| The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has | | | | needed for survival in the ring, cage or octagon (or |
| experienced a meteoric rise in popularity and ratings | | | | the street for that matter!) |
| over the past couple of years. Love it or hate it, it | | | | To be a successful UFC fighter you need to have a |
| looks like the UFC is here to stay. Consequently | | | | great stand-up game and a great ground game. In |
| many men in the 18 - 34 demographic are becoming | | | | addition to this you need to learn take-downs and |
| more interested in the martial arts. | | | | take-down defenses. This doesn't even include the |
| After watching great strikers such as Chuck Liddell, | | | | physical conditioning or the mental aspect of |
| Anderson Silva and Houston Alexander and watching | | | | preparing for a fight. So here are some suggestions |
| the incredible grappling and wrestling skills of Randy | | | | as to which styles you should study to give yourself |
| Couture, Matt Hughes and BJ Penn, many martial | | | | the best chance of becoming a good fighter. |
| artists are asking themselves the question "Will my | | | | · Striking Skills: Boxing, Muay Thai, Shotokan, |
| martial art get me to the UFC?" | | | | Taekwondo, Kickboxing, Savate |
| The answer to this question is very simple. | | | | · Take-Downs: Judo, Hapkido, Sanda (San |
| No, your martial art will not get you to the UFC! | | | | Shou), Sambo |
| Make that a maybe, instead of a definite no. | | | | · Grappling and Submissions: Wrestling, |
| OK, I can already tell that some of you may be | | | | Brazilian Ju-jitsu, Japanese Ju-jitsu, Aikido |
| shocked at that one line put down of you, your | | | | There are many other martial arts not on this list that |
| chosen martial art and your UFC aspirations. After all I | | | | are also worthy of in-depth study; and some of |
| don't know anything about you but let me expand on | | | | them on the list include all of the above skills to a |
| my answer so you know where I'm coming from. | | | | greater or lesser degree. |
| First of all, it is important to understand that no one | | | | So will your martial art get you to the UFC? Not by |
| style has all of the elements of a complete fighting | | | | itself, but if you combine the strength of your |
| system for success in the Octagon, but many styles | | | | chosen art with the missing elements that you need |
| have a lot of them. The UFC, Pride, WEC and Elite | | | | from some of the other styles above, then you will |
| XC are all labeled under the category "Mixed Martial | | | | be well on your way. |
| Arts." This should tell you a lot in relation to the | | | | For more in-depth information on many of the most |
| question of whether your martial art will get you to | | | | commonly practiced martial arts, get my FREE |
| the UFC. Mixed martial arts is exactly what it says it | | | | "Beginners Guide to Karate". You will find out how to |
| is - a mix of several different martial arts pulled | | | | download it at |
| together to create the full skill set of techniques | | | | Good luck and best wishes on your journey in karate. |