We try a Mixed Martial Arts class in Chennai. Can MMA be your next fitness routine?

Fitness meets self-defense at this MMA academy in Chennai

Between many giggles, a couple of tiny wrestlers are warming up for the day at the 11-year-old Chennai MMA Academy in Nungambakkam. They sprint, do bear crawls, frog jumps and leech walks, and quickly move on to strengthening exercises without so much as breaking a sweat. I watch them in trepidation and awe.

Until this momentous day, I am blissfully unaware of the sheer number of variations a warm-up ‘walk’ could have. I walk like a crab, crawl like a turtle, jump like a duck, and slither like an inchworm on the hardened wooden floors, in an attempt to strengthen my muscles. I manage to barely finish one lap each before asking for a water break. I realise — Let alone MMA, even the warm-up is not for the faint-hearted. 

MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) is a contact sport that combines techniques of boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu jitsu and muay thai to tackle an opponent. The warm up exercises take up much of a beginner’s class as the initial goal is to strengthen the muscles to avoid injuries while tackling. 

Siva quickly reassures, “The warm-up and strengthening exercises are the most important part of training. Inorder to tackle someone in the ring, you need strength, not just technique!” 

Fine, coach. I lug on, as we finish another bout of running laps and body-weight routines.

Finally, it’s time to get down to business. Siva instructs: “Start by standing with your feet together. And, move your right foot diagonally behind in a two-feet distance. That is your stance.” Next up, I close both my fists and hold it up so as to block my chin, lest an unexpected blow knocks my jaw off. Chin, always close to the chest so it’s guarded. Then I learn to jab with my left fist, and cross with my right. I scuttle in different directions holding my stance, and repeating my jab-and-cross routine. I try the muay thai elbow whip too, making me feel like a character straight from a video game. 

The Chennai MMA Academy sees two types of clientele, those who wish to take it up as a sport and go on to participate in competitions, and others who consider it a fitness option. There is also a customer base who enroll for self-defense, mostly women. Santhosh T Arasu, who has been boxing since the age of 12, started the academy in 2013 which has now mushroomed to five branches across the city, the latest being in OMR.