[Schobe]

My name's Matt, I am 20 years old and *very* interested in entering the world of competitive MMA. I have very limited formal training in martial arts, however, I am relatively young and do have some experience in combat. I wrestled for 6 years as a youngster, and was a state finisher 3 years in a row (2nd place my senior year), never moved on to college wrestling though. I also have about two years experience in karate (albeit the 10-12 age range, so probably not too much "real" help), and boxed for three years. What I would really like is some advice on where to start. I am in great shape, and as mentioned do have minimal combat experience, could anyone reccommend the starting steps I should take? Thanks a lot!

 

[The Don]

first get into training.. in your case some ju jitsu weather brazilian or japanese, then take up a striking art.. most common ones are Muay Thai or Tae kwon do.. if you have a choice go for almost anything other then TKD Though TKD can give you a great foundation.. and train hard.. and I mean really hard..

 

[Spartan42]

If you've got a wrestling background then i would suggest BJJ as the way to go. Once you are well established there move on to some Muay Thai if you can find a place that teaches it.

 

[Zapatista]

I agree with the people who said to get into training, though I'd suggest finding a program that teaches Submission Wrestling. That will work with what you know from wrestling and will add things from other arts that work in the ring. If you can't find a place that teaches that then I'd suggest BJJ or Judo (or even preferably both if you can afford it).

Also, for striking, there are tons of things you could do. There is the most popular, Muay Thai, but there is (like The Don said, TKD). Also, I don't know what style of karate you did but Kyokushin Karate is similar to Muay Thai and will teach you the striking with elbows and knees too.

 

[Trainee]

Also, for striking, there are tons of things you could do. There is the most popular, Muay Thai, but there is (like The Don said, TKD). Also, I don't know what style of karate you did but Kyokushin Karate is similar to Muay Thai and will teach you the striking with elbows and knees too.

Most Kyokushin Karate schools don't offer intense training like Muay Thai schools do. Also, it's usually not full-contact.
You have a good foundation, you've done boxing for a while and you were a great wrestler (by the looks of it), so you pretty much know all the basics and more. Just need to put your legs to work, and keep working on what you've already learned.
Some Muay Thai, BJJ, and Judo classes should do it (if you're only looking to be good at MMA for sport-related reasons). If you can't really afford separate classes (they are pretty expensive), just join a MMA class.

 

[w30]

Start working out man - condition until you actually find a practitioner who can give you body specific work outs.

Wrestling - if you were a wrestler/football guy boxing and tkd compliments that. Depends on how you fight.