Overcoming fear of being punched..

I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you have no idea about Philly. Let me give you a bit of info on what Philly is like. Where to start, maybe it is the most violent city in america, and have the highest murder rate. ( Not bragging about that, it is just the way that it is, and it happens to be where I am from.) Our sports fans threw snowballs at santa clause. 75% of the kids in the city hangout on a street corner, and end up from time to time in big brawls between the two corners. Why the big brawls? Because you have 40 kids from different sections of the neighborhood bumping into one another. Does that make sense? Of course not but tell a 15 yr old that. Your average 21 yr old male has been in over 30 fights in his life. Why so many? Because that is how disputes are settled here. Does that make it ok? Of course not but again it is the way that it is here. Do I try to avoid a fight now that I am older? Of course I do, but they are not fully un-avoidable!

As far as your comment on me not starting the fights with the overgrown pussy's. Now that you have a slight insight into living in Philly. Do you find it so hard to believe, that some big goof who hears that I train. Who lives his life off of bieng Billy bad ass, would just deceide that he was going to try to get another W in his colum with me. Or when I am down the shore with 3 of my buddies, and 30 guys mistake us for another group of guys, and just start swinging. Is that my fault? Of course not, but it has happened and all I could do was fight my way out of it. I actualy hate to fight, but if I am forced to fight then I am going to fight!
 
It doesn't even really hurt to get punched as long as you don't take a hard shot to the liver.
 
Get hit. We all see Hollywood movies, one punch, guys get knocked out, jaws broken, black eyes. It doesn't happen like that in real life. Before I started boxing, I always figured that catching a punch with my face would not only hurt really badly, but would actually do serious damage. A punch right on the button will do that, but 98% of punches don't land flush. Real life isn't Fight Club. Teeth don't fly, cheek bones don't break, noses don't explode in blood. Getting punched in the face hurts a lot less than most people expect it to. Get tagged a few times, realize that it's not as bad as you imagined it to be, you will be fine. I was apprehensive the first couple times I sparred too, get hit, get over it.
Edit* ha, getting kicked does suck though, wear shin guards, keep your hands up, and your elbows tucked.
 
pierce8468 said:
I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you have no idea about Philly. Let me give you a bit of info on what Philly is like. Where to start, maybe it is the most violent city in america, and have the highest murder rate. ( Not bragging about that, it is just the way that it is, and it happens to be where I am from.) Our sports fans threw snowballs at santa clause. 75% of the kids in the city hangout on a street corner, and end up from time to time in big brawls between the two corners. Why the big brawls? Because you have 40 kids from different sections of the neighborhood bumping into one another. Does that make sense? Of course not but tell a 15 yr old that. Your average 21 yr old male has been in over 30 fights in his life. Why so many? Because that is how disputes are settled here. Does that make it ok? Of course not but again it is the way that it is here. Do I try to avoid a fight now that I am older? Of course I do, but they are not fully un-avoidable!

As far as your comment on me not starting the fights with the overgrown pussy's. Now that you have a slight insight into living in Philly. Do you find it so hard to believe, that some big goof who hears that I train. Who lives his life off of bieng Billy bad ass, would just deceide that he was going to try to get another W in his colum with me. Or when I am down the shore with 3 of my buddies, and 30 guys mistake us for another group of guys, and just start swinging. Is that my fault? Of course not, but it has happened and all I could do was fight my way out of it. I actualy hate to fight, but if I am forced to fight then I am going to fight!
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Listen brotha, Im not trying to give you a hard time. But the most violent city in America is not even on the same scale as many others around the world, that is a terribly ethnocentric point of view. Throwing snowballs at Santa, hardly the same as throwing grenades at storefronts and 40 kids bumping into each other is not quite the same as 40 kids on any given day armed with automatic weapons and strung out on opium. Regardless, this is way off the subject in this forum and hardly the place for this dicussion (I apologize to the rest of you). PM me if you wish to continue this....... Bottom line, most street fights are a choice and a bad one at that! Further, a tough guy attitude about your training or skill is only gonna result in some idiot wanting to prove himself. From my personal experience, the toughest guys I know, don't need to prove it! They allready know! Rant ended!
 
just dont go to a small MMA gym to spar. Especially if the guys wear tapout gear, and are tatted up with scowls on their faces

that is all.
 
