Martial Arts - How to begin?

Additionally, for those who are still more interested, I am attaching a short instruction of how to start training. This tutorial will contain a brief description of how to prepare to trainings as well as information concerning first trainings and links to recommended martial art schools.

Basically, first trainings are adapted to fit the needs of amateurs. Nevertheless, in order to be prepared adequately or even to be a step away of the group, I would recommend to start the following exercises about two months before:

• Warm-up and morning gymnastics: every morning take some time to warm-up every joint in your body by revolving head and limbs and bowing. All those exercises should not take more than five minutes.


• Endurance training: try to get up about thirty minutes earlier than normally and use that time for jogging. Jogging is the best way to stay fit and prepare for long physical effort. If there is no place in your neighborhood appropriate for running then buy a skipping-rope and dedicate at least fifteen minutes a day for jumping. After two months of such preparation you should easily endure one and a half hour of martial arts beginners training.




• Stretching: it is especially important in case of sports involving kicking techniques, as stretching enables to hit the enemy in the higher parts of the body such as head. All stretching exercises should be preceded by warm-um to avoid injuries. As a simple and effective example of such an exercise I would recommend sitting with leg spread as wide as possible and than bowing to the right, left, and center. Ten minutes should perfectly do.

After two months of such preparation you can feel entitled to start trainings as a new promising fighter. However, even though you are already fit and stretched, there are a couple other things that can bother you at the beginning. To be more precise, first trainings are very monotonous, as your body needs to learn new moves to such an extent that they become almost a reflex. Moreover, it will take at least four months before the first sparrings begin, but don’t worry – when they start you will miss those first trainings.

Recommended martial art schools:

• Warszawska Gwardia (http://www.wksgwardia.com.pl) an old Warsaw sport club with traditions and many successes. Especially recommended for people interested in box and MMA.


• Akademia Walki (http://www.akademia-walki.waw.pl) the most prestigious and renown Muay Thai school in Warsaw. It was established by the former owners and awarded fighters of the famous Warsaw Prakong Muay Thai school.


• Sambo System Polska (http://www.sambo.pl) a martial arts school specializing in grappling styles such as Brazilian Jujitsu and Sambo. Many successful polish MMA fighters began trainings in the said school.

For the end of my presentation I'd like to introduce a few famous MMA fighters which are in my opinion good examples to follow.

Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko – he is a Russian heavyweight mixed martial arts fighter. The current World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts Heavyweight Champion and the last holder of the Pride Heavyweight Championship. He has won numerous tournaments and gain titles in multiple sports, most notably the Pride 2004 Grand Prix and the World Combat Sambo championship on four occasions, as well as medaling in the Russian national Judo championship. In his professional MMA career, he has lost only one fight by a TKO (technical knock out) because of a cut of his eyebrow (in the firs few seconds), which could not be fixed during the fight. The controversial decision led to a return match, which Fedor won easily. After since he is undefeated.

Antonio Rodrigo “Minotaur” Nogueira – a Brazilian heavy weight mixed martial artist known for his technical mastery in Brazilian Jujitsu. Considered as the best grappling fighter of the world he is classified as the second fighter in the world after Fedor Emelianenko.

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic - he is a professional Croatian Heavyweight kickboxer, mixed martial artist and former Croatian law enforcement officer. Filipovic was a former member (2003–2007) of the Croatian Parliament. His nickname, Cro Cop, short for "Croatian Cop", comes from his membership in the Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit, Croatia's elite Police Special Forces tactical unit. He is well know for his powerful high kicks.

And lastly, I would like to introduce Mamed Khalidov, a very promising Polish warrior who originated from Chechnya. Until now, he is on the seventh place on the World Classification of middleweight MMA fighters.