A Nerd’s Guide To Learning Mixed Martial Arts

The Beginning
2 Years ago, I was a fat-ass and un-athletic. Mountain Dew, Doritos, and coding were the way of life. Even though I enjoyed my career in programming, something was missing in the world I inhabited. Tired of feeling tired all the time, I decided to learn martial arts. Why not? I loved kung-fu movies. Plus, as a kid, I always wanted to be a ninja assassin.

I decided to follow my bliss; here was the result:
No MMA, With MMA

Back to When the Quest Began
So I took the plunge… I started training in the oldest form of martial arts in China - Shuai Jiao:

I struggled from the start. I found it difficult to learn the basic techniques. Frustrated, all I learned was how out-of-shape I was.

Prepare for the Journey
Had I known what I know now, I would have worked on my cardio and endurance first. A strong cardiovascular and legs would have allowed me to pick up the techniques quicker.

Step 1: Cardio Work on your cardio right away. Start running. Run for 5 minutes. Then advance to 10, then 20, and so on. Do 30 second sprints between your runs.

Start hiking. It will develop your legs and thighs. (Strong legs and thighs are needed to generate strong punches, kicks, and takedowns.) I do a casual hike on the mountain, and whenever I encounter an uphill, I run it as fast as I can.

Note: Avoid running on pavement. It will mess up your knees. Run on the track or on ground. If you must run on the road, at least get a good running shoes.

Step 2: Strength Do push ups and sit-ups. Start with 10 a day, then 20, and so on. Push-ups develop strong arms and shoulders that will be used for punching, grabbing, and lifting. Sit-ups develop a strong core/stomach. All energy comes from the core.

Footwork and balance are also important. Take a salsa or tap dancing class if you can:

Choosing Your Weapon
To become a well-rounded martial artist, here are the areas I constantly work on:

Cardio and conditioning
Striking
Takedowns
Wrestling and submissions

Being a good striker is not enough, when a wrestler can take you to the ground and pound your face with punches. Mastering all four is our main objective.

Step 3: Pick Your Primary Skill You have the choice where your path begins. Do you favor punching and kicking? Or do prefer takedowns and throwing people to the ground? Or do you like working on your back, maneuvering to catch your opponent’s limb and break it? Whichever it is, you have to start somewhere.

Assemble the Team
The key to learning martial arts is finding a good school to train at. A good school not only has good teachers, but also good students and good program.

When I first started, I was intimidated to step into the class. What if I look foolish? What if they beat me up? What if? Of course it was silly to worry. In a good school, the black belt students are very helpful, especially when they saw I was giving them all my heart. They said, “It’s alright. We were once like you when we started.”

Taking Down the Ringwraiths
Frodo’s first challenge, along with Sam, Merry, and Pippin, was escaping the Ringwraiths. For me, my first challenge was learning Takedowns.

Step 4: Learn How to Takedown For takedowns, you can either choose wrestling, judo, shuai jiao kung-fu, sambo. It doesn’t matter which one you pick. You are after the skillset.

I took Judo because there were not enough students in my Shuai Jiao class:

The Recovery at Rivendell
Learning mixed martial arts comes with pain, bruises, sprain, skin-burns, stubbed toes. I have to eat properly. No more junk food. I have to sleep 8 hours to rest. I have first aid kit, ointments, bandages ready all the time. Since I don’t have the care and protection of the half-elven Lord Elrond, I need to have health insurance in case accident happens.

Striking the Mines of Moria
After Rivendell, Frodo and the fellowship ended up in Moria and were attacked by orcs. For me, it was not Moria but Muay Thai - the art of the eight limbs. In its original form, Muay Thai consisted of an arsenal of nine weapons - the head, fists, elbows, knees and feet - known collectively as na-wa arwud. Although in modern Muay Thai, both amateur and professional, headbutting an opponent is no longer allowed. Muay Thai is unique in the way it uses all parts of the body, including the elbows and knees, for both training and competitions.

Step 5: Learn How to Strike For striking, you can choose shotokan / kyokushin karate, taekwondo, shaolin long fist, muay thai, savate, silat, san shou, and so many more. You have lots of options.

Beaten by Balrog
Frodo’s fellowship was dealt a heavy blow when Gandalf fell into the abyss fighting the ancient demon creature Balrog. In martial arts, it is the same. Just like Frodo dealt with the loss, we too have to accept the blows. I had to learn it is okay to get hit. Once I accepted that, I learned how to relax. When relaxed, I learned not to get hurt. The body hurts more when it is tensed.

Submitting Sauron

Step 6: Learn How to Fight on the Ground For submissions, Brazilian Jiu-jitsu (BJJ) is the way to go.

Just like Mount Doom, BJJ’s learning curve is very steep. The key is learning how to relax. But how do you relax when an opponent is crushing you and trying to break your arm? For me it was tough… all I can do is practice-practice-practice.

Slaying the Dragon

Moyers: When I take that journey and go down there and slay those dragons, do I have to go alone?

Campbell: If you have someone who can help you, that’s fine, too. But, ultimately, the last deed has to be done by oneself. Psychologically, the dragon is one’s own binding of oneself to one’s ego. We’re captured in our own dragon cage. The problem of the psychiatrist is to disintegrate that dragon, break him up, so that you may expand to a larger field of relationships. The ultimate dragon is within you, it is your ego clamping you down.

The biggest lesson I learned from studying martial arts is that I still have a lot to learn. Martial arts was not about hurting other people. It is about improving myself and defeating the demons that keep me from learning and advancing. There were times when I thought I could beat everybody up. And then a 110 pound girl would school me at sparring. I was humbled, and I would train hard again to improve myself.

Step 7: Have Fun and Make Friends When sparring, only hit as hard as your opponent wants to be. Try to match their intensity.

For me, it was important to accept that some people are better than me, and some are not. What’s more important is that we help each other out to slay the dragon.

The Journey Home - Lead us not into temptation.
I’m too busy. There’s not enough time. I’m not feeling good. I’d rather watch TV. I have deadline tomorrow. I am good in coming up with excuses. So it is a constant struggle to train martial arts. It is easy to get frustrated and quit martial arts. It takes dedication. I remind myself not to stray from the path, not to lose my bliss, not to lose myself.