MMA Beginner

Escaping the half guard

2008-08-21T06:54:00.000-07:00

Last night in MMA we went over escaping the half guard, pretty boring night with a lot of new guys and only a couple of guys who have been going there for awhile. So when we rolled the news guys rolled together and I rolled with one of the guys who had been coming there for weeks. We rolled with the same guy for about 15 minutes. I caught him in two guillotines and he got me in something that i've never seen before but it hurt. It was overall a pretty normal night. Friday night is the two hour MMA class thats the fun one. I'll try to find a video of the half guard escape we used later.

Practicing alone ?

2008-08-19T10:46:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of times that I'm at home and want to work on my BJJ or MMA technique, but have noone to roll with. I wanted to work on my style but wasn't sure how to go about this, so I've been searching the web for tricks that other people do to keep sharp even when they aren't training. Here is what I've come up with.

***** Conditioning, one of the most important things to consider in MMA is your condition. It doesn't matter how well you know BJJ if you aren't in shape you'll be winded by someone who probably isn't even as good as you. Work out, cardio is a must, jump roping helps alot with that as well. You know your own strong and weak points if you need to work on abs then work on abs or upper body strength. A healthy diet can also help you in this department.

***** Watching fights can really help you improve your skill, find fights that have a lot of great BJJ involved and watch how the fighters try to apply moves and how the other fighter works escapes. Keep these moves in your head and try to apply them next time you are at class.

***** Consider getting a training dummy, one with arms and legs that you can work on submissions with. Its not perfect but any repetion will help. I've added a some training dummys to my MMA Astore on Amazon. Check them out HERE

***** Run moves in your head all day long, just by thinking about moves you like and how to pull them off can help. Yesterday I was so focused on the triangle choke that when I got to class I was determined to pull it off at least once, I got it 3 times just because I had it in my head.

***** Watching training DVDS or videos, I got the Serra BJJ dvds and I must say that after watching them I felt that I had a much better understanding of the physics of the moves and rather just watching someone do the moves these dvds explain why you are doing each step and shows you different things you can do from each step. Its really been nice.

Hopefully I'll be able to add more tips later on, it would be great if readers would leave comments on how they train out of the gym. Enjoy

Monday Nights Class

2008-08-19T04:33:00.000-07:00

Last night I attended Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for an hour, we worked on escapting the mount. Basically pull one of your opponents arms toward you to throw them off balance and then throw your hips and and roll towards the arm you have pinned down. It puts them off balance and actually works pretty well. I didn't get a chance to use it in my Jiu-Jitsu class because everyone was expecting it, but after BJJ I stayed for MMA and was able to pull it off a few times while rolling. In my MMA class we started out with a 30 minute really intense workout, I was already dead tired from rolling in BJJ. In MMA we worked an arm bar from behind. Seatbelt your opponent and with the opposite elbow use it to push their head down as you are rolling your leg over their head for the arm bar. Works pretty nice but I've not come across a fight where I'll just be sitting behind the opponent like that. Anyway great class!! Something else I'm gonna start adding to this blog is Youtube video clips of all the moves I'm talking about, I've been browsing Youtube and pretty much every move you could think of there is a video for. So when I get home today from work I'll start working on that.

**UPDATE**
Youtube Videos of the moves I mentioned
- Arm bar from back control
- Escaping the Mount with bridge and roll

Getting back in shape

2008-08-18T05:02:00.000-07:00

Letting yourself get out of shape is super easy, especially when you are in a unit that tells you to do your own pt. A select few might do something but most don't do anything, I am one of the guys who don't do anything. A few weeks ago I had to take a pt test, I passed but barely and I'm going to take another one in next week. This week I'm going to be running everyday and going to class everyday. I'm trying to not only get ready for the pt test but get ready for the Fort Knox 3rd Annual Combatives tournament. I'm gonna be hitting up as many Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes as I possibly can. It'll be fun. I'm trying to get my neighbor to join the tournament with me, it will be fun for him and will give me a sparring partner for when I'm not in class. I don't expect to hop in the tournament and win against guys that have been doing it for years, but I love to fight and if I don't at least try to win I'll hate myself. Check back later as I'll be talking more about techniques. If anyone has any BJJ tricks they like to use please comment them here. I would love to hear back from you guys.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

