(I apologize in advance for the length of this post)
I have been thinking of giving MMA a shot for a while now. I have been a ?fan? since UFC 1 ? and by fan I mean I watch the fights, have bought a couple of PPVs, rented some of their DVDs, TiVO UFC Unleashed and TUF as well as any PRIDE fights that they air on FSN. In other words, I?m not a hardcore fan, don?t visit the fight forums such as sherdog and don?t keep up with all of the ?drama? that unfolds behind the scenes.
At first I was taken aback and somewhat disgusted by all of the blood from these anything-goes fights but I quickly became desensitized to it. My wife still can?t believe I like that stuff.
Anyway, my interest in joining an MMA academy is twofold: 1.) For cardiovascular fitness purposes; the sports that I used to participate in (soccer, tennis, squash) are a pain in the ass to practice in Manhattan, not to mention expensive in some cases. But most importantly, 2.) My shrink recommended that I take up a combat sport. You see, I suffer from pretty severe anxiety and I take a boatload of meds for this. My doc believes that by taking up a combat sport I will become more desensitized, feel more secure about myself and this will help to counteract the anxiety. He said that many of his clients had gone this route with marked improvements in their mental well-being.
I did some boxing a few years ago and I think that this helped me. Lifting weights definitely helps me feel more self-confident and less paranoid, but I need to do something else to reduce my anxiety and I think MMA is a good option.
I don?t think I would ever get into an actual MMA fight, with 4oz gloves and nothing else, but I would love to spar hard with larger gloves and headgear. You see, I have an office job and I can?t be showing up to work with black eyes and a broken nose every once in a while. Plus, I would be scared shitless.
Anyway, that is a long-winded story to give you some background about my life, and here is the main point of this post:
Can anyone recommend a good MMA academy in Manhattan? (Or do you know of someone in a position to recommend one?)
Here are some of the ones I have found:
- Blitz Center (East Coast representative of Rigan Machado)
- Combat Fighting Systems
- Fabio Clemente BJJ Academy
- Fighthouse
- New York San Da Gym
- Renzo Gracie Academy
- Anderson?s Martial Arts
- Carlos Machado Jiu Jitsu
- NYKK Gym
I really appreciate your help. BTW I?m 5?10?, 205ish and 30yo. I lift 3x per week using mostly basic compound movements in the 5 rep range.
-J