I couldn't resist the curiosity of exploring mixed martial arts, and of course, was fascinated by the training process I saw at ICSA (Indian Combat Sports Academy), therefore I decided to visit the academy again. By 10 AM I was at the academy, as I entered, the same MMA pro fight team training was going on. This time I found the training was at the peak. The head coaches at ICSA were training these fighters. I was just awe-struck by seeing the fighters training under the head coaches, it was literally ruthless. I learned about the approaching MMA competitions, hence understood the purpose of this onerous training. 

The training went on according to a proper routine. I could see no difference between the training process of these MMA fighters and students who come to learn MMA at the academy. The pro fight team training also begins with the warm-ups and later they start drilling. Yes, the fighters involve themselves in sparring, which is very intense and requires a lot of advanced training to attain that state. This training is rigorous but not at all tedious like other workouts. The fun factor involved in these MMA classes cannot be found anywhere. The same fighters who were training with such ferocious eyes during sparring were having fun later while training normally. Most importantly, they were like a family, supporting each other, teaching each other, pulling each other's legs and many such things. The fighters whom I saw while training, were determined and focused and the ones after the training, were a lot of fun. 

In the evening, MMA classes for a set of batches commenced. This time I was aware of some MMA terms, hence it was a bit easy for me to differentiate among different sports. The training started with the warm-up workouts. It includes running, sprinting, push-ups, squats, high knees, butt kicks, etc. After the warm-up workouts, students wrapped their gloves and started drilling following the trainer's instructions. The trainer was not just giving the instructions orally but was practically teaching all the techniques to the students, which was very easy to understand. The students were then asked to drill with their training partners and one best thing about the training is that the students were allowed to drill with different people where they could learn from different people of different age groups and experience. Once this kickboxing session ended, brazilian jiu-jitsu was performed next.  This is quite a unique sport, the techniques are totally unique and performed on the ground. Before getting into the techniques, some workouts required in the techniques were taught which helped the students while learning BJJ techniques. The gym was full of students, who were from a different background, some were studying, some were working, women, kids, all of them under a single roof. I could see people talking about different things, laughing, overall a healthy and cheerful environment was created in the gym. 

Learning MMA comes with a lot of perquisites and the training delivered at ICSA is awesome. The gym, trainers, students, training environment is simply great to commence my MMA journey from here.