Why do People get into Mixed Martial Arts, Whats the reason YOU started training in MMA?

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well i started cuz i love competition i love to see 1 on 1 whos the better man and theres no better way than mma its helped me calm down and get in less trouble

For most of my life I have trained in one combat art or another. I started boxing as a 130 pound lightweight at 12 years old. I quit boxing as a 147 pound welterweight at 16. I quit because of football. I could not make weight for boxing and bulk up for football. My boxing record was 28 wins, 4 losses and I knocked out 16 of my opponents. I also got stopped twice. Once with a shot to the liver in Mexico that put me down and I could not get up and once in the finals of the Texas Golden Gloves when my corner did not let me go back out for the last round.

If a guy establishes a good base of boxing skills, it will carry over very well to other arts. From boxing I moved into Shaolin Kempo Karate got a black belt in that and then I got into Taekwondo.

I started training in MMA last year because while I have very good stand up kick and punch skills, I am pretty helpless in a clinch or on the ground. I learned from my days as a bouncer that most fights will wind up on the ground.

The MMA training has not really impacted my life outside of the dojo and gym other than making me a bit stronger. I have been a Martial Artist for a very long time. I used to do forms with the katana (samurai sword) and have always considered myself a samurai. I know, it sounds corny, but a samurai is not just about fighting and sword skills, it is mostly about honor and discipline. It is those ideals that I try to adhere to. Any schmuck can learn to fight, but only a disciplined few can be a true warrior.

I got into MMA mostly because I’ve been doing martial arts since I was five. MMA provides a format where I can use just about all the skills I’ve learned. The training methods are more realistic than those that are common in other martial arts systems.

MMA isn’t for going around and picking fights. No martial art is. The first rule of self-defense is to not get into a bad situation. However, if a bad situation arises, MMA can provide you with the tools you need to defend yourself and your loved ones.

Pros: Gets you in good shape. You train how you fight. You use realistic, tested techniques. You spar and practice your techniques in a live situation on a regular basis. System covers striking, take-downs, and ground fighting.

Cons: Generally not a lot of weapons work. Not a lot of emphasis on self-defense situations.

Main reason why people start MMA? Don’t know. Lots of people seem to be in it for conditioning, self-defense, and for the sport aspect of it, but I don’t think there’s been any conclusive study done on people’s motives for joining an MMA gym.

What good can come of it? Gives you tools so that you can defend yourself. The gym environment is kind of a second family. Needs discipline and focus to stick with it. Makes you very health conscious. You gain confidence if you stick with it long enough. Gives you a constructive outlet for stress. Gives you a thinking man’s approach to a fight. Develops good fight instincts.

to beat some a$$

“Why do people start training in MMA
when its suppose to discipline you
not to fight out on the streets”

1.) It seems like your mistaking MMA for a martial art, which it is not. It is a sport. Now MMA instructors do not encourage the use of mma in the streets, only for competition.

“so why do they train in mma and say
its for self defense they want to learn it for self defense,”

2.) OK, now I see your are confusing MMA for martial arts. So let me clarify the difference. Yes, MARTIAL ARTS instructors do not teach their students to provoke, and use their knowledge to provoke anyone. MARTIAL ARTS is for self defense.
MMA “mixed martial arts” takes the combative elements of martial arts into a full contact sparring competition. MMA emphasizes the combat elements of a variety of martial arts into a sport.

Why people get “into mma”, is because of the love for competition, and they like it. Why would a person get into football? Because they enjoy it.

What good can come out of it? Conditioning, strength, technique in skill such as boxing, kickboxing, judo, brazilian jiu jitsu, wrestling and plenty others.

Most people start training in MMA for all of the same reasons they start any martial arts program. Each person is different and it depends on how you view MMA to properly answer your question. Some people see MMA on tv and think it is a senselessly brutal sport although boxing is even more brutal. Some people think it is just plain cool. MMA has become a generalized name for the sport. Some of us have been training or teaching MMA all of our lives before UFC was even brought to the public eye. Look as far back as Bruce Lee. He wanted to be fight without limiting himself to one style. Isn’t that what the current MMA has become, a blending of multiple arts? It all comes down to how you interpret things. You will never have the right answers to convince someone of your point of view if they are close-minded and just want to justify their point of view and not accept yours. As far as pros and cons go in training in MMA, there are many. For example, one must learn the difference between self-defense and MMA for sport. If training to get in the ring and fight, there are rules that vary from state to state that one must follow. On the street those rules do not apply. There are certain techniques that I would use in competition but would be my last resort for use on the street. Would you take a guy to the ground (concrete) in front of a crowded nightclub, for example, if you knew his buddies were standing around to watch you both fight? I wouldn’t, in the risk of being stomped in the head. Most fights end up on the ground and if taken there you must end it quickly, especially in a street confrontation. Would I have to deal with my opponent pulling out a knife and attacking me in a mixed martial arts sanctioned match? I seriously doubt it. I have found that in the MMA world there is a lot of trash talking but there also is a lot of mutual respect between fighters. Isn’t that what martial arts, as a whole, is about? Sharing information and mutual respect for all arts has been my motto for years. Some people train in MMA to be competitive. Wrestlers and former boxers & kickboxers are attracted to the sport as the popularity of their respective sports is dying. They get a chance to incorporate their skills in competition under a sport with a growing popularity and techniques from martial arts blends well with what they already know. If you are a wrestler, for example, and have been competing throughout high school and college, what is left for you? Yeah, you could go to the WWE and become a horrible actor and try to become a professional wrestler/entertainer or you could try to train in MMA if you want the real thing. The main reasons I see, as an instructor of MMA, for people wanting to learn is the popularity of the sport, seeing it on tv and thinking it is cool, wanting to compete, cross training from another art to become a more rounded fighter, and to get into shape. As long as discipline is still a big part of your class, the virtues of martial arts are still present. I let my students know from the very beginning that how and when they choose to use what I have taught them is 100% their responsibility. They will be held accountable for their actions by the full extent of the law and if they misuse what I have taught just to beat people up and it gets back to me, they will no longer be allowed to train with me and I do not want them as a student. MMA impacts the lives of those I teach. I teach a skill set of survival skills under extreme circumstances and also incorporate realistic self-defense strategies in what I teach. I have had students come up to me and thank me for teaching them and that what I taught them saved their lives. There is no greater reason for me to continue to teach than that. It makes me feel good, as an instructor and a human being, that the person that stands before me is alive today because of some live saving skill they have learned in my class. I hope this answers some of your questions. I guess it all comes down to interpretation again.

Master Matt Graham