Question for MMA Guys

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1

I’ve been thinking about trying to get into some mma or muay thai. Not really to compete (unless somehow I turn out to be decent at it) but rather just to get some skills.

But, I’m a little apprehensive for reasons that will be explained in my questions.

  1. I have what I think is a double jointed left jaw socket. When I open my mouth as wide as it goes the left side kinda pops out and when I close my mouth it will pop back in. It’s not painful or anything but I’ve always wondered if I would somehow break my jaw much easier because of it if I were to get cracked in the face. Your thoughts?

  2. I’ve never been hit in the face before. I’ve been in fights, but they were more like swing and miss, push you over and kick you kinda fights. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about taking a shot or shots to the grill. So what’s it like? It obviously wont be pleasant, but any advice you can throw out there would be great.

Thanks guys

2

Don’t worry mate, nobody likes getting hit in the face!

Just get in there and do it. You have to accept that it will happen. Depending on where you train, they will break you in gently and wont hit you too hard when you’re just beginning. When you first spar you might have a bit of adrenaline anyway which will help to numb the blows. Your body will gradually become more callus the more you train. Just remember to hit back :wink:

I’m a pussy and used to spar with guys 50-60lbs heavier than me. Just get in there and see it as a personal challenge.

3

You’re probably going to be wearing head gear if it comes down to it in training, so don’t worry about it.

4

the first few times you’re gonna get hit and it will be just shocking. Like where you were moving forward and like someone hit the pause button. It’s like someone took 1-2seconds from you.

getting hit in the head/face doesn’t hurt that much immediately. It hurts after. So you’ll get a bright white flash of light if they hit u flush and you can keep going, unless they stumble you or whatever.

I like to do a drill with newbies, where you have them hold their gloves up and then you work their guard over… gets you used to taking a punch, its the shock of the contact that you’re not used to. When you get over that fear, and you realize, “if i cover my head it’s not that bad”, you can move on from there without that fear of getting hit.

basically though the only way to get over the fear of getting hit is…

Drum roll

getting hit!

you learn to love it though, nothing is better than taking someone’s best shot unfazed, and still marching forward… after one or two times of that you’ll see the look of fear on their face.

beautiful wonderful primal thing

very very addictive.

5

Its what usually makes or breaks new guys, they usually decide then if they’ll be coming back to the next session after getting punched fairly hard in the face a few times.

6

[quote]Politico wrote:
I’ve been thinking about trying to get into some mma or muay thai. Not really to compete (unless somehow I turn out to be decent at it) but rather just to get some skills.

But, I’m a little apprehensive for reasons that will be explained in my questions.

  1. I have what I think is a double jointed left jaw socket. When I open my mouth as wide as it goes the left side kinda pops out and when I close my mouth it will pop back in. It’s not painful or anything but I’ve always wondered if I would somehow break my jaw much easier because of it if I were to get cracked in the face. Your thoughts?

  2. I’ve never been hit in the face before. I’ve been in fights, but they were more like swing and miss, push you over and kick you kinda fights. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about taking a shot or shots to the grill. So what’s it like? It obviously wont be pleasant, but any advice you can throw out there would be great.

Thanks guys[/quote]

If you’re worried about getting hit in the face, MMA is not for you. I suggest a sport like BJJ that doesn’t include striking.

7

Its just like anything else, check your ego at the door and dive in. Most MAist are regular Joes just like you. We work our jobs and then we go play. Its just a rough form of recreation. Training, not annihilation.

For any of the striking styles, Muy Thai, Boxing, TKD/Karate, etc… you should be working the bags about 6 weeks before putting on any gear and sparring. I would reccommend using that time to buy a good mouth guard, shape it, and get use to wearing it. You don’t wnat to step into the ring for the first time and find out your mouth guard triggers your gag reflex.

8

at my gym we toss them in the first day lol…

imagine guys yellin at you in portugese:

“oa! oa!, NO BITCH, bam bam, bam, oa! THROW STRIKES, dis mufferfucker, HEEEYYYYYY”

you can tell the guys who’ll be back as soon as the heat turns up.lol

But yea don’t be afraid if you’re at a good place everybody has been “the new guy” at some point and got their shit rocked a few times so they’re not going to go in there to purposefully fuck you up.

if you get hit and it makes you feel alive/focused/elated- mma is for you.

