Archive for the ‘Articles’ Category

What is PAK MMA to me?

Posted on: May 14th, 2013 by admin No Comments

Ali Haider has been a part of the Pak MMA team for over 2 years now, he is not just a fan of the sport but also a fan of MMA in Pakistan,  he is a devoted  member of the team and will be writing frequently for the page.

 

Pak MMA means a lot to me because I have personally learnt a lot of things from it. I would like you to know what Pakmma is? Pak MMA, MIXED MARTIAL ARTS in PAKISTAN, is an organization, based in Lahore, and has its Gym named Synergy MMA academy.  PAKMMA is founded by the famous and beloved Bashir Ahmad. He came from the States and his dream was to bring this game of MMA into Pakistan. He left states and came to Pakistan and started this organization and Gym.

PAK MMA supplies gloves, shin pads, rash guards and many other things related to MMA.

When I first came to the first gym named Shaheen, I was like where have I come, I don’t want to learn boxing, what the heck is this? I took 2 or 3 lessons, I saw the people there and the coach Bashir Ahmad it was amazing. They all were so friendly and I never use to make friends. But when I joined this club I made many friends. Afnan Iftikhar and Waqar Umar became my best friends. They both are like my brother, not like my brothers, they are my brothers.

I used to call Bashir Ahmad “Bashir bhai” from the very start. He is a very honest and a very loving person.

Now we all are like family, Pak MMA is a family. If I am out and I am with my Pak MMA friends and I am late , my mom calls me and ask where am I? I tell her that I am with my gym friends and she knows that I am fine with them because they also my family.

Now we have a great gym named Synergy MMA Academy owned by Bashir Ahmad we really enjoy there during our trainings. We do very hard training and have a lot of fun. We will start dancing when we are free, have a few jokes, play around with each other, it is just amazing.  It is very difficult to explain in words that how this PAK MMA means to us.

I will always help my PAKMMA team in their hard work and what they are doing for MMA to grow in Pakistan.

My Hangout

Posted on: May 8th, 2013 by admin No Comments

Waleed Shah has been a member of the Pak MMA team for a little less than 2 years, he is an active member of the organization and is seen around all major happenings in the MMA scene in Pakistan. We welcome Waleed Shah to our ever expanding group of writers.

I was introduced to MMA in Pakistan by a very close friend. When I was told that I will be going to a “gym”, I had already perceived how it is going to be. I had in my mind a place where there will be a number of machines for weight lifting, some tread mills and exercise cycles and free weights here and there. What I saw was something akin to a cultural shock.

It was a small basement gym with no exercise cycles, no tread mills, no machines, no grunting and growling guys with bulging muscles. Instead, there was boxing ring in one corner and wrestling mats which doubled both as the exercise and practice area. There were few free weights but nothing like you’d see in a traditional gym. It looked like a minimalist approach to what a gym usually is. This was my 1st visit to Shaheen MMA Academy in DHA Lahore..

I went to the gym because I wanted to lose weight. To me the prospect of learning how to box, fight and to learn how to defend myself while losing weight and getting in shape was exciting as it was completely different than the usual methods used for weight loss. Here, not only I was going to lose weight, I was going to have fun doing that and I was also going to learn new skills. Skills that everyone in my opinion must learn.

I met Bashir Ahmad who was the head coach, trainer and owner. Day one and I was made to go through some of the toughest exercises I have ever had to go through in my whole life. I have played Rugby for Lahore so I was not alien to tough workouts. However, I was neither mentally and in no way physically ready for what I was made to go through. Day 1 at the gym had taught me few things: This is not your traditional gym. They are not just going to help you lose weight, they are going to train you like a warrior. In the next few days, as I started to get to know the guys, I found everyone really warm, really easy going and very friendly. These were guys who would get into the ring every Friday and would punch each other out without holding back. As soon as the bell rang and the round was over, they would be brothers, friends and comrades.

