What Is MMA? A Beginner's Guide to Mixed Martial Arts

Mixed martial arts, or MMA, is a combat sport that blends striking and grappling. Fighters can punch, kick, knee and elbow standing up, then take the fight to the ground and win with a hold or a choke.

So what is mixed martial arts when you're the one learning it? It's a handful of real martial arts, and you don't have to learn them all at once. You start with one piece, get comfortable, and build from there.

This guide is MMA for beginners, in plain words. It covers what's inside the sport, how belts work, whether you have to compete, and how to start training on the Kenai Peninsula.

What Martial Arts Are in MMA

MMA isn't one style. It's the parts of several styles that work best in a real fight, put together.

Most of it falls into two groups.

Striking. That's punching, kicking, kneeing and elbowing. Kickboxing teaches you to throw clean punches and kicks and move your feet. Muay Thai adds knees, elbows and the clinch, where you hold and control someone up close. You can see how we teach it on our Kickboxing page.

Grappling. That's taking someone down and controlling them once you're there. Wrestlers bring takedowns. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu teaches you to hold a good position, escape a bad one, and finish with a joint lock or a choke. No Gi Jiu Jitsu is the same art in shorts and a rash guard, which looks a lot like the ground work you see in MMA.

An MMA fighter has to use both groups in the same moment. A kick turns into a clinch, the clinch turns into a takedown, and the takedown turns into a fight on the mat.

That's the hard part, and it's why the pieces come first. Nobody blends skills they don't have yet.

You'll also hear MMA and the UFC used as if they mean the same thing. They don't. MMA is the sport. The UFC is the biggest organization that runs MMA events, a bit like how a league runs games in any other sport.

Does Mixed Martial Arts Have Belts

MMA as a sport doesn't have a belt system. Nobody gets promoted to an MMA black belt. Pro fighters are judged by their record, not by the color around their waist.

The arts inside MMA are a different story. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has a clear belt path for adults, starting at white and moving through blue, purple and brown to black.

Kickboxing and Muay Thai don't share one belt system across the world. Your progress there shows up in how you move, how you defend, and how relaxed you feel on the pads.

If you like having a clear next step to work toward, Jiu Jitsu gives you one. If you'd rather just get sharper each week, striking will scratch that itch.

Can I Join Mixed Martial Arts as a Beginner

Yes. Every fighter you've ever watched was a beginner once. They walked into a gym, felt awkward, and came back.

You don't need to be in shape first. You don't need to know how to throw a punch. Training gets you in shape, not the other way around, and a few weeks of showing up makes a real difference.

What matters most is where you start. Look for a gym that teaches technique before hard contact, pairs new people with patient partners, and lets you decide when you're ready to spar.

If safety is the thing on your mind, we wrote a whole post on it: Is MMA Safe for Beginners?

Do You Have to Compete

No. Plenty of people train the arts behind MMA for years and never step into a fight.

They come for fitness. They come to learn self defense. They come because an hour on the mat clears their head better than anything else in their week.

Competing is a choice you can make later, or never. Training and fighting are two different things.

Sparring is different from competing too. Sparring is controlled practice with a partner, where both of you are working on skills, not trying to win. At AK-49 Martial Arts, even sparring is completely optional.

Am I Too Old for MMA

Probably not. People of all ages train with us, and we take anyone seven and up.

Starting later just means you train smart. You pick a pace you can recover from. You tap early in Jiu Jitsu. You skip sparring until you actually want it.

The goal isn't to become a pro fighter. The goal is to be a little better and a little more confident than you were last month.

How to Start MMA for Beginners

The simplest way to start is to learn the parts one at a time. Pick a striking class or a grappling class, show up a couple of times a week, and add the other side once you feel settled.

Here's how training for MMA in Soldotna works with us.

AK-49 Martial Arts doesn't have a class called MMA. We teach the arts it's built from. Striking comes from Kickboxing and Muay Thai. Grappling comes from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and No Gi Jiu Jitsu. Train both sides and you're learning the skills an MMA fighter uses.

The gym is run by Coach Seth. He has cornered fighters at the UFC, Glory Kickboxing, AFC and WBC, and he coached Victor Rodriguez to the UFC and to his AFC bantamweight title. He's also a cofounder of FCSU Striking Systems and holds a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

That experience goes into how we teach beginners. Our culture is built around taking people who have never trained and making them good at martial arts, with coaches and teammates backing them the whole way.

Here's what your start looks like:

You're paired with patient partners. Nobody is asked to do more than they're ready for.

You learn position before submission. In Jiu Jitsu, our coaches teach you to control a spot before you try to finish from it.

Sparring is optional. Most students eventually want to try it, but nobody is pushed.

You don't need gear. For Jiu Jitsu, wear comfortable shorts and any shirt. For striking classes, wear comfortable shorts and a white shirt. Any equipment you need for class is provided free of charge.

There's no long term contract. If you ever need to cancel, you give a 30 day notice.

We're at 44332 Sterling Hwy in Soldotna, and students come in from Kenai, Sterling, Nikiski and all over the peninsula. Our motto is simple: Get Better. Get Tired. Have Fun.

Your first class is free. Claim your free class pass, check the schedule, and pick the class that fits your week. Come as you are, and we'll help you get better from there.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does mixed martial arts include?+

Mixed martial arts includes striking, like punches, kicks, knees and elbows, and grappling, like takedowns and control on the ground. Fighters build those skills through arts like Kickboxing, Muay Thai, wrestling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Is MMA the same as the UFC?+

No. MMA is the sport, and the UFC is the biggest organization that runs MMA events. People mix up the names because the UFC is where most of them first watched the sport.

Does MMA training get you in shape?+

Yes. You don't need to be in shape to start, and a few weeks of steady training gets you in better shape. Striking and grappling both work your whole body.

What does MMA training consist of?+

Most training mixes a warm up, technique practice with a partner, and some live work like pad rounds or controlled rolling. At AK-49 Martial Arts you train those parts through Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and No Gi Jiu Jitsu, and sparring is optional.