Hi, I am new on this forum. I come from the UK (midlands) and am starting MMA. I am a black belt in TaeKwon-do and have one Gold sparring medal and Silver technique medal at the British Champs (2005) and also do Boxing. I think my skills and techniques from these will make a good combineation for my MMA but can anyone give me some general pointers for good MMA training...Physical and Health wise. Cheers.
Hey whats up man. Welcome. It seems like you have the standup off to a good start. You will need to learn at least basic Muay Thai techniques as well to be successful in MMA (clinch work, leg kicks, knees etc). But I would recommend getting into submission wrestling, BJJ and/or Judo ASAP!
Welcome, If you are going into MMA, I am sure that you already know what basics you are going to need to work on. I am sure that you know TKD isn't a very dominant base to go into MMA with, so you are going to have to train hard in some other form of striking. My advice would be Muay Thai, to upgrade your stand-up. Considering how high you made it in TKD, I would assume that you are a fairly good athlete... so you should pick up on it fast. Also, you will clearly have to work on your ground game. Of course, everyone needs to know JJ or you aren't going to last. I would suggest that outside of improving your striking, you REALLY need to work on your takedown defense to the max. It is too much to expect you to become a master grappler, if you don't have any backround. So, work extremely hard on your takedown defense, and maybe that will buy you some time in your lower level MMA events to build your ground game up before it becomes a big issue in your fights, since you will obviously be most comfortable on your feet. You will still need to at least be very good with the basics on the ground before your first fight, so you can survive if you end up there. Now, other than all of that... which I am sure you know what you need to work on as far as technique goes. I cannot stress enough, that the biggest thing you need to work on is CONDITIONING! As long as you are a pretty good fighter, stamina will win or lose you more fights than anything else. Especially in those lower level events, when a lot of people are gassed rather early. It doesn't matter how great your technique is, if you are exhausted, you aren't going to be effective. Good Luck.
There's some great advice posted here. Be sure to check out the MMA training thread on this forum as you will find some great tips. It sounds like you already have all the striking basics you will need - so if you're looking to add groundfighting and submissions - then just go into jujitsu next. Learn to fight off your back and you'll be fine no matter where you end up.
