How to learn MMA, even if there is nowhere to train in your town

Are you interested in learning MMA but live in a small town with no quality training available?

If so, you’re at a disadvantage.

At least that’s what many believe.

Without proper guidance and training, it’s easy to get frustrated and give up on your dreams of mastering MMA.

You are passionate about combat sports, yet feel like you’re not making any progress because you live in a small town that doesn’t have proper MMA infrastructure.

Or maybe your town does have MMA clubs, but not of good quality, and you don’t want questionable coaches training you.

You watch MMA fights on TV and tutorials on youtube, but you feel stuck because there’s no one around to teach you the skills you need properly.

You’re left to your own devices, trying to figure out the right techniques through trial and error. It’s frustrating, discouraging, and it feels like you’re wasting your time.

If you hate that you cannot get proper MMA training just because of your location, I completely understand and it’s not your fault.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

I will explain exactly how you can overcome that.

What if I told you that not having regular access to quality MMA training can actually be a huge advantage?

Yes, I’m serious.

More on that later…

How I became undefeated even though I lived in MMA backwater

My name is Mark Lajhner, I’m undefeated in MMA and have coached thousands of people over the years.

I was once like you and had problems finding proper coaching.

Even though I live in Belgrade which is the capital of Serbia, that has many combat sports clubs including MMA, it was not always like that.

When I switched from Judo to MMA in 2005, Belgrade had just a few fledgling MMA clubs that consisted of several enthusiasts training in stuffy basements on thin puzzle mats.

Although our beginnings were humble, we (the MMA enthusiasts) had two very important traits that separated us from other well-established combat sports, and made us improve extremely quickly.

Insatiable curiosity and an open mind.

My Judo club was the exact opposite.

Closed-minded individuals who thought that Judo was the best combat sport, not even considering other arts.

They didn’t even have an open mind when it came to Judo itself which resulted in never trying anything new or experimenting.

Other combat sports clubs were the same too.

I guess it’s human nature to resist changes.

But we were different.

The problem was that we didn’t know how to train properly.

Some knew a bit of striking.

Others like me had good takedowns.

Some attended BJJ and MMA seminars abroad and showed us what they learned.

We also watched instructionals and taught ourselves the techniques we saw there.

So we jerry-rigged our training that way.

YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO DO THE SAME

We also brought some big BJJ names to Serbia for seminars and learned from them. Seminars are great but they last only a couple of hours.

Then what?

Not having MMA in your town is a huge advantage

Remember when I told you that not having regular access to quality MMA training can actually be a huge advantage?

To explain why, I will relay what I was told by a Brazilian instructor who did a seminar in Belgrade in the early days.

He said (in broken English):
“Brazilians – favela. Europeans – methodological.”

What he meant was that Brazilians tend to be lazy as BJJ and MMA training is readily available.

Europeans on the other hand didn’t have MMA and BJJ served on a silver platter back then, so we had to work for it.

That included watching instructionals, writing things down from the seminars, and generally becoming more methodological.

That’s what I meant when I said it can be a huge advantage not having regular access to MMA training.

You are forced to become methodological.

To write things down.
To arrange them in your mind in the most logical manner.
To build “trees” of techniques.
To question the efficacy of certain ways of fighting.
To reject what doesn’t work and keep what works (like Bruce Lee).
In other words: to think for yourself and get a deep understanding of MMA.

You can even start a club when you become good enough and not have any competition in your town. Everybody will come and train with you.

THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED TO ME AND WHAT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU.

It will give you a huge advantage over the guys training in big cities that have everything easy.

An expert will hyper-accelerate your progress

Soon after I started training MMA, I was able to travel to Sweden and spent many months there learning from a great expert.

HE WAS CRUCIAL AND HELPED ME SHAVE YEARS OFF MY LEARNING CURVE.

If I had an expert like that in my Judo days, who knows what I could have achieved?

I wrote everything down, taught guys in my club, improved on what I learned, and become significantly better each time I went back to Sweden.

When I think about it, NOT being in Sweden all the time improved my skills quite a bit because I had to think about and practice what I’ve learned there over and over.