Even though I was told not to push myself too hard, I decided that I was good enough to get into the ring and spar. A freak accident led to an injured knee and I was out for over a year. My weight loss effort had come to an abrupt end. In this one year, a lot changed. Shaheen MMA Academy moved to a new, bigger and better location in DHA and took on a new name. It is now known as Synergy MMA Academy. There are classes in the morning and females have started to come into train as well. From one MMA promotion, we now have 2 MMA promotions in Lahore (VCL & PFC). MMA in Pakistan is now more popular thanks to what Basheer achieved in Singapore. Basheer “the coach” I knew, had won his fight in ONE FC and is widely being recognized for his efforts and rightly as God Father of MMA in Pakistan.

The location of the gym may have changed, MMA in Pakistan may have gained more popularity; the soul of this gym has not changed at all. Besides it being completely different than a traditional gym, this “hang out” is unique in many ways. You will find guys from every level of the society working out at the same time. I have seen CEO’s of companies working out alongside waiters from local restaurants. No one bothers who you are. There is an atmosphere of mutual respect where who you are outside the gym means nothing inside the gym. One will be hard pressed to find such an atmosphere in any gym in Pakistan.

My knee is fine now. I am going to start my “hang out” again. As I do that, I would like to urge anyone who is reading this, to join Synergy. You have no idea what you have been missing out on. Should you decide to give MMA a try @ Synergy, I want you to come with an open mind. You will not find gleaming, chromed, branded equipment. What you will find is: tough workouts that are geared towards results and enriching your quality of life.

This fight is for you Pakistan!

Posted on: May 4th, 2013 by admin No Comments

Mixed Martial Arts Pakistan is very pleased to add Zain Asif to it’s team of writers, who will be posting articles on a weekly basis. Zain is a die hard fan of not just MMA but MMA in Pakistan and has been an avid follower of the organization since the start.

“A man’s inner self is revealed from his speech”. This was the opening statement of a sermon delivered by my Sheikh Dr Shahid Awais DB. This blog is to ask my readers to have an open mind and look at what is going on around us. Open up your eyes and hearts to the truth, accept that we as a nation lack a lot in areas like unity, trust, respect, tolerance, etc and try to build on these areas.
In Feb’ 2013 when I found out Bashir Ahmad ( Bashir Bhai) was given the fight card to fight in ONE FC I was really excited. Started following his posts on his page on Facebook. What increased my respect for Bashir Bhai more was his status on March 10th, 2013 where he said that everyone kept saying this fight was yours, but he replied that this fight is not just mine but this fight is for Pakistan.


Bashir Bhai’s words spoke to me. I would question myself if this man can do something for Pakistan, why am I not doing anything about it. These words revealed what he truly felt. Now I wonder why he was given the title of “Somchai” the real man. His words had been etched into my heart. “This fight is for you Pakistan”.
Pakistan has had legends in the past as well and nearly all of them have a similar story. Pakistan Cricket team won the cricket world cup in 1992 under the captaincy of Imran Khan. Now look at what happened to it. Pakistani cricket team has become famous for charges of corruption, booking matches/match fixing, using drugs, we even had our players sent to jail. Let’s look back a few more years where Pakistani Squash legends like Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan who were world No. 1 professional Squash players from Pakistan. What happened after these 2 legends, did Pakistan stop producing quality players. Boxers like Imtiaz Masood who won Gold Medal in Asian Games 1978 are not even heard of by the public. Great football/soccer legends of the 1960’s Murad Bakhsh, Turab Ali and Yousuf Jr. were never brought out to the public.

Heroes of the 1960s, Murad Bakhsh, Turab Ali and Yousuf Jr.

Murad Bakhsh was living in destitute conditions in Karachi’s Lyari area. Hunger and poverty had forced to sell his own medals, he had won, just to survive. Mehrullah Lassi and Faisal Karim are banned for life, both are Boxers. Mehrullah Lassi was an amateur boxer best known to win a gold medal at the 2002 Asian Games. Pakistan has had a lot of talented people wasted, dejected, forgotten. The list goes on.
My own opinion as to why I see these talents wasted is that we as a nation know nothing about these heroes. Pakistan has a very tarnished image in the international community and we are to blame ourselves for it. Another reason is that other Nations do not wish to see Pakistan rise in any domain. They will crush us from within and make sure we are humiliated to the extent that we can never show our faces in public again. We need to get over our differences and need to think of ourselves as a Nation. Positive competition is healthy and necessary for growth and negativity will only destroy us.
My request to the audience is to respect our elders, be it family or the elders of the domain they are in. Pay them the proper respect, learn from their experiences. They spent their lives learning the domain. There is no alternative to experience, no matter how brilliant you are, no matter how fast you can learn things. We need to think big, and keep everyone with us on the same track and pace. Pakistan is our home, it is our identity. Pakistan is what we are and who we are. We should think for what is best for our country as well as what is best for us. A road has been made in Pakistan for Mixed Martial Arts. Please do not let this sport have the same end as the other sports. Value the deserving players, let them come through a proper channel and merit.
Pakistan Zindabad !

