The question probably sounds stupid but what I mean by it is, how do you find and get involved in intense training and sparring type of martial arts right off the bat, as opposed to paying for a class with old, out of shape dudes receiving light contact instruction and doing hardly any sparring? I'm an almost total neophyte when it comes to MMA, but I am in pretty good shape and I'm looking to get into MMA to actually learn how to fight, not to burn off excess calories like a lot of these "classes" these days.
I know a lot of guys here are into all sorts of martial arts and have even gone to Thailand to train Muay Thai, been in sanctioned fights, etc. So my question is, how do I go about getting into this kind of stuff? I'm located in Chicago currently, so I would expect there should be tons of opportunities. Ideally I'd like to train in both standup and ground game, so elements of Muay Thai and BJJ would be good. How do I find a good gym where I won't simply be paying hundreds of dollars a month and in return get nothing but some cardio?
I know a lot of guys here are into all sorts of martial arts and have even gone to Thailand to train Muay Thai, been in sanctioned fights, etc. So my question is, how do I go about getting into this kind of stuff? I'm located in Chicago currently, so I would expect there should be tons of opportunities. Ideally I'd like to train in both standup and ground game, so elements of Muay Thai and BJJ would be good. How do I find a good gym where I won't simply be paying hundreds of dollars a month and in return get nothing but some cardio?