First, youll need to decide what your primary technique is: grappling or striking. Do you have the speed and agility to win each match through submissions or do you have the power to knock your opponent out with a well placed strike?
If you think grappling is the right strategy for you, you could consider:
* Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
* shoot wrestling
* catch wrestling
* Judo
* Sambo
If you’d rather hit your way into the next division, then you might look at:
* boxing
* kickboxing
* Muay Thai
* full contact karate
Choosing one of the above is only part of the equation. Not only should you use a few different fighting styles, you should learn how to defend yourself against the other techniques.
The main rules in MMA are no biting, no groin hits, no small joint manipulation, and no eye gouging.
Everything else is pretty open, so use the style that works best for you. Taking the best of one style to use against an opponent that uses another style can help you walk out of the octagon instead of being carried out.
Good luck on your road to MMA success!
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The following article is an excerpt that describes the different styles of grappling martial arts from Daniele Bolelli's book 'On the Warrior's Path'. Daniele is a martial arts enthusiast, jiu-jitsu practitioner and university history professor. We recently collaborated with Daniele to produce the very cool 'Jack Johnson vs. Mitsuyo Maeda' T-Shirt. 12 Most Influential MMA Fighters By Style. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device. You're signed out.