Micah C's MMA Journal - Prologue: Beginning the Process
by MicahtheCynic on Feb 1, 2012 3:17 AM EST
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Hey there folks. Some of you know me as my handle of Micahthecynic, but considering I wanted to do an MMA journal on SB Nation, I guess I need to give more detail.
As is obvious, my first name is Micah, and my last name begins with a C. I'm from Central Illinois, and have lived in Illinois all of my life sans my first four days of existance (I was adopted). I stand six feet, one inch tall, and weigh more than I should. Right now, I work as a hotel clerk during third shift, and used to be a video game writer until recently.
You see, it's that word "recently" that has made me decide to want to try mixed martial arts. Quite frankly, now that I'm not playing video games much more than a few hours per day, I've found that I have a lot more free time. Go figure. Since I was a little kid, I wanted to be a martial artist. Unfortunately, I've never lived in a place where I've been in close proximity to an art that I was interested in (Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu, etc). Everything around me was Tae Kwon Do. Yuck. So, I'm keeping this journal here to give you an idea of my thoughts as I go through this process. For the prologue, I'll talk about what I'm expecting from the journey.
So, as I'm filling out the release and liability forms for the gym I'm going to have a look at tomorrow (Boxing class is on Friday, and I want to see the place before I commit), and I get to the one point that makes my stomach churn. "Experience in Martial Arts." Crap. The only thing I can put is N/A. All that I know are some things my Dad taught me, and all he learned was basic self defense from his days in the Army during Vietnam. Well, that and a few things I learned from a very short time (read- a month and a half) wrestling in high school. So, I know a couple combat basics, and not much else. Dammit. I guess my dad had more foresight than I thought when he told me to stick with wrestling when I went to high school.
While reading through the paperwork, I let my mind think a bit more than I probably should. I'm just going to be starting with Muay Thai classes, but I wonder about the future. "What if I'm really good at this," I ask myself. Physique wise, I'm a big guy. I'm six feet tall, and have a 78 1/2 inch wingspan. Though I'm not super tall, I'm built like a redwood tree when I'm in great shape (which unfortunately was when I was 15) and there's no feasible way I could ever make 205. So, I know that I'd be stuck in a shallow division.
My overthinking in that area leads to another: I'm about to learn how to hurt people. Beyond that, I'm signing up to be punched in the head. What is wrong with me? Okay, there's a great many things wrong with me, but the big thing about all this is that I'm both an MMA fan and an MMA correspondant for a newspaper. I know all the risks. I've seen it live. I know what could happen, and I still want to do this.
So, here I am. Though I'm currently at work, I'm convinced that I want to become a martial artist. At this point, I've stopped the overthinking and grasped reality. Yeah, I'm fairly young (just turned 26) and I could compete if I was confident after learning skills, but I shouldn't lose sight of why I want to do this. I want to do it because I want to better myself, and fulfill my dream of being a martial artist. So, here I go. I'm going to dive head first into a world of cuts, bruises, and broken limbs.
If I fought, my nickname would be Killer Turtle
-Micah C.
By the way, any sort of feedback on exactly what I should expect would be fantastic. I'm just starting out with striking courses for the first month, but if anyone else has trained in BJJ or Muay Thai or Boxing and want to give me a heads up on what I should prepare for both mentally and physically, I'd be happy to see it.
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I would start with BJJ right away
A Muay Thai class that has serious MMA fighters will be probably be kinda rough to jump into with no experience at all. I got lit up so fast my first day(by an amateur fighter), I didn’t know what was going on. I was in good shape and had already been boxing off and on since high school. I just wasn’t ready. Jiu Jitsu will help get you in shape faster without getting beat down when you gas(its going to happen).
Go slow. If you get ahead of yourself, its gonna really set you back. Either with fatigue, injury or just burn out. Listen. Listen. Listen. That was big for me. Stay positive and remember to have fun and enjoy your time at the gym, otherwise you won’t wanna keep going. Some days are going to eat dick.
“What if I’m really good at this,”
I wouldn’t worry too much about that. We all suck. :P
Good luck and stay healthy.
"I'm ready for fight. If I'm win, no win. I don't know. But, I'm ready for fight. This is my working[shrugs shoulders]" - Anderson Silva
"You'll get Lil Wayne in woman pants and like it!" - Krimson
Thanks for the support, Filt. You know, I’ve been bouncing back and forth on Muay Thai and BJJ. On one hand, you’re right. That first day of Muay Thai would be rough, and I’d probably be getting handled by guys half my size. On the other hand, I’m stubborn. I’ll have to see how the start of it goes.
