This post is a follow up post to my last one on why you should try out MMA. In my last post I described how I was first exposed to the sport and got started. In this post I want to go over the reasons why you should try MMA too. There's so many benefits to participating in this sport that I doubt I will be able to cover them all but I will do my best. If you know of any benefits that I forget to mention let me know by leaving a comment.
Since trying MMA for the first time I have noticed numerous benefits in multiple areas of my life. I'm going to divide the benefits I've noticed into mental and physical categories. They could be divided into different categories and even more subset categories but I want to try and keep this at least somewhat simple, also I've there's a bunch of categories then there would just be a bunch of overlay between categories. So, let's dive in then!
Physical: I'm going to start with the physical benefits because these are the most obvious benefits, and they're probably the first thing that people think of when it comes to MMA. The first thing that comes to mind as a physical benefit for most people is probably just the pure exercise portion of MMA. For people who have seen UFC and think you could stand around and flail your limbs for 3 minutes like it was no big deal I only have one thing to say, You're Dumb! Alright now that I've gotten that out of my system I feel much better. Trust me on this! The first time I tried boxing with my friend we were both sucking wind like we were about to die. He even mentioned that he couldn't understand why he was so tired from just throwing his arms out in front of him. I've got to admit that I don't really know why we were so tired but I do know one thing, we were. Even if you don't ever want to actually fight a real human being you can do the same training and feel the burn. I have a free mp3 workout from How To Fight Now that I shadowbox to 3 times in a row. I know what you're thinking, "That doesn't even involve punching real objects! You're just aggressively dancing by yourself!" Well, you're right both accounts, but I don't care it's still exhausting. I'm a decently in shape person but after repeating that workout 3 times I look like I've just gone swimming in my own tears after discovering I'm so physically inadequate I can't even punch air without becoming tired. Just kidding. But, seriously that's how I look.
Aside from all the wonderful man sweat, and air sucking there's another awesome thing about MMA. Never once have I felt like I was working out! I've never had to drag myself to the gym even though I didn't want to go. Nor have I forced myself to workout in my room till I'm blue in the face. Do you want to know why? Because it's fun! Yes you did in fact read that right. I actually enjoy shadowboxing and doing my jujitsu drills because I know that next time I roll around at the gym I'll be better than I was the last time. Also, let's face it when you beat all those horribly mean imaginary foes with your flying fist of fury while shadowboxing you pretty much feel like a bad ass. Think back to when you were a kid and you used to run around and pretend you were a superhero(I pretended I was Robin from the Teen Titans, which looking back he really wasn't that cool of a superhero, anyway I digress) You could run around for hours imagining you were vanquishing all the evil in the world and no one told you to! That last bit is the important part. No one had to drag you outside when you didn't want to and make you play superhero. Training for MMA is literally the same thing and that's why I think it's so fun. You also don't just have to pretend if you're feeling up to it you can actually punch or submit a real live human. If you used to pretend you were a lame superhero like Robin then you might be terrible at this part and you'll probably just tap out all the time. Eventually though you will get the hang of it especially if the guys you train with are nice enough to give you all sorts of sweet tricks and tips and help you out. Just be really humble and actually listen to their advice and you'll probably grow at an insanely fast rate. Unless of course their advice is crap but I've yet to get crappy advice so I wouldn't worry about that to much. If you are arrogant and built like a brick wall and you think that you could easily take on anyone then go for it. My fingers are crossed that you get knocked out or cry like a little baby after about 5 seconds, but try to at least put on a good show.
Another thing that I know has already crossed your mind is that after working out and training so hard you can wind up looking jacked like this guy.
Mental: The first big thing that comes to mind was also a physical benefit and that happens to be decreased stress. You know when you have a crappy day and you hate pretty much everything well think about how much better you would feel if you could punch all that rage out. Maybe someone cut you off while you driving but you don't have the guts to hit an actual person. No problem! Just head over to your local gym and beat the crap out of a heavy bag while picturing their face. It's been shown that exercise in general decreases stress level but why not at least do something fun while you're exercising.
Fighting or just training to fight can also be seen as a sort of moving meditation. I don't mean the sort of meditation where you cross your legs and chant to yourself either I mean the cool kind where you know, you punch stuff. Most people today are constantly going from one thing to the next. They rush around like busy bodies and never just take a moment. Well a great way to take your mind off of the business of the day is to have someone throw fist at your face. You literally can not think about anything else. I mean, I guess you can but odds are good that you're going to get hit in the face. You lose yourself completely in the moment of fighting and that's a good thing. No distractions, problems, or worries. Just you and your opponent duking it out. This is true even if your opponent happens to be a heavy bag hanging from the ceiling.
MMA is a lot like trying to solve a puzzle, and play a game of chess at the same time. Except the loser of the game gets their face rearranged or possibly gets their limbs torn apart. The point being that it's a great mental exercise. No need to play some boring bain training game that treats you like you're retarded anymore. Just go fight someone that's better than you and I guarantee your brain will get a workout just trying to keep up. Also it's called MMA which means that there is so many different styles each with completely different techniques that you can try and learn. It's literally a never ending vault of things that you can study your entire life. You can keep studying and learning forever! This should keep your brain from turning into goop and becoming useless as you get older.
Thanks to looking like a stud muffin and generally having a feeling of increased badassness you will get a major confidence boost. After being punched and kicked repeatedly in the face and body or having your limbs almost bent to the snapping point other things in life just aren't as big of a deal. You won't feel the need to hunch your shoulders and look at the ground every time you walk into a room. Asking for a raise doesn't seem that scary anymore. Quitting your horribly boring day job to try and find something you're passionate about is no big deal compared to eating a knuckle sandwich. You should be warned though you probably won't have any increased confidence while you're at the gym right away. There will be people that have been doing this for years that will make you cry for your mommy and tap you out like a little baby in a matter of seconds. It's no big deal though if you ask them how they destroyed you so quickly and actually learn from them. These guys are a wealth of knowledge and let's face it who doesn't like having their ego stroked. Also, hopefully these guys will be super helpful and nice, they'll try not to make you feel to retarded. At least the guys at my gym have been that way to me. You'll also feel more confident and assertive, in a positive and not douchey way, because you can! I mean you'll learn how to pummel peoples faces until their unrecognizable, and rip their limbs apart. That knowledge is practical and works on people other than your training partners. That means that when some douche who isn't you gets up in your grill and is just generally douchey, you can politely and respectfully ask him to stop knowing full well that if he tries anything you can break him. Don't go out and pick fights just because you can though that would make you the douche. Also, fist can't beat everything including guns, knives, and bats so be cautious even if someone else is being a douche. I've seen people who have had their jaws broken clean in half by bats at work. It's not a pretty site. I'm just saying that in today's day and age you never can be to safe so it's nice to know at least a little bit about fighting in case of emergencies don't go flaunting it though. Alright you've been warned.
MMA is based in martial arts which have a long and proud history which means that it's very tied into values such as honor, courage, commitment, patience, respect, and discipline. These things used to be ingrained into our society as a whole but these days they are seriously lacking. People today don't even know what it means to be a person of character. They don't what it is to serve something higher than themselves and think about other people. I admit that I barely know what any of that means and I think that is one of the greatest tragedies of our time. By taking up MMA hopefully we can all learn to have some more traditional values and become greater men and women in the process.
I know that I've already learned so much in the way of values just from my short stint in the sport and I hope that you will join me to reap the benefits of this amazing sport. That my friends is why I think you should try MMA.
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