In effort to become the baddest survival machine on the block it means you have to have skills that go beyond the realm of firearms and primitive bushcraft skills. For anything to be a strong force to be reckoned with it has to have a strong foundation. The foundation of self defense starts with your mind and situational awareness. Directly after that comes physical condition, and unarmed skill sets. More specifically, hand to hand combat in the form of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts).

Regardless of how prepared you are, or what you know. Your physical condition and health will be the biggest deciding factor in your ability to survive. So this means you HAVE TO WORKOUT, but working out is not always so fun for everyone. It goes without saying that most Americans hate the idea of going to the gym. The other thing is food. Most of society can’t manage to go a day without eating some form of fast food. But hey, I get it….I too love a good Little Caesars Pizza, McDonalds McChicken, or Taco Bell 5 Layer. I understand how hard it is to refuse those cravings. I’ve personally never really been in great shape. I’ve lived a little overweight most of my life. I was somewhat skinny as a kid but I was never really “in shape”. Over the past few years I’ve really gotten focused in on my fitness goals and have really made it a priority.

Why am I finally deciding to make these things a priority? Well, my reasons for the need to be fit are pretty simple. I want to be the deadliest fucking survival machine I can be. I don’t only want to own deadly weapons, I want to be a deadly weapon all on my own. The older I get the more evil I see as society continues to fall apart. It’s only a matter of time before the evil comes to my front door to hurt me or my family, and when that time comes. I will lay the beat down to it, and kill it if I have to. I feel that it’s every mans duty in life to be this way. To be able to provide and protect, and in this world if you’re not a beast. You might not be able to fulfill that duty.

SO HOW DO WE OVERCOME THESE CHALLENGES YOU ASK?

• Step 1 – ACCEPTANCE  – The first part of achieving your fitness goals is to understand that there are no shortcuts. There’s no easy way to it. The only way to it, is through it. It will suck, it will be hard, but doing it the right way through eating healthy and training hard will get you the results you want. You have to accept that fitness is a forever goal. You can’t get fit and quit training as if you will forever stay fit. You have to accept that this is a long term goal and it’s going to take commitment to turn it into a lifestyle that you love. It has to become the priority.
• Step 2 – GOALS – Training with no goal in mind to focus on will be hard to maintain any level of commitment to. You should always have fitness goals to strive for, and when you achieve them, set more. For me, I want to fight professionally and use the skills I learn along the way to translate into my survival preparedness. This was the biggest goal I could think of because it takes a lifetime to become a true master of martial arts, and I like to set some big goals.
• Step 3 – GETTING STARTED – When you have finally accepted your health as a priority, and you have your goals in mind, it’s time to train. You can go the traditional route and go to regular gym. You can run and lift weights and that’s fine, a lot of people do it. However, I personally get burnt out on that really quick, and I think a lot of other people do too. This is why I train MMA the majority of the time, and utilize the regular gym on days I can’t train MMA. I train MMA primarily for the skills, but also for the workout. Giving it your all you typically burn anywhere from 800-1200 calories an hour while training MMA. You won’t get that kind of cardio in the gym, but that’s not even the best part. The best part of MMA is that it doesn’t even feel like working out. Yeah, you sweat and get banged up a little bit, but it’s so fun that you don’t even realize how many calories you just burned. None the less, MMA might not be for you. If you are a pansy. I suggest sticking to lifting weights and walking on the treadmill. MMA is not just for guys either! Girls can come and get just the same results and also gain valuable skills to defend themselves in a world that’s getting more dangerous for women to be in everyday.
• Step 4 – DEVELOP THE HABBIT – Training like this takes some serious commitment. It’s not easy. Therefor when dinner time rolls around it’s so tempting to just go grab a pizza or swing by Taco Bell. As you start training in the beginning it will be hard to resist the temptation of bad choices, but I promise it gets easier. Eventually it will become second nature to make the healthy choice of eating that salad vs a cheeseburger. I make it easier by constantly visualizing my goals. My goals are so big I feel like an asshole if I give in to the temptation of bad choices. I want to smash my goals, not be held back by the enemy.

Personally, I plan on competing as an amateur fighter for a little while. I would like to think I could eventually fight professionally and maybe even a career if it takes me there. I don’t have any real goals of doing that right now, but you never know. I am simply going to go where it takes me. Whether it’s 1 and done, or into the big leagues. The bottom line is, I will always train, and I will always continue to grow my skill sets and use MMA as my primary fitness plan to stay in good shape, because for me. It’s actually fun, and I have yet to meet someone who’s actually tried it who didn’t agree.

Strength training is also very important. Don’t completely neglect the weights. I still train 2-3 days a week on weight training, balance, and joint strengthening exercises. Also, don’t forget to always stretch. Stretching is the most over looked part of fitness. It helps prevent injury, and will also improve balance, and enhance your MMA abilities too.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Don’t be a pussy. We have enough of those in the world as it is. Train hard, embrace the suck, and destroy your goals.

You’ll have to find a good MMA gym to train at. Your gym may have some gear, but you’ll also want to consider investing in some gear on your own. I found some great deals here and I use a lot of this gear myself.

• MMA Shin Guards
• A good Mouth Piece
• Jujitsu Gi
• Recovery Supplements (This stuff is amazing)
• MMA Gloves
• Boxing Gloves
• A Cup & Compression Shorts (You will need this one for sure)

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