How to become more aggressive

[IronFist]

Tonight at MMA club I was fighting one of the more experienced people there (someone videotaped it, so once I get a copy I can see myself get owned) and afterward he said I need to be more aggressive.

So anyone have any tips on how to do this? I guess I wait until they attack and then counter attack more than I initiate an attack (referring to stand up fighting).

IronFist

[Xebsball]

not sure if youre trying to acomplish what im thinking youre trying to acomplish, but tell me...

what is it you hate the most?

[Laughing Cow]

Not sure if I read this correct.

But I see it as being more commited to fighting/attacking/winning rather than an increased agression/rage level.

Not sure how long you been there, but it could be that you are not that comfortable with that type of training yet.

I noticed at a few kwoons that more experienced MA's got a certain look on their faces when they do forms or spar.

[yenhoi]

IF: he means attack! Hold your ground! take his! Knock him down!

:eek:

[SevenStar]

not rage, agression. attack, attack, attack - punches in bunches. work on your combinations, don't just wait to defend.

[IronFist]

Yes, but I feel like it's not the right time to attack if I don't see an opening.

As for my experience, it was my 4th day there tonight.

IronFist

[Laughing Cow]

Originally posted by IronFist
Yes, but I feel like it's not the right time to attack if I don't see an opening.

As for my experience, it was my 4th day there tonight.

IronFist

Understandable, the opening might be there but you can't see it just yet.

Most prolly you are also still fairly tense, which will affect your reaction and perception.

My best suggestion is try to relax mentally as much as possible and simply try different things.
Don't wait for the attack try to create an opening.

Try to get to the other side of him no matter what it takes.

Go for it Tiger. Hit him with all you got.

[SevenStar]

That's an experience thing. you'll find the openings. If you don't see them, make them. draw his hands up and attack the body. attack his body, then go for his head. Get him focusing on strikes and take him down.

[Golden Arms]

A lot of it comes with time and self confidence. But one of my teachers taught me a cool trick to that he used. He said, "dont think of the guy as a person, just pick something about him you dont like..his nose, build, eyebrows, whatever..and then HIT IT! then just expand that to his whole body after you land a couple ;) this works until you get used to jsut doing it without the trick :)

[MightyB]

Make openings. Learn to use the jab and the foot jab, and as it was said, "punches in bunches".

Some basic rules. Never feint without a follow up attack. Make the feint "real".

If you get somebody on their heels, attack hard.

Shadowbox-- create combinations that include both hands and feet-- drill em solo-- drill em with a bag-- use them in sparring. Need variety though. Variety in both moves and rhythm.

Sometimes just shell up and go for the takedown.

Stay on the balls of your feet and keep moving. Also, don't make your head a stationary target.

Practice this: When your opponent attacks, develop a habit of returning the attack 3 fold. For example, if the guy throws a kick at you, immediately return it with a combo. Punish him for attacking. You can drill this by having a partner put on some pads. Have him throw a kick or punch. You counter it with whatever defense that you've been trained in but don't just stop there--- return it with at least 3 strikes of your own. So he punches, you block and throw 3 head and body punches and 1 thigh kick in return.

[Souljah]

yea like the guys said b4....im not sure aggressive is what you need to be.
More assertive with your techniques....I guess

I have this prob too.. my sifu always tells me im going too easy when I spar with people. I just sortof wait for them, but the thing is I dont attack with assertion when I do.
SometimeS I will barely attack and just let them keep coming and practice my defensive techniques. Countering every now and then, But never really going on the offensive...

so like you in a way I too need to be more __________ (insert the correct word)

[Walter Joyce]

Committed

[dnc101]

Sometimes, if openings aren't there, I look for weaknesses or points to attack in their stance or footwork.

If they use a boxers stance, for example, with their head a little forward and their fists up close covering their face, hit their hand and try to drive it into their face. Boxers know this trick, and will move their head. But throwing this with a high-low combo should create an opening.

If his guard is even a little down, help him out by checking it down a bit more as you simultaneously roll a thrusting backfist over your check.

Some fighters keep their guard a little too close in, or move it in as they maneuver. Try checking their guard hard into their body as you move in with combination strikes and occupy their space. Best strikes here are fist or finger techniques which convert to elbow strikes immediately- no withdrawal, ****ing, chambering, or other wasted moves- just collapse the elbow right off the strike.edit: that's c0cking.

If their stance has one leg promenantly out front or is a little wide try moving in and checking their leg with your knee and their guard with your guard. Make your upper hand check like a blocking punch. Your lower hand, operating in the obscure zone you've created, is the real punch (about a quarter beat behind).

These are just examples, not pre plans. The idea is to analyze his technique to find a weakness and exploit it. If there are no openings but you can find a weakness in the guard, stance or footwork you may be able to catch him by surprise. One caution though- don't count on it working more than once with a good fighter.

