In the last 10 years we have seen the sport of Mixed Martial Arts gain so much popularity with the emergence of the UFC and Strikeforce and several smaller promotions. Between the UFC and Strikeforce they promote about 20 events annually and the UFC in particular has promoted events in England, Ireland and Germany as they move towards their goal of having venues worldwide.

MMA is an all action combat sport and this is obviously what the paying customers were waiting to see. Just about all the events have sold out and a large audience of pay-per-view fans pay about $50 to watch the events from the comfort of their homes.

It has brought a lot of attention to the sport and the enrollment in classes to learn this art continues to increase worldwide.

MMA is looked upon in some circles as a "free for all fighting sport" but there are rules in place to protect the participants and techniques like groin kicks, eye gouging, head butts, hair pulling, biting and head kicking while the opponent is down, are outlawed.

Martial Arts is also looked upon as a violent sport although one can think of it as self defence. Self discipline, control and restraint is taught, violence is not encouraged, and that's why getting the young ones involved as a student at an early age helps reduce the confrontational anger which could lead to street fights etc.

To become a competing martial artist one must realise the committment of time it takes to learn and practise many regimens. A Martial Arts Workout combines wrestling, boxing, jiu jitsu, karate, tae kwon do, grappling, kick boxing, muay tai etc. and all these regimes need to be learned if the artist or fighter expects to excel in the fight game. This is a combat sport and strength and conditioning is also a pre-requisite for the athlete.

A successful Martial Artist will be a well tuned athlete, it not only takes strength and conditioning anymore, it also takes a good nutritional program with added supplements and mental strength and a good strategy are also essentials for their success.

As a Martial Arts fighter you must train to achieve excellent footwork skills. Moving in to strike and moving out before you get countered while maintaining your balance is a technique that must be addressed and worked on. Practice quick changes in direction, practice constant movement, practice moving only on the balls of your feet, practice multiple kicks and make sure you maintain a good balance during these practice sessions.

Good generalship in the cage can be achieved if you add these movements to your Martial Arts Workout