Summary of ONEFC ONEASIA Summit

Posted on: June 5th, 2012 by admin No Comments

From the 1st to the 3rd of June 2012, One Fighting Championship held the ONE Asia Summit at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino in Singapore. Industry leaders from across Asia, (over 150 from 20 some countries), were flown in for the three day meeting to discuss the growth of the sport in Asia, and network with other industry leaders who many knew only over the internet.

Representatives from Pakistan, Bashir Ahmad and Zain Shah of PAKMMA and Pak Fight Club respectively, were in attendance at the summit.

The first day of the summit was mostly people arriving at the hotel and getting settled in. In the evening, a cocktail party was held where the attendees got together to break the ice and get to know one another. Throughout the entire summit, business cards were being exchanged at every moment. The cocktail party, as well as the rest of the summit, was MC’d by History Channel’s “Human Weapon” host, Jason Chambers.

Day Two of the summit lasted from 9 am to 5 pm, during which time experts and guests from across the industry, ranging from gym owners, sponsors and promotion leaders, gave talks on various subjects regarding business matters related to MMA. They also discussed how to build the sport in Asia and how to get people to work together for a shared goal of creating a proper infrastructure for MMA.

After the presentations, the entire group of attendees went out for dinner at a private dining hall. The relaxed atmosphere gave the ONEFC network the opportunity to grow even more tightly bound as a team, and as posted on PAKMMA twitter, it “Became less like a network, and more like a family.”

The final day consisted of one more panel discussion, before the attendees were broken up into two groups to have more informal discussions on creating opportunities for gyms and fighters and on creating an amateur circuit. After this, there was lunch and a final wrap up by ONEFC CEO Victor Cui.

So that was the cut and dry synopsis of the summit for you PAKMMA fans out there. Now I will get a little more informal and tell you a more personal account of the experience and give a shout out to the great people I met at the summit.

First and foremost, big thanks to Victor Cui for making this happen. The summit was all expenses paid and was held at the nicest hotel in Singapore. I would have stayed at a homeless shelter if that were the requirement to make this sport grow, so to be taken care of so well means a lot.

The people at the summit were great and were all very passionate and supportive of what we are doing in Pakistan. Everyone understood the trials and tribulations we face, and we as a community I believe have earned their respect. For that, I thank you guys and the entire ONEFC network. Although I (Bashir Ahmad) may be the face and pioneer of all this, without you I am just one weird dude who decided to leave America to start MMA in Pakistan.

For all you people reading who want to get filled in on how this started, you can start by reading this.

“How did you end up in Pakistan?”

Then you can contact me and add a story about us on your website! ; )

 

Review of SFL 2 – From The Sidelines

Posted on: April 9th, 2012 by admin 1 Comment

Written by PAKMMA President Bashir Ahmad

On April 7th in Chandigarh, Punjab India, Super Fight League held it’s second event. Due to our long relationship with Tiger’s Gym India, MMA Pakistan was able to attend the event cage side and catch all the action before the fights, during the fights and after the fights, as well catch all the goings on behind the scenes.

Having attended many different MMA events, from local shows in Pakistan, local shows in the USA, to well known professional events like Ultimate Warrior Challenge and The Ultimate Fighting Championship I have seen the full spectrum in terms of quality of production.

Super Fight League was definitely up there and it was fascinating to see things being set up.

