Written by: Mike Long

Ask 10 MMA enthusiasts what the best grappling art for MMA is and chances are you’ll hear BJJ 10 times. Ask 100 and you might hear Judo once or twice.

The reason for this is simple. Ever since UFC 1 when Royce Gracie took the world by storm with his compact submission style, BJJ has been known as the end all be all of grappling in the MMA world.

However, in this article I’d like to pose some challenges to this belief, and perhaps give you a new mindset in the process.

There is no more controversial subject in Martial Arts than the two words Dim Mak, better known in the Western World as pressure points. Practitioners of this controversial Martial Art attest the capabilities of their methods, which concentrate on attacking chi (life force energy) meridians which make the human body vulnerable to knockout, death, or even (controversially) delayed death.

These meridians also happen to be the same points used in acupuncture therapy, also created centuries ago in ancient China. Due to a lack of documented cases of injury in combat, opposing critics argue that Dim Mak points are a hoax and are ineffective.

By Jillian Bullock

Although several MMA fighters, including Vitor Belfort, Kenny Florian, Lyoto Machida, Anderson Silva, Rich Franklin, Chris Leban, Cung Le, and Nick Diaz, fight as southpaws some of these guys were born a lefty and some are “deliberate southpaws.” They taught themselves to fight as southpaws because they found it to be an advantage to their mixed martial arts career.

Looking back in history, however, many cultures considered a person evil if he was left-handed. In fact, in Latin the word for left is sinister. Over the years the stigma surrounding being  left-handed grew. Re-education of lefties was promoted by everyone, including clergy, parents, the media, and others. And how many adults can remember growing up and attending Catholic school where nuns swatted their knuckles if they even reached for a pen or pencil with their left hand? Today, with ten percent of the population being left-handed the stigma has waned in most countries. And in sports, especially boxing and martial arts, being a southpaw can be advantageous.

By Jillian Bullock

When people look at MMA champions Georges St. Pierre, Jon Jones or Anderson Silva, many MMA fans, commentators and reporters believe they are pound-for-pound the greatest mixed martial arts fighters in their division. Many also believe that since they are superbly dominant as fighters and they have the ability to go through each opponent who stands before them that there are no other MMA fighters who can actually beat these amazingly talented warriors during a bout.

The 29 year-old Welterweight champion, St. Pierre, 22-2, hasn’t lost a match since 2007. To understand how impressive St. Pierre is as a fighter, it should be noted that he has not lost a round, not one round, in over three years. What St. Pierre has going for him other than his unrelenting MMA cardio conditioning, which includes gymnastics in his regimen, but his striking game is superior. He is also considered one of the most disciplined athletes in the world, which helps St. Pierre stay focused even when his opponents trash talk him. He doesn’t give in to the mind games.

Written By: Jillian Bullock

Whether you are an amateur or professional MMA fighter there is no getting around the dedication you must have to prepare your mind and body to face off against an opponent in the ring or cage. It is no secret that mixed martial arts is one of the most demanding and challenging sports out there, and leading up to a competition takes a great deal of preparation, especially if you want to win.

When a student is looking for MMA training to take them to the next level, whether they are starting out or have already been in the cage, a good place to begin is the search engines. The internet provides a great way to find your local MMA schools, and gives you an up-front idea of what they will be like. It may also be possible to read school reviews.

Most of the MMA school websites will give you information about their instructors on a “about the instructor” page. This will give you an idea of the background and accolades associated with your potential future trainers. The majority of these pages will also have information about assistant trainers, or junior instructors.

The next thing to ask yourself about the MMA school you are thinking of joining, is whether they have a broad and flexible schedule. The schedules are typically posted somewhere on the website as well, but some schools may require that you call instead. Schedules and variety are something you should definitely take a look at and factor in when considering your MMA school.

How to learn Muay Thai

Are you wanting to learn Muay Thai? Whether, it is to become a better mixed martial artist or to get in excellent shape learning Muay Thai can get you there!  It can take you anywhere from the Octagon in the UFC to just losing 20 pounds and keeping it off.  But, how do you learn it if you don’t have someone that teaches it right next door?  If you do have someone right next door that teach Muay Thai then your set, go workout now!  If you are like the rest of us the martial art schools you see in your town are; Karate, Taekwondo, and Kung Fu.

Intermediate ground and pound workout Integrate this workout into your training program to improve technique and increase your cardio.

MMA Training Tips

Workout Purpose: This workout emphasizes guard passing techniques and ground-and-pound from dominate mount positions. As you work the drills, first throw soft strikes as the guy on bottom plays dummy. It is just a drill, so the guy on bottom should not resist, but should use his hands to cover his face and body from attack. Take turns and switch positions. While training in your partner’s guard, make sure to throw a variation of strikes—just mark the strikes, don’t actually beat your partner.