What I Believe MMA Is Good For

[PhotonGuy7]

What I believe MMA is good for is this, if you've already got a good background in a striking art and a good background in a grappling art, MMA can help you combine them.

 

[Prince_Alarming105]

It's a bit more than that though, isn't it? It's basically a style in and of itself...

 

[Tony Dismukes103]

It's a bit more than that though, isn't it? It's basically a style in and of itself...

Kinda sorta, yes and no.

On the one hand, a skilled MMA practitioner is indeed building a unified system of fighting. It's not just Muay Thai + BJJ or Boxing + Wrestling. All the pieces have to fit together, create synergies, and fill gaps in what otherwise be transitions between the individual component systems. Not to mention that there are more and more fighters who are learning MMA as a singular program, rather than learning the component systems separately and putting them together.

On the other hand, it's not a style (singular). When you study fighters as diverse as Anderson Silva, Derrick Lewis, Ryan Hall, Georges St Pierre, Khabib Nurmagomedov, etc, you realize that their individual fighting styles are as distinct from each other as Wado Ryu vs Shaolin Long Fist, Sambo vs BJJ, or Wing Chun vs Muay Thai.

 

[drop bear105]

It is a laboratory.

 

[Prince_Alarming105]

I sometimes think it has something in common with decathlon, in that it doesn't matter what you do- as long as it works. You can make up for grappling that lacks a certain subtlety by punching people in the head for instance. In the actual event, it all evens out. I don't know a lot about it despite having trained in it for a short while myself, but I know one thing- these guys are serious athletes!

 

[Kung Fu Wang105]

The key point of striking art and wrestling art integration is to "obtain a clinch during a fist flying situation."

If you can use "separate hands" to separate your opponent's arms from his head, you have built a bridge between striking art and wrestling art.

 

[skribs103]

MMA is good for when you like nogi jiu-jitsu or wrestling, but there's too much material between you and the other grappler.

 

[HighKick]

MMA is good for when you like nogi jiu-jitsu or wrestling, but there's too much material between you and the other grappler.

I don't follow. Can you elaborate?

 

[PhotonGuy7]

Not to mention that there are more and more fighters who are learning MMA as a singular program, rather than learning the component systems separately and putting them together.

I wouldn't want to do that, at least not when Im first starting out in the martial arts, because when you do that you might be spreading yourself too thin. You could end up being a mile wide and an inch deep.

 

[Tony Dismukes103]

I wouldn't want to do that, at least not when Im first starting out in the martial arts, because when you do that you might be spreading yourself too thin. You could end up being a mile wide and an inch deep.

It's more likely to be the reverse, actually. Practitioners who come straight into MMA without having a prior foundation in other systems tend to focus on a smaller handful of fundamental, high-percentage techniques which work in an MMA context, rather than exploring the full breadth of techniques which they might encounter if they studied arts such as (for example) BJJ and Karate separately.

 

[wab252]

It's more likely to be the reverse, actually. Practitioners who come straight into MMA without having a prior foundation in other systems tend to focus on a smaller handful of fundamental, high-percentage techniques which work in an MMA context, rather than exploring the full breadth of techniques which they might encounter if they studied arts such as (for example) BJJ and Karate separately.

Additionally, the people putting the systems together have a bit more experience in MMA, than the student learning the separate arts.... They have already done the work to find out what fits where, to produce high percentage results, so the student learns a known high percentage system, rather than trying to create their own from very limited experience in MMA.

 

[HighKick]

Kinda sorta, yes and no.

On the one hand, a skilled MMA practitioner is indeed building a unified system of fighting. It's not just Muay Thai + BJJ or Boxing + Wrestling. All the pieces have to fit together, create synergies, and fill gaps in what otherwise be transitions between the individual component systems. Not to mention that there are more and more fighters who are learning MMA as a singular program, rather than learning the component systems separately and putting them together.

On the other hand, it's not a style (singular). When you study fighters as diverse as Anderson Silva, Derrick Lewis, Ryan Hall, Georges St Pierre, Khabib Nurmagomedov, etc, you realize that their individual fighting styles are as distinct from each other as Wado Ryu vs Shaolin Long Fist, Sambo vs BJJ, or Wing Chun vs Muay Thai.

I have been saying for years (decades?) that the martial arts are consolidating. It would be no surprise to see a rise in MMA as less of a competition sport and more of a consolidated 'art'.

 

[PhotonGuy7]

It's more likely to be the reverse, actually. Practitioners who come straight into MMA without having a prior foundation in other systems tend to focus on a smaller handful of fundamental, high-percentage techniques which work in an MMA context, rather than exploring the full breadth of techniques which they might encounter if they studied arts such as (for example) BJJ and Karate separately.

The thing is though as to exactly what small handful of fundamental techniques have a high percentage of working in a MMA context or any fighting context really depends on the person. Different people are able to make different techniques work better. That's why I would prefer to start with an art such as Karate where I can be exposed to lots of different striking techniques and find which ones work best for me. Same thing with BJJ, I can find out which takedowns and submissions work best for me.

MMA can help me combine the two arts.

 

[Badhabits]

My little bit (about a year) of experience at an MMA school convinced me of one thing. A good MMA school will produce a person who can beat your @$$ much faster than the average karate school. I'll never forget one guy who started there about the same time as me. He was one of the physically weakest men I'd ever been around. Just a seriously soft, doughy guy. After maybe six months of coming to classes 4 nights a week the guy could actually take some abuse and do something about it.

 

[Prince_Alarming105]

MMA is good for fighting. Really good.

 

[Kung Fu Wang105]

MMA is good for fighting. Really good.

Some people may believe if you have

1. trained your form 1000 times,
2. sparred/wrestled 1000 rounds,

you will be a good fighter. I believe 1 < 2. MA is 2 persons art. MMA has a clear definition on that.

 

[drop bear105]

The thing is though as to exactly what small handful of fundamental techniques have a high percentage of working in a MMA context or any fighting context really depends on the person. Different people are able to make different techniques work better. That's why I would prefer to start with an art such as Karate where I can be exposed to lots of different striking techniques and find which ones work best for me. Same thing with BJJ, I can find out which takedowns and submissions work best for me.

MMA can help me combine the two arts.

Not really. There are statistically high percentage moves.

 

[Kung Fu Wang105]

MMA is good for fighting. Really good.

MMA is a wake up call for some TMA systems. When I was in a Judo forum, I encouraged Judo guys to train without Judo Gi. Those Judo guys were not happy about my suggestion. IMO, it's necessary to train winter time ski slope combat skill so one knows how to take advantage on winter clothes. It's also necessary to train summer time sand beach combat skill so one doesn't have to depend on the clothes.

 

[Haruhiko]

It's good for the UFC, and spectators. It's too nebulous to accurately say what it's "good for" as far as martial arts goes, imo. And what "MMA" even means is hard to determine, as it's whatever taught at the moment for competition.

 

[drop bear105]

It's good for the UFC, and spectators. It's too nebulous to accurately say what it's "good for" as far as martial arts goes, imo. And what "MMA" even means is hard to determine, as it's whatever taught at the moment for competition.

You would be suprised. It started a force on force revolution for martial arts.

And it started a communication revolution for martial arts.

We now have a system and training tools that we can adapt to almost anything. Then get a qualified expert from half a world away to critique it. Then just go test it repeatedly.

Which creates experience in whatever field you want. Who from half a world away can critique other people's experiments.

We have gone from Geoff Thompson's animal day. Where about 5 guys, once a year flailed about risking injury to try to replicate a fight. To any scenario across multiple disciplines as well as military, law enforcement, whatever. Training this stuff twenty times a day.