Making a living in MA

[danfaggella]

I am so eager to ask these questions, but when i did in the right forum (running a MA buisiness) i didnt get any responces, so i figured i would come here because flocks of MMA people chat over here.

I am not necissarily setting my life on a set track right now, but I have always been so interested in martial arts. I just never joined one because all the ones around me are BS "karate" dojos that are total bullshit.

I did some wrestling and have recently been trying out free classes all over RI in different MA's. I found a pretty legit place up in Cranston with a guy named Mat Santos. Hes a legit MMA fighter in his early 30's. Like every other MMA guy he wears camo and has plenty of tattoos but he seems like pretty cerebral guy and his classes are nice.

Every time i go in the back yard and grapple by pals, or hit the bag, or read about MA history and technique i get more into it. I have finaly scratched this lifelong itch and it feels great. At only 17 i have my life ahead of me and i want Martial Arts to be a big part of it.

I dont plan to be an MMA fighter professionaly or run my own academy like Mat Santos, but i would love so much to teach/train in a large MMA gym, and to teach law enforcement. i want to train with people from countless styles, standup, ground, whatever, its all so interesting and i cant wait to better myself and make a dent in martial arts.

i try to envelope myself in MA as much as possable but im in college and i can only go to like 1-2 classes a week. i try to grapple with my boys, shadow box, and read MA books as much as i can, while keeping in good shape.

with the goal i have ahead, what advise can you fellows give me? what should i be reading? what should i be doing to better myself in MA when its just me in my dorm? what majors might i be thinking about? what criterea does a person need to teach in one of these gyms? how can i aply myself to MA more?!

thanks!!!!

[JkD187]

im trying to do the same thing accept i want to be a pro mma fighrer and i want my own gym or to at least be a coach under someone else,my advice i can give to you is to never give up on that dream, life is full of bumps in the road and im already having bumps but i dont care, as long as you keep going through with it you will succeed no matter what, even if u have to sleep on the streets man just keep it up, it might take 5 10 mayb 20 years but u will eventually catch a break and when you do seize it by the throat.

[danfaggella]

thanks! i plan to do just that. i have met all my goals and this is the one i am most passionate about, i will never be some "average" guy who works in a boring office then goes home and drinks beers and watches TV. I want to better myself and others, constantly developing mentaly and physically and teaching other people.

[JkD187]

i feel the same way, what arts do u study, and how long u been training for?

[danfaggella]

well right now it's mainly BJJ/MT (what Mat Santos teaches). I have only been doing there a few weeks, but i have been taking classes in other random arts for a month or so, and i have always grappled in the back yard with my boys, for as long as i can remember, and within the last year we started reading books on judo and watching MMA fights and analizing BJJ technique, so im not the class novice, submission grappling is out past time of choice in my neighborhood (now i live in a dorm though....)

[JkD187]

yea i grapple wit some ppl who train and some people who dont in te yard n basements n stuff i had alot of challenge matches (losers) im like 50-0 sumthin like that i lost count of how many terds i ko'ed and sub.Stick with the thai and jits man it will serve u well.

[danfaggella]

i plan to verse myself in plenty of martial arts, but yeah i will have a base.

thing is, i still dont know the answers to the questions i posed in the first post in this thread!!! I want to be able to train officers and teach/train in a big MMA gym, but i dont know what majors/minors to consider, what books to read, how to look into internships, what criteria i will need, ect!!!

someone help me with such questions, i really want to aply myself.

[JkD187]

if i was you,id stick with matt santos and ask him if he could help you try and get into the buisness and just tell him exactly what your telling us, im sure he would be beter suited then i to answer those questions.

[Sensei Saki]

Try it.

[danfaggella]

thanks Saki, your wisdom is endless.