Moose69 said:
Pain occurs in your brain, not in your body. It only hurts because you expect it to hurt. Maybe ask your friend just not to punch you in the face. I think thats reasonable. Later, when you feel like it, hit him really hard in the nose to let him know your ready to bring on a little more heat.
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Brilliant!...... really!?

In short, never tapout.....ever..... just don't expect it to hurt when someone breaks your arm, then get up and punch him in the nose (with the other hand of course), let him know your ready for the heat! Hell, ya still got at least 3 functioning limbs left!
 
It's normal to fear being punched. Most people have to go through the same steps to overcome the fear.

If you find a good gym with mature, professional people, you should be totally fine. If you can find a gym that actually breeds fighters (maybe not professionally, but smokers/amateur is good, too), you'll usually find they especially take care to avoid unnecessary injuries.

When you are starting out, work on your defense. Your trainer will probably work blocking technique with you first (Muay Thai shielding/Chicken Wing/Crazy Monkey/whatever you wanna call it). This will help a lot because it will get you feeling comfortable being hit while taking minimal damage. It will also boost your confidence about being able to protect yourself. Honestly, there isn't a whole ton of danger of being hit all the time until you start working slips and counters, which isn't beginner material. By the time you get there, you should be fine.

Another thing to remember is that at most gyms, you rarely spar at 100% power. You usually start out at about 30% and work your way up to 50%-75%. Every once in a while you'll get one of those guys who gets frustrated when he's "losing" and will start hitting harder, but just back off and tell him you're tired and to not go so hard. Usually they will comply. If not, ask to spar with someone else.

Another very important point is that gyms rarely have you spar fresh. Usually you spar AFTER training, so everyone is dog tired and couldn't punch 100% if they tried.

In short, just try it. At worst, you'll realize it's not for you and stick with the grappling. But there's always a chance you will like it, and you will find yourself enjoying another hobby just as deep and satisfying as grappling. Given the latter, wouldn't it be a shame to never give it a shot?

FWIW, I grappled for a few years before ever trying standup... Now I wish I had started a lot earlier!

ssullivan80 said:
Listen brotha, Im not trying to give you a hard time. But the most violent city in America is not even on the same scale as many others around the world, that is a terribly ethnocentric point of view.
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I agree with you. Philly is a dangerous place, but to make light of areas like Dublin, urban Africa, Kosovo and Oakland in the same breath is just crazy.
 
I always thought Belfast and Glasgow were worse than Dublin, but I may be wrong.

I dont like being punched/thrown hard/kicked yadda yadda, but unfortunately they're something you're going to have to either

A - Get used to
B - Avoid by improving your technique.

If you could win every fight without being punched, you wouldn't find it fun. Getting punched hurts, so does being elbowed and so on. But so does being in a car crash, and I can tell you which one Id rather have happening to me.

The reason why it's scary is because your body says "this is going to harm you", and your mind doesnt get a chance to say "he can always say stop when it gets too bad... which it wont".

Worst case scenario, you get knocked out. Hospitals are always at hand.
 
ippons sting said:
I always thought Belfast and Glasgow were worse than Dublin, but I may be wrong.



If you could win every fight without being punched, you wouldn't find it fun. Getting punched hurts, so does being elbowed and so on. But so does being in a car crash, and I can tell you which one Id rather have happening to me.

The reason why it's scary is because your body says "this is going to harm you", and your mind doesnt get a chance to say "he can always say stop when it gets too bad... which it wont".

Worst case scenario, you get knocked out. Hospitals are always at hand.
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"If you could win every fight without being punched, you wouldn't find it fun."
I sure as hell would!

Belfast...... probably! been a long time since I have been. Glasgow, is in Scotland and I have never been.

