Can you develop a killer instinct?

don't listen to ppl, you can learn to take advantage of openings, that's all it is. sure some ppl are naturally good at everything, but it's the same story for every other humanly trait imaginable. watch fighters whose "instincts" you admire, have a huge arsenal of what you can do, learn to throw your punches and kicks from un-natural or uncomfortable positions and angles, once you can get your body to do it, you just gotta recognize openings...do you imagine you're in a fight when you're working the bag or the pads?

sure some ppl are more instinctive at taking advantage of openings, but you can program things into your brain ----> instinct/second-nature.
 
Michael Wanaka said:
Killer instinct isn't about anger at all. Killer instinct, for me anyway, is something like "I hurt you, now I'm going to finish you". It's cold and calculating. Anger plays no part.
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Exactly, it's about being ready to finish the fight when the opportunity comes by. It's cold and calculated. It's in the name itself, it's an instinct. You can condition this if you like but of course you have to have a certain "talent" for it.
 
Personal mantras work amazingly well. Create your own mantra to suit your personality.

They temper and sharpen the mental edge your looking for.
 
Wanaka's right. Killer instinct is about recognizing weakness and then ruthlessly expoting it. It is a function of a couple of things: time in the ring and training and properly timed aggressiveness. Some people never quite get the second part, its partially instinct.

Anger, in fact all emotion, has nothing to do with good fighting. The best fighers are completely detached when they fight. Emotion is wasted energy. In fact I LOVE when I frustrate my opponent to the point of anger. If I see anger in my opponent I know he's lost control and I'm about to put him to sleep.
 
Excelsior said:
I've been training MT for a while now - only a couple of times a week, but for more than two years. Yet I'm still a punching bag, whether it's while sparring, doing live rounds with pad feeders, whatever. My technique's there. I've got enough conditioning to get through. But I can't seem to take the fight to whoever's across from me.

Is it possible to "learn" a killer instinct, or is it something you're born with?
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If you don't have it you just don't have it, but you might have it and just never reached in deep enuff to get it. lets say you were getting beat real bad in a fight the bell sounds and you go to the corner, you tell yer Corner Man that he's F***ing strong and whats really going through yer mind is (man a few more good shots like last round and im gona be eating canvas). You come out for the next round and throw a combo and one of yer punches gets trrough and hurts the guy............Yer killer instinct might kick in there and once youve got it, you got it my friend.
 
If I see anger in my opponent I knwo he's lost control and I'm about to put him to sleep. Cause I'm a badass mother fucker
 
First fist fight I ever got into was the closest thing I can call a killer instinct. Basically some kid called my brother a retard and i kind of snapped. I blacked out after I threw the first punch. When I came to I had broken the kids jaw, nose, fractured his occipital lobe, caved in one of his cheeks, and broke my right hand.

My sister said the whole time I was doing it my face was expressionless, and that I had no reaction to her screaming at me to stop, or to anything else.

I was twelve years old, and after had to go through a lot of therapy at my parents behest.
 
Excelsior said:
I've been training MT for a while now - only a couple of times a week, but for more than two years. Yet I'm still a punching bag, whether it's while sparring, doing live rounds with pad feeders, whatever. My technique's there. I've got enough conditioning to get through. But I can't seem to take the fight to whoever's across from me.

Is it possible to "learn" a killer instinct, or is it something you're born with?
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i know what you mean. I find anything other than hard sparring difficult in terms of being aggressive.

The only way i can 'unleash the tiger' (yeah yeah har har, i couldnt think of a better phrase) is when we spar hard and someone clips me. I actually need to take a shot or two to wake up and get into it.

but that said, then my technique suffers because i am clouded with emotion. The pros in our place can get their sparring on at any pace without suffering any loss of technique or failing to push the fight.

I dunno, i would say basically i'm not a fighter, and perhaps you're not either. Fuck it, its not the end of the world, right?
 
noobloser said:
No. Killer instincts come from living on the hard streets of Philly and knowing you only have one shot to make a better living for yourself and girlfriend by defeating Apollo Creed.
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haha

"ADRIENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNE..."
 
Michael Wanaka said:
Killer instinct isn't about anger at all. Killer instinct, for me anyway, is something like "I hurt you, now I'm going to finish you". It's cold and calculating. Anger plays no part.
Click to expand...

indeed, what im thinking aswell.

