MMA lesson #1

well then. many of you (or at least i would like to pretend that it is many of you, and not just a few of you, or even a couple of you) have expressed interest in my MMA class that i have begun taking. The first class was last sunday, and i will probably start writing about exactly what i learned, either for each class, or weekly.

In the first class, we spent most of the time talking about business and rules. price of gear/ monthly fees were explained to us, and we learned about the rules of the class. The school is a tae kwan do school, so many of the rules are carried down from that. in fact, the only difference is that we use english instead of korean. We still bow to the instructors and the flags, we are expected to respond with a "yes sir" whenever instructed, and we are to treat the instructors, classmates, and school with respect at all times. Although not typical of an MMA training program, this respect will probably allow us to proceed at a much brisker pace in the class.

We learned how to properly stretch before the class, because we will be required to do it on our own time, as the class is onlly 45 minutes long. After that we learned what the class was going to focus on and how it was going to work. the class will be devided into 2-month segments called terms, in which a particular focus will be set on a certain area of mma. the first several terms are going to be standup, and the first one is going to be boxing. We learned the 4 punches that we will be using and training with for the next couple months and beyond. All of which are simple, but rather difficult to adjust to if you have studied asian martial arts for a long period of time. these 4 punches are the jab, the cross, the hook, and the upper cut. any boxer knows these, and we will have to learn them as well.

We will not be doing any sparring above light contact in this "basic" class. after a year we will have the option of taking an intermediate class where contact sparring may take place. so i guess we wont be training for UFC any time soon.