Starting Jiu Jitsu/MMA classes

[PookDo]

I'm looking into starting jiu jitsu/MMA classes after the new year to help me with fitness and self defense but I am wondering if anyone has experience with these type of classes helping them with confidence and anxiety issues?

[Bjjexpertise@be]

Martial arts definitely help develop confidence. More often than not they definitely will raise your confidence in yourself. The problem is trying not to turn that into an ego. A lot of people tend to start believing they're invincible once they start training a few weeks (whether they're actually good or bad) and the main thing is to keep it in check.
Good luck and have fn on your first day!

[chillaplata]

Depending on what kind of shape you are in and what school you attend, you may find parts of class, particularly warm-up calisthenics and sparring, quite physically demanding at first. Also, you can expect to be thoroughly dominated in sparring for the first few weeks or months.

If you are at a good school, though, none of that will matter. You will be encouraged to just do the best you can, and in sparring you will be paired against much more experienced people who can help instruct you. Just relax and remember that you are there to learn, get in shape, and have fun. Getting tapped out isn't something to be ashamed of or worry about -- just try to understand why you got tapped out and improve your game next time.

I also find -- as an older BJJ student who was initially very out of shape -- that my interest in studying BJJ really motivates me to keep fit by regularly doing cardio and lifting outside of class. You can think of it as training for class, just as you would train for a fight if you were a professional fighter.

There are a few good web articles offering good general information and advice to beginning BJJ students. I will try to find one and post it.

Good luck with your training -- let us know how it goes.

[chillaplata]

This is the article I was thinking of:

Starting Brazilian Jiu-jitsu: What To Expect Your First Class

On rereading your initial post I realized that I have not really answered your question. In my experience martial arts training will help you grow tremendously in physical and mental confidence. It will improve your balance, coordination and physical awareness. You will breathe better and move better. Mentally, training will improve your patience, concentration and discipline. Learning and applying the techniques of your art and thinking about its strategic logic, structure, and relationship with other arts will be endlessly fascinating.

Training will reduce your anxiety because it will improve your fitness level and sense of general well-being. It will also specifically reduce your anxiety about threats of physical confrontation. If you are a heavy drinker, or you are prone to flashes of anger, the last may not always be a good thing.

I tried to temper my newfound confidence, as a beginning martial artist, by remembering how much I sucked compared with my instructors and more experienced classmates, and remembering also that I could never know what kind of training the guy next to me at the bar had. None of my instructors would stand out in a crowd as being physically imposing, but they all would rank pretty high on the list of people I wouldn't want to get in fights with.

It's also useful to read some of the stories that really experienced martial artists have posted on this site. The common point -- obvious but worth repeating anyway -- is how very, very foolish and risky it is to get into a fight unless you have absolutely no alternative. Likewise, read what people have to say about awareness of threats and verbal and nonverbal management of aggressors.

[Tant01]

Try laughing!

I'm looking into starting jiu jitsu/MMA classes after the new year to help me with fitness and self defense but I am wondering if anyone has experience with these type of classes helping them with confidence and anxiety issues?

We all started somewhere. Welcome and thanks for asking.

Relax and take a deep breath. Remember to breath.

[PookDo]

Thanks for the replies.Yeah I'm a big guy 5'11" to 6' probably 320 and horribly out of shape.I was looking at other forms of exercise but they haven't really held my interest for long.I came across a FightWorks podcast about BJJ/MMA and weight loss and was blown away by what I found.Having turned 40 back in July I need to think about my health.I have to wait until either late January or early Febuary to start classes because on the 18th of December I am having hernia surgery.As far as reducing anxiety about physical confrontations I am very happy classes will help with that as well as helping relieve stress I get from dealing with the people I do through my job

[Hardball]

If you want to lose 100lbs or more check out CalorieKing - Diet and weight loss. Calorie Counter and more

[Tom Yum]

Thanks for the replies.Yeah I'm a big guy 5'11" to 6' probably 320 and horribly out of shape.I was looking at other forms of exercise but they haven't really held my interest for long.I came across a FightWorks podcast about BJJ/MMA and weight loss and was blown away by what I found.Having turned 40 back in July I need to think about my health.I have to wait until either late January or early Febuary to start classes because on the 18th of December I am having hernia surgery.As far as reducing anxiety about physical confrontations I am very happy classes will help with that as well as helping relieve stress I get from dealing with the people I do through my job

Sounds like an excellent New Year's resolution. Best of luck and keep us posted!

