How to "relax"?

Chaghatai

Chaghatai

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Overwhelmingly the advice I get in the gym is to "relax". I train Muay Thai, have been for 4 months lately (this after 6 months of training about 8 years ago) I've fought in two smokers and the problem is even worse when I fight.
The problem is, I understand this advice and agree with it. I'm completly sold on the importance if being relaxed, but I cannot seem to summon the nessessary relaxation during more intense training and fighting. One friend of mine said he saw my entire back tense during my last fight. I didn't even realize it at the time of course.
So how does one practice "relaxing"? Any tips would sure be appreciated.
 
Well, try not to think about that you "MUST RELAX". That way of thinking isn't going to work, 'cause you notice the "must". I believe Bruce Lee said this, and well...Just try and check yourself once in a while whilst sparring. You could exchange some blows and then maybe scratch a bit, or yawn, and then dive back into it.
 
Train more and it will come.

It is obvious that it will be much much harder when you compete and that will also burn of loads of energy and gas for you.
 
Make sure you're breathing. Lot's of ppl forget to breathe when they get excited during training and fighting.
Watch some Thai fights. The foreign style of MT or kickboxing doesn't seem very relaxed compared to Thailand. Remember you don't need to be tense all the time. Step out of range and take a breath.
 
Thanks everyone. Yeah, my gym mates remind me to breath more when I fight. Of course I don't realize at the time, but they have even caught me holding my breath. One thing I am working on is to make a very exaggerated exhale/yell when I kick.
 
do a back to the wall type drill where you stand in the corner of a ring/against the wall and just block punches your training partner throws at you. forget about the punches and picture the ocean or a mountain range or some other image along those lines and let your body deal with those punches. its a leap of faith, but for me that made the biggest difference to staying relaxed.
 
I think some people get too tense because they get into full-contact, balls-to-the-wall sparring too soon. This may make me unpopular here, but that's how I see it.

Try to dedicate some of your sparring sessions to light sparring. Or even half-speed sparring. The tense feeling comes from getting hit really hard, and bracing for it unconsciously. Sparring lighter and half-speed can help you relax and practice your techniques, footwork and reactions in a less tense scenario, and these habits can then transfer over to hard sparring, once you get better at them.

I'm not saying ditch hard sparring altogether, but light sparring is underrated by some people. You need it to develop the smooth and fluid movements, IMHO.
 
And you cant go hard 100% of the time if you train frequently... So to get more sparing in you need to varie the intensity and level of impact.

Besides you will learn more if you go easier since your not "afraid". If your always using your "A" game your not improving the things you actually need to work on.
 
Exactly the way I see it.

Also, it helps to spar against novices, if you are intermediate or advanced. Sure, you learn the most when sparring people who can wipe the floor with your ass, but you tend to develop bad habits and become overly defensive too.

Sparring against novices (and taking it easy on them) is almost as important for developing a solid, technical and smooth style. There, the fear is not too great, and you can try things with more confidence.
 
Agreed 100%

Im currious what do you think, and the rest of you standup gurus to, is the right amount of hard sparring a week for a phase of training where you are preparing for competition.
Personally more than 2 and I myself is pushing my body and more or less is constantly limping around and devoting myself to get myself ready for the next training session.

What are your limits and opinions? Also of course hard is whery subjective, if you can examplify what you mean with hard sparring it would help the discussion...;)
 
Evil Eye Gouger said:
I think some people get too tense because they get into full-contact, balls-to-the-wall sparring too soon. This may make me unpopular here, but that's how I see it.

Try to dedicate some of your sparring sessions to light sparring. Or even half-speed sparring. The tense feeling comes from getting hit really hard, and bracing for it unconsciously. Sparring lighter and half-speed can help you relax and practice your techniques, footwork and reactions in a less tense scenario, and these habits can then transfer over to hard sparring, once you get better at them.

I'm not saying ditch hard sparring altogether, but light sparring is underrated by some people. You need it to develop the smooth and fluid movements, IMHO.
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makes sense to me.
I think an introduction to sparring is good rather than getting chucked in the deep end. Start with tit 4 tat, working on combos and diff counters etc... then build up to free sparring.
 
