How can I fight better in sparring?
I take Americanised tae kwon do, and i just got my green belt, which means i start sparring. I’m usually a violent girl anyway, but when i start sparring, I PANIC! i don’t get it! i mean, i sort of do — i think i’m afraid of hurting the other students, but we’re all wearing safety gear. i know they definitely aren’t scared of hurting me (a runt hit me in the liver), and i try to hit them back, but i can’t calm down. my teach plays music, so i try to get my flow going with it, but my legs get tired from hopping around (which we do anyway) and i get a little nauseous after a while and have to take constant breaks. i was working up a pretty good technique where i was going to follow up with a kick, but … i choked. i need to calm down, i think, but i can’t, and i keep swinging (which is NEVER a good thing to do) instead of blocking and punching real slow. there’s this kid in my class who i’m determined to beat, and even though he’s arrogant, he’s really good. HE MAKES ME SO MAD!!! he’s actually my rival i guess. i have a friend there so i can spar with her, too, and she says i hit hard. i need some way to calm down without stopping in the fight, and i need to get out of the habit of swinging and panicking. how can i do this? i keep feeling like i’m disappointing someone and i don’t know who.
the reason he makes me mad isn’t really because i want to beat the crap out of him. it’s because he went easy on me. it hurt my pride. badly. and i try to put my heart and soul into two things: my martial arts and my writing. i have a rivalry that isn’t something like i want to kill him, more like i just don’t want him to be so arrogant. i understand the black belts going easy, but we’re the same belt. it makes me irritated that he went easy on me. i don’t care i get my @$$ handed to me, i’d rather he went all out.
and i don’t have a crush on him, it’s someone nicer.
A few things that have always helped me.
#1. Take a deep breath before you start, and try to relax. If you’re tense and anxious, it will show in your performance.
#2. Remember that sparring isn’t a competition, it’s for learning. You’re not trying to beat the crap out of the other person, you’re trying to learn from them. If you’re trying to "win" at sparring then you’re missing the point of sparring.
#3. Have a few goals when you’re sparring. When I trained in karate, if I was sparring with someone better than me, I’d set a few goals for myself; such as landing a specific technique at a specific point. If I’ve been consistantly caught by a technique, I might tell my opponent so he/she could use it on me, and I could learn to defend it.
On the bit about the rival, let it go. If he infuriates you so much, maybe avoid sparring with him. Sparring with the intent to hurt your opponent is not a good idea, and can get out of control quickly.
Hope this helps.
Ok first of all relax and block everything all distractions just imagine its you and your opponent and nothing else and don’t be afraid to hurt them they are martial artist theres no reason why you should be feeling sorry for them i spar with my best friends at home were both in the arts together and were not afraid to put hits on one another what you should do is during a spar don’t let your guard down keep your eyes on the enemy watch him try to read him know his fighting methods and what hes going to do next so you can then be ready and you can counter the attacks and attack back at the same times you being afraid of hurting the students is not gonna win you the match am not saying to beat him badly only try to take him down and throw as many hits as you can till he taps out
First of all don’t be afraid to hurt people that’s the point of martial arts lol and relax just breath in through your nose and out the mouth. i used to just freak out and start swinging but to get out of this habit i just had someone throw punches an inch away from my face over and over til it didn’t make me uncomfortable. once you are comfortable being hit then you can focus on dodging and using good technique. just keep sparring people much better than you and you will be more comfortable getting hit and hitting back. Also sparring without actually hitting your oppenent, just tapping them is great for building confidence and practicing techniques. Good luck and keep at it