Developing bad habits

[welsh_rarebit]

I've been sparring at the gym twice a week for just over 2 months and it was going well untill the last 2 sessions. I seem to be turning my head away when I'm getting hit which i was not doing at the start. Nearly all the people I spar with have several years more experience than I have and have also had plenty of fights. Any tips to avoid doing this ?

[Dip_Slide]

Rolling with the punches is good but completely turning your head away is bad. Mitts is the best way to fix the way you react to punches thrown at you, drills gor head movement are crucial and even pros do them almost every day. Just qork with you trainer on defense and head movement.

[Eastbound]

don't worry too much, just train to not do this if its getting to be a problem. Sparring is for learning and developing skills, getting rid of bad habits. maybe slow down your sparring go at like 25% power and practice taking shots like this without turning your head. Keep your hands up and block shots and don't turn the head. if it's a flinching type reflex, same thing. Let yourself get hit at low power and recondition the response. Practice moving forward as your slipping instead of a pull back type response. You always want to keep your opponent in your line of vision. I could see this head turning being a problem if it takes your vision away from the other guy.

[OctoberRed]

The old saying is best - practice makes perfect

[welsh_rarebit]

don't worry too much, just train to not do this if its getting to be a problem. Sparring is for learning and developing skills, getting rid of bad habits. maybe slow down your sparring go at like 25% power and practice taking shots like this without turning your head. Keep your hands up and block shots and don't turn the head. if it's a flinching type reflex, same thing. Let yourself get hit at low power and recondition the response. Practice moving forward as your slipping instead of a pull back type response. You always want to keep your opponent in your line of vision. I could see this head turning being a problem if it takes your vision away from the other guy.

Ive only done it on the last 2 sparring sessions but need to get out of the habit asap. The person I spared with is a lot different to the other I have and puts pressure on you and throws loads of combinations

[billeau2]

I've been sparring at the gym twice a week for just over 2 months and it was going well untill the last 2 sessions. I seem to be turning my head away when I'm getting hit which i was not doing at the start. Nearly all the people I spar with have several years more experience than I have and have also had plenty of fights. Any tips to avoid doing this ?

Welcome to a fork in the road... Im going to tell you something based on martial arts experience, but if you listen to me you might want to thank me one day...

First off, bravo for noticing a bad habit in the making. If you just work through this, have fun sparring, one day that little habitual problem? Its not only not going to go away, its going to become something that will take, ON AVERAGE, many many more hours to correct...Think of it this way: You buy a seed for a venus flytrap and water it once, put it in your closet and forget about it....one morning you hear a thumping noise in the closet, a roar....see where i am going with this?

What you have to do, whenever you notice a bad habit is stop having fun sparring with the big boys!!! Go to the side, work with a trainer/teacher, old guy at the gym who knows his work, and train that bad habit OUT of you. You will know if you are doing this if the whole thing feels at least a bit unpleasant..because it is part of the real work.

Im going to tell you a true story now. I had been training in an art with many teachers for many years. I had been training in California and had an excellent teacher, was a teacher myself, etc. I went to another city where I met a guy who was fantastic. I took one look at his movement and execution of technique and my jaw sort of dropped. He had me do some stuff, sort of observed me...then we sit down.

He smiles at me and very sincerely says the following (I am paraphrasing him)... "D Your skills are excellent and you should be proud. If you want to come to class, do your thing maybe work with some of the students, it would be a pleasure to have you around." Then he says "If you like what I do, I could work with you occasionally, once in a while, nothing to intense, we will call that the second option."

Then the room seemed to get a little darker, a little colder, I could swear I heard demonic giggles as he looked at me (KIDDING!)... He then tells me "Now if you really want me to? I can go in on you, take apart many bad habits and treat you as a student....But you really have to be prepared for this, how much do you want to let go of?"

Well... Me being me and all I didn't even hesitate before asking for the whole enchilada. So Welsh R let me tell you how those next sessions went, for a year before coming back to California...They were unpleasant. Instead of throwing around on the mat, he was fixing my hips, teaching me to get rid of all these habits I had acquired! It was not fun at all and it was a lot of work!!

First off, it was not "me" it was that the way most people train is crap. They are not willing to do what it takes, and that is the biggest problem!!! Why not just have fun...A beer sure taste good after a few rounds! And when they do want to do what they have to? Very few teachers are out there who have that level of comprehension about what they do.

