maxtheripper

im 15 and live in australia and would like to train to start going in amatuer fights asap. in june 07 im going to a muay thai and mma training camp in phuket but i dont recon ill fight ther because they dont have blood tests.i was looking for some advice as how to start my training 9 i use kettlebells mainly for weight training and train stand up and ground once a week )

Zapatista

I'm not sure what the rules are in Australia, but I know in the States in order to be able to fight in, what I'd assume any sanctioned amateur event, you must be 18 years of age or older.

Also, I have yet to train for MMA, but I'd imagine that you'd have to train both stand up and ground more than just once a week. The place where I'm planning to train has beginner classes 2 times a week and has fighter practice once a week and an open gym once a week. I'll be there at least 2 times a week while I'll most likely be there 4 times a week.

I'd work on conditioning and if you can fight in Australia before age 18, then I'd suggest finding a place that you like and would like to train at and just go at it as much as you can.

maxtheripper

thanks for the advice i might just start going to bjj to roll on the mats i have a real good trainer so twice a week and one day of sparring is fine at the moment .i also might strat entering bjj tourneys and kickboxing matches

Zapatista

Go with the BJJ. Starting from an early age (well, relatively early) is always a plus. Also, I've been told on other forums that if you're planning on doing MMA, don't look for a BJJ (or in my case, I wanted to do Sambo), look for a place that teaches Submission Wrestling since they will take from many different arts and is able to teach people how to get out of things that you may not normally be taught in BJJ. But if you have a real good trainer and would like to compete in BJJ tournaments (and not just submission tournaments) then I'd recommend getting started as soon as you can.

maxtheripper

i have a trainer who teaches me all the effective parts of bjj, submission wrestling etc and was going to do the bjj classes mainly so i could roll on the mats with ppl better than me

Rhinefield

i train at lloyd irvin mixed martial arts and we work bjj, muay thai, submission wrestling, and a lil judo as well...all components of being a well rounded fighter.. i would suggest doing all.