I will help you do the same

You won’t have to travel or spend many months away from home like I did.

To get you started, I’ve chosen some of the most important MMA basics for you to learn.

The kind of structured knowledge I would kill for back in the day.

The foundation.

I have done martial arts for over 32 years and spent over $55.000 in order to get this knowledge.

It’s not just a result of me sparing no expenses, traveling all over the world, and learning from the best coaches and fighters.

That’s just a part of it.

I also tested everything in the hardest competitive environment, oftentimes got hurt, tested again, and refined the system.

To say it was hard would be an understatement.

I’ve bled for this knowledge, had five surgeries, my face rearranged (my nose was broken and ended up on one side of my face), muscles on the left side of my body stopped working almost entirely due to nerve damage, and I also had many other injuries.

My friends call me “extremist”, but that’s just me.

I needed to test everything and left no stone unturned.

The cost was high and I learned the hard way.

But you don’t have to and I’ll save you the time and suffering.

No need to think about how to train properly.

It’s all laid out for you in my Beginner’s MMA Blueprint.

Beginner’s MMA Blueprint

$27

You will be directed to the page where you can access the videos immediately after the purchase.

What’s in it and how will it improve you?

HOW TO WARM UP FOR MMA TRAINING

Warm-ups can be done in several different ways, and one of them is a general warm-up without fight-specific exercises.

While you can warm up that way, and I will show you the general warm-up, it is a shame to waste your time not doing anything MMA related during warm-up.

Therefore I will show you three types of warm-ups, depending on what you’re going to train that day:

1. Striking warm-up.

If you’re training striking that day, I’ll show you exactly how to prepare yourself for it with striking-specific warm-up exercises that will help you ingrain the needed skills.

2. Wrestling warm-up

Wrestling can be challenging and tough on the body. With this warm-up, you will prepare your body for training, gain strength, and learn the proper body posture needed for some takedowns.

You will learn breakfalling techniques too so you don’t get injured in wrestling. And it’s all incorporated in the warm-up.

3. Ground fighting warm-up

It will loosen you up and teach you basic skills for escapes and how to move specifically on the ground. To most people, this is not instinctive as we move walking on two feet.

Moving on the ground is entirely different, as the hips are used mostly and it is crucial that you master it.

On top of that, we have some fun animal movements that are not just great for motor skills development but also for conditioning.

4. Shadowboxing for MMA

This exercise is not just striking-oriented as we will introduce some wrestling and ground fighting elements to it.

I will show you how to approach shadowboxing, where to look, what to imagine, and why this is actually “visualization in movement”.

5. Warm up miscellaneous

While I will give you specific warm-ups where you don’t have to think about anything and just repeat them after me, I will also explain how to combine elements of each warm-up so it’s not always the same.

I will tell you how much it needs to last and what to do after.

BOXING BASICS

It all begins with boxing as that’s the foundation of MMA’s stand-up game.

I will teach you step-by-step:

• How to assume a fighting stance best suited for MMA so it’s more difficult for your opponents to kick you and take you down, while you’ll be in a perfect position to attack.

• How to move properly so you’re not a sitting duck. Movement is very important not just for defense but for attack too and I will show you how to easily drill to close the distance, punch, and get back to safety.

As my old boxing coach used to say: “The goal in boxing is to beat the other guy up, not to beat each other up”.

• Preparational exercises for punches so will understand them easily.

• How to punch technically without tiring yourself out.

Once mastered properly, you will be using your legs and body to punch effortlessly and with great power. Arms are just the “last link in the chain”.

• Basic combinations and how to use them so you improve your chances of landing a punch.

• How to hold the boxing mitts so you and your training partner can practice punches dynamically.

It’s not just about standing there and lifting your mitts up from time to time.
It’s actually the opposite as we need to move around, judge the distance properly and feed our partner mitts.

I will teach you how to compensate for the distance as punching the pads and punching a person is not the same.

• How to conquer the fear of getting hit in the face so you stop flinching.

Being cold-blooded in combat is one of the most desirable traits a fighter can have.

Striking can be very stressful as it is not natural to humans. Fists and shins flying to your face can make you nervous, close your eyes, turn your head and flinch.