I got to the arena a few hours before the show began and took a look around. The show was being held in a circus ground, so unlike what some reports are stating it was not an arena. This made it all the more impressive because essentially everything that you saw at SFL 2 was built on a dirt plot. There was an army of people working at all times and backstage was a buzz of activity with separate rooms for the VVIPS like Sanjay Dutt and Raj Kundra, a separate room for the dancers, a kitchen, production rooms, warm up areas etc. It was all very well organized and running smoothly due to the fact that the entire production team had years of experience in Bollywood. I watched as the dancers practiced their moves, a Hindu priest sat on the floor with the production manager doing a ritual to bless the event, and sweepers with typical South Asian brooms swept the carpets relentlessly.

Cage side, hours before the event the lights and camera crews were rehearsing the show. Raj Kundra was on stage practicing his lines and Sanjay Dutt was just hanging out somewhere. That guy only appears when he needs to and has a team of 20 security personnel at all times to make sure he does not get mobbed. As I walked through everything I went up to cage, and got a close look at it and the cage is not as big as it looks on screen. It’s a regular professional size cage and I am quite sure that the reason it looks so big is because the camera work. Maybe they are using a wide angle lens or something, but the cage is definitely not abnormally big as some people have stated.

The show began on time with a concert, which was interesting. Not really my thing as I am not into Bollywood and had no idea who was famous and whatnot. Nonetheless I had heard many of the songs here in Pakistan and I am assuming they are major hits so that made the time pass.

Another things to note. While many people have criticized the “Come for the concert stay for the fights” I actually noticed the opposite. People were coming in after the concert and the arena began to fill up more once the fights started.

The fights themselves were very good and I think the Indians impressed more on this card than they did on the last one. Bharat Khandare with his power and brutal slams and Anup and Ranjeet with their aggression and professional poise. All three fighters had finishes and have definitely put themselves on the radar as fighters to watch. It was personally very satisfying to watch Bharat’s fight as I have trained with him before and I consider him a friend. A very nice guy and a very humble guy from a poor background, he comes a family of sweepers which in South Asian society is near the bottom of the hierarchy.  I wish him the best in his career and hope the opportunity that SFL has given him will help him change the life of his family. That being said, I cannot wait to have Pakistani fighters meet the challenge and make a name for themselves by defeating this guy in the cage :) .

An interesting thing that I noticed is that the biggest cheers from the Indian crowd came when someone took the other down or when there was a reversal of position and someone ended. Obviously the loudest of these cheers came when it was the Indian fighter getting the advantageous position. But it really shows the importance and understanding that the crowd has for wrestling. In that respect the Indian fans are more educated and sophisticated about this facet of the game than other places which have more developed MMA scenes. We’re not talking about MMA fans here but average joes who have never seen MMA being enthralled MORE with the ground game than the striking.

The main event had the ending that we all wanted and expected with Duffee knocking Grove out within the first minute but like Dos Santos vs Vleasquez on Fox, it came a little too early to satisfy everyone’s wants to see a heavy weight war. But that’s something that happens in the game and it’s great to see a knockout but sometimes we want a little bit more of a build up. But hey, like I said, it happens.

That’s a basic summary of the event. The after party also happened to be quite awesome. TV and movie stars were hanging out and enjoying taking about the fights and many of the fighters got their interviews taken for TV.

Overall it was a great experience and a big thanks to my friends at Team Tigers who took care of me throughout. Expect some  more posts about the event and going into details about SFL and the PAKMMA’s visit to India in general. For those of you who missed the show you can watch it on youtube.com/sfl

 

 

 

 

 

If your more interested in just seeing the results Here you go.

Todd Duffee defeats Neil Grove by KO, Round 1
Colleen Schneider defeats Cherie Buck by TKO, Round 2
Ricky Singh defeats Salika Senanayake by TKO, Round 1
Anup Kumar defeats Dilanga Rathnaveera by Submission, (Rear Naked Choke, Round 2)
Alexander Shlemenko defeats Ikuhisa Minowa by TKO, Round 1
Bharat Khandare defeats Soro Ismael by TKO, Round 1
Pierre Daguzan defeats Chaitanya Gavali (29-28)
Ryan Healy defeats Paul Kelly (30-27)

Review of SFL1

Posted on: March 12th, 2012 by admin No Comments

Review of SFL 1 by Team Shaheen fighter Afnan Iftikhar

Super Fight League founded by Raj Kundra (owner Rajhistan Royals – cricket team) and Sanjay Dutt (Bollywood superstar) under the umbrella of Super Fight Promotions had its inaugural event SFL-1 on March 11, 2012.

