I’m about to be 36 and have had the itch for a long time now. Was a wrestler for a long time when I was younger and through high school. I don’t want to train to compete or anything, just mostly stay in shape and learn self defense. Overall I’m pretty healthy and in decent shape, was wondering if 36 might be pushing it for just starting training? I guess I’m probably hesitant cause the majority of the guys at the gym near me are late teens-early 20s, naturally and I think I’d probably just feel out of place.

I started training MMA 2 weeks ago, doing grappling only on Wednesdays and mixed on Fridays. I’d also love to go to open mats on Sundays but feel like need a sparring partner for that. I know it is extremely early, but I have tried many sports all my life and never really looked forward to going to training, whereas with MMA I genuinely look forward to. I am very motivated and excited for everything I will be able to learn.

For context: I am 20, 79kg, lean, 6’2, with consistent diet. I go to the gym 5x a week (PPL, Rest, Upper, Lower, Rest), and have two days of overlap with MMA training. I also do at least 10k steps a day, and go to uni 5x a week as well as studying for the CFA.

I’m conflicted about my priorities and how to get good at MMA without sacrificing my progress in the gym, as well as my ability to study as a result of feeling run down. I also fear being overwhelmed

Does anyone have any practical advice on how to “toughen up” in this sense, both mentally and physically, as well as preventing injuries? Any general advice would be appreciated as well.

How do higher level amateur and pros cope with bad training sessions?
I’d say i usually do really good in sparring,rolling,and competition too and as a consequence my confidence is usually good,but often,usually happens if i’m tired and/or a bit overtrained,one “bad” session can temporarily ruin my confidence.( with bad i don’t mean smth like getting pieced up but maybe not doing as good as usually,maybe being competitive with someone i usually dominate). Like the confidence from Dozens of good sessions and especially competitions goes away just for one session where i wasn’t at best and this impacts my mindset a lot. How do yall deal with this?

my third mma fight last night, what do you think?

i can think of DC, Ngannou, Pereira, and Izzy, but they all had some sort of experience in a sport or martial art. do you guys know of any fighters who made it to professional circuits (bellator, pfl, ufc, etc) who started mma training with no prior combat sport experience after 18? i’m talking no highschool wrestling or kickboxing or muay thai — just straight up went into it as an adult and then got good enough to become a pro

I know the gym is supposed to be THE training, but I'm wondering if I should at least have decent stamina and endurance? I currently can 40%walk+60%jog an average of 8 km, usually my shins or ankles are the reason I stop but also that I get tired. Should I for example be able to 100% run 5 km or walk+jog a 10 km easily before I considering joining?

I also don't wanna be touching people too close, yes I know that's what some of the training is all about, so is it possible to say I don't want some activities or is that weird or not allowed?

Just as a hobbyist, I don't wanna do ammys or go pro.

I've been thinking about this, and honestly, I think Poatan's defensive style is terrible. We all know he tends to keep his hands low instead of using a more traditional boxing guard to protect his face.

I think one of the biggest advantages he had in his previous weight classes was his size and reach. That allowed him to fight aggressively without having to rely as much on head movement or a traditional boxing guard, because many of his opponents were shorter and had shorter arms, making it harder for them to reach him.

But that changes completely at heavyweight. Against bigger opponents with longer arms and greater reach, Poatan won't be able to rely on the same low-guard kickboxing style without putting himself at serious risk. If he doesn't adapt his defense, I think he could get knocked out in the first round against his new Russian opponent.

I’m just trying to learn and see a variety of perspectives within martial arts and I just came across sifu Singh, is there value in what he teaches? Have you picked up anything from him and used it in mma? Would love to hear your guy’s thoughts https://youtu.be/otj_EGkX0Dw?is=AqJOUD4I6cFR9uL7

Trying to improve my strikes for MMA

Hi I train classes and currently just grapple. I have intentions to train and compete MMA and will be joining an MMA gym this month.

