I used to study Muy Thai, and told myself I would always get back into it. It's just hard to find MMA gyms. I always wanted to study a martial art seriously. How long did you box for?
I was only able to box for a short time, for about a year, before a medical complication arose that will forever sideline me from contact sports. However, I was literally at the gym for four to five hours a day, three to four days a week, as well as private sessions. So I while I'm no expert, I did learn a great deal. I miss it horribly though and I'd give almost anything to start it up again. My wife though, I think she likes the fact that I'm home. I'd recommend starting Muay Thai back up if you can. I dabbled in it for about a month or so, but it wasn't my thing. I'm sure you already know, but at most MMA gyms, the Muay Thai they teach isn't genuine Muay Thai, let alone Muay Boran, but more Muay Thai techniques as molded for MMA. However, what you do learn will still be very effective, especially if you ever want to dabble in the idea of competing. As for finding an MMA gym, they are really starting to crop up everywhere now. They are definitely becoming the new hotness. What's absolutely great about MMA, as is with boxing, is that because it's a sanctioned sport, the people involved have genuine fight records. You can look up the history of the coaches as well as the fight teams that represent the gyms and see what their records are. The numbers alone give weight to the value of the gym.
I actually wasn't a huge fan of Muay Thai to be completely honest. A martial art style I always wanted to learn was Pencak Silat. My friend who lived in Singapore for a while studied it, and it is a very interesting art style. I always wanted to master a style, but I never really had the time to dedicate to it with work and college. I was hoping that at some point I would take 6 months to just study an art for a while, and see how I felt about it afterwards.
Silat (of which there are many, many styles) seems to have shot up in popularity almost overnight. I'd personally be a bit wary of learning an esoteric style such as Silat, just because if it's not common it's hard to tell if you're learning from a good school. One of my friends absolutely laments that there is no place for him to learn Sambo. Though if you have the opportunity to check it out, jump on it. You might learn a thing or two. As for being a dedicated student, don't worry about committing to an art 100%. The majority of people that go to these gyms do so as a hobby, six months on, six months off, sometimes skipping classes for other things. You get out of it what you put into it, and if you're not looking at competing, you don't have to give it your all. Myself personally? I was never going to compete. I wanted to learn boxing to be a coach. That's the reason I was always going myself. That said, you should still find a good school so you find worthwhile techniques. If you're gonna learn something, it's best to learn it right.
That's what I figured. Besides going to Indonesia or any of the surrounding states it would be hard to find something that is authentic. That is a huge issue I see now-a-days with martial arts. It's hard to find schools that are teaching the authentic principles of the art. Yea, I have no interesting in competing, but rather to learn the art or style as a hobby.
That's always been a problem actually. It's just that the success of MMA has brought to light how bs some of the more "traditional" styles are. Competition weeds out which techniques are effective and which ones are sorely lacking in merit. Even if you go to a school that is authentic, that doesn't necessarily mean it's good.That is a huge issue I see now-a-days with martial arts. It's hard to find schools that are teaching the authentic principles of the art.
Well for gyms that focus on MMA, Boxing, BJJ, and Judo (until the fallout from IJF's recent policies really start to hurt the style), for them the proof is in the pudding, competition results. Competent coaches plus good program regimens plus dedicated students = wins. For other styles, such as Karate, Krav Maga, Tae Kwon Do, Wing Chun, etc. it's very difficult to figure out which schools, if any, are decent. If you ever visit forums like Sherdog you'll see that they're not held in the highest regard for a reason. Still, if those are the styles you want to learn, it's a good idea to look into those schools with your bullshit meter running at 100%.
Yeah, for sure. I've mostly been looking because it's hard to convince my fiancée that the gym is actually fun. I did ju jitsu as a teen and really enjoyed it, so I'm mostly looking for enjoyable ways to get in shape. I have a strong suspicion that the competitive nature of most MMA gyms would be a turn off for her, and it's not like we would be looking to compete. All that said, there's definitely belt mills and I'd like to think that I can smell most of the time.
A lot of the MMA and Jiu Jitsu schools are much more open to women now. Some even offer women only classes to make women feel a bit more comfortable. Since the styles have really come en vogue in the past 10 to 15 years, gyms are really starting to jump on it. You'll find members of all ages and walks of life in them. Everything from your redneck mechanic to your white collar lawyer. Once you walk through that door, put on your gi/gloves, who you are outside the gym doesn't matter. You're there to learn, grow, and help others through the same process. It's a pretty awesome thing to see.
For sure, I loved my dojo growing up. They were always really cool and egalitarian. I guess I've just been turned off from MMA gyms as back when I was doing all this was when MMA was first starting to hit mainstream and everyone that I met that was doing it had that highschool jock attitude of "Holier than thou" and "Your dojo doesn't participate in the UFC feeder events, so it's obviously shit".
You'll get that elitism from time to time when it comes to anything that involves competition. MMA, football, hell I've even heard of men's softball clubs that are full of goons. One of the things that a lot of people don't consider though, is that a lot of the people who talk like that in the MMA world are literally all talk. They often scrub out relatively quickly. There are literally thousands of people who are better then you. They can outroll you, outbox you, whatever. If you have a big ego and it depends upon you succeeding, you're not going to do well. Conversely, if you're a person who values hard work, dedication, and learning and can stand to be humbled from time to time, you're gonna grow. Everybody at the gym that I went to was very mature and well composed and they're more than happy to help you out, especially at the beginning. I also think a lot of people who "practice MMA" and trash talk haven't been in it for long. They see the trash talking you see when companies like UFC, Bellator, Invicta, etc. are promoting fights and they think that's the general attitude of the fighters. That's not the case at all. The majority of those people are awesome and down to earth. In fact, you'll constantly see them stop to talk and take pictures with fans, even when they're just having a day at the mall with their family. The trash talk you see on TV is part of a two fold system. It's a psych game for the fighters and it's a marketing tool for the promoters. It should never be taken as an indication as to who these fighters are. True, you'll get some goons that stand out from time to time, but that's true in any sport. They shouldn't be a representative of the whole.