Branded with the slogan “Come for the concert, stay for the fights” and headlining the event with Bop Sapp vs. James Thompson, it seemed the show wouldn’t disappoint in terms of production value. Good camera work, fireworks, ring girls, A-list Indian celebrities, choreographed dances after fights, a Russian ring announcer (Russian version of Bruce buffer?) made the show interesting. The appeal was also boosted with Herb Dean refereeing – one of the best veteran referees out there and Phil Baroni as one of the commentators who was very insightful with his comments.

As was intended, the fights were to promotes Indian fighters, and some Indian fighters which left a mark were Muhammad Shahid – you could see that he’s gone through some good training and was pressing the action against his opponent especially against the cage in the clinch where most of the action took place. The fight lasted the three rounds with the judges giving Shahid the decision. It was later revealed that Shahid had popped his shoulder in the second round showing that the Indian fighter has a lot of heart. other notable fights were Lakhwinder Singh’s knock out of Sri lankan knock out of Madhura but the highlight fight for me was the woman’s fight, what great back and forth action and the technical proficiency of the ladies both on the feet and the ground was really impressive. It seemed like the Ukrainian fighter would win via arm bar couple of times but she was reversed and at the end the Serbian fighter reversed in a scramble on the ground, got a rear naked choke and got the W via tap out. The main fight had 600 pounds of brawn in the ring, the fight had its moments of excitement with the opponents getting the top position on the ground but it was short lived as bob sapp asked to stop the fight to what seemed like a quad injury. Sapp, it seemed, looked clueless on the ground as always and his fitness was in question. That being said the fight was meant to be a crowd puller anyway than a technical war.

A few things that could have been done better. It seemed that the focus was more on the celebrities in the crowd than the fighters themselves as the camera panned out in the middle of a fight to show a celebrity in attendance. Also, no fighters interviews were seen even for the winners although we could see a lot of celeb Q&As. Also fighters were heavily marketed with just SFL  as both walk in music and fighter shorts were both of SFL. And the walk ins were too short. As a suggestion, SFL could let fighters have their own walk in music and attire/brand of fighter wear. All in all the show was great in terms of entertainment value and the sport of mma has arrived in the sub continent for sure.

Here is a list of the official results.

1) Xavier Foupa-Pokam def. Joey Guel via TKO (cut) at the end of round 1.

2) Jimy Ambriz def. Satish Jha via TKO (punches) in round 1.

3) Lakwinder Sekhon def. Madura Rathnayake via TKO (punches) in round 1.

4) Mohammed Shahid def. Myura Dissanayake via Majority Decision

5) Chaitanya Gavali def. Tiran Thakshala via Unanimous Decision

6) Travis Bell def. Neil Natasadu via Submission (forearm choke) in round 2.

7) Sanja Sucevic def. Lena Ovchynnikova via Submission (rear naked choke) in round 2.

8) James Thompson def. Bob Sapp via Submission (leg cramp) in round 1.

ONE FC: Battle Of Heroes

Posted on: February 14th, 2012 by admin No Comments

February 11th,2012 marked the second event  by ONE FC, “Battle of Heroes”, promotion for the event was on par as usual as the promotion had some big names fighting on the card such as Pride and K-1 veteran Bob “The Beast” Sapp, BJJ Black belt and 2007 Abu Dhabi Silver medalist Rolles Gracie, Ole Laursen, Russian prospect Rustam Khabilov and many more. The event was held at The BritAma Arena, Jakarta, Indonesia and was attended by over 4000 spectators. Although this time the main card was PPV only, the guys over at ONE FC were generous enough to stream a live broadcast of the preliminary fights on their facebook page and on their Ustream channel.

After watching the first event, ONE FC made it clear that they would not compromise on the talent and the quality of the fighters and they did not disappoint, the prelim was stacked with great fights and the event proved it, in fact in my opinion the prelims had slightly better fights than the main card due to the number of finishes and the exciting style of fights that took place.