2008-08-15T05:07:00.000-07:00

Went to a BJJ class last night, hour long white belt class. We started with some light cardio then went into some moves from the side guard, including a nice arm bar. BJJ is a must when thinking about MMA, a lot of people in my MMA class take Muay Thai and boxing which is great but when they get on the ground they are clueless. I really think anyone interested in MMA should really be training BJJ and Chuck Liddell will tell you that himself, (Jeremy Horn). There is an Army Combatives Tournament coming up here at Fort Knox in a couple weeks, I'm defiantly going to be signing up, the first rounds are all on the ground submission and the finals are in a cage MMA rules. Its gonna be great to watch and even better to get to participate in this awesome event. Pictures will be posted.

One a side note, would also like to add that I finally purchased a Gi last night, and let me tell you it.....really made things worse. Its really hot, and does not breathe well. I burned up from the light cardio and was really sucking wind after rolling with a couple guys. Hopefully after a couple washes its not as bad.

Serra Jitsu

2008-08-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

I've been browsing around the web trying to find some good training dvds that I can work on from home, I love BJJ and want to learn as much as I can even outside of class. The best dvds I have come across so far are from Matt Serra. His dvds break everything down and make it simple, these videos rock and you should really check them out to improve your ground game.
http://www.serrajitsu.com/

Finally on schedule

2008-08-07T18:18:00.000-07:00

Finally got my schedule all worked out, having a premature baby really slowed me down in learning martial arts. Baby is home now !!! Anyway starting tomorrow I'll be going to class a lot more, hopefully 5-7 days a week. Tomorrow is another 2 hour MMA class, should be fun. I'll be posting on how that goes after I get home from class. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

MMA Gear

2008-08-05T06:33:00.001-07:00

In my last post I mentioned creating a website for MMA gear. I'm not selling any MMA gear on my website but I am using affiliate programs to advertise for other companies on my website. Its a great way to bring together lots of MMA gear from different companies on one page, not to mention I get a referral payment lol. But seriously I've been going around the web and have been finding lots of great websites with affliate programs, I've been signing up for them all and putting their products online. You can check them out at
http://jjmmsales.com/mma
JJMM Sales is a side project I've been working on, playing with e-commerce because I've never did it before, but the MMA section is all affliated. Please enjoy.
**UPDATE**
To make things ALOT easier on people who want to order a variety of MMA gear that don't wanna give their payment info to more than one website, i've been designing an Amazon Store, I've been adding gloves, hand wraps, fight shorts, books, dvds, gis, and more. This will allow anyone to order all of their MMA needs from Amazon.com and makes it easier to find them. To check out my Amazon Store click HERE!!!

Weekend Break

2008-08-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

This weekend I took a break from class, I actually went Saturday and stayed for about an hour and a half. I didn't stay through the whole class because I had things to do. Also my right shoulder has been pretty sore since Friday night. Probably just a pulled muscle, but after rolling for a little bit on Saturday (with someone who was way better than me) I was barely able to lift my Powerade bottle. I tried to take it easy on Sunday but ended up moving my couch and TV, so its still a little sore today. I'm going to class tonight anyways from 7-9pm maybe. There is a BJJ Class from 7-8 and then MMA from 8-9. Usually after BJJ I am too tired for MMA but I'm gonna see how it goes anyway. I've been putting up a few ads on the blog for some pretty cool MMA stuff, I'm thinking about compiling a website of MMA gear. I'll be posting that later on. Hopefully I'll be able to get some pics from class tonight for the blog and my myspace.
http://myspace.com/jimmymullinsdotnet

1st 2 hour class

2008-08-02T07:49:00.001-07:00

Ok last night was my first 2 hour MMA class. We started with about a half hour of ab work outs. Some pretty tough excercises but i'm sure I needed them. After the workout we split into our separate teams, newer guys and the more experienced ones. We went through about an hour of different moves, all on the ground, working some arm bars and stuff. The last half hour was all sparring, we lined up to fight the guy across from us, everyone had MMA gloves so we all started on our feet and fought for 3 minutes. Most of the guys I fought would throw a few punches and would then go for a takedown, the last fight was a 5 minute match and the guy I fought stood with me the whole time. We both landed some pretty nice punches and legkicks. I think our trainer realized that we need more striking training so this next coming week we'll be working more on that. It was a blast, even though I left with a bruise above my right eye, but I'm sure it'll happen more and more. MMA is a blast!!