[Xebsball]

connect to his center/intention, control the range based on interception, let go from the fear of retaliation, advance like a tank, set your body lose finding your way to combos, estinguish his defence attacking while stepping 45 and changing your angles wisely to create baits leading to openings, then crush crush crush

k, i know thats not making much sense to most peeps

[Suntzu]

Mighty Butt Wrangler stole my answer… but yeah… create openings… fake high go low(vice versa)…and than apply pressure… make him defend and stay on him… if u are a counter-fighter… let him come to u… make him miss… than put the pressure on him… control the pace... if u wanna stay outside stay outside... or close in... dump him on his head and pound him... well... u get the point...

[Repulsive Monkey]

If you believe that aggression leads to sucess then you are mistaken. Too be honest I would of ignored your fellow competitors advice because he doesn't sound very wise to be honest. I think skill and refinement in it is what you should be looking for, and agression is hardly the tool for that job.

[MightyB]

Aggressiveness is more about controlling the pace of the fight. You basically want to dominate the rhythm of the fight and that will make it seem like your more aggressive. What I was getting at with the drill that I described is that you don't want to create a "tit for tat" style or rhythm. When I watch a lot of people spar, I see that guy A will throw a kick which guy B defends and then returns with 1 kick. Then they circle and this "feeling out" goes on and on until all the spectators fall asleep. Which you gotta do is set up and press. Smother him, rest, pace, smother, coast, coast, pace, smother --- you get the point.

The hard part is that you have to do some serious cardio in order to do this. Indian Running is great. Sprinting is great. Don't get into marathon style training because a fight ain't a marathon. It's small periods of full out panic and adrenalyne mixed with long periods of inactivity.

[MightyB]

Watch how you hit the bag when you're training.

A lot of people fall into this "Oompah Band" rhythm that's no good for anything.

What I mean is that they have this "dah-- dah-- dah-- dah-- dah-- dah-- dah--" thing going on when they hit the bag. It's a boring, un-broken, too focused on hitting hard bad habit. You'll fight how you train.

What you should do is have a broken rhythm like this "Rat-a-tat-tat, tat, tat-- tat-- Rat-a-tat-tat-Boom-tat-----boom--boom--Rat-a-tat, tat" I hope you get the point. Focus on speed and intention because the power should be there if your fundamentals are correct.

You almost want to have the feel of a paranoid cat on a mixture of caffeine and cat nip. Kind've skiddish and all over the place and overly hyper. Keep the other guy guessing.

Remember reaction is slower than action.

[Xebsball]

Originally posted by Repulsive Monkey
If you believe that aggression leads to sucess then you are mistaken. Too be honest I would of ignored your fellow competitors advice because he doesn't sound very wise to be honest. I think skill and refinement in it is what you should be looking for, and agression is hardly the tool for that job.

You clearly dont do Xing Yi

[Arhat of Fury]

Iron, didnt read the rest of the post but if your instructor/partner is telling you to be more aggressive, my interpretation would be that you need to: intiate contact(be the attacker) and set the tempo of the fight. Make him fight your fight instead of waiting for him to initiate and hoping you can counter and keep up with his attacks. Be the hunter instead of the hunted.
Sometimes setting the tempo of the fight can determine a winner between two great fighters because you will take your opponent out of his element and frustrate him.................


AOF

[Mr.Binx]

I think MightyB and Arhat are on the right track. I'd like to point out that being aggressive doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be exerting speed and power. It simply means to be active in your attempt at controlling the flow of the fight. If you feel yourself getting into a rhythm then there's a good chance that your opponent will feel it too, thereby making your movements predictable. In multiple sparring sessions I've found that when the tempo of the fight gets so high-speed that you can let your opponent open their own defenses by slowing your movements (and vice versa). On more than one occasion have I been able to slowly move my arm through an opponent as they look on perplexed trying to figure out what kind of trick I'm up to. It's no trick, I'm going for the same target only at a different pace. Don't wait for your opponent to open himself up. Force your opponent to think and those precious pieces of a second become an amazing advantage if you continue your assault.

[Serpent]

Just conceptualise that he is desperately trying to rape you and won't stop until he's owned. Should be good motivation.

[IronFist]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

IronFist

[Chang Style Novice]

I've given this advice before on the KFM forums.

Three little letters will solve your problem completely:

P C P

[dnc101]

And I thought that was spinach in that pipe:eek: !

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by Repulsive Monkey
If you believe that aggression leads to sucess then you are mistaken. Too be honest I would of ignored your fellow competitors advice because he doesn't sound very wise to be honest. I think skill and refinement in it is what you should be looking for, and agression is hardly the tool for that job.

I would disagree. you need agression AND skill. the skill part is implied, and since he's a newbie, that will come in time.

[Marky]

Hi all,

I'm a wing chun person myself and we define "aggression" and "aggressive power" differently. "Aggression" makes your muscles tighten up and start flailing and trying to muscle all your techniques to make them work. "Aggressive power" is calmness and not thinking of the outcome of the fight.

