How Do You Get Used To Being Punched To Be Able To Stand Up For Yourself?

[Andre]

his isnt a question about how to take a punch by turning your head with it or bobbing and weaving its about the best way to be conditioned to the act of being punched to the point where your not afraid to fight and more importantly stand up for yourself.
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So Im thinking the best way is use to being punched at low levels and working my way up. Does anyone have any other ideas that arent about avoiding the punches in the first place? Thanks.

Find an NLP practitioner or someone else to help you if you have PTSD or any sort of phobia -- get that stuff out of the way.

Do consider avoiding the punch, but if you have a lot of trouble flinching, then getting really good at defensive and EFFECTIVE moves can help. So learning to absorb punches, slip them, parry them, bob, weave etc IS PART of learning both "not to flinch" (ineffectively) and to be more confident and comfortable.

Also, practicing with people you TRUST, to accept incoming punches VERY SLOW, and deal with them (using effective techniques) is a sometimes useful way to desensitize such reactions (but not necessarily the best way -- see NLP above). Don't go any harder or faster than you can react comfortably. This might be GLACIAL SLOW at first and even for some time.


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HerbM

Good points; concerning the post tramatic stress disorder.

Tft; Thought field therapy people can teach you how to dissolve the links between the emotion and the thought. They have an above 90 % success rate with phobias.

[Surfgod]

LOL thanks for the advice it sorta went more into counselling. This isnt really a big problem but since I started working out years ago you get more jerks giving you dirty looks or saying shit to prove their tough so Im looking more for to know that if the worse that happens is getting punched really hard and having it happen in training so its not so bad then the fear goes away and theres no need to fight in first place but at least having the confidence to do so.

For past week I been doing shadow boxing with 3 pound dumbbells then natural, thirty minutes a day on speed bag, hitting heavy bag and waiting for a friend to get his two head guards and gloves to spar. Ive noticed just walking down the street and seeing bigger guys with bad attitudes rather than being afraid I see myself dropping them with combinations.

I also will get use to avoiding punches by tying my hands behind my back and letting someone punch the headguard while I bob and weave so if in a street fight if someone were to attack suddenly Id react with a bob and weave followed with either a jab and cross combo or close elbow.

Thanks again for the tips and I think with exposure to being punched at soft hits and working my way up the fear of unknown goes away replaced with calm confidence to either end the fight quickly or just laugh it off.

[HerbM]

Be careful about practicing punching with weights -- I am not saying don't do it, but I am saying be careful and investigate the recommendations from people who know. Some trainers recommend against it as being dangerous to your joints etc.

Also, consider Shadow Sparring where you are fighting normally but hitting VERY lightly. Hitting just enough to let each other know you are there. If you do this enough you will definitely find that you "get hit" occasionally and as long as you keep it to mostly very light that won't be too much for most people. (Work only with guys you trust to play fairly close to the rules that you agree upon.)

Wear a mouthpiece (and headgear if you wish). Sometimes a punch will otherwise bust a lip etc if you don't wear the mouthpiece. Don't hit so hard you NEED the headguard, but don't hesitate to use if if that seems the safest course.

If you are getting angry or frightened you are going too hard -- or working with the wrong partner. Talk to each other, slow down, or find someone else for THIS exercise.

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HerbM

[Surfgod]

Yah I started using 20 pounds and my working my way down for HIIT purposes before reading it should be 3 pounds where it really works the corkscrew snap without hurting joints.

Do headguards protect the nose or is open season there?

[HerbM]

Some headgear offers some limited protection to the nose. There is also headgear specifically designed with a bar, or other barrier over the face, to truly protect the nose but these are not the common type.

For shadow sparring with no heavy contact you may not need such protection, but you will occasionally get hit if you and your partner are enthusiastic -- and depending on the level of work you agree upon and accept.

Personally, I like getting hit (and hitting) hard enough to "keep us honest" so that we don't just walk through good punches because they are too light and so that we get some feedback about mistakes and openings we leave, but no hard enough to do any real damage (i.e., injury.)


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HerbM

[Howlin Mad Missy]

just skimming the thread-if you are looking to spar please find a decent gym. Punching your mates can soon get ugly.

Andre is right, there is a certain fear of the unknown & guess what? The brain is a wonderful thing, if someone tells you something is going to hurt you will perceive it as hurting more than if they didn't say anything.

I think boxing has given lots of people an inner strength that means they avoid conflict but they have the confidence to protect themselves if need be. I'm not saying you become a strutting peacock

[Surfgod]

Thanks, that inner peace thing is exactly why I started the boxing training in first place so its good to see it helps others too.