Taking your first MMA fight is a big deal. You are going to do something you have never done before, against someone you have never fought, in an environment that is very different from your normal training. There is going to be adrenaline, nerves, an audience, officials, a time limit, a corner, and an opponent who is actively trying to impose their game on you. You can't eliminate all of the uncertainty. That's part of competition. What you can do is eliminate as many unnece

A lot of people think of fundamentals as something you learn so you can move on to the “advanced” stuff. I think that’s backwards. The fundamentals aren’t a stepping stone to advanced techniques. They are the foundation of everything you will ever do. Knowing a technique and mastering it are two very different things. You can know how to throw a jab, shoot a double leg, pass a guard, or escape a bad position without being particularly good at any of them. Mastery comes from r

If you're looking for MMA classes, you probably assume that joining a gym that advertises MMA means you're going to learn MMA. That seems pretty obvious. But it's worth taking a closer look at what a gym actually offers. A lot of martial arts gyms advertise MMA. When you look at their schedule, however, most of the classes are Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Boxing, Kickboxing, or Wrestling. They may have an MMA sparring class once a week, but very little actual instruction d

One of the things I think people get wrong about training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is how closely they watch their progress. They want to know if they're getting better. Which is understandable. You're spending time, money and effort on this, so of course you want to see a return. The problem is that people often look for that return immediately. Did I do better today than I did last class? Did I submit somebody? Did I escape more? Did I get smashed less? Did that technique finall

One of the most common questions people ask when they're thinking about starting MMA is: "What martial art should I learn first?" Should you start with wrestling? Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu? Boxing? Muay Thai? The answer usually depends on who you ask. Wrestlers will tell you wrestling. BJJ guys will tell you BJJ. Strikers will tell you that MMA starts on your feet, so you'd better learn how to punch and kick. And honestly, they all have a pretty good argument. But I think there's a

If you're thinking about starting martial arts at BLAST MMA, one of the first questions you'll probably have is: Should I train MMA or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu? Both are great ways to train. Both will challenge you. And both will teach you skills that you can continue developing for years. But they're also very different training experiences. At BLAST, we've found that the people who gravitate toward MMA and the people who gravitate toward BJJ are often looking for different thing

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) has become one of the most popular martial arts in the world—and for good reason. It’s practical, engaging, and deeply rewarding both physically and mentally. But one of the most common questions adults ask before stepping onto the mat is: “Am I too old to start BJJ?” The short answer is no. In fact, adults often make some of the best beginners in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Whether you’re in your 20s, 30s, 40s, or beyond, it’s never too late to begin your

I've been thinking a lot about how MMA should actually be taught, especially to beginners. At BLAST, we use a structured 48-lesson Core curriculum followed by a 72-class Development curriculum. There's a reason we chose to do this instead of simply teaching whatever technique seems appropriate that day. MMA is an enormous skill set. A beginner has to learn striking, wrestling, clinch, fence work, takedowns, ground control, escapes, GNP, submissions, etc. The problem with simp