Freezing during fights

whadabouchasir

I had my first tkd sparring competition there recently and dispite being fairly fit and training twice a week for the last 6-7 months i just completely froze when i got on the mat.I had absolutely no idea what combos to throw or how to counter.When I'm sparring during training this isn't a problem i'm to be able to score a few points in every round.any advice?

dudara

It happens. The best way I found to deal with it is to keep drilling your combinations. Keep keep drilling. The moves should be automatic.

It sounds obvious I know, but it was a lesson that I learned at towards the red belt end of the spectrum rather than at the white/yellow end. I wish I'd learned it sooner.

yomchi

Where do you train? What comp was it?
There's a difference in sparring in your comfort zone and sparring outside of it. You can drill all you want, you just need more competition experience.

More to my interest though, what's the deal with your sig?

arybvtcw0eolkf

Talk to your coach, he know's you a lot more than we do here.

Without knowing you I'd say its just novice nerves and the more competitions you do the more relaxed about the whole thing you'll be.

It happens to us all, esp. on our first competitions where the whole occassion be be pretty over whelming.

I'd be surprised if your not being told the same thing in your club.

One final thought, are completely confident in your fitness?..

whadabouchasir

yomchi wrote: »

More to my interest though, what's the deal with your sig?

It's supposed to be an ironic joke based on our prejudices.sorry if it offended anyone.

Konnor Shy Sibling wrote: »

Talk to your coach, he know's you a lot more than we do here.


I'd be surprised if your not being told the same thing in your club.

One final thought, are completely confident in your fitness?..

Theat's pretty much what my coach said.Without wanting to sound arrogant I feel that I should have beat the other guy out of the ring.i was taller,had a longer reach had been training for a good while longer and was a higher grade.I'm fairly confident in my fitness as well we really get put through our paces at training.

arybvtcw0eolkf

whadabouchasir wrote: »

Without wanting to sound arrogant I feel that I should have beat the other guy out of the ring.i was taller,had a longer reach had been training for a good while longer and was a higher grade..

Maybe when everything else was equal the other guy was simply a better fighter!.

But don't let that knock your confidence, we're all only as good as our last fight so next time you'll probably kick his ass!.

When you've more experience under your belt you'll look back and see this competition for what it was - your first comp and a huge learning experience.

Btw, did you only have just the one fight in the comp?.

yomchi

What comp was it? The reason I'm asking was I'd be interested to suss out the standard at it.

flynny51

You'll get over it, it was your first tournament, try and get to as many as possible and before you know it you'll be walking in and feeling right at home like you're back in your usual training hall. It'll all be second nature to you.

I remember back in the day when I used to do taekwondo, my problem was I used to wear a gumshield during tournaments. I used to get really bad nausea from it. Didn't wear it at training and could spar until the cows came home.

arybvtcw0eolkf

flynny51 wrote: »

You'll get over it, it was your first tournament, try and get to as many as possible and before you know it you'll be walking in and feeling right at home like you're back in your usual training hall. It'll all be second nature to you.

Short, sweet & hits the nail right on the head.

whadabouchasir

Konnor Shy Sibling wrote: »

Btw, did you only have just the one fight in the comp?.

I had only one fight in my belt category (I lost my first fight to this guy). I had a fight in the grand champion section as well.I lost this one as too,although I'm not really to bothered since the other guy was around 6"2 and a black tag:D

yomchi

Are you happy enough with your tactical preparation?

whadabouchasir

yomchi wrote: »

Are you happy enough with your tactical preparation?

not really.I don't think that I did enough practice in punch kick combos.I rpobably could have practiced more counters too.

arybvtcw0eolkf

whadabouchasir wrote: »

I had only one fight in my belt category (I lost my first fight to this guy). I had a fight in the grand champion section as well.I lost this one as too,although I'm not really to bothered since the other guy was around 6"2 and a black tag:D

whadabouchasir wrote: »

not really.I don't think that I did enough practice in punch kick combos.I rpobably could have practiced more counters too.

Losing two fights for your first competition really isn't anything to worry about.

Plus it sounds like with the benefit of hindsight you can see you didn't prepare properly - Proper Planning & Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance!.

Did you get any video footage of your bouts?.

yomchi

whadabouchasir wrote: »

not really.I don't think that I did enough practice in punch kick combos.I rpobably could have practiced more counters too.

And do train with progression to sparring or is it all on dead pad drills?

Boston

I think everyone gets a little afraid when they step on the mat for competition. I know I was convinced I was going to break something at my last competition. The only way to get over it is by training hard and getting experience with the competition environment.

YamaMotoYama

If you go out on the mats and plan to take the fight as it comes - I think its a disaster waiting to happen.

Identify the techniques that work for you in training and have a plan going out that these are the techniques you plan to use and even have a plan to try them out in a certain order. Obviously - if the guy you are up against has a attributes that will negate the techniques - then have a plan B.

But I always try to plan what I will do even before getting on the mats. Anyway - thats my approach.