How to Learn MMA: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

To learn MMA, join a gym that teaches striking, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu under one roof, and go two or three times a week. Spend your first months on the fundamentals of each range, build your fitness alongside, and save hard sparring for later.

That is the short version. I have spent four decades in martial arts, first in Isshin Ryu Karate and then in Aikido, where I became a staff instructor. I have also watched mixed martial arts grow from UFC 1 in my home state of Colorado into a sport with a clear way in for beginners.

This guide walks you through how to learn MMA step by step: who it is for, what to buy, what to learn first, and how long it takes.

How to learn MMA in six steps:

What Is MMA?

Mixed martial arts is a combat sport that blends striking, wrestling, and ground fighting. A fighter can punch and kick like a boxer or a Muay Thai fighter, take an opponent down like a wrestler, and finish on the mat like a jiu-jitsu player.

That mix is what makes MMA hard to learn and worth learning. You are not studying one art. You are studying how several fit together. Our guide to what mixed martial arts is covers the rules and the history.

Coming from traditional martial arts, I appreciate one thing about MMA above all. Every technique gets tested against a partner who is trying to stop it. Nothing survives on reputation.

Can Anyone Learn MMA?

Yes. You do not need a martial arts background, and you do not need to be in shape first. Fitness is something MMA training gives you, not an entry requirement.

Starting late is not a barrier either. Francis Ngannou told the UFC that he began training in "July 2013. I was curious." He was 26. Less than eight years later, he was the UFC heavyweight champion.

You are probably not aiming for a title, and you do not have to. As an Aikido instructor, I saw people in their 40s and 50s walk in as complete beginners and make remarkable progress. The ones who lasted started at their own pace and left their ego at the door.

If your goal is to compete for a living, that is a different road. Our guide on how to get into MMA professionally covers it.

How to Start MMA Training: 6 Steps

Step 1: Find the Right Gym

The gym matters more than anything you will buy. Look for one that teaches striking, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu, and that runs a separate class for beginners.

Then visit. Most gyms offer a free trial class, so try two or three before you sign anything. Watch for these:

From my own years of teaching, I can tell you the instructor and the training partners matter more than the building. Still deciding between arts? Read our comparison of kickboxing vs. MMA.

Step 2: Get the Basic Gear

You need very little for your first month. Many gyms lend gloves to beginners.

Our shop carries beginner gear.

Step 3: Learn the Fundamentals of Each Range

MMA has four ranges. A beginner's job is to become comfortable in each one, not to collect techniques.

The Four Ranges of MMA Compared

Where each one comes from, what to learn first, and the mistake most beginners make.

My first striking seminar after years of Aikido was humbling. I had to relearn how to generate power while keeping my balance. Every beginner goes through some version of that, so do not let it put you off.

When you are ready for specific techniques, start with our guides to essential MMA techniques, MMA moves, and types of kicks. For the ground, see our beginner's guide to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Step 4: Build Your Fitness Steadily

New students usually train too hard, too soon. Then they get hurt or burn out, and they quit.

Firas Zahabi, who coached Georges St-Pierre, has the best rule I know. "I'm a big believer in consistency over intensity," he told Joe Rogan. "Intensity should be done once in a while." His test is simple: you should train, and wake up the next day feeling good.

In practice, that means two or three classes a week to begin with. Add a little running or skipping and some basic strength work on the other days. Sleep is part of training too.

For the detail, see our guides to strength training, sleep and recovery, and our MMA strength and conditioning program. Talk to your doctor before you start any new training program.

Step 5: Train on a Schedule and Track Your Progress

Pick your training days and protect them. Two classes every week for a year will take you much further than five a week for a month.

When my daughters trained Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, I helped them keep training journals. It made them more aware of what they were studying, and they learned faster because of it.

Step 6: Start Sparring the Right Way

Sparring is where you find out what works. It is also where beginners get hurt, usually by going too hard too early.

The UFC Performance Institute grades sparring in five levels. The first is called Learning, and its instructions are worth memorizing: "All speed, no power. Focus on movement, foot work and technique, not power." The next level adds a rule I wish every gym posted on the wall: "Do not make partner pay for being out of position."

Start there, and stay there for months. Begin with drills where only one thing is allowed, such as jabs only, or escaping from the bottom. Add more as your control improves.

Take care on the ground as well. The same report found that grappling causes more training injuries than any other activity, even among UFC fighters. Its advice is to talk to your training partner, and to do the hard grappling early in a session, before you are tired.

What to Expect in Your First MMA Class

Most beginner classes follow the same pattern. You warm up, the coach teaches one or two techniques, you drill them with a partner, and you finish with conditioning. You will not be asked to spar on your first day.

Expect to feel clumsy. Everyone does. Many gyms also bow or shake hands before and after a round. Our guide to bowing in martial arts explains the custom.

Can You Learn MMA at Home?

Partly. You can build fitness, practice footwork, and drill strikes at home. What you cannot do alone is learn to deal with a person who is resisting you, and that is the heart of the sport.

What works at home:

What does not:

I have always practiced at home between classes, and it helps. But I have also had to help self-taught students unlearn habits that a coach would have caught in the first week. Use home training to support the gym, not to replace it.

How Long Does It Take to Learn MMA?

Expect about six months to feel at home with the basics, and about two years to become well-rounded. These are my own estimates from four decades around martial arts, not figures from a study. They assume two or three classes a week.

Earlier experience shortens the road. A wrestler, a boxer, or a jiu-jitsu player already owns one of the four ranges. So does anyone who simply turns up, week after week.

5 Mistakes to Avoid When You Learn MMA

1. Skipping the Fundamentals

Spinning kicks and flying submissions are fun to watch. Stance, footwork, and position are what you will use every round.

2. Neglecting Defense

Everyone wants to learn how to hit. Fewer want to learn how not to get hit. John Danaher, one of the most respected coaches in grappling, puts defense first: a good jiu-jitsu player "puts his or her primary effort into sound defensive structure before anything else."

3. Training With Your Ego

You will get tapped, taken down, and tagged by people smaller than you. That is the lesson, not an insult. Georges St-Pierre kept that attitude at the very top of the sport: "I keep the white-belt mentality that I can learn from anyone, anywhere, anytime."

4. Overtraining

More is not better. Pain that gets worse is a signal to stop, not a test of character. Our guide to injury prevention explains what to watch for.

5. Gym Hopping

Try several gyms before you choose one. After that, stay. Changing coaches every few months means starting over every few months.

Final Thoughts on Learning MMA

Learning MMA is simple to describe and hard to do. Find a good gym, turn up on schedule, learn the basics of every range, and spar with control.

The students who succeed are rarely the most gifted. They are the ones who are still training two years later. Be patient with yourself, and enjoy being a beginner, because that feeling never fully goes away.

For more, our 30 mixed martial arts tips pick up where this guide ends.

Have you taken your first class yet? What surprised you most, and what do you wish someone had told you beforehand? If you are still deciding, what is holding you back?

Join the conversation in our Facebook community and compare notes with other beginners »