Phoenix has been an MMA gym for over 12 years! MMA training at Phoenix includes the highest quality component based MMA system with the best facilities and experienced team in the ACT. Phoenix has internationally experienced coaches in Muay Thai, Kickboxing, boxing and BJJ all working together for you to be a true MMA practitioner. MMA is a component based system and the only way to truelly do MMA is to train at all aspects and develop a solid base with your striking and grappling and then learn to integrate your skills. Whether you start in BJJ with Canberras only BJJ Black Belt coach (Renato Vieira) or Muay Thai with Canberra’s most experienced professional Kickboxing and Muay Thai trainer (Anthony Manning) you are on the road to the only honest way to do MMA for real. Phoenix has a cage, two rings and all the weights and fitness equipment true MMA practitioners need for the demands of the sport. MMA is not a style of its own, it is a step by step process building on high level skills developed from committed and dedicated progression through grappling, striking and conditioning training. .
A message from the coach:
Traditionally MMA training is developed from a solid base in either wrestling, BJJ or kickboxing. I have always held this view as the smartest ways to approach the sport. To be successful at MMA competition you need to be good at, experienced at and have done the hard work in at least one effective discipline and use this as a base to your fighting style. Phoenix Gym has BJJ, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Boxing and MMA specific conditioning so if you want MMA Phoenix Gym has a true path towards that goal.
The growth of MMA as a sport in the last few years has seen the sport dominated by expert BJJ practitioners, but this is not always the case. Great competitors have come from wrestling and kickboxing but none of them have done well without excellent BJJ skills, defences and ground work. Everyone from all styles, including BJJ, have had to learn another game to be able to defend against other styles and beat them.
Training for MMA requires proficiency at kickboxing, wrestling, BJJ and a high level of conditioning. It requires constant practice at all elements until a fighter can develop their own style, strategy and tactics. To train MMA you have to train more than your average person. It is not a matter of doing MMA because you can do a bit of each style. You have to train at each style, blend them together, learn the transitions and be competent at all ranges. If you just ‘dabble’ at each, you will be a jack of all trades and a master of none. I have always held the belief that it helps to be able to out box a grappler and out grapple a kickboxer but these days you need good skills at all ranges. Once you have a solid base you need to know how to use it for the MMA game, eg strike on the ground, defend takedowns, defend strikes on the ground, control, shoot and adapt to your opponents style. These days all successful MMA fighters are well rounded.
MMA training should be a complete martial system but it is usually best for a practitioner to gain a level of fighting competence in one discipline first before expanding their skill base to include other styles.The popularity of MMA has grown due to the effective dominance of combining the best or martial arts and the popularity of the UFC. Many more people want to do MMA as it is a demonstration of what is effectiveness in martial arts. It is also fun and a great way to train, combining striking and wrestling and all the components of a full contact chess match. The future of martial arts is MMA, MMA specialists will begin to dominate limited rules competitions over single style specialists. MMA is essentially a component based system and always will be.
Phoenix Systems has always been as a Vale Tudo (anything goes) system. Well before MMA was so commercially popular. The original idea was to do a few years of kickboxing whilst learning some wrestling and BJJ along the way. Kickboxing was only the start up. Then at the higher levels you can link them together. If you read the curriculum to level five you will notice this MMA direction. I have always known that BJJ and wrestling are critical and encourage people to specialise in these fields to be able to do MMA. Most people however never persist long enough to get the complete picture and link the style together as demanded by a challenging opponent with a solid base in one style.
In the Phoenix System there is a Combat grappling component, however this takes many years of dedication to progress in the system. Phoenix Gym offers all the components of a good MMA system, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Boxing, BJJ and conditioning. Depending on your goals and how much you can train you can start MMA by doing a collection of classes or you can specialise in one style first. You can select a MMA membership which allows both BJJ and Phoenix Muay Thai and Kickboxing classes. This is your best chance of getting the skills required to do our MMA training which is for people with fighting competence at BJJ, Muay Thai and the conditioning and dedication to match.
To be in the Phoenix MMA club and come to MMA classes you have to realise that you need to train all component’s and get a solid base at skill and conditioning for MMA. MMA training also requires a mouth guard, MMA gloves, 10oz boxing gloves, sock style shin guards and appropriate shorts and a rash vest.
If you are up to the challenge and want to do MMA, sign up and start training this week!
Anthony Manning
