Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Today I was having a private training session and something interesting happened. It's happened once or twice before but this is the first time I've really thought about it. During the last round of pad work today I was exhausted and my power and technique was dropping and flying out the window. My trainer kept yelling at me to go harder, and as I was pushing myself there was a point where I had a burst of emotion. It was a combination of frustration at myself for not being able to strike harder, anger at myself and also anger where my body was going "I'M KICKING HARD WHY IS THIS NOT HARD ENOUGH". I also felt myself get angry at my trainer at points in the last round where I think I was just transferring my frustrations. By that point for no reason I also thought I might start crying or something.

Its odd because I started off the session feeling quite good and I finished it feeling relatively calm as well, it was just that point where I had this huge burst of emotion. I know being calm and controlled is important but this just came out of nowhere. I almost started punching the heavy bags afterwards just to vent but it disappeared really rapidly. Have any of you guys had something similar happen in training or fighting?

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually had a similar experience yesterday at my "new" gym, where the trainer pushes you hard, encourages in a loud voice, points out your mistakes over and over again - and this is not what I'm used to. So at some point I got sooo frustrated because I thought I do everything too weak, too slow, wrong...and got a bit pissed...

I think it's the reaction of being pushed to the edge of your comfort zone, combined with the feeling of wanting to correct your technique and do the best you can and be praised for it ;)

I need to analize it more, but I'd also love to hear about others' experience...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Happens every time I go to a class. Muay thai for me is an emotional experience altogether. Taking everything that's happened over the years and learning to cope instead of pushing down into the memory box, hoping it doesn't re surface again.

 

I'm a very emotional person to begin with but I hide it with anger and outbursts. Idk about everyone else specifically. But I imagine everyone at least once has had a similar experience.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was thinking of opening a topic about crying, these days. The hive brain of this forum is starting to work!

I also have very loud screamy type of trainers (they're italian, you can imagine the level of vocal aggression there) and I usually can cope with that. But I've noticed that if I get scared for some reason my brain short-circuits and I feel this surge of emotion and on the verge of crying, barely able to contain it - like teary eyed and hiding it in the sweat basically...

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My trainers do not yell but the quiet judgement and disappointment sure works. And I don't always have a trainer involved in my fits of crying (or nearly crying), either. Just a few days ago I was clinching with a kid who I was basically tossing around, totally controlling him, and a couple men in the ring started kind of teasing him and that made me get all emotional and had to go cry in the bathroom for a quick minute.

For me it's got almost nothing to do with the actual triggers in training, I'm just totally already primed to cry and anything, anything can set me off.  But I've had this for a long time now and have blogged about it many times. For me it's a matter of controlling the message I'm sending to my gym when I get like this. I try to still show that I want to be doing what we're doing, even if I'm struggling. It's a male environment and seeing a woman crying usually means something is "wrong."  Luckily, my gym now raises young boys up to be champions, so my trainer Pi Nu has seen literally hundreds of boys crying for years already. If we all respond in the "Thai" way and ignore it, it's all good.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm glad to hear that this is more common than I thought. For me so far its just been when I'm getting pushed I feel like bursting into a fit of crying, but it really seems like that for some reason crying is a pretty automatic reaction of the brain to....a ton of things.

I've also noticed that it's been mostly women who have replied to this so far. I'm curious if something similar happens to men or whether they react completely differently to these stresses...at least young boys do it seems!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think men react differently, maybe more with aggression than with crying. Although I re-read your initial post and realized you talked about anger more than I'd realized. I get pissed off - well, not really, but a surge of aggression and wanting to go after someone - in padwork and sometimes sparring but never in fights. I kind of wish I would get it in fights because it might be helpful, but it's just never happened for me.

My trainer tells me about all these male fighters who used to cry all the time. Very famous fighters now. He kind of laughs about it, but I also know he's telling me so that I know it's normal. But basically these superstar fighters, when they were kids up until about 14-15 years old were still crying all the time. His son, who is now 14, doesn't cry anymore but my trainer told me that once or twice he took his son out back and whipped him on the butt for getting angry in training; I think it was during sparring with other kids and he got too emotionally aggressive, tried to hurt the other kid, and that was unacceptable so he got punished. You know Thailand, so I don't have to tell you about the inappropriateness of showing emotion in any extreme, but for those who are less familiar - and when I first heard this story from him - it's surprising that the outward demonstration of aggression when it's expressing an emotion is totally out of line, whereas aggression that's calm and devoid of emotion seems okay. That's fighting, but it's controlled.

So, at my gym: tears = totally okay if you ignore it like it's not linked to an emotion. Aggression/anger = only okay if you also don't link it with an outward emotion.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I think men react differently, maybe more with aggression than with crying.

 
I can only answer for myself but yeah, it will not make me cry but makes me more upset and angry at my own. "WHY I'M I NOT DOING BETTER??"
 
 

I re-read your initial post and realized you talked about anger more than I'd realized. I get pissed off - well, not really, but a surge of aggression and wanting to go after someone - in padwork and sometimes sparring but never in fights. I kind of wish I would get it in fights because it might be helpful, but it's just never happened for me.

 

I know that feeling.. A bit more "aggression" in fights would be nice, instead of being to friendly.  :rolleyes: 
The only thing that is good about it is that I can hear my corner because I keep calm, but I think I'm to calm. Not really nervous or a bit aggression or so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It happens to all of us. I typically get angry/aggressive, but I am angry with myself. I usually ripping into the heavy bag for the next round, which just wears me out and I don't have the energy to be angry anymore lol. It is the trainers job to push you outside your comfort zone, those this can easily be a fine line between ok behavior and abusive behavior. So just be aware of that in case you see it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In cases like that I sometimes get frustrated at myself for not performing to my ability, even if rationally I can understand why I'm "off" that day. I'm not a crier by nature, usually I get broody and more aggressive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Most Recent Topics

  • Latest Comments

    • This will be one of the significant challenges of trad Thai fighters going forward. They are increasingly not within the discipline and authority of the kaimuay system which developed them when young (socio-economic changes are creating a new autonomy and a cross-mix of progressive motivations) and Thailand's Muay Thai is being bent toward Western style weight cutting with new weigh-in processes. The Science of weight cutting of the trad kaimuay is made for the trad fighting system, and of the kaimuay subculture. As those disciplines become loosened they will find the new world of weight cutting competition quite difficult. There will be a lot of missed weights in the New Muay Thai that is coming. I don't know about his particular situation, but it does provoke these thoughts I've had about an increasing trend. Thais in trad Muay Thai really seldom missed weight by custom. Trad fighters near the top of the sport are going to be caught between (non-rigorously applied) Thai cutting practices, Western cutting practice suggestions (a bad combination because Thai & Western cutting is very different), amid bigger weight cutting demands. They'll find themselves chasing down big cuts late (or just deciding not to make weight like Superlek vs Rodtang), which could incur not only bad or weak cuts, but also real risk.  As I've written about before..."professionalism", which is a Western concept and identity trait, is not Thai, especially in the fighter subculture. The motivations and shapes of training as fighters - that which produced the best fighters in the world - are not those of "the professional". "Be professional" is not a Thai prescription. The cultural bounds of the kaimuay, its hierarchies, social obligation and shame are often what held a fighter's weight in check...these things are loosening, if not in some cases becoming undone all together. Khunsueklek (the purported best Muay Thai fighter in Thailand) misses weight, gives up his Raja belt. He had to go to the emergency room.  
    • ONE didn't invent giving bonuses on top of fight pay in Thailand. In fact it took a long tradition of gamblers providing injections during fights to inspire fighters. When you hear about traditional fight pay you are missing out on the "injection" bonuses which can be substantial. Here today a fighter winning 500,000 injection bonus ($15,000+ USD) and being guided into the stands to thank the gamblers (who are often portrayed in simplistic caricatured ways). It's an ecosystem out of balance, but its still an ecosystem, in which parts support parts. Instead in ONE this bonus tradition has been transferred to only ONE big boss, being handed out on the preference of a single man, who is attempting to steer the aesthetic of Muay Thai itself...away from tradition.  https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=791304983340912&rdid=mUWvMklDzJ4i3xa6  
    • Watched this fight yesterday, and was really moved by Devy. Looking back at Bill's skills he's everything Entertainment Muay Thai dreams of for a fighter, mixing combinations with Thai techniques, eyes and timing. Beautiful stuff. But Devy is incredible...in such a subtle way. He's like: I'm take your pyrotechniques and just hold position and cover, then move the set, take, hold blast a lowkick to your back thigh. It's like watching a chef cook a masterpiece with 3 ingredients. It really doesn't matter who won this fight, its up over 150 lbs, its the art of this cloistered, minimalist fighting, and his shrug-offs of the aggression and attempts to intimidate. Bill probably the most skilled Western fighter in history, but something deeper and older going on here with Devy. Something that is almost painful to receive beamed across the decades to here and now, as everyone is trying to push Muay Thai into Entertainment and Westernization, Globalization.   
  • The Latest From Open Topics Forum

    • Hi all, Does anyone know of any suppliers for blanks (Plain items to design and print a logo on) that are a good quality? Or put me in the right direction? thanks all  
    • The first fight between Poot Lorlek and Posai Sittiboonlert was recently uploaded to youtube. Posai is one of the earliest great Muay Khao fighters and influential to Dieselnoi, but there's very little footage of him. Poot is one of the GOATs and one of Posai's best wins, it's really cool to see how Posai's style looked against another elite fighter.
    • Yeah, this is certainly possible. Thanks! I just like the idea of a training camp pre-fight because of focus and getting more "locked in".. Do you know of any high level gyms in europe you would recommend? 
    • You could just pick a high-level gym in a European city, just live and train there for however long you want (a month?). Lots of gyms have morning and evening classes.
    • Hi, i have a general question concerning Muay-Thai training camps, are there any serious ones in Europe at all? I know there are some for kickboxing in the Netherlands, but that's not interesting to me or what i aim for. I have found some regarding Muay-Thai in google searches, but what iv'e found seem to be only "retreats" with Muay-Thai on a level compareable to fitness-boxing, yoga or mindfullness.. So what i look for, but can't seem to find anywhere, are camps similar to those in Thailand. Grueling, high-intensity workouts with trainers who have actually fought and don't just do this as a hobby/fitness regime. A place where you can actually grow, improve technique and build strength and gas-tank with high intensity, not a vacation... No hate whatsoever to those who do fitness-boxing and attend retreats like these, i just find it VERY ODD that there ain't any training camps like those in Thailand out there, or perhaps i haven't looked good enough?..  Appericiate all responses, thank you! 
  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      1.4k
    • Total Posts
      11.5k
×
×
  • Create New...