If not? Go buy a gi.

9

never forget “you get what you give” in other words as hard as you go your partner will.

10

It depends on where you train, but a good instructor will get you semi prepared with light contact drills before you spar.

This is where it pays to not be a dick, and be humble. If you walk in with a huge attitude (doesn’t seem to apply in your case, but who knows) my coach will throw you in with one of the big unevolved dudes we have and have him whip your ass.

However, in most cases you will be overwhelmed your first time sparring. Every time you get hit will be shocking. Just remember to relax, and to focus on one or two things at a time. Like, cover and move or something like that. Also don’t forget to hit him back.

MMA/Muay Thai isn’t for everyone. Waking up with headaches, black eyes and sore shins has to be your passion.

11

As far as the jaw thing, sounds similar to TMJ to me…might want to get that checked out by a doc before you go around getting cracked in the grill.

I doubt it would cause you to break your jaw any easier, but I am no expert. When sparring/fighting, you should be wearing a mouthpiece with your jaw closed anyway, which should eliminate most of the risk you are thinking of.

For mouth guards, look for a WIPSS Brain Pad, or Shock Doctor. Shock DOctor’s actually carry a dental guarantee, in that if you are sparring or competing wearing one of their guards and lose or crack a tooth, they will cover up to a certain amount of dental bills. The amount varies by which model you buy, I have one that claims $10,000 worth of coverage.

12

[quote]Chad Waterbury wrote:
If you’re worried about getting hit in the face, MMA is not for you. [/quote]

Exactly.

13

I can’t believe some of these posts. Have any of you who are saying “it’s no big deal getting hit in the head” fought in a ring/cage or at least sparred full contact without head gear?

Getting hit in the head fucking hurts. Badly. The next morning (or next couple of days), you’ll have headaches.

I have to wonder if those of you acting like it’s no big deal have ever fought. Here’s a hint: Sparring in full gear does not qualify as “fighting.”

I don’t know any fighter who doesn’t think getting hit hard in the head is the pits.

14

True, it is the pits.

But i’m not pissing myself the next day afraid to go train. Fuck that I’m gonna go get some.

What we’re saying is if you’re so worried about getting hit that it impedes you from training. Then maybe this isn’t for you. And since he doesn’t sound like he wants to be a professional it’s not like he’ll be doing much w/o headgear anyway.

Dude my face still hurts from friday. But I’m looking forward for tonight not concerned with yesterday.

And I dont think anyone said w/o heagear. And if so that wasn’t my intent at least.

I was more worried about his mindset rather than the physical discomfort.

Fighting hurts. Hell grappling hurts. HELL playing guitar hurts at first.

off topic… I try not to train w/o headgear anymore cause I dont want to end up stupid(er)/punchdrunk.
But even so you can still expect headaches and pain.

[quote]CaliforniaLaw wrote:
I can’t believe some of these posts. Have any of you who are saying “it’s no big deal getting hit in the head” fought in a ring/cage or at least sparred full contact without head gear?

Getting hit in the head fucking hurts. Badly. The next morning (or next couple of days), you’ll have headaches.

I have to wonder if those of you acting like it’s no big deal have ever fought. Here’s a hint: Sparring in full gear does not qualify as “fighting.”

I don’t know any fighter who doesn’t think getting hit hard in the head is the pits.[/quote]

15

If you’ve been thinking about it give it a try, I just started Muay Thai a month ago and love it, as far as getting hit in the face it’s going to happen. We were sparring the first night and you’re going to get hit, the only real way to see if you will like it is to jump in there and give it a go cause it’s going to happen sooner or later, if you don’t oh well not for you but at least you know, but remember you get to hit back.

16

[quote]Xen Nova wrote:
True, it is the pits.[/quote]

Then be honest with the OP. The OP obviously does not have what it takes to be a fighter. There is nothing wrong with that.

If a guy posts, “I might start deadlifting, but won’t that hurt my hands,” what would you say? Someone posting that he is afraid of getting hit in the head is not fighter material. You should be able to see that.

In the name of being “nice,” too many people on this board tell lies. Be real with the OP: He sounds like a first-rate sissy. He does not belong in an MMA gym.

