I plan to train in the future not just for fitness but to be actually good at fighting (maybe I will even try to compete if I discovered I have a talent for fighting). How do I know if an MMA gym is good or not?
Also I live in a 3rd world country (not gonna tell which one) and in a rural place on top of that, so the nearest MMA gym I can see from the Google Map is 30 km away. The nearest gym (around 7 km) has boxing and kyokushin karate sessions, but it is within a fitness gym so im afraid the martial arts might be just for fitness and not actually competitive fighting.
Boy if only there was a way to go there and find out with your own two eyes and matching brain cells.
You could always be like the guy who challenged the kyokushin girl to a spar because you thought you would be able to beat her to see if their shit is good or not.
Kyokushin types are rough sluggers check it out after the MMA gym if that one is too shitty.
>kyokushin karate
>Not fighting
He's talking combat sports fighting, like boxing, kickboxing and so on, what he could do is train the kyokushin or whatever and join those competitions and wreck them with pure skill and tism.
Did you read the part where it's not a kyokushin school and just a class being offered at a gym?
Most MMA gyms in my experience do not offer lessons. It's just a martial arts themed gym. Like UFC gyms for example. They might have the occasional class from a visiting bigshot but the overwhelming majority do not teach anything. So, I guess look for one with regular instruction. Otherwise you got to work all that out yourself with whoever is there & eseentially cobble your own training social circle. Beyond that, make sure they regularly host fight nights. If they don't do that chances are there are zero serious memebers
Is that fricking true?!? I mean I kinda agree that most are shit and do cardio kickboxing bullshit, but I feel like ones that say MMA vs kickboxing or something else tend to have at least some good instruction, even if it's geared towards beginners. Especially the UFC gym. One of my current trainers used to work there, and from what I've heard it's pretty milquetoast, and you're better off with a smaller gym owned by a real fighter who's passionate than the corporate shit that is the UFC gym (usually people start training at UFC before feeling comfortable enough yo start their own placeband have loyal clientele) but don't they at least do pretty standard classes like muay thai, bjj, and mma sparring?
They literally took over LA Boxing anon. Figure it out yourself.
Doesn't mean shit. It's a corporation. Just because they bought out another buisiness doesn't mean they'll turn the two different brands into the same thing, they likely want to keep both and differentiate between the two. Not that I'm defending ufc gyms. I still say go local and you'll almost always be better off unless it's bullshido. But I'm still pretty sure if you go to a UFC gym you'll get an okay mma experience. Like saying in and out doesn't have the best burgers, not at all, but if you go there you'll get an okay burger.
OK man. Enjoy your 100 Million Served.
Did you miss the part where I said I'm not defending it and I recommend people to go elsewhere? Are you that illiterate?
>mmm, whopper!
I used to work at UFC in a corporate location, the corporate locations and franchise locations are different animals. The franchisees run their own shit and have proven to be lackluster
corporate you get what you pay for (which isn't much) but everybody teaching there is talented, we have to go through a pretty rigorous screening process which involves getting observed practically on the mat and getting run through some workouts and stuff to make sure we're actually good.
everybody I worked with was professional level in at least one discipline whether it was boxing, muay thai, bjj, mma
but the classes were fully corporate controlled and designed to give as little information as possible so if you're interested in actually getting good you buy privates. the classes themselves come out of a book and are broken down to the minute of what you teach and how much time you teach it for
an example
all classes are scheduled for 50 minutes
6:00 class is the start time, wait 5 minutes for stragglers
6:05 take attendance and start "warmups" (time wasters) running, shrimping, forward rolling
6:20 teach the 1st move
6:30 teach the 2nd move
6:40 1st 3 minute roll, 2 minute rest
6:45 2nd 3 minute roll, line everybody up for handshakes and dismissal
6:50 gtfo so the next group can start shuffling in for the 7pm class
you have to buy the mandatory $250 gi
promotions are also 100% attendance based, you must have an average of 30 classes per quarter which works out to 2.5 classes per week, but back to back classes from the same night each count so you can knock out your weekly visit in one night if you want. Plus 2 UFC classes run the same length as most normal classes elsewhere
its 3 months per white belt stripe, 6 months per colored belt stripe, you have to pay extra to attend each promotion ceremony when they happen. But basically it works out that if you hit your weekly visit and stay up to date on your dues you get an official UFC BJJ black belt in 7 years
> Corporate UFC.
> Sounds like worse rendition of McDojocult.
> KEEP SECRETS FROM NEWBIES UNLESS THEY PAY $1k worth of content!!!
> Comes from a book that's set up in a way to scam people.