I got back to California with my students and I was throwing them around like rag dolls...they could not believe how good I had gotten. I noticed it also. I can't begin to tell you the impact this training had on my ability level Welsh R.

You seem to have the capacity for useful self reflection in that you notice bad habits... Great insight, you get applause for that! Now follow through and when you see those habits, drill them out! One thing we do is use sword training to get the body to not flinch when moving past the blade. You could have a partner punch slowly and work AT THE SAME SPEED (if you go faster you defeat the purpose) and work on responding to the attacks with perfect timing, head placement, until you are comfortable, then increase the speed. Drill it in baby!!!! from Tai Chi speed to full speed, with no flinch, no turn.

Good luck great insight.

[welsh_rarebit]

Welcome to a fork in the road... Im going to tell you something based on martial arts experience, but if you listen to me you might want to thank me one day...

First off, bravo for noticing a bad habit in the making. If you just work through this, have fun sparring, one day that little habitual problem? Its not only not going to go away, its going to become something that will take, ON AVERAGE, many many more hours to correct...Think of it this way: You buy a seed for a venus flytrap and water it once, put it in your closet and forget about it....one morning you hear a thumping noise in the closet, a roar....see where i am going with this?

What you have to do, whenever you notice a bad habit is stop having fun sparring with the big boys!!! Go to the side, work with a trainer/teacher, old guy at the gym who knows his work, and train that bad habit OUT of you. You will know if you are doing this if the whole thing feels at least a bit unpleasant..because it is part of the real work.

Im going to tell you a true story now. I had been training in an art with many teachers for many years. I had been training in California and had an excellent teacher, was a teacher myself, etc. I went to another city where I met a guy who was fantastic. I took one look at his movement and execution of technique and my jaw sort of dropped. He had me do some stuff, sort of observed me...then we sit down.

He smiles at me and very sincerely says the following (I am paraphrasing him)... "D Your skills are excellent and you should be proud. If you want to come to class, do your thing maybe work with some of the students, it would be a pleasure to have you around." Then he says "If you like what I do, I could work with you occasionally, once in a while, nothing to intense, we will call that the second option."

Then the room seemed to get a little darker, a little colder, I could swear I heard demonic giggles as he looked at me (KIDDING!)... He then tells me "Now if you really want me to? I can go in on you, take apart many bad habits and treat you as a student....But you really have to be prepared for this, how much do you want to let go of?"

Well... Me being me and all I didn't even hesitate before asking for the whole enchilada. So Welsh R let me tell you how those next sessions went, for a year before coming back to California...They were unpleasant. Instead of throwing around on the mat, he was fixing my hips, teaching me to get rid of all these habits I had acquired! It was not fun at all and it was a lot of work!!

First off, it was not "me" it was that the way most people train is crap. They are not willing to do what it takes, and that is the biggest problem!!! Why not just have fun...A beer sure taste good after a few rounds! And when they do want to do what they have to? Very few teachers are out there who have that level of comprehension about what they do.

I got back to California with my students and I was throwing them around like rag dolls...they could not believe how good I had gotten. I noticed it also. I can't begin to tell you the impact this training had on my ability level Welsh R.

You seem to have the capacity for useful self reflection in that you notice bad habits... Great insight, you get applause for that! Now follow through and when you see those habits, drill them out! One thing we do is use sword training to get the body to not flinch when moving past the blade. You could have a partner punch slowly and work AT THE SAME SPEED (if you go faster you defeat the purpose) and work on responding to the attacks with perfect timing, head placement, until you are comfortable, then increase the speed. Drill it in baby!!!! from Tai Chi speed to full speed, with no flinch, no turn.

Good luck great insight.

I'm focused on getting out of that habit from tonight onwards. Luckily its the twice I've done it so I should be able to correct it before it's to late. My plans are to just keep my eyes on my opponent regardless of how much pressure and combinations are thrown I'll keep my guard up and use all the defense I've been taught.

Lucky I have a good trainer. He trained both Tyson fury and Joshua, he was also a coach for team GB. He's picked out a few mistakes with me so I'll work on them.

[OctoberRed]

Rolling with the punches is good but completely turning your head away is bad. Mitts is the best way to fix the way you react to punches thrown at you, drills gor head movement are crucial and even pros do them almost every day. Just qork with you trainer on defense and head movement.

Canelo is really good with rolling with the punches.