Dad won't let me compete!

[soul fighter]

 

I'm 16, and I'd like to jump start an MMA Career.

 

One of the prequisites to small MMA events like Reality Fighting and Mass Destruction is a good Grappling record.

 

However, my dad won't let me enter NAGA.

 

"You'll break your face and you'll never want to fight again," he always says

 

I explain to him that MMA is a legit sport like basketball or football

 

Then he says, "It takes no skill whatsoever. Just two big guys fighting with cotton gloves."

 

He let me wrestle this year in high school, but he won't let me do Greco and Freestyle or go to an intensive camp to prepare for next year.

 

What a scrub

[ramymensa]

Guess you'll have to wait to get older, or just be more persuasive. My folks didn't allow me to take karate lessons when I was "little". When i got to college, I just started MA training. I was old enough to choose and to make decissions.

[soul fighter]

I'll just have to wait.

 

However, My dad's friend's son competes in Karate.

 

My mom justifies it with "He does Karate, that's chinese stuff. They don't hurt each other"

 

I personally think I should start challenging martial artists in my area, and making myself an unofficial MMA record.

[Toast]

bein a martial artist means u got control ur not tryin to kill each other

[sano]

I'll just have to wait.

 

However, My dad's friend's son competes in Karate.

 

My mom justifies it with "He does Karate, that's chinese stuff. They don't hurt each other"

 

I personally think I should start challenging martial artists in my area, and making myself an unofficial MMA record.

 

there you go. or you can compete behind his back, but he will see the scars you might get from competition. oh well you just have two years to go.

[WolverineGuy]

Challenging other martial artists around the area is not the way to go. You need something sanctioned with rules. Otherwise, it IS just two guys beating each other up. Be smart about it, don't be an egomaniac. Good luck!

[Shorinryu Sensei]

I personally think I should start challenging martial artists in my area, and making myself an unofficial MMA record.

 

Personally, I'd say that's just plain stupid! For one thing, you may challenge the wrong guy that won't bother telling, despite what words come out of his mouth, that he's not going to follow any rules, and he could just plain mess you up...BIG TIME!!! I'm talking broken bones, or worse.

 

You have an ego there kid, and you'd better put a govenor on it, and your mouth down a bit I think, or somebody that's got a bigger ego and mouth, and far superior skills..will do it for you.

 

I'm just trying to save you, and your parents, a whole lot of potential grief.

[soul fighter]

I personally think I should start challenging martial artists in my area, and making myself an unofficial MMA record.

You have an ego there kid, and you'd better put a govenor on it, and your mouth down a bit I think, or somebody that's got a bigger ego and mouth, and far superior skills..will do it for you.

 

Thats why I want to compete, to know if I'm any good or not .

 

I do well in sparring, but I don't go 100% in sparring, and most of my training partners are much bigger than me.

 

I competed in wrestling this year for my first time, but lost every match, racking up an 0-7 record . (One reason my dad won't let me compete).

 

My dad might let me do Greco and Freestyle to prepare for next wrestling season .

 

However, I want MMA, Kickboxing, or Submission Grappling experience.

[Shorinryu Sensei]

[quote name="soul fighterThats why I want to compete, to know if I'm any good or not .

 

first of all, a tournament will NOT give you a measure of if you're any good or not. Why? Because tournaments have rules, referee's and as close to a "perfect fighting environment" as they can get. Meaning mats, safty equiptment, etc. With taht in mind, a tournament is only a measure of that competitors ability to score a point faster than his opponent. in a real fight, there are no ref's calling points, and I have seen thousands of technically good "points" scored in tournaments, taht on the street wouldn't have done a thing to their opponent. I had a youing brown belt student that consistently won trophies at tournaments until his head got so big for his ego that he couldn't hardly walk through the dojo doorway for class. He quit trying to learn the art of karate, and just wanted to "play" karate. He had such great potential, and finally quit my class because we butted heads to much. He was a teenager, and knew it all I guess, and my 20 years (at that time) of experience I guess didn't matter to him.

I do well in sparring, but I don't go 100% in sparring, and most of my training partners are much bigger than me.

 

Again, read what I said above on that. That's sparring, not a street fight. HUGE differance there.

I competed in wrestling this year for my first time, but lost every match, racking up an 0-7 record . (One reason my dad won't let me compete).

This should give you a clue as to your grappling skills. Not having seen you in action of course, I can't give you any advise on what to work on, not am I familiar with your system in your bio.

However, I want MMA, Kickboxing, or Submission Grappling experience.

 

Maybe you need to consider switching to another system/dojo that will give you what you're looking for?[/b]

[Justfulwardog]

I understand where you are coming from. I don't go a hundred percent in my sparring either. That is why I love to compete. In the ring, I pretend that it is for life or death. It gives me great motivation. In my last fight, I got kneed in the groin with about 20 to 30 seconds to go. By rules, I could have had two minutes to recover. I chose to fight on, just to push it. No one knew about it until the fight was over. I pushed through the pain. It was great. I am a freak, but it gives me great confidence to do these things.

 

In the back of my mind, I am always thinking, what if this was for real. That is how I try to fight. I can't do that in sparring.

 

As to your problem, keep trying to convince your Dad. If you cannot, don't worry to much about it. I boxed as a teen. As a young adult, I was married with children. My woman would not let me go back to boxing. I know "PW". What can I say. I could not get it out of my blood. It finally ended with her, so I started kickboxing at the age of 26. My kids love it. I am doing well at it. And my thirst is quenched. Keep training. Mental preperation is my edge on the others. I never stopped training in my mind.