Thread: Maintaining Composue

Following my video of might fight (if you havn't saw it I lose composure when rushed) I just wondered if there were drills I could do or anything to maintain my composure when being rushed by an opponent. It has cost me more than 1 fight when I am in control they come in wild swinging shots and I freeze and end up fighting them and getting tired instead of pivoting off, or just landing a straight back hand and moving. Strange thing is during sparring I can do it but when it comes to the big night in front of the crowd I seem to lose it Does anyone have any tips physically or mentally I could use?

Hi Southpawwolves,
There are three things I recommend you doing to help you overcome this debilitating tendency and that is: 1) isolation-drill an opponent rushing you in the ways that make you lose your composure so you become acclimated to it. As you get more and more desensitized, gradually incorporate an audience (increasing it as you go along) into your training sessions to simulate fight night conditions. When you have noticed significant progress in yourself, have the audience become more and more boisterous. Hell, have them even heckle you to give you practice on keeping composed and focused on the task at hand. Another thing, prior to drilling, be sure to work out practical defensive measures along with potent counter-offensive tactics into the scheme of things beforehand in order to ingrain effective/efficient responses as well; 2) integrate both first-person and third-person visualization into your training regimen. Visualize yourself facing the type of rushes that have debilitated you and "see"/"feel" yourself effectively defending and countering them in a cool, collected manner in the ways you pre-planned in front of a big audience; and 3) isolation-spar various opponents and have them, during the course of the rounds you decide upon, to randomly rush you in slower tempos and with less aggressive intent, allowing you to practice remaining calm and coolly respond with the predetermined tactics you worked out beforehand. As you get more accustomed to things, have your sparring partners gradually increase the tempo and viciousness of their rushes until you reach the point where you are just sparring "normally." With all this said, be sure to keep in mind that "Rome wasn't built in a day." Anything worthwhile takes time to fully develop/change. So, be patient and persevere. You will reap what you sow...

Take Care,
Lito

Originally Posted by StrictlySP

Hi Southpawwolves,
There are three things I recommend you doing to help you overcome this debilitating tendency and that is: 1) isolation-drill an opponent rushing you in the ways that make you lose your composure so you become acclimated to it. As you get more and more desensitized, gradually incorporate an audience (increasing it as you go along) into your training sessions to simulate fight night conditions. When you have noticed significant progress in yourself, have the audience become more and more boisterous. Hell, have them even heckle you to give you practice on keeping composed and focused on the task at hand. Another thing, prior to drilling, be sure to work out practical defensive measures along with potent counter-offensive tactics into the scheme of things beforehand in order to ingrain effective/efficient responses as well; 2) integrate both first-person and third-person visualization into your training regimen. Visualize yourself facing the type of rushes that have debilitated you and "see"/"feel" yourself effectively defending and countering them in a cool, collected manner in the ways you pre-planned in front of a big audience; and 3) isolation-spar various opponents and have them, during the course of the rounds you decide upon, to randomly rush you in slower tempos and with less aggressive intent, allowing you to practice remaining calm and coolly respond with the predetermined tactics you worked out beforehand. As you get more accustomed to things, have your sparring partners gradually increase the tempo and viciousness of their rushes until you reach the point where you are just sparring "normally." With all this said, be sure to keep in mind that "Rome wasn't built in a day." Anything worthwhile takes time to fully develop/change. So, be patient and persevere. You will reap what you sow...

Take Care,
Lito

This is detailed and excellent advice.

I too get nervous in fights due to the crowd and in preparation for my most recent fight which was to be October 6th (they couldn't find me an opponent), I sparred in front of people and encouraged them to be loud.

In amatuer boxing or the lesser form of smokers that I have done anyway, you gotta figure that most guys are going to rush you at some point.

Covering up well and countering with straight shots worked for me when I was rushed in my first fight (only had 3).

I have a less detailed answer-- I just have to say that my meditation practice has helped me keep my composure even when I'm outmatched.

Practice focusing on your breath and relaxing into wherever you are holding tension. I tend to tense up in the waist and I'm still working on that part.

Smile for real on the inside and enjoy the thought and process of making them miss.

You could practice that by only moving and not hitting back at all while getting someone you trust to take pot shots at you, make em miss with your feet and duck and weave, retreat on angles etc. Then after only gently touch their arms to guide them or disrupt with the foot work, then block and catch them with counters later.

Break it down , know you can do each segment and enjoy each for what it is and you wont give your mind time to freeze up.

Originally Posted by Andre

Smile for real on the inside and enjoy the thought and process of making them miss.

You could practice that by only moving and not hitting back at all while getting someone you trust to take pot shots at you, make em miss with your feet and duck and weave, retreat on angles etc. Then after only gently touch their arms to guide them or disrupt with the foot work, then block and catch been them with counters later.

Break it down , know you can do each segment and enjoy each for what it is and you wont give your mind time to freeze up.

Thank you that's great advice Andre. My tai chi Sifu was just telling me about the inner smile. I've also started doing that kind of defensive sparring. Hearing that from you drives it home a little more.

Sidetracking a little-- I've also been practicing switch stance since I started training a few months ago-- reading your "advanced boxing article" got me more interested in this site-- it's rare to hear creative advice like that. It's a lot to follow on paper-- do you ever plan on making a youtube video?