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Octagon Fighting

Various types of fighting styles take place in different kinds of rings or mats, for example, boxing is in a square and wrestling is in a circle. UFC fights take place within an octagon, which is an eight-sided mat and cage. Octagon as you probably have guessed from its name, is an eight-sided octagonal mat and cage. Two gates lead into the octagon fighting ring, and they're secured shut at the beginning of each round. The UFC bordered their octagon fights with fencing so that fighters couldn't fall or get thrown out of the ring. Competitors are not allowed to go outside the octagon during a bout, nor are they allowed to try and throw their opponents over the side of the cage. Octagon fighting was designed to avoid giving any one martial arts discipline an advantage. Because the angles in an octagon are wider than those for each corner of a boxing ring, there is little chance for a fighter to get stuck in a corner with no way out. The ring was not a traditional ring but shaped like an octagon which gave it a different look than traditional boxing. Real street fights were now being shown on television and around the world soon began to train to get their shot at their own octagon fights. Octagon fighting is becoming one of the most popular fighting events of our time.


MMA Workout Basics

With so many different MMA workout programs out there and so many levels of mma strength and conditioning, it is easy to get overwhelmed. Although MMA workouts are much more complex compared to other sports, it doesn't have to be rocket science.

Let's just get the basics covered for a MMA workout program to build up foundational levels of strength and conditioning. Beginning with the end on mind, a MMA fighter's goal prior to a fight or competition is to reach
maximum levels of power endurance and conditioning that mimics rounds and scenarios in a fight.

So if a fight is scheduled for 3, 5 minute rounds with 1 minute rest periods in between, your goal should be to train accordingly.

The end goal of course, is to follow a MMA workout that trains your body at a similar or higher level of conditioning that is needed in a fight. From the beginning and as a ongoing process, MMA fighters should always be working to improve their overall strength and power. The best exercises for strength and power are deadlifts, both traditional and stiff-legged, squats, cleans, pull-ups, bent-over rows, bench presses, and shoulder presses.

These exercises will and always have been the core exercises that can tremendously improve the performance of virtually any athlete, but especially MMA fighters. Once your fight or competition is within couple months away, you're going to then want to gear your MMA workouts towards transferring your new levels of strength and power into strength and power endurance - the ability to continuously exert maximum or near maximum levels of strength and power over a long period of time (in this example, over 3, 5 minute rounds).

At this point, when the fight is coming just around the corner, you can and should develop both your strength/power endurance and your conditioning in one mma workout with power complexes.

An example of a power complex is combining a heavy compound exercise immediately followed by a lightweight or bodyweight explosive exericse.

So if you are looking to develop MMA specific strength and conditioning for a five minute round, one way you can train your power complexes is to do as many sets as you can in a five minute period.

For example, if you were to do a power complex of 5 reps of heavy squats followed immediately by 10 box jumps, which would be a completion of one set, your goal would be to perform as many sets as you can in five minutes by minimizing your rest periods between each set.

In summary, every fighter should look to continuously build their foundational strength, and as fight time comes closer and closer, they should gear their MMA workout so that the conditioning mimics the rounds in a fight more and more.

Derek Manuel has been involved in MMA and physical fitness for over 12 years. He is in the process of becoming certified as NASM Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES) to train professional fighters and athletes. When he is not training he is discovering the fastest way to both efficiently and effectively improve physical strength, conditioning, and overall performance as an MMA fighter. To see Derek's reviews of the top MMA strength and conditioning programs on the market, visit: http://www.BestMMATrainingWorkouts.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?MMA-Workout-Basics&id=3515289] MMA Workout Basics


Self Defense Fighting

Self defense fighting is something that everyone should learn sometime in their life.  Self-defense is only oriented towards one thing: ending an immediate physical threat. If a stranger was to attack you would be prepared to defend yourself. There are several self defense moves that you could learn that can help you be prepared if someone was to attack you. Instructional self defense fighting videos on unconventional fighting methods designed to teach you how to not only level the playing field but to give you a distinct advantage in any violent situation where your safety or the safety of a loved one is on the line.

