Finally a question I feel I have some expertise in. I should say that I take MMA pretty seriously (specifically muay thai kickboxing, straight boxing, brazilian jiujitsu, and wrestling), but don't have much experience with KM.

 

1) Start a KM or MMA class NOW, while simultaneously improving other areas of fitness. I will say though that you should start a heavy lifting program (Pull/Push/Squat routine or Google either Bill Starr's 5x5 or Mark Ripptoes "Starting strength), start a high intensity conditioning program (google HIIT, Tabata, and Sprint training), and you should fix up your diet (google "John Berardi's 7 habits"...he is the fucking man when it comes to sports nutrition).

 

2) Depends on your goals. As a beginner, I'd go 2-3 times a week and go from there.

 

3) Go and watch a class. A truly effective KM or MMA gym is going to have a quality instructor who teaches proper form and technique, they should have a good deal of full contact sparring, etc. Not sure your country of origin or location, but a Straight Blast Gym is extremely well respected. My gym is a SBG, and they have extremely high standards. Note that SBG is an association and NOT a mcdojo chain thing. Go to or google them. SBG is a big believer in "Aliveness" (full contact sparring), and trust me, it shows. Right now, my relatively small gym in Alabama has 3 pro fighters and they have won like 13 straight fights.

 

Things to avoid:

 

*Any kind of mcdojo that is teaching a watered down version of KM or MMA. Alot of times as popularity of an art expands, so does the number of posers (usually in the form of local karate/Taekwondo gyms) start teaching arts they absolutely should not be teaching. Alot of these mcdojos teach "Kickboxing and jiujitsu", but are not true forms of either. Avoid them.

 

*Bodybuilding isolation routines. Don't hit the gym doing a bodybuilding routine, you want to be doing heavy compound movements like Squats, Overhead Press or Bench Press, and Deadlifts (among other things).

 

*Workout routines like Matt Furey, and those that claim "functional strength" The exception is crossfit though, as they can be very effective. Functional strength = Strength that is applied functionally, so its best to do a mixture of heavylifting and plyos.

 

*Conditioning workouts that are almost all LSD/Aerobic in nature. There is absolutely a time and place to do some Aerobic work (LSD), however, fighting is almost all anaerobic in nature. So a mixture of HIIT, Sprints, Tabata, and LSD is best.

 

Head over to sherdog.net, they will hook you up. I belong their under the name ""Bamaispriceless". Head over to the training forums (they have a standup, grappling, strength and power, conditioning, and diet and supplmentation forum), and ask them there. You will get much better responses about such things then you would here.

1. In the place I have looked at Krav Maga is taught at different levels (kiddo programs to police programs) but the levels probably amed at me would be "fitness" and "self-defense". Keeping my really poor physical shape in mind, what would you reccomend? (I will be going there tomorrow evening to see where I am really elgible for).

 

2. Yeah, 2 or 3 times at maybe 1-1.5 hours is the max I can devote per week.

 

3. Will do.

 

KM seems to be relatively new and rare here (Mid-Atlantic), so there is reasonable chances that they haven't been diluted through franchization. Yes, I know what you mean by Karate and Tae-Kwon-Do McDojos...

 

Anyway thanks for all the advice.

Honestly, I'm not too up on KM, so I'm not sure which class you should take. Personally, I'd talk to the instructor and see what he recommends. Just tell him  your entire situation and see what he says. Have you thought about giving MMA a try?