17

[quote]CaliforniaLaw wrote:
Xen Nova wrote:
True, it is the pits.

Then be honest with the OP. The OP obviously does not have what it takes to be a fighter. There is nothing wrong with that.

If a guy posts, “I might start deadlifting, but won’t that hurt my hands,” what would you say? Someone posting that he is afraid of getting hit in the head is not fighter material. You should be able to see that.

In the name of being “nice,” too many people on this board tell lies. Be real with the OP: He sounds like a first-rate sissy. He does not belong in an MMA gym. [/quote]

I don’t know, I think everyone who hasn’t been hit in the face before would be a bit apprehensive at first. A lot of places do offer classes where you just hit mits and bags at first, ramping up to the point where you’ll actually start sparring and then progress from there…it isn’t as if you just get thrown to the wolves…well, not always in any case.

He may just want to get the experience of training, not fighting, I don’t think that is such a bad thing as 99.9% of us aren’t going to be in the UFC any time soon. I guess the point is that he should check out a couple of gyms first and find one where he is comfortable training

18

[quote]CaliforniaLaw wrote:
Xen Nova wrote:
True, it is the pits.

Then be honest with the OP. The OP obviously does not have what it takes to be a fighter. There is nothing wrong with that.

If a guy posts, “I might start deadlifting, but won’t that hurt my hands,” what would you say? Someone posting that he is afraid of getting hit in the head is not fighter material. You should be able to see that.

In the name of being “nice,” too many people on this board tell lies. Be real with the OP: He sounds like a first-rate sissy. He does not belong in an MMA gym. [/quote]

Interesting.

Kind of hard to call, cause I think the first time I took a serious shot to the face was…well, really young. But I’d imagine he could get used to it, just like those of us who have been hit in the head more times than we can count.

I’ve been hit in the face bareknuckled, by elbows, by boxing gloves with headgear, by gloves without headgear, and by a full beer bottle that caught me in the eye. I can’t say that I particularly enjoyed any of them…the headaches from the punches do go away after a day, although the I thought the beer bottle might have broken half my face when I got hit with it.

Don’t know. Once you’ve been hit in the face a few times really hard, that pain becomes more familiar and you deal with it.

I’d say fuck it, let him give it a shot. If he gets popped and starts crying, then it wasn’t for him. Only one way to find out.

Gotta say though, the OP does sound like a pretty boy.

19

[quote]Politico wrote:
Haha you guys are funny. I never said I was scared of getting hit, I said I was worried about it because it’s never happened to me before. But, I’m sure you guys being the tough manly men you are didn’t think twice about it the first time you got in there.

You guys saying people who are initially cautious about being hit in the face aren’t meant to be fighters is just like saying a racecar driver who thinks and worries about crashing and becoming paralyzed isn’t meant to race.

I’ve gone through pj training with the Air Force, so I certainly wouldn’t consider myself a sissy or pretty boy. You guys must just be that much tougher than me.

Thanks to those who actually responded and didn’t feel the need to stroke themselves.[/quote]

Well, if you lived this long and haven’t gotten whacked in the face a couple times, then I wouldn’t be reaching to say you’re not a fighter.

20

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
Politico wrote:
Haha you guys are funny. I never said I was scared of getting hit, I said I was worried about it because it’s never happened to me before. But, I’m sure you guys being the tough manly men you are didn’t think twice about it the first time you got in there.

You guys saying people who are initially cautious about being hit in the face aren’t meant to be fighters is just like saying a racecar driver who thinks and worries about crashing and becoming paralyzed isn’t meant to race.

I’ve gone through pj training with the Air Force, so I certainly wouldn’t consider myself a sissy or pretty boy. You guys must just be that much tougher than me.

Thanks to those who actually responded and didn’t feel the need to stroke themselves.

Well, if you lived this long and haven’t gotten whacked in the face a couple times, then I wouldn’t be reaching to say you’re not a fighter.

[/quote]

Well of course I’m not a fighter, and I’m not trying to be one either. I guess mma guys are like marines. “We’re the toughest mother fvckers you’ve ever met and we’ll kick your ass. If you aren’t one of us you’re a pussy!”

:slight_smile: