Joking aside there is nothing gay about jiu jitsu. The very practice of it pretty much demands that you not think/worry about stuff like that. If someone who doesn’t train sees it they may joke, but the people with more experience just roll their eyes.
I remember one time where a guys cup kept poking and rubbing me when I was in his guard, or when he would tap me with a triangle. I was pretty damn inexperienced and sort joked/complained about it being jammed into my face/neck. He just said “Dude, it’s my cup. Deal with it.” And I did. Just part of the game.
Sure it was confusing then, because I wasn’t used to it. I was also confused because when we all done training and were changing in the locker room, I didn’t see him wearing a cup. I mean, I wasn’t paying HUGE attention. But, it looked like he was just wearing boxer shorts. Which was odd…because I felt it. And he said it was his cup, but there was no cup.
And I was confused…and felt like I really wanted to shower…
I didn’t see a cup.
No Cup.
Regards,
Robert A[/quote]
This is just not right.
I cannot grapple ever again. I will not grapple ever again. I will develop laser like striking to the nth degree to avoid your unfortunate exposure and like situations. Oh God, please help me.
Jesus Christ do I suck at Muay Thai. Today in sparring, I kept closing my eyes (flinch) and lowering my head (behind my guard) when the guy was coming at me. How do I fix this? Fuck.
[quote]legendaryblaze wrote:
Jesus Christ do I suck at Muay Thai. Today in sparring, I kept closing my eyes (flinch) and lowering my head (behind my guard) when the guy was coming at me. How do I fix this? Fuck.[/quote]
Spar more with people who can beat you. Consider dialing back your game to a more fundamental skill set while you adapt to better opposition, then working on building up your arsenal again, discarding the techniques you have inevitably picked up that only work against less able sparring partners. I always found this worked for me.
When I was thrown in with guys who were better than me at that point in time, I went back to a strong jab, good defensive footwork, a slightly higher guard than I would choose to fight with in competition, and a focus on gaining control of tempo and position in the ring. From there I would add in other shots as was appropriate, and find out the hard way what worked.
Generally, in fighting, as with mechanics or anything practical, you have to strip something down to its most essential, functional components, then only change one thing at a time, so that you know where the error is, and what you need to do to correct it.
What do you mean by “lowering my head (behind my guard)”?
You can protect your head with your forearms, as long as you’re not forgetting about your lower body.
Do you mean that you were looking down? Try to find the right “squinting angle” during shadowboxing.
Closing your eyes, now that has definitely to go.
The following drill should help; find a partner who’s not an ass.
Light combinations against a full turtle (meaning: you’re covered from head to body).
The idea is to shift from a normal stance into the full turtle as your partner attacks by combination (~2-4 strikes). You can increase punching strength as you go on, but don’t play with speed. This should build basic confidence in your full turtle.
If you’re comfortable enough and experience no problems with your eyes, move around during the drill with good footwork.
If you’re good with 1), defend now vs single continous strikes from half distance.
Similar to the above drill, but one single punch should come ~every second, and your defense should be smart: Use all defensive movements you know (learn to use the right ones). Don’t step back!
After this, either increase speed or let the partner throw combos; start with a 2-punch combination.
[quote]Schwarzfahrer wrote:
What do you mean by “lowering my head (behind my guard)”?
You can protect your head with your forearms, as long as you’re not forgetting about your lower body.
Do you mean that you were looking down? Try to find the right “squinting angle” during shadowboxing.
Closing your eyes, now that has definitely to go.
The following drill should help; find a partner who’s not an ass.
Light combinations against a full turtle (meaning: you’re covered from head to body).
The idea is to shift from a normal stance into the full turtle as your partner attacks by combination (~2-4 strikes). You can increase punching strength as you go on, but don’t play with speed. This should build basic confidence in your full turtle.
If you’re comfortable enough and experience no problems with your eyes, move around during the drill with good footwork.
If you’re good with 1), defend now vs single continous strikes from half distance.
Similar to the above drill, but one single punch should come ~every second, and your defense should be smart: Use all defensive movements you know (learn to use the right ones). Don’t step back!
After this, either increase speed or let the partner throw combos; start with a 2-punch combination.[/quote]
I close my eyes when I get punched in the face, or when a hit hits my guard (gloves up/elbows up).
[quote]Schwarzfahrer wrote:
What do you mean by “lowering my head (behind my guard)”?
You can protect your head with your forearms, as long as you’re not forgetting about your lower body.