I do think I’ll have tons of fun though. I loved what wrestling I did, but I was a kid then, and I was really rebellious. The idea of maintaining a diet made me angry (despite IHSA having a 280 pound weight class) so I just quit. Nowadays, I look forward to researching shit like this. I’m tempted to test out Dolce’s diet if I feel the need to drop in weight. Like I said, last I was cut was when I was 15, and I weighed around 250.
A writer looking for a new home.
Part of Team Luke Thomas' Beard (LTB)
You may like Diaz, but Brock actually won a title that mattered.
Follow @TheCynicsCorner
by MicahtheCynic on Feb 1, 2012 8:05 AM EST up reply actions
Just don't do any serious sparring until you feel technically secure with the basics.
Unless your instructors are really hardcore, you should be able to ease into sparring at your own comfort.
"God loves violence... Why else would there be so much of it? It's in us. It's what we are. We wage war, we burn sacrifices, and pillage and plunder and tear at the flesh of our brothers. And why? Because God gave us violence to wage in his honor... There's no moral order at all. There's just this: can my violence conquer yours?"
- Warden of Ashecliffe Hospital
by ElliotMatheny on Feb 1, 2012 10:49 PM EST up reply actions
I agree on many points with you but i would add..
how HUGE role the " where" factor plays. No matter you start with boxing, thai or muay thai or Jiu Jitsu or Brazilian JJ the most important is, who will teach that to you and with whom you learn with.
I was lucky because i had a pretty good team with a good inner circle because 2/3 of the people left because many people think 2-3 times training is enough to make them fighters and then when they see its not they leave. May seem stupid but its the truth.
So see more places and more classes and choose whichever you feel you will like to train there. To me muay thai was great i dont see why you shouldnt start with that or boxing but dont expect wonders, keep patient and LIKE to train have a good trainer a good team its really the key. .
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I wasn't saying not to do Muay Thai
I was saying don’t wait to do BJJ.
"I'm ready for fight. If I'm win, no win. I don't know. But, I'm ready for fight. This is my working[shrugs shoulders]" - Anderson Silva
"You'll get Lil Wayne in woman pants and like it!" - Krimson
If you're not already in strong cardio shape, be prepared to get very tired for the first few weeks.
But that’ll pass. Don’t be too proud, don’t go too hard in sparring/rolling (at first) and always seek out the best guys to train with (not just the guys you think you may be able to beat). Finally: don’t neglect the warm up. It’ll keep you from blowing out every moving part you have.
"Never say anything that doesn't improve on silence." -Richard Yates
Proud Member of "The Voices In Paul Harris' Head." The handsomest cyber-team on the inter webs.
Drink a gallon of water a day
Helps a lot.
"Now you see that evil will always triumph, because good is dumb."
Daniel James Miller Foundation - Please donate, every penny helps.
This. 1000x this.
Not literally… 1000 gallons of water is a lot for a day.
You will not believe the difference that proper hydration makes.
Reppin' the 202 for The Voice's in Paul Harris' Head. BECW Season 12.
this is so true
your muscles will feel like inert beef jerky if you don’t
A thousand years ago five minutes were
Equal to forty ounces of fine sand -- Nabokov
by mollcutpurse on Feb 1, 2012 11:48 AM EST up reply actions
Don't think too much before you're there.
You’ll suck at first, everyone does. Like POW said train with the best, you’ll get your ass kicked but if the guy’s not an asshole he’ll do it in a way that helps you progress. It also helps in your defense much more than sparring with inexperienced who won’t know how to exploit your holes and will let you get away with it. And most importantly have fun! Some days will be awful but they’re necessary, motivates you to be awesome the next.
BECW season 2 member of the Intellegent Northern English Picking Team.
Draft number: 72.
by Sweet Scientist on Feb 1, 2012 10:50 AM EST reply actions
Rolling
is the best workout you’ll get. You’ll be shedding weight like crazy if you put in the time. Boxing is all about repetition and muscle-memory. It’s amazing how when a fighter gets tired, he resorts to natural form, therefore assimilating the training so that it becomes second nature is crucial. You don’t want to be the guy who looks great on the bag, then sloppy after he’s winded.
