8 MMA fights and it was all about fear control for me. I never fought for any other reason other than to learn about myself and what I could get my body to do. I also had 13 boxing matches and 2 Muay Thai fights.
Being able to control my adrenaline and my breathing during a fight was important. Just sparing was not enough to get that aspect of stress. The stress your body goes through from the locker room to the cage/ring is a huge mental brain fuck. No other way to replicate it.
Fighting in combat sports helped me in my career as a law enforcement officer. It taught me how to control myself when under stress. How to regulate my breathing, my mental clarity under the fight or flight response.
KidJustice -
8 MMA fights and it was all about fear control for me. I never fought for any other reason other than to learn about myself and what I could get my body to do. I also had 13 boxing matches and 2 Muay Thai fights.
Being able to control my adrenaline and my breathing during a fight was important. Just sparing was not enough to get that aspect of stress. The stress your body goes through from the locker room to the cage/ring is a huge mental brain fuck. No other way to replicate it.
Fighting in combat sports helped me in my career as a law enforcement officer. It taught me how to control myself when under stress. How to regulate my breathing, my mental clarity under the fight or flight response.
Nailed it.
I concur.
I'm 2-3, amateur.
I'm hoping to get back in there soon. Haven't fought since 2014.
KidJustice,
You stated in your reply, "...The stress your body goes through from the locker room to the cage/ring is a huge mental brain fuck. No other way to replicate it. ..."
Would you compare the mental brain fuck of an mma fight to a fight/flight situation in a real world street fight or how about a situation in your line of work?
I had 16 pro fights and around 20 amateurs plus competed a lot in other combat sports, I mainly competed in MMA as a learning / training experience rather than looking at it as a viable career. I learned a lot of valuable lessons which I try to pass on to my students.
The first lesson I learned in my first pro MMA fight was that its harder to keep opponents on the ground long enough to do anything to them if they want to keep scrambling back to their feet. In the standard BJJ class environment everyone is voluntarily staying on the ground so they can practice the techniques that they spent the last hour learning. Its unusual that your sparring partner will just try to push off and get back to his feet as soon as they can but this is exactly what may happen in a street fight or MMA match. This experience taught me the value of being able to pin and control people on the ground.
forumnewb - KidJustice,
You stated in your reply, "...The stress your body goes through from the locker room to the cage/ring is a huge mental brain fuck. No other way to replicate it. ..."
Would you compare the mental brain fuck of an mma fight to a fight/flight situation in a real world street fight or how about a situation in your line of work?
IMO a sudden streetfight or defensive situation has rapid onset of adrenaline, etc and you can be more reactive and crash afterwards. I would guess the mindfuck in a mma fight etc, is aproblem because you have a buildup until you have to "go"....that can be exausting.
How much training off your back with punches improves sport jiu-jitsu guard.
Fought in a couple dojos and high school gyms in IL and IN back in the mid/late 90's. The term MMA wasnt even coined yet (Im 40 and this was i when I was maybe 20). It was just different schools getting together and finding students to fight each other. I learned very early that I dont like getting punched, not only in the face but ANYWHERE. It hurts. LOL So get it to the ground as quick as possible and go from there. Never did an actual sactioned MMA fight though.
forumnewb - KidJustice,
You stated in your reply, "...The stress your body goes through from the locker room to the cage/ring is a huge mental brain fuck. No other way to replicate it. ..."
Would you compare the mental brain fuck of an mma fight to a fight/flight situation in a real world street fight or how about a situation in your line of work?
It's actually different. Sgt. Slaphead nailed it in his response above. Buildup is what is taxing on the system. Knowing you are going into battle is where you have to learn about stress control.
When I was young in my Law Enforcement career around 18 years ago I was also working part time as a bouncer at a few bars around Aurora, Colorado. I was involved in numerous spontanious fights because of bouncing and they were fast, furious and often times over before my adrenaline could even kick in. I would actually go through the SNS (Sympathetic Nervous System) response in my body after the fight was actually over and then would feel stress.
Much earlier when I was in the Military and then later when I got on a Fugitive Unit in the mid 2000s I felt that SNS response happening earlier due to nerves and stress before serving a warrant on a bad case. It was this feeling that I was looking to control.
MMA simulates that feeling. Being in the locker room knowing you are getting ready to fight starts the SNS response in your body. You go through the whole Fight or Flight syndrome. I have witnessed amateur fighters actually leave the venue before their fight because they could not control their SNS response and the "Flight" portion overcame the "Fight" response.
I've been in the SNS so many times in my life. In the Military, in Law Enforcement, in my Civilian life. The best way I have found to train in that response was in Mixed Martial Arts or Combative Sports. I have really not found any other way to get my body to replicate that feeling. Even realistic simunition training in the Military and LE has not brought out that kind of stress. Paintball rounds can't fuck you up like a real human being locked in a cage with you...
I never had the nervousness. I had the opposite problem. I've competed in a lot of things and growing up as always in the spotlight or in front of a crowd of some sort. I felt sleepy every single time I fought. I would have to conciously remind myself, "this is it. He's gonna come at your fast. You have to wake up and fight hard."
-I learned when people are moving fast things get chaotic. Every pretty double leg and perfect punch you've thrown gets hard to control.
-It's hard to get away from a clinch, especially when fighters are at a low skill level.
-It is hard to pin and punch at the same time if it isn't something you've practiced. Even from the top of mount, it can be frustrating to land clean.
-I learned HOW tired you can get from being too tense and overworking. What it feels like to hit a wall, when you are so gassed, your body doesn't do what your brain tells you.
-That preparation makes all the differnece in the world. The further in I got, and better I was as a fighter, the more I could sit back and enjoy the actual fight, and be confident in my ability.
First fight as a blue belt. Wanted to prove to myself that my (sports) jiu jitsu worked in a fight. I'm 3-0 now and currently doing some training full time in Bali Indonesia.
1- Bjj is very different in an mma setting. Training/sparring taught me this.
2 - wrestling is ESSIENTLAL if you plan to use your jiu jitsu
3- something I learnt about myself was that adrenaline didn't effect me the way I thought it would. I thought I would wig out and gas myself. I get extremely nervous in the lead up. Out the back getting my hands wrapped I feel sick. But on the walk out literally every step I get closer to the cage I feel super calm and everything else just goes away and I become singularly focused. It's a great feeling.
Good topic
Ttt
I learned cardio is king and that your best teacher is competition it is the only way to really see what you need to work on
PTSDSA -Maybe someone who knows can answer this: The wrestling is essential statement, I get that, but then I see mma schools in my area like The Lab and Power, with no wrestling only classes.
Is No Gi sufficient to work on your wrestling then, because it seems like even high level mma schools don't have wrestling classes.
Maybe I could just ask for a complete education on what it's like to train at an mma school. Been thinking of driving across town to the Lab for some time.
I'm guessing they're including wrestling training in their MMA classes.
Wrestling for MMA is different.
Just like grappling and striking for MMA different.
If punches and kicks are involved, your posture and hand position need to change, among a million other things.
in a way i did the bjj to mma thing in reverse -- all of the grappling that i did was always based on having strikes inlcuded. It wasn't until the last few years that i was grappling without strikes. What i learned in reverse was that there is a ton of stuff (bjj/no-gi) that you just cannot use (or only a few people can get away with) or you will get your face broken in. At times - this has been a difficult obstacle to overcome. Passing guard is very different - as are the transition positions (turtle in particular)
With all of that said - the mma focus made my guard way better.