I agree that it is very mental, but like anything else with repetition it becomes less intimidating. For me, knowing it is going to hurt is better than not knowing what to expect. From my experience, it hurts a lot more the next day than it does during the fight!
 
ippons sting said:
If you could win every fight without being punched, you wouldn't find it fun.
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If you could win every fight without being punched you aren't fighting the right people (this is in reference to a MT/Boxing fight, not a street fight). Either that or you're Lyoto Machida :)
 
Wear head gear and spar with someone who is good enough to be able to control their power. If they have been training for a good amount of time they arent going to go 100% on you to knock the shit out of you.
 
Moose69 said:
Pain occurs in your brain, not in your body. It only hurts because you expect it to hurt. Maybe ask your friend just not to punch you in the face. I think thats reasonable. Later, when you feel like it, hit him really hard in the nose to let him know your ready to bring on a little more heat.
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I lol'ed.

I'm with the OP on this one, but I wouldn't say I'm afraid, more like apprehensive. Then again I've been doing standup for just about a month (yeah yeah... newb) and already had my gloves knocked into my face a number of times while blocking. It's more curiosity than anything at this point, but that curiosity is tempered with the thought of not wanting to be hit, so I'm not actively trying to get punched in the grill or anything silly like that. Sooner or later it'll happen, and I'll just deal with it then. :icon_chee
 
Wow-- thank you for the (mostly) very constructive and supportive response. Being a girl, my main fighting experience has been through the movies (yes, thanks, I saw Fight Club) and so my perception of "what it means to be hit in the face" was pretty much explosions of blood, broken bones, and the rest of the Hollywood routine. I truly didn't know that if you learn to block properly, you could feel somewhat invulnerable, or that getting hit while wearing protective gear wasn't so bad. Partly my fault, for not asking my people (I don't want to admit ignorance except apparently in this anonymous forum.)

I am quite subject to addiction, so muay thai as cocaine is very appealing. If anything is more addictive than grappling, I'll give it a try.

Again, I do appreciate your advice... keep it coming.

G
 
If you do Muay Thai or MMA sometimes its good to do boxing only rounds. You will take more punches and it will get rid of your flinch reflex.

I think everyone has a bit of fear unless youre crazy and the only way to smash it out is to grit your teeth and get as much sparring in as possible.
 
georgetteo said:
Wow-- thank you for the (mostly) very constructive and supportive response. Being a girl, my main fighting experience has been through the movies (yes, thanks, I saw Fight Club) and so my perception of "what it means to be hit in the face" was pretty much explosions of blood, broken bones, and the rest of the Hollywood routine.

I truly didn't know that if you learn to block properly, you could feel somewhat invulnerable, or that getting hit while wearing protective gear wasn't so bad. Partly my fault, for not asking my people (I don't want to admit ignorance except apparently in this anonymous forum.)
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If only real fighting looked as cool as Hollywood makes it seem..

Also, Its real hard to hurt someone who doesnt want to be hurt in boxing. If you shell up well enough, nothing should really be able to hurt you.
 
fightingrabbit said:
If only real fighting looked as cool as Hollywood makes it seem..

Also, Its real hard to hurt someone who doesnt want to be hurt in boxing. If you shell up well enough, nothing should really be able to hurt you.
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That's funny, I disagree.
 
Haru at HMC has all the new guys do this exercise where everyone lines up and just pounds on the new guy 1 by 1, 30 seconds each.

1- So the guy gets used to being hit, even if it's on the arms
2- So the guy learns to keep his eyes open while the punches come at his guard.
 
Getting punched in the face / head sucks dude...train train and train and get used to it...

Think of Wandy who progressively allows punches through in training before his fights so he can toughen up his skin....that takes a different kind of person....some got it, some don't...
 
Oh yeah another good thing to get rid of being gun-shy is active sparring. Stand toe to toe, not allowed to move in and out. Must be throwing at all times, punches or kicks only, no knees. You can only block a shot if you're simultaneously throwing another shot. Fast and light.
 
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