MMA academy or solid base? Decisions for the novice.

I bet some of you are wondering what a solid base is. To most MA (martial artist) this is just a word that describes putting a few good years into a fighting art so that you have the core fundamentals down and are able to effectively use it. Normally without having to think. Ok, that was a little long winded so let's get down to the nitty gritty. Is it better to go to a MMA academy as a novice or develop a solid game in one single MA at a time? Well first let's start by dissecting an MMA academy. An MMA academy is a school that teaches a wide range of martial arts for fighters to utilize. These usually include boxing, muay thai, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, etc. During the week the instructor usually breaks the schedule down to where you get to train each one at least once or twice. To keep an impartial view let's weigh the pro's and con's of this type of training. The pro's are: 1. When training this way you allow yourself the chance to utilize a number of tools when in a self-defense/MMA situation. 2. You get a chance to try different martial arts to best make a decision on the one you want to stick with. 3. If you want to compete in MMA, this is an alternate way to start. 4. You get to learn the defensive aspects of each art. The cons are: 1. When fighting an opponent with a solid base in one discipline, more than likely you will lose. 2. You do not get enough training in each art to develop a solid base. 3. You do not gain the philosophy, culture, and history of each art. 4. Instructor/s may not have a solid base in each art, so your level in each may end at some point. Now for the novice, the pro's of an MMA academy sound really good and they could probably care less about the cons. This definitely depends on the mentality of the person. But you should really consider the many pro's and few cons of getting a solid base in a singe fighting art first. Say you do choose a single art, there are so many things one may gain from doing this. The pro's: 1. With dedication you become skillful enough in the techniques to progress through the ranks. 2. You gain the philosophical and historical elements of the art, thus giving you a sense of pride and respect. 3. There is a structure that comes with the MA that you may not get at an MMA academy. 4. Since you have a solid base, its easy to add tools such as basic Muay Thai strikes and defense and it only compliments your game to make it that much more effective. The cons of learning a single art is: 1. You may be overwhelmed or surprised when things don't go exactly the way you want. 2. It may take yrs to progress through the ranks. 3. Your strength may not be in the art you choose, therefore causing frustration. These are not the only pro's and con's of choosing one of these over the other, but I hope it helps you to choose which one may work for you. It all depends on your attitude, short and long term goals, and patience. I'm not here to make those for you, but just give you a start on which direction you want to go. I started out in an MMA environment, and quickly learned that striking was not for me and the grappling arts were. Hopefully, now that I am learning BJJ, I can start learning some striking to compliment my game in more self-defense oriented situations. Thanks for reading. Ciao!