And fatigue makes cowards of us all. Get in the best fighting shape as possible; push yourself.
In the beginning you shouldn’t worry too much about the injuries others might inflict on you, or vice versa. You’re much more likely to experience injuries from over exertion or bad form. Since you’re heavyset, you’ll want to be careful about building up enough leg muscles to support your knees properly. TheFilt is right about listening to your body, and it might take some time before you get to know it well enough to know when to push and when to slow down, because sometimes that state of being feels very similar — but at some point you’ll recognize when it’s laziness/fear or genuinely dangerous exhaustion/pain.
I’m surprised to hear all of the bad sparring stories I’ve heard — I’ve never even seen any newbie sparring that involved matching up two highly different skill levels and also allowed things like hitting or kicking the head. But sparring is reeeeaallly fun, just tell your partner you are new and if they are not a total jackass, they will take it easier and teach you some things.
Good luck! I love reading training journals.
A thousand years ago five minutes were
Equal to forty ounces of fine sand -- Nabokov
I looked fit and strong
so always got matched up with fighters, since day one.
My coach would always say “He’s new. Don’t hurt him.”
"I'm ready for fight. If I'm win, no win. I don't know. But, I'm ready for fight. This is my working[shrugs shoulders]" - Anderson Silva
"You'll get Lil Wayne in woman pants and like it!" - Krimson
Only been doing it a little while, but same thing with me.
They listened to him, though, they were really nice about not knocking my block off and I felt like I learn more with people who know what they’re doing. So it works for me.
I'd rather be trollin'.
I have a feeling something similar to this is going to happen to me. Like I said, I’m not in great shape, but I’m a big guy. When I spoke to the head of the gym yesterday, she said my instructor is both a brown belt in Judo and Jiu Jitsu, and the no-gi class teaches both at the same time.
I’m going airborne. I just know it.
A writer looking for a new home.
Part of Team Luke Thomas' Beard (LTB)
You may like Diaz, but Brock actually won a title that mattered.
Follow @TheCynicsCorner
by MicahtheCynic on Feb 3, 2012 7:30 AM EST up reply actions
I wouldn't worry about that
Nobody throws people in live sparring without discussing it first.
Especially with you being a big dude, people won’t try to throw you often, if ever.
No-gi is basically just submission grappling. There’s a lot more overlap from the other grappling arts because of the limited amount of ‘grips’.
Wrestling will win a no-gi match on the lower levels 9/10 times if you have some decent basic positional control and simple things like posture.
I have almost no submission skill but I can sometimes beat much better grapplers than myself by taking them down and controlling them positionally. With your build, you could probably do it even easier.
"I'm ready for fight. If I'm win, no win. I don't know. But, I'm ready for fight. This is my working[shrugs shoulders]" - Anderson Silva
"You'll get Lil Wayne in woman pants and like it!" - Krimson
Sweet to hear Micah. Keep us updated frequently, and if you get famous, I expect a LETS MUTHERFUKERS tattoo across your chest.
"Computer being attacked by virus contracted from watching illegal japanese schoold girl porn. Bare with me." - Our Bovine Public
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by T.C. Engel on Feb 1, 2012 11:57 AM EST via mobile reply actions
Good luck!
Glad to hear you’re making the jump. The previous posters have covered most of the important stuff, but here are a couple of suggestions. First, don’t worry about sucking when you start, everybody does. This is true of both striking and grappling; just dive in headfirst, stick with it, and you’ll be fine. Second, listen to your body: if something hurts, and it’s not standard muscle soreness (with which I guarantee you’ll become quite familiar), rest it for a few days. Finally, and most importantly, ask questions. If you’re not quite sure how a technique is supposed to work, ask the instructor or another student to clarify it for you. If somebody taps you, ask them how they set it up and how to defend it; if you’re sparring and having problems, ask your partners for tips after class.
Starting to train was the best decision I’ve ever made, and I’m stoked to hear about your journey.
Proud member of The Voices in Paul Harris' Head, BECW Season 2.
"By doubting we come to inquiry and by inquiry we perceive the truth." -- Abelard
This is also very important. You should never go home without understanding the mecanics of a technique.