While these reactions are natural, you want to eliminate them or at least reduce them to be successful in striking.

And that’s exactly what I’ll show you – exercises to gradually make you less afraid and desensitize you to stress.

• How to condition your body to take strikes

While we don’t want to get hit, it is impossible to avoid it all the time.

The head cannot be conditioned to get hit, but the body can, so I will show you a few drills to increase your tolerance for taking strikes to the body so you don’t get surprised in a fight.

One of the methods I use is definitely not what you expect and it involves kids.

THE MOST IMPORTANT KICK

If you think you must be flexible to be an effective kicker, you’re wrong.

The most effective kick in the world is the low kick.

It doesn’t require flexibility but it does require technique, setups, and conditioning.

It has helped me win fights and even one well-placed kick can wreak havoc on your opponent. I will show you 3 ways to do it and also some setups.

And I deliberately will not show you other kicks as what you’re already getting will keep you busy training for some time.

Low kick is the most used kick in fighting and you need to master it before moving on to others.

MMA WRESTLING

They say that wrestling is the most important part of MMA. Some people avoid it because it’s hard, but it doesn’t have to be that way if you know what you’re doing.

• Double leg takedown for MMA

Double leg is the most used takedown in MMA and yet many people have a hard time making it work.

I will show you several ways to do it which include:

• High double leg How to bridge the distance and how to lift correctly – most people get this part wrong),
• The easiest (but highly effective) version of the double leg,
• 8 double leg drills so it can become second nature,
• Double leg off the cage which is how many UFC fighters get this takedown. I will show you the correct pressure details without which you’ll get sprawled on and destroyed with GNP.
• A small tip for a KILLER double leg.
• 6 most common double leg mistakes which kill any chance of you hitting it. Eliminate them and start running through people like a hot knife through butter.
• Outside trip off the cage

This is absolutely the easiest clinch takedown you can do against the cage, yet many fighters just don’t use the opportunity to go for it.

Why?

Because they don’t know when is the right time.

I will show you when you can easily get it and exactly how to hit it.

$27

You will be directed to the page where you can access the videos immediately after the purchase.

GROUND FIGHTING

MMA ground fighting is NOT BJJ.

It has a lot of BJJ in it, but it is not BJJ and you need to know how to modify your ground game to suit MMA, otherwise, you will get destroyed.

Here is what I think you should learn:

• Getting up using the cage

Get-ups are one of the most important techniques in MMA.

They are not sexy like some submissions or flashy kicks but are extremely important as you don’t want to be on the bottom in most cases.

That is why I’ll show you how to get up using the cage as it’s easier to do it that way than without it.

A cage can be your friend or enemy. We’ll make it our friend.

• Two easy ways to escape the mount

You don’t like it when a guy is sitting on your chest, heavy as a building, and raining down blows?

Me neither.

I used to get dominated in mount until I learned these two easy escapes that made all the difference in the world if you know what you’re doing.

I will show you the correct way to do an elbow escape and a hip escape which are very similar, so you’ll never have to get punched by a guy sitting on your chest again.

He will not know what hit him and will feel like he’s riding a giant squirming eel.
You’ll be out and attacking before he figures out what’s going on.

• Two easy ways to take the back and finish with a RNC

RNC is the highest percentage submission for a reason, and you need to know how to execute it.

But first, you need to take the back and I’ll show you two ways to get it and finish the choke.

• Guillotine defense

The guillotine choke is another high-percentage submission and it can be tough to escape it. Unless you know what you’re doing. Then it’s not so hard.

In this video, I’ll show you what pros concentrate on when defending the guillotine.

It’s not the arm.

And I’ll show you how to get out both early and late in the guillotine.

• How to improve with lowered-skilled partners

Many think that you can only improve with more skillful training partners.

That is simply not true.

Not only can you improve with lesser skilled partners, but you have to try things on them in order to progress.

In this video, I’ll show you what you need to do specifically so you make both your and their training worthwhile, and so you can both improve.

HOW TO GET STARTED TRAINING EVEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE A PARTNER

MMA cannot be practiced alone and you definitely need at least one training partner.