Evil Eye Gouger said:
Exactly the way I see it.

Also, it helps to spar against novices, if you are intermediate or advanced. Sure, you learn the most when sparring people who can wipe the floor with your ass, but you tend to develop bad habits and become overly defensive too.

Sparring against novices (and taking it easy on them) is almost as important for developing a solid, technical and smooth style. There, the fear is not too great, and you can try things with more confidence.
Click to expand...

not soo sure bout this one. I've noticed myself getting really lazy defence when sparring noobs as there is almost zero risk. Then when you make the change to a pro fighter it can be hard to switch back on. I like to spar ppl around the same or of a better level than me. Some noobs can be dangerous as well with awkward styles and no control of their power.
 
We usually do 5-10 rounds of sparring with each session. We go light, emphasizing timing, and putting together combinations. It sounds like I simply need to do more of that and do those "spot checks" where I back off alittle and make sure I'm staying relaxed and breathing.
 
good tips in this thread

Bas Rutten use to draw R's on the back of his hands when he was competing in Pancrase. They stood for Relax because he was soooo tense too. just be cool my babies :icon_chee
 
shok9 said:
not soo sure bout this one. I've noticed myself getting really lazy defence when sparring noobs as there is almost zero risk. Then when you make the change to a pro fighter it can be hard to switch back on. I like to spar ppl around the same or of a better level than me. Some noobs can be dangerous as well with awkward styles and no control of their power.
Click to expand...
No no, I'm not saying sparring newbs all the time, I meant you need to mix it up from time to time.

Of course, if you spar newbs all the time, it's bad habits galore. But taking a break from sparring terminators from time to time, and just going easy can help you explore some of the less used attacks/defenses, more difficult footwork, etc.

Full ack on the dangerous n00bs, BTW, I fear them more than I do experienced fighters :icon_chee
 
krellik said:
Im currious what do you think, and the rest of you standup gurus to, is the right amount of hard sparring a week for a phase of training where you are preparing for competition.
Personally more than 2 and I myself is pushing my body and more or less is constantly limping around and devoting myself to get myself ready for the next training session.

What are your limits and opinions? Also of course hard is whery subjective, if you can examplify what you mean with hard sparring it would help the discussion...;)
Click to expand...
I can't give you advice, as my competition experience is limited, and TKD wouldn't transfer well to MMA in this case either.

It would make sense to me to spar hard leading up to a fight, and then just before the fight, switch to full-speed, but low-contact sparring, work cardio, combinations and quickness for many rounds. That way your body can recover and be at 100% without injuries when you fight, and you'll still be in the full-speed, fluid mode.

But this is just what I am inclined to say, I am no authority on preparing MMA fighters at all. This is how my boxing club seems to prepare fighters too, you don't want injuries right before a fight, you need your body to heal to 100% so you can take it and dish it out.
 
I had this same problem myself. I knew I had good cardio, but when it came time to spar at nearly 100% I would get tense. I worked on imagery before sparring and between rounds to help me stay focused, and during the round I focused on my breathing.

Once I had the shit rocked out of me, I noticed that I wasn't tense during sparring anymore. I really had nothing to be afraid of anymore. I realized I wasn't made of glass. Sounds like you just need more experience and you'll be fine.
 
Evil Eye Gouger said:
No no, I'm not saying sparring newbs all the time, I meant you need to mix it up from time to time.

Of course, if you spar newbs all the time, it's bad habits galore. But taking a break from sparring terminators from time to time, and just going easy can help you explore some of the less used attacks/defenses, more difficult footwork, etc.

Full ack on the dangerous n00bs, BTW, I fear them more than I do experienced fighters :icon_chee
Click to expand...


I think its also a good thing to sparr a noob now and again. It keeps me honest. When I only spar against people of my skill or better I get get to analytical becuase I expect them to know the correct counters and whatnot. A noob will pull some totally retarded things out and actually catch me off guard because I anticipated a certain trained response. Like I said it keeps me honest.
 
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