Nerdcore Boxing

This new gym I found has much nicer facilities than my current local, I could actually do all my strength and conditioning there too. Plus it’s an MMA gym.

In theory I’ve wanted to get back into MMA, but MMA gyms usually offer limited boxing programs and are super expensive. The problem with them is that they need to offer MMA, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and Muay Thai classes in addition to Boxing and Wrestling. This means that they employ 4X the number of trainers, and their boxing classes are usually 1 hr slots 2-3 times/week. This is not enough training time for me.

I hope I don’t piss off the Muay Thai and BJJ advocates with what I’m about to say, and I preface my comments by saying that I’ve been out of the MMA game recently so my perspective may be ignorant. But it seems to me that MMA gyms focus too much on BJJ and Muay Thai classes when in their MMA training they’re most likely to be boxing and wrestling along with MMA specific skills. Yeah there’s kicking, kneeing and submissions in MMA, but those things are far less common than the other components. So why not focus more on Boxing, Wrestling and integrated MMA classes, and make BJJ and Muay Thai secondary?

Well this new gym I’m thinking about takes this Boxing/Wrestling/MMA approach. This is great for me because there’s lots of Boxing classes and people competing in pro/am Boxing to spar with. And there is the additional advantage that when I go back to MMA I already wanted to focus on developing Wrestling skill so I can impose my Boxing. Wrestling, while it doesn’t include submissions, teaches one to control the transition between striking and grappling. Basically if you have superior Wrestling you get to decide if it’s a grappling or striking match.

Apparently I’m not the only guy who likes this approach because 3 former UFC and two current WEC fighters train at this gym. In a week or two I’m going to visit this gym, then if I like it decide when/how to break it off with my trainer.