Hey, I'm looking to start MMA around august. I'm currently training Shaolin Lohan Kung-Fu and have 2 years kickboxing background, and I was quite good at it too. I'm 1.68 meters tall (dunno what that is in feet), so I'm not the biggest guy and I weigh 65 kilos, and am currently working on adding muscle mass. My trainers say I'm surprisingly strong for my size, and they can see I enjoy sparring alot, and ask me alot to help them teach some of the other students some different moves that we don't usually do in kung-fu. (sometimes another trainer with an mma background or a muay thai background comes along) and they can see that I know my stuff, and even if I don't, I learn quickly. So I was just wondering how I would do in MMA, due to my size and backgound and everything. One thing I know I really have to work on are my takedowns. Also...what serious dangers are involved? When I watch the pros and see the occasional suplex I cringe and think to myself "I sure as hell hope that doesn't happen to me", but then I convince myself that they are heavy weight pros n' all, but I still see there is a big risk. So any insight on that would be great. Thanks!
If I did the conversion correctly, you are roughly 5'5 and weigh about 143 lbs... Since MMA has multiple weight classes you could find whatever fits you best, maybe you would be more comfortable in the 145lb weight class or if you are still growing who knows what weight class you would end up in(not sure how old you are). I have no idea how well you will do in MMA, the only real way is to give it a try and see how things go...If you are interested in MMA(which I believe you are) you will certainly want to train in a grappling art like BJJ, Judo, Submission Wrestling etc... As to the dangers involved, no one has ever died in a regulated MMA fight But it is a combat sport, which means there is a degree of risk...there was a medical study that found the most common injury in MMA are cuts to the face. Which are not very serious, get some stitches and take a month off from getting hit in the face and things should be swell... Other possibilities are some joint problems, broken nose, broken hand and likely most serious- concussions...Most concussions won't be as bad as you may think, you would be required to take some time off to give your brain time to heal. Something to keep in mind, regulated MMA fights are fairly safe, you will likely get a few bruises and some cuts and maybe a concussion or broken bone but you will be evaluated before a fight by a good doctor and then after a fight...Fighter safety is very important to MMA, so unless you decide to fight in a shady organization you should be pretty safe. Amateur MMA, which I imagine you would probably start with, is even safer and will help you decide whether you like MMA enough to pursue it as a profession or whether you are either not willing or just do not want to take the risks involved in professional MMA.
ya to survive you will defenatley need to learn ground work, try sambo, bjj, judo, or submission wrestling.. well you could learn ground 'n pound + sprawl 'n brawl and be like chuck liddel... but then you have to be a monster at stand up.. dont fcuk with chuck!
if you arent training in an MMA gym, go and join one before you think about fighting in MMA. you dont play rugby when your training is mostly football.
Apotheosis: I'm 18 so I'm not really gonna grow much more, thats why I'm working on adding more bulk to get a little heavier. The school I found that teaches MMA has all that included. They incorporate Muay Thai (they have very good Muay Thai teachers and students), BJJ and Judo all together. And thanks for the injury infos. I feel a lot better about it really. I'm not afraid of getting hit in the face too much and small bone fractures aren't really a problem. Its the suplexes i'm **** scared of. I experienced something similar to a really hard suplex in a snowboarding accident. I landed on my head, shoulder and back, much like nicely executed suplex. It hurt like crap and I passed out as a result of the wind being knocked outta me. I really don't feel like having that again. Am I right in saying that it doesn't happen very often in a light weight class? Ninjaman111: Yeah, I was thinking about ground n' pound, because I'm gonna be sticking with the kung-fu as well, so I really won't have the time or the money to take up yet another martial art. I'm really confident in my stand up, like I mentioned earlier. Could use a little more work, but I won't be entering in any fights until after at least 6 months of training. Boxerboy: Yeah that was kinda obvious for me from the start, and fortunately I found a really good place not too far away. They have pretty much everything and the fighters have a good reputation. Also the price is pretty good, cheaper than my Shaolin.
No problem with the size (I've rolled with some small guys, and I'm a monster). But get yourself to an MMA club and have a few sessions.
Here's a few things: 1. If you go to your MMA class, and you start getting slammed on your head before the teach you to fall, leave, because you are going to royally screw your hips and back up in ways that can't be fixed if you start hitting the ground without breakfalling properly over and over again. 2. If you are taking Shaolin Lohan (trad or wushu?) you should, and probably will end up choosing between the MMA and the Kung Fu. It's not worth it to take both. It will be more worthwhile if you pick one and focus all of your time on it.
Good advice...although I don't know if anyone teaches how to do what Fedor did when Randleman suplexed him...That was just inhuman how he turned his head and adjusted his neck pre-landing. As to how many times people get suplexed....it is pretty rare and even rarer to see a guy get suplexed straight onto his head/neck...
Yeah...I cringed when I saw that happen to Fedor...Randleman bluddy tried to kill him with that... Well anyway, that sounds better. I guess I don't have much to be afraid of. So I'll be checking out this school quite soon...I get to go to 2 free trial lessons to see if I like it n' all. I'm looking forward to it. Yohan: I do traditional shaolin lohan. Today we actually did some sparring, pretty much any way we liked...and I even gave the trainer a run for his money. So I'm definately gonna rely on my standup alot. I also got another into a beuty of an arm bar, and gave another a knee to the head...I was owning the place (not to blow my own trumpet...but its true) The trainer said that when it comes to the technical stuff I'm very good, even better than him...and its not as if we were being pussies about it...some of them were pretty vicious... I was thinking I'm gonna be going to kung-fu alot less, but I'll stick with it, just so that I have a bit of a change every so often and see friends there. But of course...MMA will be top priority. I could even make a bit of cash and respect from the grand-master teaching the Kung-Fu students some of the stuff I've learnt.
Small persons can be great grapplers. Often times they have superior technique because we have to roll with the big guys. When I started grappling (late 80's early 90's) I was the smallest person in class, and the only female, but I made it through, and have grown tremendously from it. Good Luck!
