Fear of punches

[N Maiberg]

Hey, recently during spars I've started flinching or closing my eyes when a punch is coming, my coach noticed this and immediatly pulled me from sparring and matches and told me to get rid of it fast if I want to keep boxing. So I need your advice guys, how can I get over this? I don't even know how it started, I didn't do it until just a week ago.

[Youngblood]

This is a fairly common reaction, and especially when new. And while the trainer pulled you, probably because he figured you might get hurt reacting this way, the best and near only way to overcome it is to get more experience with getting hit. Now that you are aware of it, you will just have to buckle down.

It is also fairly common for people to move their head too far back in their stance, an instinctual reaction from the brain trying to keep one's head furthest from incoming punches. The prob is it often leaves the chin up in the air, and further away from the hands and reaction time to defend punches. I see more people getting nailed like this then anything.

[N Maiberg]

Figured as much, guess it's time to brace myself to getting hit a while now until it stops. Thanks Youngblood.

[Scrap]

Try this, before sparring. Put your Thumb over one nostril and a finger over the other, I say this because you only have two . Now breive in as far as you can through one nostril while closing the other with finger or thumb. When you have inhaled as much as you can blocking the nostril its gone up blow gently down the other, then vice versa. Its an old meditation technique and it works. try it for 3 minutes.

[Fran@myboxingcoach]

Hey Mate

Bit of a shame that your coach hasn't identified specific elements for you to work on. Generally, this 'fear of punches' comes from a slight lack of confidence in certain aspects of your boxing technique. This is very often the case when throwing a right cross for instance, as this shot carries slightly more risk than throwing a jab, and if the shot has faults then it's very easy to be countered by your opponent. Another common reason is having limited defensive tools at your disposal (again it's the coaches job to help instil these in you). Seek to work on things like:

1. Using more feints to put the pressure back on your sparring partner/opponent.
2. Practice your basic hand defenses i.e. rear-hand blocks and parries and the double arm block (cover up). Do this even during shadow boxing and bagwork to help develop 'mind maps' of sparring passages.
3. When you do block or parry a shot, throw a shot back instantly (as your opponent's glove is still in your hand). Again this applies pressure back on your opponent.
4. Work on combining foot movement (in/out/left/right) with slips, ducks and rolls, always seeking to keep your eyes on your opponent. Openings for your shots will come.

Confidence comes with knowledge. Ask your coach if he/she noticed any pattern or has any tips on what you can work on.

Hope this helps mate, and don't worry, confidence will come!!!!

Fran

[HerbM]

In Systema (Russian Martial Arts) we frequently get many people who are gun shy of being punched, and some of the following methods work for all of them who stay around a few weeks.

You are however beyond their level so please don't think that I am equating you with those newcomers, but rather just explaining that these methods work -- together or separately.

(First, everything that you were offered above sounds good too so I am just adding more choices and exercises...)

Get with a friend (or friends) who you can trust -- this must be someone whose only goal is to help you reorganize your neurology to react correctly and usefully.

1. Start light and very slow.
2. Have your partner just touch your face or anywhere else that tends to cause a flinch. GENTLY. Accept the touch.
3. Continue moving slowly and SLOWLY move appropriately and sometimes just purposely 'take the hit' (which is just a touch).
4. As your partner SLOWLY increase the speed or power (and this might be over minutes or even over days) NO FASTER than you can continue to make good movements and react open eyed and effectively, you might want to have the touches/taps be directed somewhat away from the 'sensitive' areas and moved back only as quickly as you can continue to deal with them and improve your reaction.
   By this latter I mean you might be comfortable with a medium tap on the cheekbone but still not be quite ready for that if it comes at your eye or perhaps your nose.
5. The goal here is to NEVER get "hurt" or be "macho" but rather to retrain your neurology.
6. With many people we don't even start with the face or head but initially send solid touches, then taps, then solid punches to the big muscles of the upper chest where the padding makes even a bare fist fairly comfortable.
7. At all times, remember and think the goal is to move correctly and so go as slow and light as necessary.
8. Take some hits at levels that are PERFECTLY acceptable TO YOU. No one else, except perhaps a very careful partner will know what this is so don't go macho and if your partner sees the slightest flinch then he much slow down, reduce power, move the punch to a different area, whatever it takes.

Flinching is not a bad thing, if you have no other response, but it is less than useful if you can use good body movements, blocking, slipping, catching, etc to better protect yourself.

You want to convince your neurology (it's not a conscious thing or it wouldn't be a flinch) that you have those other more effective choices -- and it will (usually) only be convinced by a couple of things:

1. Success in dealing with a punch
2. Effectively surviving those that do get through

Concentrate the large majority of your practice on the former (success) rather than the latter (taking a hit except at very manageable speeds/levels), because ONE failure (i.e., 1 flinch) is likely going to take TEN SUCCESSES (or many more in severe cases) to re-wire.

This also comes up in pistol shooting -- and the principles are similar except of course your reduce the caliber and noise levels (not just smaller caliber but also using ear plugs with ear muffs to reduce the sound level) until the flinch disappears and until new good reactions take precedence.

--
HerbM

[Chris Nagel]

I liked what everyone had to say.

One thing that I'd recommend is a round or two of you and your sparring partner shadow boxing against each other. There are a few ways to go about it, one way is that you and your partner stand in front of the other at a close distance, but not too close as to hit each other. Practice footwork and maneuverability while becoming aware of where you are in the ring in relationship to each other. Realize where the punches are coming from. Try to get yourself at an angle to where you're able to hit them and not get hit in return. Get other things right, your stance, your balance, coordinating your punches with your footwork, and work on getting some feints down pat. This way you're developing your depth perception and exercising important skills instead trying dominate your sparring partner.