It's about picking someone apart, and knowing how to do it. Thats the Killer, and the instinct IMO.
 
there should be no anger in a fight, think of the fighters who have over 200 fights, do you think they still fight because they are angry? its that rush you get when sparring or fighting, that something that pushes you to keep coming forward (or backward if thats your gameplan) and not questioning what you can do or fearing what your opponent can do to you, thats killer instinct.
 
there should be no anger in a fight, think of the fighters who have over 200 fights, do you think they still fight because they are angry? its that rush you get when sparring or fighting, that something that pushes you to keep coming forward (or backward if thats your gameplan) and not questioning what you can do or fearing what your opponent can do to you, thats killer instinct.
 
Excelsior said:
I've been training MT for a while now - only a couple of times a week, but for more than two years. Yet I'm still a punching bag, whether it's while sparring, doing live rounds with pad feeders, whatever. My technique's there. I've got enough conditioning to get through. But I can't seem to take the fight to whoever's across from me.

Is it possible to "learn" a killer instinct, or is it something you're born with?
Click to expand...

there should be no anger in a fight, think of the fighters who have over 200 fights, do you think they still fight because they are angry? its that rush you get when sparring or fighting, that something that pushes you to keep coming forward (or backward if thats your gameplan) and not questioning what you can do or fearing what your opponent can do to you, thats killer instinct
 
It's so freaking bizarre that this thread popped up now, of all times.

Just last night I gave the nod to my coach that I wanted to get in the ring at an upcoming fight card. Four months shy of my 37th b-day, I'm making my amateur Muay Thai debut.

Since last April (wow - thread necromancy) I've learned that I was barking up the wrong tree. It wasn't really killer instinct I was looking for after all. I just tightened my focus, then tightened it again. I spent time concentrating on picking through my opponent's defenses while shoring up mine at the same time. Once I saw where the holes were, and found myself able to get through them, I gained a lot of confidence. Confidence has a way of snowballing, and the more I dedicated myself the better at it I got.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. I got a lot of insight from your answers.
 
I am 38 and my first amateur muay thai fight is at the end of this month... in case you felt all alone...

And I agree, confidence is the key to fighting. Technique, conditioning, and practice are keys to confidence.
 
Excelsior said:
It's so freaking bizarre that this thread popped up now, of all times.

Just last night I gave the nod to my coach that I wanted to get in the ring at an upcoming fight card. Four months shy of my 37th b-day, I'm making my amateur Muay Thai debut.

Since last April (wow - thread necromancy) I've learned that I was barking up the wrong tree. It wasn't really killer instinct I was looking for after all. I just tightened my focus, then tightened it again. I spent time concentrating on picking through my opponent's defenses while shoring up mine at the same time. Once I saw where the holes were, and found myself able to get through them, I gained a lot of confidence. Confidence has a way of snowballing, and the more I dedicated myself the better at it I got.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. I got a lot of insight from your answers.
Click to expand...

good luck bro, come back to this thread and tell us how it went!
 
no you can't develop it, its already inside everyone fully developed.
 
Anger is a byproduct of fear. If you have anger, you have been stimulated to fear. Possibly you meant mean.

I would recommend the books listed in an earlier post. However, if you think learning to fight takes a long time, entering a fight in a state of mushin (no mind) is WAY harder. This is why there are so many levels to black belt. The attainment of black belt is only the beginning. The development of the mind is the more important aspect of advancement in martial arts.

Go No Ring Shin Do (The Book of Five Rings) is good for strategy. The best book I ever read for learning how to enter a fight is Secret Tactics by Kazumi Tabata. It sounds like physical techniques but it is teaching by samurai on how to prepare mentally. It has a lot of similarity with sports psyche.

Entering the ring like this is the secret to Fedor's and Anderson Silva' approach. They feel nothing. On the other side you have guys like BJ and Leben who fight on raw emotion.

If I had to start and choose a path I would enter a fight feeling nothing. Reactions are instant. Energy is minimal.
 
nah. Some people have it and others don't. Not all fighters are warriors. Like BJ Penn said, "there are too many athletes in MMA and not enough fighters."
 
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