From the first preliminary to the last, every fight was exciting and had me on the edge of my seat, be it Peter Davis’ come from behind triangle choke, Irshaad Sayed’s body shot that dropped and finished his opponent in less than 2 minutes or the classic striker vs grappler match between Alex Silva and Geje Eustaquio.

On to the main card, which kicked off with the highly anticipated Super Heavyweight bout between Bob Sapp and Rolles Gracie, the fight ended quickly with Gracie taking down Sapp and forcing him to tap to punches being thrown from the mount.

The second fight was between Gustavo Falciroli and Soo Chul Kim which ironically saw Kim trying to take the BJJ Black belt to the ground which only ended up in him giving up his back which was expertly taken by Falciroli and then being submitted by a Rear Naked Choke by the jiujitsu expert early in the first round.

Next was Rodrigo Ribeiro vs. Rustam Khabilov, this fight was very technical, showcasing the grappling skills of both the fighters as Ribeiro mostly worked the guard trying to get a submission whereas Khabilov displayed excellent submission defence and stayed out of trouble, in the end getting the nod from the judges towards a unanimous decision victory.

Next up was a featherweight match between Bae Young Kwon vs. Honorio Banario, the fighters spent the first minute feeling each other out which suddenly changed when Kwon threw a long range jab and followed by a 1-2 combo, slipped, got a body lock, took the back and finished the fight with a rear naked choke, Kwon demonstrated slick movement and excellent grappling skills that gave him the win.

The main event featured two well known fighters who have fought all over the world, Ole Laursen and Felipe Enemoto , the first round was a back and forth battle, which saw Ole swinging for the fences throwing every shot with bad intentions whereas Felipe kept his composure and stayed technical, both fighters were exchanging punches with Laursen throwing the heavier shots once knocking down Felipe mid in the first round, later in the round we got to see the grappling skills of both fighters when Felipe attempted a guillotine which was very deep and I almost felt that he would have gotten the submission, but Ole proved me wrong as he not just escaped but ended up taking Felipe’s back and tried to sink in a rear naked choke but the Swiss demonstrated his own skill set of submission defence and kept Ole busy which then saw the end of the round. In the second round we saw a much more calm and composed Ole who stayed technical and kept the fight standing, even though Felipe was getting the better of the boxing exchange due to his superior reach advantage, Laursen kept attacking the legs which were going unchecked and was doing heavy damage, with 2 minutes left in the fight Felipe threw a combination which ended with a head kick that connected with Ole’s head, dropping and dazing him, Felipe seized the opportunity and swarmed on Laursen not giving him an inch throwing heavy hands which made Ole give up his back and without wasting a second Felipe sinked in a choke which saw the end of the fight and the event.

All in all ONE FC did not fail to deliver quality fights which were very exciting and show cased the level of talent that Asia has in terms of MMA. Next up is ONE FC 3 on the 31st of March, which I am personally very excited about, as it features the return of MMA and UFC veteran, former Strikeforce Light heavyweight Champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral who is my favorite fighter and he goes up against Dutch Muay Thai wrecking machine Melvin Manhoef who has fought in big organizations like Strikeforce, Dream, K-1 and much more.

Paindu training vs. Scientific training

Posted on: January 14th, 2012 by admin 5 Comments

Workouts done in paindu fashion with focus on selected muscles and high protein diet only, is traditionally called and labelled as Desi or Paindu training. It can be seen till now in 21st century that most of the people in sub-continent are still following and doing historical paindu style training in paindu gyms. For these people, training is all about weight lifting with focus on having big arms (especially biceps) and eating very high protein diet. Whereas, scientific training comprises the latest training methods of body workouts in which focus is on perfect health, cardio endurance, flexibility, and total muscle strength in the whole body. Scientific training emphasizes on taking total diet not only protein intake. In each and every aspect, it can be easily concluded that scientific training is way better than paindu training because the systems offered by scientific training are scientifically proven and witnessed to be the best among athletes who are on top of their game. Such systems are:-

  • High Intensity Training (H.I.T); training that is designed to perform quality weight training repetitions to the point of temporary muscular failure. In order to maximize the amount of muscle fibre recruitment, H.I.T takes into account the amount of weight, number of repetitions, and quantity of time the muscle is exposed to tension. The fundamental principle of H.I.T is that an exercise should be concise, infrequent, and extreme. H.I.T exercises are performed with high level intensity to motivate the body to produce an increase in muscular strength and size.

