MMA training? Or start with Muay Thai or Karate?

Hey, i%26#039;d really like to get into martial arts.





Would entering into MMA classes be advisable? or should I begin with a martial arts such as Muay Thai Kickboxing or Ishin-Ryu Karate?





MMA seems to me to be more unorthodox. Would I be missing out on anything by entering directly into such an eclect style?|||I assume everyone would agree on this. But you shouldn%26#039;t just jump straight into mma. First take an individual art like muay thai or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or maybe even wrestling(ew!) and master it, and then go into mma with an entire skill set behind you already and tack on bit by bit. This is how nearly all mixed martial artists do it and it works. Like I was good at kickboxing before I started practicing for mma, and now I%26#039;m better at Jiu-Jitsu. It%26#039;s just the things you pick up and your natural affinities. But I%26#039;d start small, don%26#039;t try and pick up all of mma at once, pick up an individual art.|||If you want to get into martial arts, then research a style that appeals to you. There are already some good suggestions here on that.





However, if you%26#039;re interested in MMA, start with a good base. You%26#039;ll notice that many MMA fighters started as wrestlers. Most of the others started with jiu jitsu. Both are good, and ultimately you%26#039;ll want to know them both.





Then you%26#039;ll need striking skills. Most MMA fighters go with Muay Thai. Some start with karate; some with boxing (though obviously that just deals with the arms, not the legs.)





MMA training attempts to combine them all in a package that works best in competition. However, even some of the best MMA trainers aren%26#039;t all that skilled in one or more of the skills I mentioned above. I%26#039;d suggest developing your skills in a grappling art (wrestling or jiu jitsu) and a striking art (Muay Thai or karate). Once you%26#039;re skilled at all of those, separately, then consider MMA training.





Good luck.|||mma is a mixture of all of them im training to become a mma fighter to i started by taking kickboxing classes and going to a mma gym|||It really depends on what your ultimate goal is. I can tell you I have trained Isshin-Ryu karate for 18 years and never regreted it. The one time I had to defend myself against a knife wielding attacker I survived. Of course I have an excellent instructor. I realize that it will take me a lifetime to learn everything about it.





There is nothing wrong with Muay Thai either, as it is a very effective striking style. My advice is to get good at one base art first and then suppliment. There is nothing wrong with training one style for a couple of years and then expanding.





I would honestly say do not choose a style, choose a school. There is a good list at www.bullshido.com, or even do a search for questions and answers on here, about what to look for in a good school/gym and what to avoid.





Honestly I would highly recomend Isshin-ryu karate, if you can find a good instructor and a school that trains realisticly. It has been an excellent style for me. I would also tell you I am not recommending it over Muay Thai or MMA.





I am recomending the best instructor and school you can find. If you want e-mail me the name and location of the Ishsin-Ryu school and I will find out what I can. Isshin-Ryu tends to be a very small community, and everybody knows somebody who knows somebody else.|||I have studied Akido for 25 years and have been around awhile... if you are looking to fight.. then go foe kick boxing, Muay Thai.. also take some grappling classes. If you are looking to get into martial arts ... then look for the art that is right for you.. Akido is a lot of throws and locks..using the other persons weight to control them..if you have ever seen Steven segal movies...this is the style... in a cage.. i would lose..it is not meant for that...it is self defense.... See... there is a difference. So again...what do you want... to fight in a cage ..against other fighters or learn an art form.. both are good.. just different|||i started with Muay thai for a few years before i started my MMA career... best move of my life, because when you go to MMA they show you some muay thai moves, but you never get the full experience|||If you want to be a MMA fighter I would suggest learning Muay Thai, Bokator, Karate, Jujitsu, Brazilian Jujitsu, Hapkido, and Sambo just to name a few because MMA is more about fighting than art or exercise compared to Kung Fu and Tae Kwon Do. Grappling styles like Sambo, Hapkido, and especially Jujitsu will help you when on the ground or in submissive positions while Bokator, Karate, and Muay Thai will help you while on your feet because they%26#039;re known to be brutal and linear striking arts.|||do boxing for your striking and then a submission/grappling art like brazilian jui jitsu|||i have to completely disagree with pretty much everyone. if mma is what you want to do...then mma is what you need to be doing.





that is why alot of todays fighters are so much more well rounded than yesterdays.





in the beginning you had strikers. and you had grapplers.





the grapplers almost always won...then came wrestling...which taught the strikers to prevent the grapplers takedowns.





well now the strikers are winning again. but not all the time. neither is better than the other.





bottom line....you have to have all 3 phases of combat.





striking or kickboxing phase....clinch/wrestling phase....and ground phase to be complete.





leaving rapidly are the days of a kickboxer crosstraining in bjj, or a jujutsu fighter studying a little boxing.





it%26#039;s mma from day one. no specialization in the beginning ensures you will be well rounded.





if you start and %26quot;master%26quot; one style...you will always favor that style.





the way i see it, the faster you get your mind and body into mma...the better.