United MMA Team Member Jose Gracian talks about what he likes about training at our gym...

United MMA - Jose Gracian Testimonial from UNITED MMA on Vimeo.

United MMA 16 year old Team Member Danie Lakey talks about why she likes training

United MMA - Danie Lakey Testimonial from UNITED MMA on Vimeo.

United MMA Kids Classes Going Strong

United MMA kids have some fun after tournament training!

Why Quality Instruction is Crucial When Choosing a MMA School

Patrick Head March 2013

People choose to train mixed martial arts for a variety of reasons.  Some take the sport very seriously and want to participate in competitions and perhaps even become professional fighters someday, whereas others see the sport simply as a fun way to stay in shape.  If you are in the latter category and are not very serious about participating in the sport on a competitive level, you might mistakenly assume that receiving quality instruction is not important in your case and that all you really need is a teacher who knows just enough about the techniques to make the sport fun and physically challenging.   

The truth is, however, that picking a gym with high quality instruction is crucial no matter what reason you have for wanting to train, and this is mainly because lower quality instruction often carries with it a much higher risk of injury.  If you have ever seen mixed martial arts matches on television, you know that the sport can be very violent and even dangerous if it is not properly controlled. Although training mixed martial arts at a gym may not be nearly as dangerous as participating in professional fighting, students at MMA gyms still run a high risk of getting injured if their instructors do not properly inform them on how to stay safe.  Quality MMA instructors can almost completely eliminate this risk of injury by making sure that students understand how to perform moves slowly, carefully, and with minimal force so that no one gets hurt, but less qualified teachers may be comparatively negligent in this area.

Mixed martial arts is the most extreme combat sport a person can train in, and it requires knowledge of a multitude of different martial art disciplines.  Students who practice this sport are required to learn how to fight effectively both from standing and on the ground through utilizing striking, grappling, and takedown techniques.  Low quality gyms will often have one person teaching in all of these different disciplines even though they are only experts in one of them, and this is definitely not an ideal situation from a risk management perspective.  For example, if an instructor is an expert boxer but is teaching Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in spite of the fact that he is not very well-versed in grappling techniques, he will be slower to notice when a student is performing a move that is going to injure her partner, and he may also neglect to teach students the important safety techniques that are associated with this sport such as the proper way a person should land when an opponent throws them to the ground. 

Another reason that training at a low quality gym is not as safe as training at a gym that prides itself in having high-quality instruction is that lower quality gyms tend to attract a less dedicated crowd.  When this happens, the gym obtains a number of members who saw violent UFC fights on television and have decided that they want to try to inflict that kind of damage to others themselves.  These individuals are not really interested in learning techniques, and their aggression and lack of respect for the sport will likely result in injury to their training partners.  A gym with quality instruction will quickly teach these individuals that practicing mixed martial arts requires discipline and respect and is not about just beating people up.  Any dojo that is worth training at will not allow people who refuse to respect their partners on the mat so that the safety of their students will not be compromised.  To find high quality MMA instruction in the Nederland, Texas area, please check out our website at www.unitedmmafight.com.

Choke the One You Love - A Southeast Texas MMA Gym Brings Families Together

Nederland, TX, Feb 04, 2013 — In today’s fast-paced world, achieving family unity can be difficult. With so many distractions working to prevent parents and children from connecting with each other on a meaningful level, it is very important that families make a conscious effort to spend time together by participating in activities that everyone can enjoy.

At a new MMA gym in Nederland, TX there is no better activity for bringing a family together than Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In most sport activities such as soccer or football, a parent can only coach or cheer for their children from the sidelines, but in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu they can actually get on the mat with them and learn and train techniques together.

Participating in a physical activity with your children is a great way to bring your family together while promoting healthy lifestyle choices, a benefit that cannot be overemphasized here Southeast Texas, where obesity rates are well above the national average. While a Dad may look to lose weight, his son is excited to learn a submission he saw in the last UFC. Meanwhile, a Mom is learning real life, self-defense.

Family members and training partners learn to be very reliant on one another to improve their skills. The kicks and punches that are taught in other martial arts can be practiced on bags or even in the air, but a majority of the grappling techniques taught in Jiu-Jitsu cannot be performed without another person.

As participants move up in skill level, they begin to teach test one another, and they are constantly pushing each other to perfect their techniques. Working directly with one another to advance their skills creates a unique bond between family members as they advance through the sport.

Anyone who trains Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu will tell you that this amazing martial art is more than just a sport; it is a way of life. The philosophy of respect, self-control, and perseverance that you learn on the mat extends naturally into all other aspects of your life making you a more considerate and cooperative human being. By participating in this sport, children and their parents learn how to depend on one another and help each other grow. This mutual reliance is what being a family is all about, and this is why Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is such an effective activity for promoting family togetherness.

Patrick Head opened United MMA in August 2013 in Nederland, Texas. United MMA offers classes for MMA, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Boxing. Patrick Head is a Gracie Barra Black belt, 2008 Pan American Champion, 2009 Bronze Medalist in NOGI World Championship, and has 18 Years of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training.