MMA Class

2008-08-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

I just want to talk a little bit about my MMA classes. I've been going to a lot of the beginner classes to just get a little more familiar with everything. Like most of the other classes we start out with a workout, in MMA is more stretching than an actual workout. I know some of the guys show up an hour or two early and do cardio, I can't right now because of my schedule. After the stretching the class splits up and the newer guys work with one trainer and the more experienced guys work with another trainer. In the beginning we start out with some escapes from the mount or guard then we work a couple submissions. Next we roll, we all line up against the wall and split in half , half the group goes against the opposite wall and we face the guy across from us, then we roll, in MMA class we simulate punches, so most of us wear our padded MMA gloves, we start out on our knees, generally shake hands and start, we go until the time is called, usually 2-3 minutes. In my last class after rolling with about 3-4 opponents we started an elimination tournament, everyone was fighting at once and if you tapped out of the coach stopped the fight because of strikes you sit out and if you won you waited for the next guy to win, then you rolled with them. This made the rolling experience a lot more fun and exciting. The guy that won the 3 fights...well it was his first night there, it was pretty impressive, he was really fast and knew what he was doing. Its a lot of fun and I have another MMA class tonight so I'll be posting about that later tonight.

Looking for a Gi

2008-08-01T05:08:00.000-07:00

In my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class I'm gonna be buying a Gi soon, I know my school sells them for around 50 bucks, anyone have any suggestions on a great Gi for Jiu-Jitsu? I've been looking around not sure whether single weave or double weave is the best for this.

My Training Center

2008-07-31T14:49:00.000-07:00

I train at a place in Louisville Kentucky called Derby City Martial Arts. Awesome place to train at, great enviroment. They currently offer Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Boxing, MMA, Wrestling, and Muay Thai. They are open seven days a week so its easy to cross-train on different things at the same time. Anyone in the Louisville area or anyone from Fort Knox, I really recommend training here.
Derby City MMA Website

MMA Beginner 1st Post

2008-07-31T11:35:00.000-07:00

Welcome to MMA Beginner blog. I created this blog because I've fallen in love with the sport of Mixed-Martial Arts. Blogging gives me a chance to talk about techniques, gear, and the fighters. I'm hoping to get a gathering of fans of this blog because I believe that MMA fans are the best people to talk to. I've been taking classes at a local MMA school and the guys I've met there are all tough guys, guys that you would think would be a-holes but they aren't, they are nice guys, love to fight and love to help other people learn techniques. I've only been taking MMA classes for a couple weeks now and haven't been able to go to class as much as I would like to, but hopefully I'll be able to get on a better schedule soon. I'm also taking some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes to work on my ground game. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a whole lot of fun, for those of you that are interested in getting started in MMA you should really take some BJJ classes. I don't know how other schools work but in my class we start out with a light workout, then go over some moves, the last 20 minutes or so of class we roll, which is another term for grappling. My intro MMA classes are pretty much the same concept. I'm a total beginner in all this but I've never had more fun in my life. Its a great way to get in shape and a great opportunity to do some of the things we dream about while watching the UFC. Since this is my very first post, I want to give a little information about me. I'm 24, in the US Army Active Duty, happily married to the woman of my dreams and just recently we added the newest member to our family, our beautiful son. (Future UFC Champ). I intend to start him in classes as soon as he gets old enough, I know my school offers Muay Thai for kids, its a great way to start. I've been to Iraq once and am going back in a few months. I get out of the Army in a few years, when I get out I will have completed 8 years. I don't hate the Army its a great thing to do for teens that don't want to go to college or not sure what to do with their lives. I'm slowly...very slowly working on a degree in 3d Animation. I would like to create digital animations for tv or video games someday. My favorite UFC fighter is Forrest Griffin. I've been a big fan of his since TUF Season 1. I feel that he is one of the best fighters in the UFC, he has a great ground game and a great standup game. The Ultimate Fighter is one of my favorite shows to watch. Thats pretty much it for now, I hope everyone will enjoy my first mma blog, next time I'll be talking more about my classes and the techniques.