- Earn Your Badges
Just because you regularly go to your gym, doesn’t qualify
for you to progress in MMA training. This game is earning your scars. The
harder you work in the gym, easier it will be to compete at the highest level.
Don’t be afraid of grappling and taking a blow to your face. If you aren’t
tough enough, you are in the wrong sport my friend.
- Get a Qualified Coach
Good coaches are hard to come by, but if you are lucky
enough to find one. Stick with him and work really hard. A good coach will tell
you about your strengths and weaknesses, and work with you to improve your
skills.
- Work with Heavy Bag
If you don’t have a sparring partner then you can use a
heavy bag to work on your clinching technique. Even though it is nothing
working with a sparring partner but most of the time when you don’t have anyone
around and you’re left to train on your own in the gym. In such times, make
heavy bag your best friend and foe if you like. While you are working with it,
you can use the spaces around it to help with your movement.
- Get Manhandled
Find someone in the gym who can manhandle you. Don’t be
afraid to take on such a challenge, put your ego behind you and spar with the
best guys you can find. Keep changing your sparring partners, spar with heavier,
faster and bigger guys than yourself and then spar with guys with unbound
endurance and technique. This is the only way you can improve, and there is no
easy way around.
- Repeat Drills Over and Over Again
Use about half an hour every day at the end of a training
session to repeat what you have learned and then when you arrive next day at
the gym practice again those skills for another 30 minutes. Repeating again and
again will help you improve your grappling skills.
Always remember to use quality grappling gloves for your
training.