Do you mean that you were looking down? Try to find the right “squinting angle” during shadowboxing.
Closing your eyes, now that has definitely to go.
The following drill should help; find a partner who’s not an ass.
Light combinations against a full turtle (meaning: you’re covered from head to body).
The idea is to shift from a normal stance into the full turtle as your partner attacks by combination (~2-4 strikes). You can increase punching strength as you go on, but don’t play with speed. This should build basic confidence in your full turtle.
If you’re comfortable enough and experience no problems with your eyes, move around during the drill with good footwork.
If you’re good with 1), defend now vs single continous strikes from half distance.
Similar to the above drill, but one single punch should come ~every second, and your defense should be smart: Use all defensive movements you know (learn to use the right ones). Don’t step back!
After this, either increase speed or let the partner throw combos; start with a 2-punch combination.[/quote]
I close my eyes when I get punched in the face, or when a hit hits my guard (gloves up/elbows up).
edit: I also turn my head a bit when I throw a punch. FUCK I SUCK GOD DAMNIT.[/quote]
I think you are being just a bit hard on yourself here.
You are flinching. That goes away with practice. Doing the drills Schwarzfahrer outlined will help, but it is also a time thing.
Ever get claustrophobic during grappling? Probably not for a long while right?
When you where training kyukushinkai, did you ever turn your leg away from kicks? Eventually checking became second nature right?
Same type of thing.
Two small points.
1.) Embrace a decent “cover” position so you can quickly get the feeling that punches landing on your gloves/arms don’t suck that bad.
2.) Familiarize yourself with the distance where either you or your opponent can land a punch to the others gloves, but not face, with a small step forward. This is probably the same distance you would threaten or be threatened with a leg kick. At or inside this range you need to be on guard. Outside it, you can relax just a bit. People often get way over tense/nervous.
Another few weeks and you will laugh at this problem. Give it time and learn.
Blaze, tuck your chin more, learn to cage your body more and you won’t have to lift your forearms up to cover. I highly recommend against this movement although I can understand why you do it.
Natural foetal position instinct when you’re terrified.
Like all things, no magic way about it. Just gotta spar a million times. go for 3 times per week for a month and by the end of the month you’d be like Rocky against Clubber Lang screaming ‘aint so bad’ to your opponent begging for more lol.
Use your feet. Go back to basics. Against an orthodox, circle right (your right) to avoid power and cut their left off. Opposite for a southy.
Finish all your techniques with small turns to put you out of range depending where your weight is falling after a technique.
Blaze, some good advice so far, but IMO if you are flinching like you are you (or your opponent) are going too hard/fast during your sparring. This also speaks to a general lack of proper foundational skills that can be built through drills (like the one Shwatz outlined).
Yes, you will want to gradually increase the speed and intensity of sparring as you gain skill and become both more comfortable/confident and proficient, but just jumping into the ring and banging full force is not going to be the best recipe for building skill for the vast majority of people. You should be in the ring (or doing drills) to develop skill, and if you are too afraid or getting hurt too badly/often this will be difficult to do.
Also, as “repetition is the mother of all skill”, I’d suggest you drill your defenses to the jab (first in a static very structured fashion, next in a moving yet still structured fashion, then in a moving semi structured fashion, and finally in an unstructured fashion) until you are confident in your ability to deal with jabs coming at you and not flinching, then do the same with the straight right, then with hooks, then uppercuts. Of course you should also do the same with kicks (Teep/push, Round, Hook, Side, maybe back). Then take those skills into the ring and try to apply them, that’s what sparring is really for anyhow (well, that’s not all sparring is for of course, but it isn’t the place to try to develop foundational level skills, which is what you seem to be lacking).
I’m not scared of getting hurt. I just can’t help but close my eyes/flinch. I sometimes punch and turn my head slightly and close my eyes. It’s like I’m anticipating being hit. I’m trying my damnedest to not do it, but it’s like I can’t fight it.
