A revolution in the ring
23 tips to help you become a 21st century fighter
In the beginning there were challenge matches between specialists from different styles. Nowadays, no one trains only one style and everyone knows, at least a little of every style that is needed.
This huge change took only a little more than ten years. It happened much faster than the evolution from Fordism to Toyotism, which marked an important part of the 20th century.
Fordism was made up of specialized employees working independently on the production line, whereas Toyotism (that began 25 years ago) had versatile workers who understood every technique involved in the whole production process. Besides the time difference, this evolution is similar to the evolution of MMA.
So, if you don't want to get left behind in your Ford T, don't waste time: follow this formula and prepare to drive your Toyota.
1) Train in each style separately
This may seem like an obvious tip, but it's fundamental. Naturally, if you want to be a good boxer it's not enough to simply brawl. You need to train and learn separately the techniques involved. The same principle applies to wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, muay thai or any other style of martial arts that you wish to incorporate into your game.
2) Integrating the skills
Training each area separately isn't enough. They need to be integrated. You may have excellent jiu jitsu and be a good boxer, but you need to know when to react with what style. Your body should move naturally and only by integrating your training methods can you react appropriately without thinking. For example, if your opponent is tired, is it better to punish him with strikes or look for a submission?
3) Compete in each separate style
What is your level in each style? The old fighting masters used to say: you are either good or not, it's as simple as that. The only way to know this is to compete in each separate style against the best there is. Training in the gym can't substitute this. Even if you got the better of a black belt in the gym, you don't know if he was having a bad day, or if he wasn't trying his best. In competition there are no excuses, people have to give their best and competing against athletes of the same standard is a perfect test.
4) Focus on your weak areas
When you are arranging your training program, especially if there aren't many competitions ahead, spend more time on the styles in which you are less familiar. This may even be on specific techniques in a style that you have the most difficulty with. There is a principle that your evolution is much quicker where your knowledge of the style isn't as complete. Two hours training on your strong points will benefit you less than the same time spent training in an area in which you are weak.
5) Decide on a strategy
A well-rounded fighter is tactical. If you know yourself and your opponent well you will be able to win more times than you lose. This comes from the ancient teaching methods of Chinese General Sun Tzu, but even today this is the most effective principle. Therefore, for each competition, look at your strengths and weaknesses in relation to your opponent and decide on a strategy. If you don't want to worry about your opponents' strengths, you need to get your coach to look at this for you. You then have to believe in the strategy that he develops.
6) Be objective
Even though you have years of training behind you and are an encyclopedia of techniques, you need to be pragmatic. During your training sessions you need to be selective and use techniques that have the most chance of working against your opponent. This way, without a doubt, your training time will be used more efficiently.
7) Concentrate on your defense
By knowing your limits in your chosen styles (by competing in these styles), you will be able to determine in which areas your opponent is more dangerous than you. Train your defense of certain situations extensively, or even better ways to stop specific situations from arising. For example, it is no use being a blue-belt in Jiu-Jitsu and trying to submit Rickson in an MMA match.
8) Carefully choose your coaches
If you are taking your MMA career seriously, you need to choose your coaches like the CEO of a company would choose his employees. No one would employ a life-guard who can't swim, or a bus driver without a driving license and in the same way you wouldn't want a boxing coach who doesn't know how to punch. In the corporate world changing your employees is always more work and more expensive than employing the correct person in the first place. Therefore, before starting at a specific gym or employing a wrestling coach with an eastern European accent, check their credentials. A resumé is there to be analyzed.
9) Invest in your team
Renato Babalu is known for saying that a fighter is only the tip of the iceberg. The rest of the ice doesn't appear, but it does give support. Give good treatment to your team, which in Babalu's case is made up of:
1) A psychotherapist and doctor, who takes care of not only his mental preparation, but also his nutrition and supplements.
2) A head coach, who develops the training strategy for each specific fight and helps with the perfection of the ground fighting techniques.
3) A wrestling coach and personal trainer, who helps with the takedowns and clinch work as well as the conditioning and the timetable.
4) A boxing coach.
5) Sparring partners.
6) A physiotherapist, who helps with the prevention and treatment of injuries.
7) A manager, who looks after the contractual agreements as well as the events and the sponsors.
Obviously not everyone is in the position of having a team available to them like a UFC star does, and some fighters have teams that are structured differently. But you need to think of your team as an investment. Remember that without the foundations, the iceberg is likely to sink.
10) Have several trainers, but only one head coach
A fighter, with time, should finely tune his hearing, so that he knows whether that which his corner is shouting has a good chance of working. But not even the most experienced of fighters would be confident if one trainer is shouting punch while the other is screaming clinch. Therefore someone in your team should have the final vote, listening to other trainers and making a joint decision. This should be trained in the gym and not just on the day of the fight, so that fighter and trainers can work together efficiently.
