Mixed Martial Arts a quick overview of the fight game

(1) Stand up: In MMA when you are standing up facing your opponent you have three main objectives (1) Strike your opponent to hurt or knock him out and block his strikes (2) Throw or take down your opponent so that you can attack with your ground game and to defend against him throwing you or taking you down (3) Apply standing submissions to your opponent such as standing guillotines, and making sure he doesn’t submit you (2) Ground: When you are on the ground and you are on top then you are trying to (a) stay on top and mount your opponent (b) Ground and pound them as hard as you can (c) Apply submissions to get them to tap out If you are on the bottom then you want to (d) Get them in your guard or sweep them so you are on top (e) Apply submissions from your guard (f) Get back up to your feed (g) Defend against their strikes and strike back (3) Cage Movement: You are also constantly working to get into the best possible position within the cage and to get out of any bad positions you may find yourself in. Working on your positioning therefore involves getting youself into a position where you can dominate and getting your opponent into a bad or weak position. This involves smooth and fast foot work and making sure you don’t walk into strikes or takedowns. You have to keep a solid basis and not do things like crossing your feet which will leave you off balance and an easy target. (4) Combinations: Combinations in fighting involves throwing combinations of punches or kicks to inflict damage on your opponent and also setting up takedowns and throws on your opponent. You may throw a jab in order to get in a position where you can crouch down and go for a double leg takedown for example. So MMA is a very complex fighting method where practically every fighting technique can be used and you have to be able to combine all your skills in a fluid and explosive manner in order to be a winner. That’s the reason why mma training is so effective as a method of sports combat and also as a means of self defence. You need to be good at striking and wrestling and jiu jitsu ground work. (5) Fight Strategy: Everyone will have different strengths and you will need to develop a fighting style that will allow you to use your strongest method of attack. Depending on who you are fighting you will have to adapt your fighting method to over come their strengths and allow you to use your strengths. If facing a better striker then you need to be able to defend his strikes and get the fight to the floor if you are better at ground work. If they are better at ground work then you need to develop skills to avoid takedowns and if you are taken down you need to know how to defend ground and pound and submissions in order to get back to your feet and use your superior striking. It’s a game of chess fuelled by aggression and skill and the sheer will to win.