18 Apr Coach, I’d like to fight
How can someone training martial arts bridge the gap from their current level of technique, knowledge, and fitness to get to a point where they can fight? Or if someone is walking in brand new to training but fighting is their ultimate goal how do they work that plan. Taking a fight is a big commitment both physically, mentally, and time wise. This post is meant to serve as both a general guide for anyone, but cover ground on the how’s and why’s of the approach at Elevate specifically.
I don’t believe in waiting for coaches to tell the individual they are ready to fight. Brandon Garner, nudged me in that direction based on the amount I was training, but in many cases coaches will not want to put extra pressure on someone to fight so it needs to be something you are driven towards.
Part 1: Planning
Before sitting down with a coach it is important to do some objective analysis and preliminary planning one the front end. As a debut fighter you need to know:
- Objectively Assessment of current knowledge, technical ability, and current conditioning
- Goals of levels of knowledge, technical ability and conditioning to be attained.
- Resources you plan to use (coaches, training partners, facilities, etc)
- Time you can commit to this plan
- Timeline of when you think you can accomplish this by
If you bring all this info to your coach they can provide additional feedback on all of that, and then you can plan how to accomplish all of it. It might be that you are too aggressive in the timeline, or overestimating your current skill set. It might also be, that you have undersold yourself a little and they can move up the timeline.
I would highly recommend this series of articles on Fight Camps to aid you in this process.
- MMA Coaching Roles
- Head Coach
- Finding the right coaches and sponsors
- MMA Fighter’s Perfect Year
- Training Camp
- Fight Night
- Deloading Week
- Skill Aquisition
Part II: Test Run
Plans are great, but they always need to be tested. Running a test week or ideally 4 weeks would be ideal. The more realistic you can make it the better. So if you plan it right you can even do a partial or full weight cut the last week, and then rehydrate, then spar. This dress rehearsal will either confirm, or give you a new perspective regarding the analysis done in advance, and most importantly it will test the time commitment involved.
Fight camps can be grueling when you look at the time commitment. Additionally, it is easy to simply pencil in the time you will spend training it is much more difficult to stick to those commitments when the reality sets in. You may need to work, study, or spend time with family immediately following a tough conditioning session. You might find that not just the working out but the recovery necessary doesn’t allow you to invest the time required to other parts of your life. This is another great piece of information that allows you and your coaches to make better decisions.
Conclusion:
Right planning, right execution, desired results.
When you pursue a goal from a process based mindset you increase your chances of success. This style of preparation can be adapted to almost any goal. Once you have done the preliminary planning, and you have a coach who you believe in that believe in you and the plan there are no more decision to make. Simply execute the plan and achieve the desired result.