flinching

[buksing_king]

hey everyone

hope your all training hard

anyway.... i have a tendancy to flinch when fighting

is it bad?

it seems ilke such a natural reaction ... but it is hard to see whats going on when you flinch

has anyone else had this problem ?

will it go away with fighting experience?


all replies will be grearly appreciated

[David Jamieson]

With practice, and sparring it will subside.

peace

[Souljah]

yes thats the only way - perseverence and persistance, practice/sparring will help you lose this tendency as you become a more confident and 'experianced' ma

[anton]

I've heard that in the "old days" some Muay Thai masters used to splash water into their eyes and try to hold their eyes open and not flinch... don't know if it works though, I've never tried it myself.

[buksing_king]

thanks for all the input guys .... so it is basically just a thing that will subside with experience

im glad to hear that

thanks everyone :cool:

[Former castleva]

Easier to hold one´s eyes open if water is not splashed...:p
MT can be very rough on one´s body at best so can´t say much about that.

[Cody]

It's not only hard to see, because your attention is taken by pulling back the consciousness, but you're telegraphing. In that instant, you give opportunity to an opponent. Also, you need time, as little as it is, to regroup when coming forward again.

I'm thinking, outside of the good suggestions you've received already, what I can come up with to deal flinching reflex. Part of it could be a startle response to incoming. You know it's coming (after all, you're sparring), but the immediacy of this could startle you on some level.

ideas.
1. instead of flinching, substitute another behavior. response with a block/strike. two-person practice in a non-combative situation at first might help to train this. Part of it is having a solution right up front, and part of you, that replaces the reflex to wince or pull back (basically become immobilized).
2. how is your vision? Do you get startled or have a similar reaction to other things, like something coming at you all of a sudden from the border of your peripheral vision?
3. (connects with #1) Work with someone who can pack a good punch And who has remarkable control over speed and target impact. Work with punches coming from different directions, but maybe starting with centerline. Start with partner throwing very slow punches, and do a technique to counter with equal speed. Increase speed of exchange until flinching begins. Back up a bit and slow it and continue to work thru the flinching, to substitute technical knowhow for the startle. I am thinking, that this might show you, on a deep level, that the startle response is not Necessary and that you can reactive reflexively in a manner that will protect you, and help you will a match. Yes?
There could be remission back into flinching when confronted by other challenges, or not. Yet, this might be a way of beginning to deal with it and to overcome it, by experience, practice and will, also the knowledge that you can.

hope this helps,
Cody

[NorthernMantis]

Originally posted by anton
I've heard that in the "old days" some Muay Thai masters used to splash water into their eyes and try to hold their eyes open and not flinch... don't know if it works though, I've never tried it myself.

It works turst me on that! I trained that until I can look up at water rushing into my eyes and not flinch but it's been a while since I done that.Hmm I think I might start on that again.

Here's another tip when training to not flich. Take a soccer ball and try to bounce it on the spot where your nose meets your forehead and try to keep your eyes open. There's no need to worry about it since the ball wont touch your eyes but it's really close by a coupl of centimeters. It works wonders.

[eulerfan]

That's what sparring is for. It's all about experimentation. Discovering bad habits and working on them.

Don't ask other people if flinching is bad. Pay attention to what happens when you do flinch in a match.

Maybe try taking bigger risks when you spar. You'll take more punches if you do and you'll get numbed to the idea of taking a punch. You'll stop sweating it so much and you won't flinch as often. You're going to take a lot of punches. It's a good idea to get familiar with that, anyway.

Wait until somebody pops you in the solar plexus. Man, that is the gift that keeps on giving. :(

You'll also get more comfortable with the idea of taking risks which is a great lesson in itself.

[SevenStar]

1. spar
2. when you do focus mitt drills, don't just hold the mitts, make a learning experience out of it. follow your partner's fist as it approaches the mitt and try not to flinch.
3. when you spar, focus on not flinching. since that is your focus, you will eat some punches, as your attention will be on not flinching. That's fine, however, as you are only sparring.

[anton]

Originally posted by eulerfan
Wait until somebody pops you in the solar plexus. Man, that is the gift that keeps on giving. :(

Trust me when I tell you that a stray flick of the toe to the testes is infinitely worse.

NorthernMantis - Have you found that this training transfers to sparring?


Originally posted by Cody
1. instead of flinching, substitute another behavior. response with a block/strike. two-person practice in a non-combative situation at first might help to train this. Part of it is having a solution right up front, and part of you, that replaces the reflex to wince or pull back (basically become immobilized).

You raise an interesting thought - could one modify one's flinching reflex (rather than attempting to eliminate it) to use it to one's advantage?

[Daredevil]

Here's another tip when training to not flich. Take a soccer ball and try to bounce it on the spot where your nose meets your forehead and try to keep your eyes open. There's no need to worry about it since the ball wont touch your eyes but it's really close by a coupl of centimeters. It works wonders.

I've done the same with gloved fists. Let someone touch you lightly near the eyes with a gloved fist and try unlearn the flinching reflex. I didn't do this much, but it seemed like a good idea ...


Wait until somebody pops you in the solar plexus. Man, that is the gift that keeps on giving.

Yeah, my internals are still reeling from a Baji style elbow that got me near the solar plexus a while back. Lucky it was an accident and at fraction of full power. :)

[Cody]

You bet! I think that a common mistake that is made is to just try to eliminate a bad habit (a bad reflex), one that is putting you in a defensive or weak state, such that you do not go forward, go anywhere except in the bad spot you are. There is a void which needs to be filled. Negative conditioning breaks, positive has the opportunity to build. One has been conditioned to flinch (maybe a first response to something long ago which as been forgotten). Replace this response, fill that gap with other alternatives, and don't forget to go back and review this from the foundation up every so often. First responses can remain as options even when not acted upon. They can pop up like toast, physically and emotionally. It's worth the effort to build a new set of responses. With repetition they gain in preference. It is important also to allow success and build the challenges gradually.

Cody

[Leonidas]

Hehe

Dodging is just controlled flinching (think boxers). So maybe you can work on that and use it to your advantage. Since you already have the natural reaction just focus it.

[LEGEND]

You need to SPAR MORE. It'll go away in time! Especially against boxer types. They usually go for your head...so you'll be force to cover up in the beginning...after awhile u'll see punches and slip/parry...then after that u'll be able to counter...then u'll be giving adviced on how not to flinch on online forums!

[IronFist]

Flinching is a natural reaction... are you sure you want to get rid of it?

IronFist

[FatherDog]

Originally posted by IronFist
Flinching is a natural reaction... are you sure you want to get rid of it?

Actually, my natural reaction to being surprised is to stick my hand between myself and whatever's surprising me. I think in most cases, it's more useful than flinching.
Not that I'm taking credit for this. I didn't train it; it just happens to be how I'm wired.

Man, it's really embarassing to accidentally smack your mom upside her head...

[Leonidas]

When im geuninely surprised i throw my arms in the air, my hands start to flap and i make a really high pitched girly scream while spinning around in circles. Seriously :D

How can i use that to my advantage?

[KC Elbows]

pa kua.

[Budokan]

ROFL @ Leonidas....:D

[Leonidas]

I think your on to something KC. :D

So now i wont feel like such an ass the next time i think a 5'6" troll is trying to attack me (long story). :o

"Yea you can laugh all you want, but i was really defending myself".

"You non-martial arts types wouldn't know about pakua"

Thats my story and im sticking to it. :p