11) Divide your training sessions into rounds and be disciplined
Are you one of those people who, in school, didn't study the whole semester and spent the last few days before the test cramming? Be careful because, in the ring, this will probably mean you will be knocked out or submitted. Therefore you need to carefully organize your training sessions, thinking about the time that you have available. The most successful athletes nowadays start by concentrating on their conditioning and closer to the competition look more thoroughly at their techniques and tactics.
12) Think in the long term
Do you want to increase your chances of success? You need to reduce your vacation time. If after every fight you take days, weeks or even months for a vacation it will prove difficult for you to evolve. It is during this so called "vacation?? period that you should concentrate on training your weaknesses. Your evolution will depend on the continuity of your training.
13) Be strong mentally
There are famous fighters, who are stars of Pride and UFC, who are extremely talented technically, but are insecure. They produce good results, but because of their insecurity they lack consistency and don't reach their potential. This can be worked on in fighters who are insecure and can even be refined in fighters who are already strong mentally. It is a matter of concentration and focus.
14) Have a good athletic base
Jordan, Pele, Federer. Huge stars of traditional sports all have one thing in common, physical conditioning. This can be clearly seen by watching these athletes participate in their specific areas. The current level of MMA demands the same of their champions and in the future this area is going to become more and more important. It isn't sufficient to be extremely talented and not be physically prepared. The fighter who wants to be successful has to be fast, explosive, flexible and strong. Have you ever noticed the difference between the explosiveness of Fedor Emelianenko and that of other heavyweight competitors?
15) Be versatile in your conditioning training
If you want to be a well-rounded fighter, you need to train different styles, right? So, it's good to incorporate this mentality into your physical conditioning training. Or do you think that a boxer's early morning runs will turn you into a better wrestler? You need to be as versatile with your physical training as you are with your technical training.
16) Respect your rest time
To be a well-rounded fighter, you need to train different styles, do weight training, work on your cardio and compete. It's not an easy schedule, therefore it takes careful planning. Once your schedule is decided, stick to the plan. Don't try and train harder the next day just because you feel fine because; this could cause injury or stress due to overtraining. If you continue to feel that you are not training hard enough, speak to your personal trainer and your coaches to rearrange your training schedule.
17) Repetition is essential
There is no mystery to this. If you want to get an armbar from the guard, you need to repeat the movement thousands of times. This can be done in the same way a judo practitioner drills his takedowns or a wrestler works on closing the distance between him and his opponent repeatedly. There are no secrets to an armlock from the guard, but the movement needs to become second nature so that it can be applied effectively. It needs to be executed quicker than the opponent, because nowadays everyone knows the defense.
18) Concentrate on the basics
It is common that a naturally talented strong athlete starts to train in a style that he has never done before and because of his natural ability he jumps certain stages in the learning process. This can prove detrimental to the progress of the fighter. If you don't have the right grips, you will have to use more force and be quicker than your opponent in order to take him down. If you don't have good posture to open the closed guard you will have difficulties in finishing an easy fight. This will become more evident when you face opponents who are more technical than yourself.
19) Choose your sparring partners carefully
Everything is ready. It is one week until your fight and you are throwing and submitting all of your training partners. The only thing is: your opponent is a southpaw and your training partners aren't; He is a wrestler and you only train with thai boxing experts; he is short and stocky and your training partners are tall and thin. Obviously this is going to cause serious problems. Therefore you need to carefully choose your sparring partners, so that you are fully prepared for your fight.
20) Train in the right environment
It is not advisable to face a ground and pound specialist in the UFC after training for three months in the ring. If you need to train on the ground it is important that you have a large enough matted area for you ground training. Finally, a well-rounded fighter should be prepared to fight in the cage and the ring, standing up and on the ground and therefore needs a training environment similar to that in which he will be competing.
21) Have the right equipment
You shouldn't punch a punch bag with boxing gloves. But, more importantly you shouldn't spar with worn bag gloves that have been used on the punch bag. Training boxing, Jiu-Jitsu and muay thai means using gloves, punch bags, wrestling boots, gis, shin pads and many more accessories. It's important to have these in a good condition in the gym. In the same way that a good pair of soccer boots helps the professional put the ball in the top corner of the goal, good shin pads help the thai boxer perfect his techniques and avoid injury.
22) Keep up to date
Equipment, techniques and training methods today are very different from those of twenty years ago. What's worse is that the speed at which new information is appearing is equal to the advances that are being made in technology and communication. Therefore, to not get left behind, it is essential to watch competition and training videos, not only of MMA, but also of specific martial arts.
23) Keep a training journal
In weight training, it is very common to keep a record of your training. This way when you bench press 220lbs in one session, you are going to know how much you have progressed in that specific exercise in the last two months. You need to be creative and establish parameters for your technical training too. Write down when you managed to submit someone for the first time with a specific technique, how often this happens and the problems that you faced. Referring to this journal will be important in order to develop tactics and training strategies, judging your strengths and weaknesses and stopping the fighter from becoming stagnant by clearly demonstrating his progress..
