I feel for you. I too travel 1 1/2 hours one way two sometimes even three times a week for training and have done so for most of the past 15 years. The gas prices are killing me. But bottom line it is all how you set your priorities and how much it is worth it to you. You are a minor and if you don't have a car yet this can be a real problem. I have tried to carpool and part of the time this works out but most people do not stick with martial arts for 15 years so much of my travel is solo.

I would not advise you to completely train on your own. I would make arrangements and at least visit the school once a month. You need training with partners and moreover you need physical instructions to make it in martial arts. There is simply just too much you can and will do wrong. Martial arts is not simply just getting a bag and wailing away.

I can't speak to MMA but I doubt that the closest place to train is 1 1/2 hours from you.

I'd highly suggest you do more research.

Also while MMA may be your goal for right now you might want to see if you can find anyone to train with/under. Find a decent school or group and see about joining them for a few classes. Look at gyms, rec centers and people training out of their homes. You might be surprised what you find. And you might find things that will give you a great foundation for your later goals.

Look for other things to train. It doesn't have to be MMA. For a 16 year old boy to travel 1 1/2 hors one way to train is not very realistic. Neither is training on your own.

Look up tips on the internet, get a heavy bag and Han it up in the garage and work on footwork and punches, shadowboxing, and all the rest. You can work some at home so when you eventually get to go to a gym you know *some* basics. Thats what I do, except I train muai thai which is a base for mma.

start with wrestling, wrestle for your high school, focus, get good, go to college and wrestle and get great, then the big names will come to you for the striking and ju jitsu training and such. all the champions of all the MMA circuits right now started off as wrestlers. jon jones(not great but was a college wrestler), johnny hendricks( 2time national champion), chris weidman( all american college wrestler), cain velasquez(great college wrestler), tj dillashaw(great college wrestler), demetrious johnson(great college wrestler). the only one in the UFC champ that wasnt a college wrestler is Jose Aldo(from Brazil) and yet he's still one of the best ground specialists in the sport.

I'm a 16 year old boy. I have some experience in MMA but no where near to schedule fights. I live in a small town and the nearest MMA school is 1 1/2 hours away. This is my dream and it's tough to train because of school and I live away from a training camp. I'm just asking for any advise you guys can give me about what to do about this.