Question about MMA .......Im myself am claustrophobic and when ever ive been in a street fight and ive been on the one on the ground ive felt that claustrophobia creeping in. My question is do you MMA fighters have to train to be able to stay composed under that kind of pressure/attack or can you train for that ? because i was thinking if i had some dude had his knee on my kneck and he was able to hit me and he was able to keep me there for over 10 min ......i think i would struggle to stay composed i think i would panic, because of that claustrophobia.

stupid question maybe, but please try to answer.

I see a lot of guys who panic on the ground, and it may be the same feeling you go through.


A lot of times, an inexperienced ground fighter tends to be very tense on the ground, which adds to the anxiety. The key is staying relaxed, though this is mostly accomplished through more and more time spent on your back unfortunately. Its all about your comfort level.

I see a lot of guys who panic on the ground, and it may be the same feeling you go through.


A lot of times, an inexperienced ground fighter tends to be very tense on the ground, which adds to the anxiety. The key is staying relaxed, though this is mostly accomplished through more and more time spent on your back unfortunately. Its all about your comfort level.

Have you ever had any trouble first starting out?

Like MOREBASS said, it's an experience thing. Even after you first learn the techniques, the tendency is for beginners to just panic and start frantically trying to push your opponent off you, which drains you of energy completely in a few minutes, and that's just in pure grappling terms. If you add in strikes, it makes it harder and it can make some of the most experienced grapplers in the world panic.

Like MOREBASS said, it's an experience thing. Even after you first learn the techniques, the tendency is for beginners to just panic and start frantically trying to push your opponent off you, which drains you of energy completely in a few minutes, and that's just in pure grappling terms. If you add in strikes, it makes it harder and it can make some of the most experienced grapplers in the world panic.

Yeah i can see that, when panic sets in id hazzard a guess your body gets tighter and burns up more energy etc.

Yeah i can see that, when panic sets in id hazzard a guess your body gets tighter and burns up more energy etc.

I remember the first time I ever grappled. I was obviously getting owned, completely dead, limbs were burning, and my instructor walked past. I looked up and asked "how long have we been going?".

"Two minutes".

In spite of how he fought last night, the majority of Nogueira's career has been a perfect depiction of a fighter that survives under pressure. There have been so many times when he's been rocked, on his back, but he always managed to stay moving to keep the referee from stopping the fight.

Fedor also showed it perfectly against Randleman. He got supplexed onto his neck, had Randleman on top of him, but was able to maintain perfect clarity of mind.

Stuff like that is the mark of a truely great fighter.

Good question.

I have a friend who trains in Wrestling and BJJ at Bispings camp and he said it is scary when they start tryin to mount ya for the first time and panic mode kicks in straight away.

Have you ever had any trouble first starting out?

Most definitely.

I had trouble relaxing...and would always try to use all of my strength and might to try and lift the guy off of me...rather than using leverage to get the other guy off balance.

Also, your breathing is very important when you're on the ground, as its very easy to get exhausted, and thats when you end up in very bad positions.