How can I become tougher?

Question

Im starting MMA soon and im going to have to be able to take a punch. Should i just smash my face against a wall until I can accept the pain? What else can i do?

Answer 1

play rugby... it worked for me

Answer 2

I started boxing after several years of karate. Most karate schools don't want their students getting hurt so there isn't much contact fighting. In boxing you will get used to being hit, it's not that bad. It's smart to use some protective headgear and make sure you have a mouthpiece while sparring in the ring. Hopefully you will have a teacher that teaches the big "D" (defense as my boxing teacher calls it). You don't want to be like Rocky in the ring, he's a strong puncher but dosen't have any defense.

You may be a tough guy and can throw a hard punch or kick but can you defend agaisnt one? If not you are going to take a lot of punishment in the ring. You need to learn how to slip, duck and catch punches. You need some good boxing skills.

As for ground fighting I think a judo school would be a good place to learn.

Answer 3

You get used to getting hit in the face after a while, iv only done full contact kyokushin type sparing, that is full contact to the body and kicks to the head but no punches to the head, so i got a big shock the first time i got hit in the face during boxing sparing, but after the first punch i got used to it

the actual face contact part will only take a few lessons to get used to i recon, but if you want to stop yourself from getting knocked out you really need to strengthen you neck muscles, wont be much you can do for a broken nose, if your nose breaks its just designed that way and if you split you eyebrow enough times the skin will toughen up but getting KOed comes as a result of having your brain knocked about in your skull and if you strengthen your neck you will be able to take stronger punches

lol smashing your face against the wall wont help you to get used to punches, how about doing the obvious and doing a few boxing or kick boxing or mauy classes? all the best

Answer 4

You should be wearing protection if you are going to do full contact. There is no way to condition yourself from the pain other than just getting your feet wet, and sparring. Full contact is very dangerous, as you will not feel it now, but you will, years down the road. I studied Karate for 10 years, and I never got used to the pain, but if someone got a punch or kick in on me, after a couple of years, that did not bother me, as I also gave back, what they gave me. The martial arts is not about fighting, but has a deeper meaning, like, making yourself a better person. I learned both mental and physical martial arts, and that made for a well rounded class. I love Karate, I am an instructor for kids, through the Martial Arts for Peace Assoc. and we studied an Okinawan style that came from Gensei Ryu.

Answer 5

lol... please don't go around smashing your face into walls, you mom would be very disappointed with all the holes you're going to make..

i recommend taking a basic boxing class.. it's so rare these days to have an mma fighter with great boxing skills..

the big mistake that mma guys make is thinking that they just need enough punches to open up a shoot.. they end up getting clocked in the process..

look.. you're going to get hit.. it's unavoidable.. if you know HOW to get hit, it makes your life and face that much better..

ever wonder how boxers can get hit with clean hard shots and keep going for 12 rounds..?

they learn how to roll with the punches.. seriously, it's just not a 70's bumper sticker..

rolling with the punches is a classic boxing technique where you basically turn your chin allowing the punch to roll of, thus minimizing the impact and power of the strike..

it's like on tv.. you see how stunt guys pretend that the punch landed.. you roll with it..

also to reduce the damage that a mma fight entails you need to learn how to bob and weave, spears are great..

basically everything that a novice boxer would be learning. DEFENSE!

once you get that, you can start sparring, you start off slow and progress to 70-80% power.. (any good school will start you off slow) it's hard at first, getting hit, but after a while you learn tricks and techniques to minimize the blows. like i said, it's unavoidable, we all get caught.. just keep on truckin'

now a lot of times, you go to a mma club and they have a bjj/submissions instructor and a kickboxing/muay Thai instructor.. like here, we have jackson's gaidojitsu.. it's great, he and winklejohn are great instructors, and guys like diego sanchez and them really have brought the school into the forefront..

however, kickboxing doen't always cover the fundamentals of punching and evasion.. most kickboxers know punches but focus mainly on hands, and most mma schools use kickboxing as simply an opening to a shoot or takedown for the ground game.. this is a mistake..

take diego's fight with john alessio.. diego's a great ground specialist, but what happened he couldn't take alessio down the whole fight.. diego is smaller than alessio so he was out of range for his kicking, what he needed to do was move inside and use his hands..

but when mma guys don't have boxing experience it's hard for them to get inside and box.. so i would honestly recommend that you join a boxing gym.. a good boxing gym.. one that teaches the classical style and technique of old..

watch out though, there are tons of boxing gyms that just teach lazy boxing and scrapping.. don't be a scrapper.. it's just insulting to the science of boxing.. (guess that's why i don't watch boxing anymore, nothing but scrappers w/slopping punches)

anyhoo.. that's the best advice i can give you.. i hope it helps!

~*good luck*~

Answer 6

ummmm no. Abusing your body will not make you tougher. Sure there is Iron Body training, sand burning, and other forms of abusive training, but practitioners never recommend them unless you are trully dedicated to martial arts and are mentally 'tough' to begin with. Even then, they don't smash their faces in to make themselves tougher; there's a science to it.

You don't just sit there and take a punch in martial arts, ever. Sure, you MAY get hit, but you have the choice of dodging, blocking, or turning the attack against them, if you can.

Answer 7

Don't worry about it. The MMA school you're going to will no doubt have sparring and then you'll take some shots, and in a safe enviroment (hopefully). I agree with the other posters that said it's best to avoid getting hit, but in reality you're going to get hit so it's best to know how to deal with it.

Answer 8

Sparring. Even with protective gear it still hurts. :-)

I think pain tolerance is something you'll just have to learn by experience.

But, I wouldn't recommend that you smash your face in the wall. Unless you enjoy pain, there is no good reason to deliberately injure yourself. Likewise, I would discourage constant, full-on, hard-core sparring unless you want to be a professional fighter or you enjoy that kind of sparring. I say that because it takes a real toll on your body, and you will pay a dear price for it later on in life.

As one answer said, the point of martial arts is to AVOID getting hit in the face.

Instead of thinking, "Oh no, what if he hits me and it hurts?" switch your mindset over to: "Hit him first.... and don't give him a chance to hit me."

Answer 9

The only way of becoming mentally tough is through, Physical exercise, and reading, or doing something that requires analytical thinking, problem solving, creative thinking. Being mentally tough means stress won't affect you as it would someone who isn't active much in life. A marine, navy seal, ranger, police officer, emt. They are all mentally tough through physical, and mental preparation.

Answer 10

The whole point of martial arts, sir, is AVOIDING getting punched in the face. Focus on defense.

Answer 11

Absolutely, run up to big dudes and be like, dayum I just made out with your momma!