The Various Disciplines of Mixed Martial Arts

Mixed martial arts is a combination of various disciplines and the only weapon you have in this sport is your body. Do you have to be an expert in all of them? No but it will be useful to know what these are so when you are facing an opponent, you more or less have a strategy to counterattack his moves. Let’s talk about some of these.

Kick boxing otherwise known as muay thai is a martial arts technique that uses both kicking and punching. It is a standing sport and the fight ends when the opponent hits the ground. This is a full contact sport. Some of the best known mixed martial artists who use this include Pedeo Rizzo and Bass Rutten.

Unlike kick boxing which was only introduced in the 1960’s, boxing has been around since 688 B.C. Here, you are only allowed to use your hands to knock out your opponent. Although this fighting technique is not that effective on its own especially when you are fighting someone else using another discipline, this is still essential especially when you are fighting in close quarters with your opponent inside the octagon.

Another close quarter mixed martial art discipline is judo. Instead of punching or kicking your opponent, you have to grab and throw them into the ground. If this is not possible, you can also immobilize your opponent using a grappling maneuver.

Similar to judo is wrestling because learning winning depends on your ability to clinch, hold, lock and have leverage over your opponent.

Next is jujitsu which also focuses on grappling and ground fighting by using chokeholds and joint locks to force an opponent to submission.

There are other martial arts techniques aside from those mentioned. If you want to learn any of these disciplines, you have to join a gym so that a trainer will teach you the correct technique. In most beginner classes, no sparring is involved. It is only when you take advanced classes that you get to engage another student.

Do you get your money’s worth when you sign up in a gym? This depends because there are some who don’t teach that well compared to others. This is why you should ask around first and read some reviews. Better yet, you can visit the gym and avail of their free workout session so you get the feel of what it is like to exercise there.

While we often see people in mixed martial arts competitions use the various martial arts disciplines for offensive purposes, all of them were designed to do one thing and that is to protect yourself from situations that require you to stand up and defend yourself. You also get a good workout each time since you work up a sweat that will help you lose weight if you happen to carry a few extra pounds.

Just in case you didn’t notice, most of the competitors in mixed martial arts competitions are physically fit. You can probably achieve this with the proper training and diet not so you can compete but so you can live a healthier lifestyle. If you choose to compete, you might big the next Ultimate Fighting Championship winner but only time will tell if you have what it takes.