Building the perfect MMA fighter

[Russell Baillie]

Just thought I'd start a bit of theoretical discussion.

How would we build the perfect MMA fighter? The athlete in question is a person who can dedicate all free time outside of work, lets say an average of 9-5 , 5 days a week, to training.

Aspects to explore:

Choice of arts/ concepts to utilise

Number of years training before competing

Ratio of stand-up > groundwork being taught

Core movements to be understood and be proficient at before competing

Conditioning needs and methods

etc

So guys lets hear what you've got.

Regards
Russell

[sin_goodfellow]

Hmmm. I'll throw in my two cents.

Choice of arts/concepts:
Muay Thai(Knees of doom), Baugwa(for footwork), Wrestling art, Kung-Fu punches

Number of years training before competing:
Minimal. He/She would need to suffer the unique stresses of competition to display strengths and weaknesses. Losing is a lesson in and of itself. I would say 6 months to a year, depending on initial fitness/skill.

Ratio of standup/groundwork: It seems that most MMA fighters seem to focus the majority of their skill-training on groundwork. This would correlate to a lesser degree of skill in stand-up hypothetically. Therefor I Would have the fighter focus on developing superior stand-up work to throw off the competition.

Core movements:
I would emphasize a solid understanding of about 15-20 techniques. An expertise in a few techniques is far superior to a competence in many IMO. I would deeply focus on a ROSS-type mentality so as to develop good "kung-fu" in the fighter, the ability to adjust his skills on the fly.

Conditioning:
Warrior Wellness would be #1
Bodyweight exercise(MOD-1), Body-Flow
Leverage-lifting(Apparently an awesome GPP tool)
Sledgehammer training
Clubbells
Kettlebells
O-lifts
Clubbell work with SPP techniques
Mental Toughness(very important)

The WW would help keep injuries to a minimum, BW/BF would equip the fighter with an intimate knowledge of his body. Leverage-lifting/Clubbells/Kettlebells/O-lifts would develop his GPP to a sufficient level. Then I would have the fighter focus purely on using Clubbells to develop his ROM strength and power in movements that transfer to his actual fighting skills.

Jesse Wells

[WILKENS]

Tribe --

I thought this had the makings to be a very good thread, but it seems not to be going anywhere. Too bad. Nevertheless, I guess I’ll try and contribute what I can.

Choice of arts/concepts: By now I think this has been pretty well established in the MMA/NHB arena. It would seem to me that the best choices would be: boxing for the hands; Muay Thai for elbows, knees, and kicks; and BJJ (or simply wrestling, with an emphasis on finishing moves) for grappling/submissions.

Number of years training before competing: I suppose this would depend on the fighter. How quickly his (or her; no sexist I) skill and conditioning developed; his (or her) maturity level, desire to compete, etc.

Ratio of standup/groundwork: Even though, as sin goodfellow suggested above, the emphasis these days seems to be towards grappling, I would submit that there should be a relatively equal amount of attention given to both. I have seen more than a few UFC-type fights that didn’t end on the ground.

Core movements: Here again, I think the answer is fairly well established, especially when the choice of styles is taken into consideration. I feel that if all a fighter focused on was mastery of boxing’s jab, cross, hook, and upper cut; Muay Thai’s front thrust kick,
round kick, straight/switch knees, and diagonal/slashing elbows; and some rudimentary BJJ submission techniques (sorry; I’m a striker at heart; I’ve never studied much grappling); he (or she) would be quite well off in the ring. As sin so aptly stated: “An expertise in a few techniques is far superior to a competence in many IMO.” I completely agree.

Conditioning: In my opinion, there are four areas that a fighter (or any athlete, for that matter) needs to focus on when putting together a physical training regimen. In no particular order, then:
- Mobility and ROM Development: Warrior Wellness (or, even more appropriate, Fisticuffs and Leg Fencing); or, if you prefer, SuperJoints, and dynamic and isometric stretching.
- Strength and Power Development: This is your heavy, low-rep work, with an emphasis on training the shoulders, legs, back, and abs; multiple sets of 1-5 reps (although I prefer no more than 3) in deadlifts, overhead presses, squats, cleans and/or jerks, snatches, DB swings, high/power pulls, etc. Could also include some plyometric-type work here as well.
- Work Capacity Development: Whatever you want to call it -- conditioning, GPP, endurance training -- it’s all pretty much the same. This is where, IMO, your kettlebells and Clubbells reign supreme. Work for long, high-rep sets of one or two ballistic lifts; or set up a circuit of a handful of KB and CB drills done for, say, 5-15 reps, and go through
1-3 times, minimizing the rest intervals. Could also throw in a few select
endurance-oriented BW drills -- squat-thrusts/burpees, deck squats, mountain climbers -- and a jump rope. Come to think of it, some odd object/strongman stuff might be good here also.
- Kinesthetic Development: To me, this encompasses your ABCs (agility, balance, and coordination). Body Flow would be ideal here; also some gymnastics and more sport-specific drills would be appropriate.

FWIW to anyone.
Kurt

[Coach Jones]

I think that while this thread has potential, building the "perfect" MMA fighter or the "perfect" athlete regardless of sport is a subject that is incredibly difficult to tackle. Things like recovery time, diet, and time management have to be included. What tends to happen is we end up with a Christmas list of "wouldn't it be cool if....." things instead of a performance goal oriented training plan.

For example, if you decide that your fighter needs to be trained in Muay Thai (or any martial art for that matter), you could write paragraph after paragraph on just this one area of his training alone.

Brandon Jones, CST

[Scott Sonnon]

Many of the suggestions above read as if they speak to how the posters intend to get themselves to their goals... with solid practical suggestions to accelerate one's progress. That said... only fans ponder the "perfect fighter" and often degenerate into mental masturbation.
Instead, seek a more perfect version of yourself.
Craft a plan to journey there.
Revise it as you travel.
Discover perfection as you express it by continually surpassing your goals throughout the course of your entire lifetime.
Lead from in front.