Relaxing in the ring

[Lucy]

Please can someone give me tips on how to relax in the ring?

I haven't even fought yet, but even during sparring, as soon as people watch I freeze up

I've tried visualising winning and listening to music, or singing etc but I just end up a stupid frozen idiot, I'm starting to feel stressed before I even start training as I know I'll freeze, and I'm sure worrying about it just makes me worse

[radarjam]

It was just about almost a year ago where I started sparring much more frequently during my training sessions. I can remember my first month or so where I would freeze up; i feel that adrenaline rush kicking in, my vision caved in and everything was just slooooowwwinggg down.... It was so bad to the point where I would turtle up as I was so afraid of getting hit on the face or even gas out 30 seconds in because I couldn't control that nerve-wracking feeling.

I couldn't figure out why it would happen...it was very frustrating... :( finally i ran to my coach and asked him, what can I do to improve this..?

My coach told me - keep sparring and you'll see. It was vague but I knew he meant something. He also put me to the side and said, I want you to shadowbox in the mirror, picture the reflection as your opponent, pretend you're sparring with your own reflection - i'll tell you when to stop (omg it was 20+ mins if I could recall hahaha) It took me a while to understand my own body and stop stressing out when sparring with my teammates. 

The bottom-line is: It takes a lot of experience/sessions for you to overcome that fear; some professional fighters still experience this too you know and its normal, its just a matter on how you can control it during the fight and it takes time. But I feel that the more I put myself out there - I feel like I can manage my adrenaline rush and my nerves start to relax much better. During cool-downs I would spend some time shadowboxing for 10-15mins in the mirror just out of habit, to me it does help. You've just got to find that "thing" that will help you during these times 

PS. I know you're going to Thailand soon - guaranteed you'll definitely see that difference/change in your training sessions. It definitely helped me grow as a fighter :) 

[rtgiejfna]

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[Lucy]

I've been sparring around 6-7 months, but not on a regular basis. Sometimes I'll feel like I'm getting better, then the next lesson I'd be terrible and it knocks my confidence so I'll miss a few weeks and start over

[Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu]

Please can someone give me tips on how to relax in the ring?

I haven't even fought yet, but even during sparring, as soon as people watch I freeze up

I've tried visualising winning and listening to music, or singing etc but I just end up a stupid frozen idiot, I'm starting to feel stressed before I even start training as I know I'll freeze, and I'm sure worrying about it just makes me worse

Relaxing is 99% how you breathe. When I get tense or feel like I'm gassing, I can always focus on my breathing and realize I was holding my breath. Kevin taught me a technique he read about in a combat (like, military) training book and it's very simple, brings your heartrate under control in about 16 seconds: inhale 4 beats, hold that breath 4 beats, exhale 4 beats, hold that for 4 beats... repeat.

If you find yourself feeling too tense in the ring, get out of your mind. When you drive a car, you're not all tense right? When you first start, yes, very nervous and looking around at everything and timid. But after a while you can sing to the radio at the top of your lungs and sip from your coffee cup while driving and you don't really think about it, but you're still aware of everything. If you don't drive, picture walking. You probably walk pretty well. That's what you need to compare your sparring relaxation to. It's not like, wow, I'm so relaxed I could take a nap. It's more like you're not overly focused on the mechanics. So, sing a song in your head; sing it out loud if you dare. Narrow down what you're thinking about and decide you only have to try kicking, or every time your opponent punches you're going to kick their leg. Simplify. When you're relaxed, you're not thinking 100 things, you're thinking a few things. Think about what you want for dinner, make a shopping list. I'm not saying "check out," you're still paying attention to what you're doing, but you need to flatten out the focus in the same way you do when you're driving or walking... not like, "where does my foot go?"