Looking at the current schedule of the gym how much of each martial art should I be aiming to do each week in order to work towards getting to a competitive level.

Although I would like to train fairly heavily I have a family and work a 9-5 job so would like have a schedule that works around 5 days a week. When trying to up my training I often suffer fatigue as my job is quite mentally taxing. I have done other martial arts in the past but always separately. The gym offers mma classes, boxing classes, no gi classes, wrestling and striking classes which I assume to be Muay Thai.

I struggle with recovery from strength and conditioning so may just do classes for awhile.

🥊 Hey everyone! I’m looking for serious combat athletes to fill out a quick survey for my research project. If you box, do MMA, kickboxing, or train in any other combat sport, I’d really appreciate your help! If you’re committed to your sport, please consider answering it—I’d be very grateful.

https://forms.gle/gCGbLXRBUoY7Wk34A

Thanks a lot! 🙏

I keep holding my breath while I throw punches/kicks I try to do the “tss” during my combos but I struggle with it. I’ve struggled with this in lifting as well since I tend to hold my breath during my sets. Any advice on how to breathe better?

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I'm a journalism student in the UK and I'm working on a project investigating fighter pay, rights etc. I'm interested in interviewing current or former fighters regarding their careers. Please comment/dm me if you're interested and we can discuss the details.

Cheers!

I've been training for about 5 months at an MMA gym. Mostly wrestling, MMA and no gi jiu jitsu, and boxing on and off. My goal is self defense and maybe 1 jiu jitsu tournament just to say I did it.

The gym is about 30 minutes away without traffic and an hour during rush hour. It's also a bit expensive, $250 for unlimited and a little cheaper for less frequent options.

While I've been training my son wanted to go too, so we took him to a jiu jitsu gym closer to the house and he loves it. I've dropped in there a few times because of the distance and since he's there anyway. It's overall a solid gym, a bit smaller, no fundamentals class and mostly higher level guys with a blue belt or two and some 3-4 stripe whites.

I love my MMA gym and I'm kind of attached to it since it was my first gym. They also have a ton of great classes like all levels wrestling, which I probably can't replace in my area. The biggest thing is I wouldn't be able to get striking if I switched.

The reason I'm considering switching is it's the gym my kid goes to, it's right by the house, and they'd bundle us both for $250. I just don't know if I'd be comfortable at a purely grappling place. I need the striking and I'd miss wrestling and the people there.

Anyone been in a similar situation? What would you do?

I’ve done a couple classes of wrestling but it’s an “all levels” gym. And it can be a bit fast. At least for me. They don’t have a fundamentals or beginner class but MMA does. I was wondering if anyone had experience with both. Is it easier to learn the basics and maybe go back to wrestling after some time there? I’m in my 30s. Looking to be the best all around fighter I can be. Not really like competing in wrestling tournaments. But I understand the usefulness.

Do MMA classes teach you enough of stuff like Muay Thai, boxing,wrestling, and bjj so that you don’t necessarily need the individual classes?

No neo footwork anymore?

Is it beneficial? Why there's less people than before applying it?

Strickland, petr yan, very minimalist approaches are on top now?

this might be a weird and unconventional question to some but its a genuine question. it's just something i'm really curious about and maybe make it into a habit if it genuinely does help.

if you guys do take notes, when do you do it? and how?

for the people who gave me advice i appreciate it, next Thursday is when im gonna start training in a boxing gym again because i think i need it for basically everything that involves striking, i appreciate all the tips yall gave me.

Which traditional BJJ positions should be your strongest in an MMA setting?Which positions are worth investing the most time in and which ones are less worth focusing on? whether you’re more of a bottom player,a top player or a well rounded grappler?

As in like putting your fist around their nose and then applying devastating sidewards pressure to quite literally just snap their nose off. Is this valid or is it against some sort of rule. I imagine it to be similar to wrist locks or toe holds where they're a little cheap but target small joints so can absolutely work. Let me know