If you don’t have one to train with, I’ll tell you how to find him.

HOW TO BUILD AN INEXPENSIVE GYM IN YOUR BASEMENT OR GARAGE OR RENT ONE CHEAP

While striking can be practiced outside or on a hard floor, for wrestling and ground fighting you will need a matted area.

If you don’t have anywhere to build a gym, I’ll show you how to train with mats outside and which ones to buy.

If you have a garage or a basement, I will help you build a high-quality but cheap gym with step-by-step instructions. Just like I built one for myself.

If you don’t want to build a gym or train outside, we’ll discuss how you can rent a gym somewhere on the cheap.

BASICS, BASICS

Many people are looking for that silver bullet.

The secret technique that will make them defeat all opponents.

Do you know what it is?

Basics.

I rigidly insist on sound basics in the beginning.

That is the gateway to mastery and doing complex stuff later.

Fancy stuff works, but we first need to learn the rules in order to break them.

I liken the learning basics to learning how to write in school.

First, you are taught the vertical and horizontal lines, then individual letters, then words, then sentences, then essays, and only then can you write a book.

The same applies to fighting.

Concentrating on basics is what will get you to mastery the fastest.

I’m a basics nazi and will drill them into you until you can do them half-asleep when I wake you up at 3 AM.

Until you shrimp and turtle out of bed in the morning.

That’s how I brainwashed myself.

I deliberately chose just what I think you should be working on first.

Not 1000 techniques to impress you.

Just a select few to actually make you better and on the road to MMA mastery.

The ones I do show you are taught in great detail.

In a structured, logical, and easy-to-understand way.

The simplicity and the structure are the keys to this instruction.

Let’s sum it all up

You’ll learn:

• How to warm up for several types of training.
• A basic boxing instructional.
• All you need to master the double leg takedown.
• How to master the low kick.
• The easiest takedown off the cage.
• How to get up using the cage.
• Two ways to escape the mount.
• Two ways to take the back and apply the RNC.
• Guillotine defense.
• How to improve with lowered skilled partners.
• Step-by-step instructions on how to build an inexpensive but high-quality gym in your garage, basement, or backyard.
• How to find a training partner if you don’t have one.

Look, I’m not saying this is a complete MMA program that covers all techniques and all areas.

For something similar to that, you’d have to purchase all my instructionals.

This will however get you started in the right direction and give you very valuable foundations.

I believe you will not find a product like this anywhere.

Not for $27.

Use this opportunity to buy it as the price is going up soon.

Click on the buy button and I’ll see you on the other side.

$27

You will be directed to the page where you can access the videos immediately after the purchase.

What others have to say:

Outstanding and precise

I have spent more than 34 years in martial arts. Originally Karate and then Kick Boxing. For many years I have been doing Russian Systema, I’m an international instructor and travel all over the world doing seminars.

Two years ago I created my own system called Homo Ludens (Playing Man) which is based on Russian Systema and also incorporates other martial arts and especially MMA which is my greatest love.

The first time I had contact with MMA was in early 90’s in USA, and today I think it is the “axle” of modern martial arts. It is actually an “epicenter” of modern combat.

Mark Lajhner is my friend and coach with whom I train MMA 3 x per week privately. He has helped me tremendously, keeps me in great shape and I incorporate parts of MMA into my system.

What I find very important and what keeps me coming for more is his exceptional precision as a coach, he is a professional who is on the path of continual education and constant improvement. He is sometimes rigorous and I like that.

His methodology is outstanding and precise, and Mark is constantly evolving in his knowledge and methodology. If you’re interested in ground fighting, I highly recommend that you buy this instructional.

You won’t be disappointed.

Alex Kostić
Homo Ludens Martial Art

Incredible educator

Mark Lajhner is one of those rare occurrences in the world of martial arts, where an elite level athlete manages to evolve into an exceptionally good coach.

I have been working in athletic performance enhancement for quite a few years and my main focus is the development of the most effective teaching methods to accelerate learning in combat athletes, so it is quite hard for me to get impressed by an instructor’s teaching skills.