The following method has worked for me, but after using it several times I stopped sparring. First, as soon as the fight/round begins, start to attack. Don't dance around, don't hesitate, not even for one second. Just do your job as soon as you can. If he backs up, keep walking into him. Keep control of your structure and don't just flail around wildly. The idea isn't to go berserk, but to accept the fact that your opponent is just a human being, and he suffers in every way that you do. Don't let up, and don't just try to "tag" him. when you connect, your attacks should not be fully extended; make your attacks hurt enough that he knows you could TRULY hurt him if you fully extended. And if he does something that he can ONLY get away with because of rules, ignore the rules. I know that sounds harsh, but if you ignore that concept, you're only hurting the other guy in the long run-- IF YOU'RE TRAINING TO REALLY FIGHT, THAT IS. If you're training to fight in competition, don't listen to that last part!

[SirenOfAcreLane]

Start taking steroids, and force your girlfriend to cheat on you with your brother.
If that doesn't run you into a raging monster of death, nothing will.

[BrentCarey]

Aggression is an easy way to compensate for deficiencies in skill. It is a crutch, however, and will only take you so far. You are better off in the long run to learn to fight effectively without aggression.

First, let's define aggression as it appears in the dictionary:

1. The act of initiating hostilities or invasion.
2. The practice or habit of launching attacks.
3. Hostile or destructive behavior or actions.

OK, you definitely need to be able to launch attacks with resolve, but the items #1 and #3 are unnecessary.

Don't get me wrong. I have seen plenty of skilled fighters overrun by a less skilled fighter purely because the less skilled fighter was more aggressive.

Aggression in martial arts is an emotional state. In the ring, it may be OK, but in the real world, you may not be able to muster that emotion at the time. You must be able to operate effectively without it. You ultimately should be indifferent to your opponent if you want to perform equally well in and out of the ring regardless of the situation and opponent.

Emotion does not belong in combat. This may be different in the ring. The best advice I can give you is:
1. Make sure your instructor is proficient
2. Make sure he/she intends to train you consistently with your personal goals
3. Do what he/she says.

[SevenStar]

according to definition number 2 (which is the one I had in mind) emotion is not a necessary component. along with skill, definition 2 will help him immensely.

[Repulsive Monkey]

Xebsball: "You clearly don't do Xing Yi", well if thats your response I would say that clearly don't do Xing Yi correctly.

Sevenstar: why do you need aggression?, if you let one emotion (and oh what a wasteful and draining one it is) dominate your art, then your art is totally compromised and rigid. I cannot see how this is a sign of success in any martial art, internal or external.

[yenhoi]

How do you plan on smashing another human into the ground without at least a little agression?

:confused:

[BrentCarey]

This is based on semantics. I think most people would agree that you need aggression in the form of an assertive strategy, but not in the form of a destructive emotion.

The disagreement here result from using the loaded and ambiguous term "aggression".

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by Repulsive Monkey
Xebsball: "You clearly don't do Xing Yi", well if thats your response I would say that clealry don't do Xing Yi correctly.

Sevenstar: wht do you need aggression, if you let one emotion (and oh what a wasteful and rraining one it is) dominate your art, then your art is totally compromised and rigid. I cannot see how this is a sign of success in any martial art, internal oe external.

not emotion...read definition 2 of what brent posted.

[Xebsball]

RM clearly cant fight

[SevenStar]

:D

[Royal Dragon]

Equal parts of Mahuang, FoTti, and Centella with 1-1/2 parts Ginko. that'll get you going :D

[Royal Dragon]

Agression is not desirable in a fight, energetic determination is what you want.

[Repulsive Monkey]

Very droll, your comment has ashamed and shown me for the charlaton that Imost clearly be then??!! Please just explain to me how agression, in the internal art of Xin Yi, is taught to be used to advance one's knowledge and undertsanding of the art. If this is what your teacher is teaching you, then I suggest you find a school that teaches genuine Xin Yi.

Agression is a most detracting influence and is in no way a platform to better and more concise performance in an art. It is a draining force which for the sake of accuracy can at times increase brute force, but if you rely on one emotion to further your art, why not equally try to rely on sadness, joy, grief, fear or sympathy for development of your art because there is no difference whatsosever. Why can't you see this!!???

[Xebsball]

Xing Yi is an agressive fighting system
RM doesnt know xing yi

[MightyB]

Sometimes, I don't think people read the original topic, or thread starting post.

Ironfist was "getting owned" because he was too passive... I.e. he wasn't initiating enough and didn't dictate any of the pacing of the fight. His question was, "how do you get more aggressive?" Too many of the responses were, "aggressiveness is bad". This is definitely not aimed at everybody because some guys actually know real fighting, but, to the rest of you: Do you guys suck that badly? Are you that stupid? Have you ever sparred realistically? Would you please stop posting on what you think it would be like to get into a fight and actually fight for once?

[Repulsive Monkey]

First and foremost Xin Yi is one of the 3 sister arts of Internal systems along with Taiji Quan and BaguaZhang. If you were to of said Xin Yi is a consumately dynamic system (or something in that league), then...maybe I might of thought you knew what you were talking about. Xin Yi IS NOT an agressive system, it is just a system. So if you want to add your aggression into then fair enough but you will never master Xin Yi, and you will never master your aggression either. Strangley enough it would appear from your last comment that you supporting my statements with the kind of things you are coming out with, but so be it, I thank you for it.

Good luck with your studies.