[rhee]

Please don't learn BJJ, because you will be gay.
Here is my think about the MMA and BJJ

(EDIT)

MODERATOR NOTE; We are a martial arts organization dedicated to the promotion of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do Concepts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Thaiboxing (Muay Thai), Combat Submission Wrestling (CSW), Filipino Martial Arts, Boxing, Reality-Based Self-Defense (RBSD) and Women's Self-Defense

[arizonatraining]

The next generation of training

Please don't learn BJJ, because you will be gay.
Here is my think about the MMA and BJJ YouTube - MMA Sucks Highlight by Bullshido.net

WOW!

The FEAR NO PUNCH website was excellent. The videos are about taking your defensive skills to the next level. I ordered the DVD series and this type of training is off the charts. 7 hours of the best illustrated instructional video I have ever learned from. I have to admit that this guy is really bashed on the internet sites, and now I know why, Coal Akida is incredible and makes other fighters and instructors look somewhat shameful, so I understand the hate for him on the internet.

All that aside every aspect of the Zero Fear Impact training program DVD is ground breaking!

I recently read about him training at Fort Carson and found FNP training technology articles in the Colorado Military Times observer. What I have come to understand is people hate what they fear and do not understand.

Although I have not done anything more than get the DVD and review the dvd my conclusions are as follows;

Coal Akida has created an entirely new set of combative skills and training methods and anyone that says different has simply not gotten the DVD period.

I may be only 28 years old but it dose not take a rocket scientist to figure out that Coal Akida has broken new ground with his FNP technology.

I cannot even begin to list the number of New concepts that Coal Akida has developed as each one of them could be a separate topic on their own.

I hope this help others make better decisions in their training programs.

I have had enough of Ground Fighting and wanted to learn something new that was still going to be functional in the ring and I found it.

[chillaplata]

Please don't learn BJJ, because you will be gay.
Here is my think about the MMA and BJJ .....

I think Rhee has spent too much time on this site:

(EDIT)

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[rhee]

chillaplata - first time see this site, but it's all about truth.

arizonatraining - don't understand what you mean, but aikido is not good to, because it's theatre. There is some good technique to. But when they do some performance it's 190% theatre, because the train some flips and other thinks and that aikido. Students will make flips when the trainer touch whit one finger, because if they don't lose then it will be no aikido students, thy will be aikido masters, maybe. If some trainers think that they can win you without any contact the they are fake masters. Thy only knows how to win thy students, but when you must fight with not your student you will lose.
Watch all video and you will understand. YouTube - Last Fight Kai the Master...
The Bruce Lee is the best master. Why? he sad ''Using no way as way, has no limitation as limitation''.

[Tant01]

Lets keep it clean gentlemen...

Thank you!

[chillaplata]

Sorry, Tant ... knew I was close to the line there, but hadn't realized I'd blundered over. Won't do it again. But now where will rhee get his BJJ training tips?

[TigerClaw]

I'm looking into starting jiu jitsu/MMA classes after the new year to help me with fitness and self defense but I am wondering if anyone has experience with these type of classes helping them with confidence and anxiety issues?

Hey, jujitsu is good and there are many things to be learned in it. I would also encourage you to keep in mind combat survival techniques when doing any sport type of fighting. On the street you want to be able to escape and overcome an attacker or attackers, with the fastest techniques possible. I would encourage you to think about adding some Kung Fu clawing techniques to your training and a few other Chin na grappling as well. You may even want to look into Eagle Claw.


Ok, later