The Art of MMA – How Dance Training Can Help MMA Fighters

I grew up surrounded by dance. Movement was everywhere around me in twists, turns, pivots, pirouettes, and point shoes. Despite the fact that it has been years since I’ve taken a dance class, it should be of no surprise that dance is still lurking around there in my subconscious and it sometimes pops into the forefront of my mind when I least expect it.

I spent Saturday evening parked in front of my TV, eyes darting between the screen showing UFC 240 and my phone where I was “live tweeting.” I woke up the next morning and watched the end of the PPV and all of a sudden it dawned on me: fighters like Jon Jones and Max Holloway are remarkable not because they are the most powerful fighters, but because they know how to move.

It is a fighter’s tiny movements, head darting from side to side, and larger movements, legs sweeping through the air and arms swinging, that make a fighter successful. It is when all of those movements come together with rhythm and ease that a fighter is positioned to win a fight. And if a fighter knows how to safely fall, all the better (there are classes btw on “how to fall” properly).

I wondered if this was just me or if anyone else had the crazy thought that fighters should take a dance class. As it turns out, I am not alone in this theory. This article from Dance Magazine explains one fighter’s experience with Ballet.

Here, Evolve Vacation lists a number of famous athletes in combat sports who benefited from a healthy does of dance. Ballet even shows up in this article from the Bleacher Report.

So, apparently, I’m not the only one who has made this connection!

As it turns out, Dance and MMA are intertwined, like a yin/yang symbol they compliment each other while having almost opposite characteristics. Dance is calm, intentional, and focused whereas fighting is violent, fast, and wild. But in reality, you have to be both a dancer and a fighter in order to succeed in MMA because when you are violently calm, intentionally fast, and wildly focused, you can take on any opponent (and you can do it gracefully).