MMA in the Midwest

I know that mma is fairly popular in california and that the west coast is littered with various mma camps, but i cant seem to find a place in wichita, KS that specializes in mma. theres lots of different martial arts academies but not anything that brings them together or specializes in the sport of mma. I heard that there was a place in Topeka but ive never seen it. Myabe mma just hasnt spread across the country that far yet...

I'm from the UK and I have no idea, but I will ask friends on other sites and see if I can find out any information for you, that being if nobody else has anything to offer..

I really don't think there are many MMA Gyms in the Midwest. Your best bet would be to find a good Kickboxing gym and a good Jiu-Jitsu gym and just cross train. Or move to St. Louis and train at Finney's.



I'm going to plug my gym every chance I get.

ya i would love to learn some kickboxing, but it seems like u never know what ur going to get with all these tae-go and aerobic kickboxing classes and gyms around. Theres a muy-thai place in my city im thinking about joining... and thats about as close as it gets

Try and do a little investigating and find out if any gyms around your area actually sponsor figters. If they do then they are most definitely a "fight gym." Shamrock Promotions puts on about 5 Midwest Fight Fests per year which is a mixed Kickboxing/Boxing/MMA event and we have fighters come from all over the place, Kansas included. Just look up Martial Arts in the phone book and start calling schools and asking questions.

Go to www.fightresource.com. you should be able to find something there.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu of Wichita

is there really a bjj place in wichita?! i saw some judo places and muy-thai in the phone book but no bjj place, must be fairly new

A bit far from the area you are describing, perhaps, but MMA gyms are thriving in Ohio. There are quite a few in Columbus alone. We also have several events per year, both amateur and pro. I just participated in my first Octagon fight on 1/27 in Columbus and it was a blast.

Janjira Muay Thai is in the phonebook, located on south Oliver. There is a boxing, muay thai, and bjj instructor under the same roof. They put on the Midwest Cage Combat at the Cotillion.

I live in KC and there isn't really shit here either. I was taking kickboxing with an independant guy and training BJJ with the police academy. I know theres a division of ATT in columbia missouri. I wish there was a more complete MMA training center located in the midwest. Would be totally kickass.

I feel everyone's pain. I live in southern Indiana and it seems like all we have here is karate.

i live in northeast missouri, and you are lucky if you can find something other than tai kwon do around here

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Posted by Gladiator

ya i would love to learn some kickboxing, but it seems like u never know what ur going to get with all these tae-go and aerobic kickboxing classes and gyms around. Theres a muy-thai place in my city im thinking about joining... and thats about as close as it gets

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I tell everyone to start out with boxing, or traditional kickboxing before stepping up to Muay Thai. Muay Thai(atleast for me, and a lot of other people I've talked to) is much much more of a commitment. Start off with something that focuses more on technique like boxing/kickboxing, and then when you think you're ready step on over to the thai bags. The main difference I've experienced/heard is that Muay Thai is basically a much higher level of intensity because they incorporate a lot of cardio into the workouts as well.

Check out the local kickboxing gym, find out what they offer. But don't join any of that tae-bo or cardio kickboxing stuff. Thats for what exactly it says, cardio. They don't stress technique, and you most likely won't do ANY live sparring, which gets you nowhere. Hope it helps.

actually ive got good news for anybody else in wichita, KS theres actually a place here called The Dog Pound that is a gym specifically built for boxing, jiu-jitsu, and MMA purposes. i was just there last week and its a really nice facility, they have lots of trainers and classes for each disipline except muy-thai right now. im going to join later this month but i dont know if i should start off with MMA first or just learn some basic boxing, im not exactly sure what the MMA class teaches but i imagine it covers ground and standup. anyone in the area should definitely check it out, if its your first time there u get a pass for 2 free sessions, they have sparring three times a week and a competetive MMA league, they sponser the Chaos in the Colloseum events.

if you can't find anything local, grab some friends and roll. alot of these mma gyms have started from nothing but some guys wanting to roll. rolling is 1 thing getting good instruction is another. find someplace you could travel to on weekend and get run over. take techinque home and teach partners. But striking i would find a gym, learn from a pro good habit, good tech.

Anyone looking in the midwest need look no further than Iowa. There are at least 10 different MMA training acadamies. I will try to get info on them all and post.

One that I know of if you are really serious is MFS. I know a couple people that have trained with Militich and if you want it bad enough it can happen.

Im a little distance from you guys (Emporia Kansas), but I have encountered the same problem. So I am currently in the process of trying to open a facility here...Granted it isnt going to be HUGE (at least early on ) but we are going to host fights and stuff. PM me if you are interested in me keeping you posted. It would be awesome to draw fighters from your area! Also, if anyone knows any trainers in specific disciplines that are looking to teach classes, give me a pm!

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Posted by Brick

A bit far from the area you are describing, perhaps, but MMA gyms are thriving in Ohio. There are quite a few in Columbus alone. We also have several events per year, both amateur and pro. I just participated in my first Octagon fight on 1/27 in Columbus and it was a blast.

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What promotion did you fight for??

Bo Kimly's??
Hammerhouse??
NAAFS??

Yeah im not sure what all is in kansas

I know illinois, minnesota and iowa all have very good trainers and facilities available but im not sure kansas

I lived in Columbus for about 9 years. A couple of friends of mine used to fight in Bo Kimly's events at Promo West Pavilion (called something else now) back in like 2002 and 2003. It was great time watching those guys fight. I can definitely attest that MMA is HUGE in Ohio and has been for a while.

I live in NC now and the state recently passed a law and started allowing MMA events. I went to Ruckus in the Cage in Charlotte a couple weeks ago. It was a very good ametuer event and the skill level was higher than I thought it would be. Looking forward to many more shows in NC.

I know nothing about Kansas though.