As you get more comfortable, the shadowboxing rounds can transition into controlled sparring. Perhaps a jab/lead-arm-only round, working on distance, angles, and dealing with your opponent's leads. So you and your opponent only have to concerned with one arm, and with time this will grow into confidence and you can gradually introduce the right/rear arm into the mix and then you'll be boxing! You have to walk before you can run, and ideally you'd want to work on this regularly for a few weeks for the benefits to sink in. The hardest part is probably getting your trainer to accept it.

If your trainer can help, talk him into putting on some pads or sparring gloves and work on some default defensive moves. If not, talk to some of the guys there and see if they can help, and in return you can help them work on some moves as well. Say for instance, work on avoiding/defending against the jab, slip, parry, catch, etc. and don't stay in one place. Do this for the other punches. If there's anything that you are unsure of, ask around for help, or you refer to a boxing manual such as Edwin Haislet's Boxing (provided in boxing ebooks thread, see Kirk Lawson's storefront).

Try to reinforce what you learn into your shadowboxing and bag work. Boxing is give and take, so you should constantly train with an opponent in mind. Work on your defense and counters (fundamentals first). When hitting the bags, don't stay in one place, or in range the whole time.

As for nerves, one things that I'd while driving to the gym is repeat some positive affirmations to myself. I'd talk in first person and in the present tense. Read: The Amazing Power Of Affirmations It helped clear up some apprehension that I had.

You just got to be disciplined and relaxed and train continuously.

[Shavio]

Hi there,

I havnt ever ventured onto this board before but after seeing this thread it brought me in. I have been boxing for about forteen years on and off and moved from being a boxer/mover as a junior to a bit of a tear up artist in recent years, but the thing i noticed is every time i start again i flinch really badle and keep shutting my eye's.

There have been some really good replys (which i have only skim read as im at work and skiving!) but for me the only way is to just get rounds under your belt and it goes away - weird thing is the more you flinch the more it hurts, by keeping your eyes open and chin down you dont take the blow as solidly.

Im still doing it now after recently having another crack at the sport but i know it will soon pass and ill be having some wars again soon (yes in sparring i enjoy it!! )

Hope your the same!!!

[HattonTheHammer]

Never had the problem myself. Id imagine your anticipating a far greater pain than you`ll actually receive. Surely by now you have actually been properly decked and will know how it feels.

If its just a reflex issue i really dont see the problem if it makes you more apt in escaping a punch

[N Maiberg]

Thanks everyone for the great advice, it's helped, but I still need a little more time.

Hatton, closing my eyes doesn't help slip a punch. Neither does a flinch because I'm wide open right after.

[El Kabong]

You need to get in the ring and just do some catch drills so you can practice defense, rolling with punches, and you can calm yourself down about getting hit.

If you're afraid of getting hit that's bad because this is boxing and you're going to get hit. If you just don't want to get hit that can be helped out by better defense and you can get hit less often but you're still going to catch a few on the noggin no matter what you do.

[AdamGB]

Thanks everyone for the great advice, it's helped, but I still need a little more time.

Hatton, closing my eyes doesn't help slip a punch. Neither does a flinch because I'm wide open right after.

You need more time in the ring with toned down sparring to get used to relaxing with punches near you and you should be drilling your defenses so that you develop good muscle memory. The reason for this is that flinching etc is an instinctive reaction, you don't need to remove your instinctive reaction to punches but replace that reaction and reprogram it with slipping/parrying etc.

You are never comfortable with punches, you just change your reaction from a useless one to a usefull one.

[HerbM]

Another fairly new (and older) guy (like me) and I were working on simple throw and catch -- practicing catching for defense the other day. No real attempt to hit each other so this is totally safe and shouldn't invoke any fear.

So I notice that every time I throw he is blinking (hard with fully shut eyes) and I was reminded of this thread.

I stop for second, told him about it and let him realize it -- many people won't even realize they are shutting their eyes because I brains are designed to fill in the gaps when we blink so normally this is NOT consciously seen.

Then I slowed down as suggested above, and kept slowing down until he stopped blinking with the punch. He caught a few more, and slowly I sped up again -- still not going very fast but getting up to where we were working when the problem started.

He continued to keep his eyes open and react more effectively.

Part of the key is to catch stuff early and for that you need good partners who care about you almost like they care about themselves.

Boxing is a real brotherhood if you have the right training partners -- we basically loan each other our bodies for target practice in exchange for the same favor so that we both can improve.

And if we don't take care of our partners then they will get hurt, quit, or at best our skills will outstrip theirs -- and ANY of these cases we will need to find new partners who will do us this favor.

It's easier and more fun to help those who are helping us.

--
HerbM

[Andre]

Only read through a couple,trust Scraps advice its sounds strange but his stuff really works.

What about throwing shots at yourself in a mirror to train your eyes and brain reaction into not flinching on a visual trigger?

[N Maiberg]

Thanks to everyone for their advice, I'm using the meditation technique from scraps and it's working, the advice HerbM gave me really worked as well. Still not quite there, but definitely getting there. I've started fighting in a different style as well that I never thought about doing before, just came natural and it seems to be working so far. But even my trainer is saying he's starting to see a change in how I fight. I'm not flinching anymore, but just squeezing my eyes a little now, so only a little more to go before returning to normal

Thanks everyone, it really helped, all of it.