  • CROSS FIT; training that is designed to combine power lifting, weightlifting, gymnastics, sprinting, medicine ball training, kettle bell training, rowing, even plyometrics and H.I.T. Cross Fit is a strength and conditioning brand which contends that a healthy person requires expertise in all ten physical skills; cardiovascular endurance, strength, stamina, power, flexibility, agility, speed, balance, accuracy, and coordination. Cross Fit athletes carry odd objects and run, row, jump, climb ropes. By using power lifting and Olympic weightlifting techniques, athletes repeatedly move heavy objects quickly over long distances. Cross Fit athletes also use gymnastic rings, dumbbells, pull-up bars, and many bodyweight exercises.

H.I.T and Cross Fit trainings are done in almost two thousand gyms around the globe and one of them is the “Synergy Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Academy”, which is situated in Pakistan D.H.A Lahore. “Synergy” is the only single fully equipped training club among exercise clubs in Lahore and all over Pakistan which offers systems like Plyometrics, H.I.T, and Cross Fit. Paindu body building gyms in Lahore and Pakistan offers only weight training programmes which only helps body builders, but programs offered at “Synergy” are not only designed to benefit athletes and MMA competitors, also to those who are interested in learning self defence, improve physical fitness level, lose weight, and gaining energy and focus. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) training is the fastest growing training in the world and it accompanies methods like Cross Fit and H.I.T circuits that are the trademark of body fitness. This seems very strange that the training in Pakistan is from 1980’s, and now, despite of having availability of training methods like Plyometrics, H.I.T, and Cross Fit in Lahore at Synergy MMA Academy, majority of the people are still doing paindu training which is all about being a bollywood hero with a black jacket and bandana on a bike. Scientific training includes modern training methods and it is time for Pakistan to understand and realize.

Health Benefits of MMA Training

Posted on: January 8th, 2012 by admin No Comments

Health benefits of MMA training Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a complete combat sport that allows both striking and grappling techniques with different fighting styles including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, Taekwondo, karate, Judo etc. It is the fastest popularity gaining sport in the world as it accompanies training methods like Cross Fit and High Intense training (H.I.T) circuits which are effective in maintaining health and improving body fitness. One of the most lucrative benefits of this form of training is enhanced strength. Mixed martial arts is undeniably the only competitive physical fitness program that offers full body exercise and fitness as it targets all the major muscles of the body. Contrary to the traditional exercise techniques that focus on one primary muscle, MMA brings muscle confusion to the exercise routine and thus makes the muscles more responsive to the exercises. This exercise course also helps individuals to protect against medical conditions and other weaknesses as it builds endurance in the body both against the pain and various illnesses. Cardiovascular conditioning is similarly utilized in MMA training. By increasing your endurance, your heart, lungs, and other bodily systems will perform at much better levels. With improved strength and endurance, you will get superior balance and flexibility. You can forget tripping over your own feet. As core muscles become more powerful you will be able to prevent falls along with other injuries. In Pakistan, “Synergy MMA Academy” is the top gym in DHA Lahore where you can truly get all these possible benefits. The programs at Synergy are not only designed to benefit athletes and MMA competitors, but also those who are interested in learning self defence, improve physical fitness level, gaining self confidence, and weight loss in Lahore. MMA training at Synergy is held under “Bashir Ahmad”, who is the pioneer of MMA in Pakistan. He started training in the sport of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu six years ago while attending George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Bashir is truly one of the biggest fan of MMA and student of the Martial Arts. He has professionally fought Muay Thai in Thailand and is ranked number 3 in Muay Thai by the Global Combat Alliance based in the Eastern United States. He migrated to Pakistan in 2009 to promote the sport of Mixed Martial Arts and to make Pakistan’s first MMA team. Bashir Ahmad is currently the head instructor at Synergy MMA Academy and Fitness Club in Dha Lahore who teaches MMA, Muay Thai and BJJ. At Synergy MMA Academy, the training facility includes almost 500 square feet of gymnastic/MMA mats, a 22′ boxing ring, cross fit stations, weight equipment, a 24′ half cage, heavy bags, boxing/Muay Thai pads and changing rooms. So build muscle and lose fat in DHA Lahore at Synergy, the top functional fitness facility and MMA/Martial Arts School in Pakistan. A combination of different training methods makes Synergy the best gym in DHA Lahore and in Pakistan to get the results that you need in a short span of time.