Still, when I visited Mark’s Kaizen MMA Academy and had the opportunity to train there, I was mind-blown by how incredible an educator Mark is.

He explains techniques with just the right ratio of explanation to demonstration and breaks them down to partial skills, gradually progressing from easy to hard, simple to complex, known to unknown.

The result is something I have rarely seen in my twenty five years of martial arts training: all the students seem to absorb the knowledge and get his point simultaneously!

If you want to build your MMA game on a solid basis that allows you to constantly improve, I’d say you can’t do better than train with Mark in person, in the Kaizen MMA Academy or in one of his summer camps.

If this is not an option, his instructional DVDs is the next best thing. You will be surprised by how good you can be in the MMA game – I guarantee that!

Spyro Katsigiannis
Dynamo Kettlebells

Such a well thought-out training

Mark is, in my opinion, definitely one of the best coaches in Serbia generally, not just in martial arts.

I haven’t gone to other clubs except Kaizen MMA, but I went to many kickboxing clubs in Belgrade, Kraljevo and Kragujevac – and I also visited several Boxing and Karate clubs in various cities in Serbia, but never have I met such a well thought-out training like I did in Mark’s academy. At least not in Serbia.

What I really like is the methodology and logic of training, Mark’s continuous development and improvement of his own coaching/didactic/pedagogical abilities, and indeed this is not often the case in our region.

Many of the things I learned from Mark I apply to coaching in my academy in Basel, because his method of transferring knowledge and skills may be easily and successfully applied to other martial arts as well.

Aleksandar Avram
Basel, Switzerland
Optima Sportsclub

Knowledgeable and to the point

I began competing rather late, at the age of 34. Rather than physical attributes, I always emphasized skill, tactics and an open mind always ready to learn and improve.

In my first MMA team, I immediately established a great cooperation, that last even today, with coach Mark Lajhner, who was also a fighter at the time. In him I recognized an expert who was knowledgeable and to the point, precise and clear, something I was aiming for. 

Mark has helped me to become one of the best Serbian MMA fighters, despite being a lot older than most competitors. He can help you too!

Dragutin “Beli” Milosevic
Home of MMA

Amazing!

I’m a completely different guy after 3 years.

Edson Santiago
Brazilian diplomat

Mark has elevated my game to another level

I started my martial arts journey around 8 years ago at Mark’s MMA Academy. What drew me in was the enormous MMA knowledge Mark possesses, and the seamless way he passes it on.

Over the years, I have cross-trained with different coaches in various  disciplines, but found Mark’s system to be easiest to understand and implement.

MMA is a complex sport, and requires an extremely skilled and experienced individual to teach it the right way, which Mark definitely is.

Working with Mark has elevated my game to another level, got me several amateur gold medals and amazing experiences. I

f you are looking to embark  on the martial arts journey, get fit and strong, Mark is one of the best coaches to guide you.

Marko Davitkov
Kaizen MMA Akademija

So much more than I expected!

Mark is an exceptional coach. Super sharp and technical in all aspects of MMA. I found his views and experience really important to my training.

I planned on staying for a week but extended my stay for a month.

He us super sharp not just on technical training, but also on  injury prevention, safety in training, nutrition and mental side of training.

He adapted his approach to me not having trained much for a while and tailored it to what I really need. 

I’d recommend Mark to anyone. No matter what age or experience you have. Mark really revived my enthusiasm for MMA again, so I’m going to continue training. 

My experience here was exceptional and I cannot recommend Mark or his school highly enough.

Peter Savvas
Sidney, Australia

Very precise!

I found Mark by searching the internet. I’m a beginner with 6 months of Muay Thai training, and just a little bit of MMA.

I flew to Belgrade to train Muay Thai with Mark for a week, and to get a basic understanding of what MMA is.

Training was very good, not too hard, a lot of techniques and Mark as a coach is very precise. He adapted the training to my level and we did the basic things again and again, and that’s great. I learned a lot this week.

I would highly recommend Mark to anyone looking to improve in martial arts.

Mira Lehtinen
Turku, Finland

$27

You will be directed to the page where you can access the videos immediately after the purchase.