Umm anon, not sure if you know what that place was other than a pyramid scheme, you people are as guilty of running McDojo as the Karate studios.
Not my problem
That's pretty damn sad... but kind of what I expected. I knew the coaches there know their shit, and only really get held back by the corporate shit. But treating belts like that is incredibly bad... there's a reason new purples come to our gym and me being a mid teir blue can destroy them. And my grappling is the worst part of my game. Hopefully people that go there can learn enough to move on to another gym in the area that requires people to have at least some knowledge before letting them in.
See this shit right here, this is why I keep telling people that 'bullshido' doesnt apply to just techniques, it applies to business practices too.
>attendance-based promotions
>mandatory overpriced gear
>pay for promotion ceremony
Hmm... smells like SHIT
Damn, most taekwondo schools aren't even this bad
Try out the closer one ask some questions pick either karate or boxing and you can use that as your base and then later on do some wrestling
>if the place looks seedy and is in a shit neighborhood. It’s probably as legit a gym it gets
Bonus points if it’s in a dingy ass warehouse. Simply put, if the mma gym (and this goes for all fighting gyms) promotes sparring and contact, and has at least a few competitive members, chances are you’re in good hands.
There is some truth to this. Go where the hungry junkyard dogs are.
There is no "perfect" gym. Every one is unique and has their own benefits and drawbacks. If you have limited options, that makes it much simpler. The main metric you use to separate the bullshido gyms from real gyms is how much live sparring they do. As in 80-90% full speed sparring (maybe less percent for striking power, but still full speed). As long as you have that, you'll learn. As fast as a prime mma gym in LA or vegas? Probably not. But you'll learn and make progress so if you move and find a better gym, you'll be years ahead of if you didn't.
If you can, find one that teaches both standing and ground game. So some kind of striking and some kind of submission and takedown art. And the last thing is, don't stop lifting. On off days you aren't training, get some strength. It should be supplemental, not the main focus of your regiment, but it should be there. A REALLY good gym will encourage you to do this, or even have some equipment/a class alongside the training. But that's ideal ideal. Not required, because you can do this yourself.
Pretty simple
They have good pro fighters
It's really easy to check
See this is my dojo
https://www.tapology.com/gyms/1925-mma-gym-cave
Damn, did you ever get to train with Mizuto Hirota? I will never forget near Shinya ripping his arm off with an americana in K-1, that shit was insane
not really true, as a normal person you're just a pay pig in professional gyms
you're not getting the attention of the coaches if you're not personally bringing in money to the gym through fight purses and you don't get good through osmosis just by being in the presence of people that are good
nobody on long island goes pro without going through matt serra, meanwhile he has one of the worst gyms. Low standards, no personalized attention at all
This guy gets it. Most gyms, especially ones with pros, do not give a shit about you. This is part of the reason for the success of McDojos. They fill that niche. Unfortunately most of them are bullshido and legit TMA dojos are as rare as an MMA gyms with good instruction.
>TMA dojos are as rare as an MMA gyms with good instruction
Fukken sad but true. MMA as a concept is generally more practical, more efficient. But the legit Dojos with good teachers are such a fricking joy to learn from. But most MMA coaches hang their hat on the very concept but honestly suck so much at teaching they do little good.
Check if they won any competitions or allowed students to compete under their name.
If what they teach is bullshit then they wouldn't want to get it exposed in a competition.
The best martial art is the one you enjoy and actually show up to practice.
30km is far away. How often could you go there in a week?
I would try both.
Boxing and karate is a good combination to start with. Learn to strike and if you enjoy that, competed and want to go to MMA you can use that as a solid base.
If the coach is an active ufc fighter, is that a good sign?
It is in the back of a strip mall
Unless he's really just the face/owner, it's less than ideal. Even if he's a great coach, which many fighters are fricking not, keeping in active conditioning and fight skill takes a lot out of prelim guys, let alone main carders. Running a school on top of that is a compounding multiplier that basically no one is really built to do.
He is a main card fighter and teaches 4 times a week
He just announced at the end of call he will be fighting in Vegas in a couple months
Ironically, no. He ain't got time for you and
This. Being a good fighter don't mean shit for teaching.
Make sure it's CLEAN and people are intense but careful. Being about to mimic real fighting but avoiding injuries is a sign of a truly professional facility.
I am 34, no fighting experience except getting punched in the face as a kid. I have a 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu place near my work. I want to go, is it a good idea? They do MMA, BJJ, Muay Thai.
Since you probably have zero expectations of turning professional at any of those things, 10P gyms tend to be perfectly serviceable at what they offer for the average guy just looking to train.