What the ONEFC Partnership means for YOU…

Posted on: October 27th, 2011 by admin 3 Comments

So it has been announced in the news section that ONEFC and PAKMMA have signed into an exclusive agreement and partnership together. So what does this mean for us at PAKMMA and what does it mean for you – the pro fighter or person WANTING to be a pro fighter. What we’re gonna do is explain what this means in terms of opportunities that can now be provided to Pakistani fighters and also what would be expected of YOU if you want to join us in taking on this momentous opportunity as a team.

Here is a breakdown of what is going on. ONEFC and PAKMMA have agreed to work together in promoting our shared interest of making MMA grow in Asia. ONEFC would like to see all of Asia united under the ONEFC banner and PAKMMA would like to have opportunities for it’s fighters to make money fighting and get exposure. So in effect the bigger MMA gets in Pakistan, ONEFC benefits by having better fighters and more variety of fighters for its cards and the bigger MMA gets in Asia PAKMMA and Pakistan benefits by having more opportunities for its fighters to get out there and show what they are made of.

There is a lot of talent in this country and we have seen plenty of it in boxing, wrestling and wushu particularly. What this country does not have however is a culture of wanting to work together. Until this hurdle is overcome PAKMMA will not be able to get the top guys out there and kicking ass and making our nation proud. So it is now time to stop the “federation, federation, federation” nonsense, the politics and the pride and time to work together under one banner. This article won’t change that however, as the people who give us as an organization the most problems don’t read this, due to lack of education or because they are too narrow in their vision of what martial arts has become in todays’s world and sorry it is not in a federation, a picture of you in a bandana and sword or in a line  doing horse stance teaching at you Mcdojo. It is in MMA, face the reality, 55,000 people don’t come out to see karate, kung fu or TKD they come to see MMA and in MMA you are free to represent your stlye so there is no identity of yours lost there.

Anyway, time to get to the real point of this article which is an explanation to those whose hearts, minds and ears are open, about what we expect of you if you want to be a PAKMMA fighter.

First of all you must agree to fight under he PAKMMA banner. Can you represent your team? your city? Your style? Of course. You can do all these things, but when yo get into that ONEFC cage, one thing must be clear, your team, your city and your style are all falling under the umbrella of PAKMMA and this is what we put forth to the world. You can be introduced as a member of Team such and such and fighting out this city, but there must always be a reference in the ring, online and at your gym that you are working in one alliance. We are not trying to do away with different styles and clubs that everyone wants to represent, we understand that your background in martial arts and where you trained it has made you what you are. But at the same time PAKMMA has made it possible for you to even have a team that you can represent to the MMA community of Pakistan and that fact must be acknowledged and accepted.

Second, you must train with the PAKMMA team. Now we understand that people live in different cities with different day jobs but that does not mean just because your the national boxing champ and you fought in the olympics that PAKMMA is gonna let you represent our name and our country without you training with the rest of the fight team. Iron sharpens iron and we stress this because we as a nation we will not progress in the MMA world until we learn from each other and sharpen each others skills.  If we make the effort to get you a fight and rep our name internationally than the least you can do is make sure your well prepared by training with us at our HQ at Synergy MMA Academy. So that’s number two.

Finally, you must agree to be a TEAM MEMBER. By being a member of PAKMMA you don’t have to carry a special card or get to hang a special certificate on your wall but you do get to uphold a certain standard of behavior. I dont know if any words can explain what that means but to those who have been part of something like the army, a sports team or fraternity, you understand. No politics, no BS made up “federations” no going back anyones back and other such silly McDojo, back of black belt magazine ninja magic nonsense will be tolerated in any shape or form.

That’s pretty much it, if anyone wants more info or is interested in making a career out of MMA please contact info@pak-mma.com