Could this be the ultimate combination in mixed martial arts?

Most of the cage fighters I train with employ a mixed bag of training tricks to achieve winning records in the cage. Here is an example of their training, but realize focus of training may change from opponent to opponent, what works in one fight might get you knocked out or submitted in another. The best plan is to have answer in your bag of tricks for everything that might get thrown at you in the cage. Have a comprehensive bag of tricks with a very strong cardio and core base to dip into when needed. But I’ll mention two caveats here you can’t train HEART and you can’t steel a glass jaw. Sometimes you never know what kind of fighter you are until you are tested a few times. Each test gives you new information and perhaps more areas to focus on to improve your game.

Here’s some ideas in training employed by some of my team mates.

1. BJJ – ground work in gi and no gi weekly, tournament fighting early on before taking to the cage.
2. Boxing – hand and foot work drills, lots of focus mits, heavy bags, speed bag, ground and pound, sparring and jump rope among other things.
3. Muy Thai – extremely good use of the clinch, knees (powerful and damaging), elbows and strikes (also one of the hardest training regimens around)
4. Kicking – heavy bags and targets
5. Free style grappling – for movement, explosive power and speed
6. Plyometrics, drills, crazy cardio building regimens, and elevation training
7. Always train with a goal in mind, daily, weekly, monthly (create short term and long term goals for your training)

Every fighter trains differently but most I have met use a mix of the above in addition to running, weight training and stretching exercise (some may take Yoga classes as desired). Every body is different and most fighters have strong points and weak points in their game so they train to improve different things.

Focusing on specific martial arts training may not be the best approach. Looking at your ability to defend yourself, the rules you must compete within and developing a game plan to exploit your advantages within the competitive arena of choice may be your best focus.

As a father of two children who do train in martial arts ultimately your child must take to the concept of martial training no matter how much their Father wishes them to be the world’s greatest MMA fighter. If their hearts not it they will never progress. Only time will tell…

Good luck in your training and enjoy each day of improvement.

KK