The goal of self-defense training is clear, it is to get you out of a dangerous situation as quickly and effectively as possible while using a level of force that is appropriate to the situation. It should do this without attention to pride, self-esteem, revenge or "I showed him " Any other intent, any other application, any other training goals and any application of extra/escalating/excessive force takes it out of the realm of self-defense and puts it into another category.

Check out this is just a short self defense video that shows some examples of real life self defense fighting techniques!


The Octagon

The world of mixed martial arts has changed over the years from small fighting venues to selling out arenas across the country. Real street fights were now being shown on television and around the world soon began to train to get their shot in The Octagon. Fighters were not fighting in the tradition ring, but in an octagon. The ring was not a traditional ring but shaped like an octagon which gave it a different look than traditional boxing. The Octagon was designed to avoid giving any one martial arts discipline an advantage. Because the angles in an Octagon are wider than those for each corner of a boxing ring, there is little chance for a fighter to get stuck in a corner with no way out. This is what made the octagons design so unique.


I started watching mixed martial arts when Tank Abbot and Hoyden Gracie were fighting. Back in the early day there were no weight classes and the event was in a tournament format. The fighter who lasted the longest was the winner of a match moved up in the tournament to face another opponent. The tournament featured the best fighters in karate, Muay Thai kickboxing, boxing, jiu-jitsu and several other martial arts. The UFC designated some fighters as alternates in case a fighter was unable to continue due to the difficulty of making it through the tournament.

Early UFC fights reminded me of the movie Bloodsport with Jean-Claude Van Damme, where fighters with different martial art styles fought their way through a tournament until only one man left. The only difference was in The Octagon it wasn't a fight to the death but both displayed some of the top fighters in various martial arts fighting their way through a tournament. Now the UFC has brought fighting in The Octagon to the national spotlight it will be the prominent mixed martial arts fighting arena of the future.


UFC 100

UFC 100 will be one of the biggest events that will occur in Mixed Martial Arts history.  This card features the fight for the unification of the heavyweight title belts between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir, George St. Pierre vs. Thiago Alves for the welterweight title, and also ultimate fighter coach’s battle with Michael Bisping vs Dan Henderson.

The Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir fight is going to be interesting because the first time the two fought Lesnar just made a rookie mistake which Mir took full advantage of it. Mir is a excellent heavyweight but if Brock brings his "A" game in the octagon that he will become an unstoppable force in the UFC and could be the next big thing in MMA. I feel the pressure in this fight still remains with Lesnar because Mir was the only fighter to defeat him in his short UFC career. I see Lesnar winning this fight in round 2 by knockout.

The next fight that I want to talk about in UFC 100 is the George St. Pierre vs. Thiago Alves. In my personal opinion, no one in the welterweight class will be able to defeat George St.Pierre. This guy is a beast and a tremendous work ethic when he is in the Octagon. I watched my boys Jon Fitch get smashed, Josh Koshcheck go down, and also '"The Prodigy" B.J. Penn get embarrassed by St. Pierre. I have cheered against Pierre one time too many and have decided that if you can't beat'em, then you have to join'em. I'm sorry Thiago Alves, I am not going against GSP anymore. This fight will not leave round number one GSP by knockout.

The Ultimate Fighter show has the two coaches also going head to head in this UFC pay per view. Michael Bisping vs Dan Henderson will be a very interesting fight with two talented fighters. Henderson has a history as a pride champion and showed me that he has some potential. Bisbing is a good fighter but hasn't really gotten challenged in his MMA career. Dan Henderson in his prime would defeat Michael Bisbing, since Henderson is 38 years old, Bisbing will probably defeat him in a decision. Henderson will not get knocked out in this fight, but he will take another loss due to father time.

 


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