think royce gracie will wear a gi when he competes against matt hues? maybe that should be a new topic.

[Prometheus]

by the way, since we're on the subject, do you think royce gracie will wear a gi when he competes against matt hues?

Good question...I don't think that current UFC rules allow the wearing of a gi, but I am not sure. If it is allowed, I think Royce will wear one.
As far as defending chokes and armbars goes, the gi never gets slippery, even at the very end of a fight. So, it is much easier to hang onto, and secure the hold. You become much more aware of when the other guy is going for one of those holds, not just trying to defend once the hold is half way applied. To quote Mr. Miyagi "Best way to defend armbar is to no be there when is applied." -Or something like that. It's not that most fighters prefer the gi, it is that it lends itself very well to their training. Not to mention that the collar on a gi is like having a rope around your neck!

[SouthPawJD21]

when u were saying strengthen ur neck...wat are some good exercises i can do?it makes sense that this would help

[raleights]

When I wrestled they had us doing this bridge excercise, which isn't too easy at first but you gotta keep cracking at it http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/schultz8.htm
Theres some other info on that site thats useful. Also don't get carried away with weight lifting, natural muscle is always better for striking than bulk. If anything do a bit of light freeweights to keep yourself strong. Also I suggest watching professional MMA fights, over and over and over. Enjoy and study it at the same time. I actually bought a dvd burner and have ordered all the Pride/UFC dvd's from netflix, made my copy of it and sent it back. Great way to save thousands