Not just how to do it but why it’s done that way. It’s much easier to learn something when you know why it’s supposed to work that way. Also focus a lot on basics before the fancy stuff, fancy techniques are nice to have but you’ll need the basics to be able to use them. I knew how to do a high kick long long before I was able to land one due to the lack of basics to properly set it up. I hope you love it, and like I said before have fun, it’s the most important thing.
BECW season 2 member of the Intellegent Northern English Picking Team.
Draft number: 72.
by Sweet Scientist on Feb 1, 2012 2:33 PM EST up reply actions
Concepts > Techniques
Kind of plays off of the above point about learning the mechanics of a move. An example of a concept (albeit a very simple one) is figuring out which way a person’s arm is meant to bend, and more importantly, which way it is not. Understanding why positioning yourself at an angle is so important to finishing an armbar, triangle, or almost anything else. Taking your opponent’s posts (arms, legs, head) away before attempting a sweep. Things like that.
Other than that, don’t have an ego. You will get beat by people skinnier, fatter, younger, older, and likely of a different gender than you. Accept it as part of the learning process. Don’t get an attitude. Other than training inconsistently, having a bad attitude is the #1 barrier to your growth as martial artist IMHO. Good luck!
Please keeping us updated
That was fascinating to me and you haven’t even joined the gym yet. As someone with no martial arts experience but a deep desire to learn BJJ or basic kickboxing, go for it. I’ll live vicariously through your journalizing.
"Believe me I have my own demon in my had. People has no idea how dark I am in my head sometime. Nick Diaz deserves to be beat down."- Georges St Pierre
Follow me on Twitter if you like MMA, baseball, and moderately funny people: @TimBernier31
INEPT coming for the season 2 BECW title.
Sklart's BJJ journal is probably my favorite
Aside from Fraser’s Muay Thai journal. He’s one of my favorite staff writers
There's no moral order at all. There's just this: can my violence conquer yours?
by ElliotMatheny on Feb 2, 2012 1:42 PM EST up reply actions
Austin Martin AKA amadeus
Wrote an outstanding piece on his first two months of BJJ training and how it helped him get over depression and anxiety..
BECW Season 2 Captain of the Intellegent Northern English Picking Team - 80% more INEPT than all of you, 8 times out of 12
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by wonderfulspam on Feb 2, 2012 2:41 PM EST up reply actions
My third BJJ fundamentals class is tomorrow. I’m resisting with all that I have blogging about it.
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
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Still Subo at Fightlinker.com
Nice
I’m looking forward to hearing how it goes!
"If Tyson Griffin was a girl, I would say he has a badonkadonk." -Joe Rogan
I similarly dove head first into training about a month ago
My only real interest is Muay Thai. I learned the basic jab,cross,lead hook, rear upper and lead upper and did those in varying combinations for the first two weeks or so. Then we started doing kicks and let me tell you – that’s when the intensity really cranked up. I was positively terrible kicking for the first week and a half but it’s coming along slowly. Adding kicks to combos is shredding my core, hips and shins but it’s awesome.
Hit the mitts with my coach for 2 rounds last class and it was by far the most exhausting experience I’ve had in a very long time. I absolutely love it though, nothing beats having someone on your ass who isn’t going to let you cheat yourself and your training.
Don’t overthink it. Just show up day in, day out work hard and learn. That’s all your doing.
by deathbydegrees20 on Feb 3, 2012 7:51 PM EST reply actions
One more tip that may or may not have helped me...
Limit your food intake prior to your first few classes. My one fear was throwing up due to being out of shape, so I stopped eating around 12/1pm on days I’d have class at 6pm. Kept drinking water throughout the day, stopping probably an hour before class. Gotta stay hydrated, as others have mentioned.
by deathbydegrees20 on Feb 3, 2012 7:54 PM EST up reply actions
I started with boxing and then moved to kickboxing and can confirm this, especially the part about combos with kicks. originally I thought: whoa, boxing is intense! I’m exhausted! then several months later, and quite fit, I went to my first kickboxing class and thought: OH MY GOD I AM GOING TO DIE, I FEEL LIKE I HAVE NEVER EXERCISED IN MY WHOLE LIFE. WHERE ARE MY CORE AND LEG MUSCLES???
it’s gotten better, but damn.
A thousand years ago five minutes were
Equal to forty ounces of fine sand -- Nabokov
by mollcutpurse on Feb 4, 2012 12:29 PM EST up reply actions
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