[quote]legendaryblaze wrote:
I’m not scared of getting hurt. I just can’t help but close my eyes/flinch. I sometimes punch and turn my head slightly and close my eyes. It’s like I’m anticipating being hit. I’m trying my damnedest to not do it, but it’s like I can’t fight it.[/quote]
[quote]legendaryblaze wrote:
I’m not scared of getting hurt. I just can’t help but close my eyes/flinch. I sometimes punch and turn my head slightly and close my eyes. It’s like I’m anticipating being hit. I’m trying my damnedest to not do it, but it’s like I can’t fight it.[/quote]
You need to get punched more. One thing that I teach people is to focus on counter striking more when they feel that way. Instead of seeing the punch and flinching or whatever look for that moment to launch your attack. Many times you can counter with a jab with great success. Also you are doing Muay Thai…Kick him! The best counter to a punch is a kick and the opposite is also true. One last thing, many beginners do it, Looking at your opponents hands/gloves. Read the punches from the shoulders not the hands. If you look at the hands you will see it too late and bam you get hit. Talk to your coaches about how to read punches.
Aha moment for me was, learning to punch down the centre instead of around the bend, lol that and not trying to end the fight with every punch I threw, mind you there was no cages around when I was learning to box, not to hyjack your thread but I’m sure these are still valid points today. I’m always amazed at how much mma guys need to know today, i was ahead of the curve 20yrs ago taking judo and boxing at the same time, now thats nothing, guys need to kmow at least 5 forms, awesome,2cents
[quote]legendaryblaze wrote:
Read the punches from the shoulders not the hands. If you look at the hands you will see it too late and bam you get hit. Talk to your coaches about how to read punches.[/quote]
Good point. That’s the best way for me to focus on countering.
If there’s one good benefit to eating all those punches, at least your chin should be good.
[quote]legendaryblaze wrote:
I’m not scared of getting hurt. I just can’t help but close my eyes/flinch. I sometimes punch and turn my head slightly and close my eyes. It’s like I’m anticipating being hit. I’m trying my damnedest to not do it, but it’s like I can’t fight it.[/quote]
How long have you been fighting?[/quote]
I did Kyokushin for a couple of years, but the lack of face punches made it that I only really needed to worry about legs and knees. I did that for a few years. Did wrestling for about 2 years, judo for a few months (lost interest since the recent change of rules) and Muay Thai about 2 weeks. I am by all accounts a newb, but my frustration is that I don’t fear getting punched in the face, but my body just naturally makes me close my eyes and turtle up. It’s like I’m stuck in second gear.
No other sport really prepares you for what it is like to get punched in the face by someone intent on hurting you. You’re a baby in this game, don’t stress. Spar when the opportunity presents itself, don’t get discouraged, in a month or two you’ll be over it. It’s no big deal and it happens to almost everyone. I actually used to back up to the ropes and bring my knee up to my chest for the first few weeks sparring. Like you, I wasn’t afraid (young kids never are in my experience) of being hit. Just a natural reaction to a strange new experience. It passes pretty fast. If it doesn’t it may just not be for you, but you’ve got months before that should be an issue.
[quote]legendaryblaze wrote:
I’m not scared of getting hurt. I just can’t help but close my eyes/flinch. I sometimes punch and turn my head slightly and close my eyes. It’s like I’m anticipating being hit. I’m trying my damnedest to not do it, but it’s like I can’t fight it.[/quote]
The “anticipation of getting hit” is fear. This fear of things flying at our face is a very natural thing and it never really goes away completely. However, if we train out bodies through repetitive stimulus and response to respond a different way, then we can guide this natural flinch response towards more tactically beneficial movements. In other words, that fear is present because you have not done your homework.
I agree with others that you should continue to spar, but IMO, the majority of your time at this point should be spent reprogramming your neuromuscular system through repetitive drilling, not freestyle sparring.
[quote]legendaryblaze wrote:
I’m not scared of getting hurt. I just can’t help but close my eyes/flinch. I sometimes punch and turn my head slightly and close my eyes. It’s like I’m anticipating being hit. I’m trying my damnedest to not do it, but it’s like I can’t fight it.[/quote]
The “anticipation of getting hit” is fear. This fear of things flying at our face is a very natural thing and it never really goes away completely. However, if we train out bodies through repetitive stimulus and response to respond a different way, then we can guide this natural flinch response towards more tactically beneficial movements. In other words, that fear is present because you have not done your homework.
I agree with others that you should continue to spar, but IMO, the majority of your time at this point should be spent reprogramming your neuromuscular system through repetitive drilling, not freestyle sparring.[/quote]
Sento,
What do you think about using some type of default cover/guard for Blaze? If only to at least get to the point of “eyes stay open and no bad things happen”. I am thinking the “Crazy Monkey” or SHIELD type of deal might work well for him, but while I am a huge fan of having and using such things I don’t have your experience teaching boxing/kickboxing techniques.
