I've been practicing the Arts for about 18 years and have been specifically cross training MMA for the last 7 years. Within this period I've heard countless times by other practitioners and even some instructors that being average at MMA (on a sports level) takes multiple years of training. I find this to be completely bogus and quite silly because unlike TMA, MMA is very simplistic and generic. I'm not knocking MMA, but I find that it doesn't take the mastery and years of study to be good at it compared to TMA. I feel that you can take a person with no fighting experience and have them "decent" in the overall application and techniques of MMA within a couple of months. And that it would take 6 months of training to be competing at mid level. Of course at top level it would take a little bit longer, but no where near the years it takes to get a brown or black belt in lets say Karate. Although all of this depends on the individual and how well they learn, but for the sake of argument I'm generalizing and talking about the norm. I do admit that the physical aspect of MMA is a very hard part to get accustom to, but once this is eliminated the basics are simple. I read posts of people ask questions on how long will it take them to be good at MMA? and which schools they should go to, but in all reality, MMA is no harder than learning the basics of Football.
Of course there are going to be those that disagree, but I think if you give it some thought you will see there is a lot of sense to some of my points.
Of course there are going to be those that disagree, but I think if you give it some thought you will see there is a lot of sense to some of my points.