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How can you tell which schools are good? Thanks for any info.

Riley

check the students...what i mean by that is see how long they have been coming there...you dont want to be constantly training with new guys after youve been doing it for awhile.

I guess I'll have to start calling/visiting schools in my area to be able to ask the students, if that's what you call them, how long they've been going to that particular school. I'm guess I would also have to visit an advanced class to ask questions of the students who would be at that level to where they could have been going to that particular school for a long time. It would probably be good to visit a beginner class since that's what I am. I would be able to see how the teacher works with a beginner class. I'm a newbie so I'm not even sure of the terminology... class, teacher, student etc.

Are there belts in MMA? I assume they divide the classes by age and experience/belt?

If you find a school that has belts in MMA, walk right out of the door.

Look for schools that has actual fighters and others that compete. That way you know that they at least try to better themselves and put it out on the line. I also think that a MMA school should have BJJ and not just submission wrestling, doing Gi make for a better no-gi grappler.

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One question, what schools were you thinking of looking into?

I don't know what's around me. I've seen Tae Kwan Do schools, Karate schools, Kung Fu and Jiu Jitsu schools around where I live but I've never seen any 'MMA' schools. I would have to search online or in the yellow pages. I would think a store that sells martial arts equipment would know of schools. I've seen a few of them in my area.

By the way, what is Gi, do you mean Gi as in the uniform? While watching a fight on TV I thought I heard an announcer say that it's better to learn/train without the Gi because you don't have the Gi to work with in the ring.

I'm just a beginner so would I learn Jiu Jitsu at an MMA school or should I start learning Jiu Jitsu even before I think about getting involved in MMA?

Its really going to come down to what you have available in your area Riley. I'd suggest trying to find an MMA gym, as aposed to TMA (traditional Martial Arts) School.

If thats not an option, you may want to find the best your area has to offer in a ju-jitsu school, and cross train in boxing, or perhaps look for a good kickboxing, Karate school, or Muy Thai.

for MMA you really want to have a well rounded set of fighting skills, so no one art is going to cut it, thats why MMA gyms have the advantage. Plus you dont end up paying 4 or 5 instructors to learn different skill sets like that.

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yes gi means uniform. Don't beleive everything you here on TV from an announcer, unless it is Mir, that guy knows his mma.

You have to look at it as trying to figure out a puzzle/ or problem. How could one convert a Gi move to a no gi move and vice versa. Not only that each one has it's benifits when it comes to working out and training.
Some schools will not say MMA on it. so you would have to do some deeper looking. I have to look, but I have some mma search site I'll post, they are on my other computer at work.

Thanks everyone for the help.

Do any of you train at an MMA gym? How many days a week do you guys train at MMA, not including lifting or jogging?

I do and I train from 2 to 4 times a week, usually 1-3.5 hours a day.