Facing Demons

[Exiled Gooner]

That is basically what MMA would be for me. I have a fear of physical confrontation, always have done. Never been in a situation I couldn't talk my way out of, never felt the need to hit anyone, never been hit. I have played rugby, and recently I have started grappling, and that was fine, but I have never taken a punch. And it frightens me, to be honest. I have the will to get fit and strong, and to train hard, but the psychological aspects are really hard for me.

But I want to face this down. I have no intentions of being the next UFC middleweight champ, I just want to learn to be as good a fighter as I can be, have a few fights, and maybe be be involved in coaching kids in the future. Has anyone else been in this position? I would be interested in any thoughts or advice anyone has.

[Daihlo]

Dont think you need to fight MMA to face those demons mate, good chance of not being prepared properly and getting a right beating!

Join a good stand up class, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Boxing etc, start training and getting used to it at club level before contemplating fighting.

Grappling is great and will give you enormous confidence in close ranges, getting hit in the face though you only get used to by training striking and sparring.

If its just to face potential fears, do it this way, you may not need to fight after all. But then again, you may grow to love it and find the desire to compete for other reasons.

[mooron]

I suppose I felt the same when I first started training, I really wanted to compete, but was shit scared of the "getting smacked in the face" aspect. At first I never stepped up from the grappling side of things, but as my confidence grew with grappling I decided to take the plunge and moved away from the grappling and started training Muay Thai, thought all the technical padwork was fantastic but was still nervous about sparring as I didn't want to get hit.

After I think about 3 weeks I had my first sparring session and to tell the truth I loved every minute of it, I enjoyed hitting whoever was in front of me and I also freakishly enjoyed getting hit back. Which became a very regular thing of getting a slap or 2 off the better lads, before I had to stop training I was starting to hold my own against some of the better lads and loved every aspect of it. Just commit to it, no one will go 100% with you im sure, at least not til they think your ready.

Make the jump!!!!!

[dunny]

training kickboxing or thai boxing is ok mate, no one bullies you and they will go easy at first unless you go to a really bad place or somewhere which is just for pro's. everyone understands what beginners think because everyone was a beginner once upon a time. just go to a class, check it out, if you dont like it its no big deal

[Exiled Gooner]

Thanks guys, I appreciate your thoughts. I know you might think it is odd that I included that bit about training kids, but it's actually kind of important to me. I want to be a teacher, and as well as all the academic stuff I wish there had been someone teaching kids important things like boxing and grappling when I was young. But first I need to face up to my own fears. Perhaps you are right Daihlo, I may not fight MMA, but I will certainly fight full contact, boxing or MT, and I do love my grappling, so it seems to make sense to aspire to at least one MMA fight.

Its good to hear your experiences mooron, hopefully I will have a similar one. And Dunny I'll be sure to find a decent place. It seems from the other thread I posted on that I have some great gyms near me. I am waiting to hear from Simon McGovern on here, and then I'll be checking out Team Supreme and Ross Pointon's Gladiator Gym.

[Emmet J]

Speaking from experience as a teacher you'll have problems convincing most schools to let you teach anything that resembles a decent combat sport to kids at school these days.

[buddha Boy J]

My trouble is not the fear of being hit but I dont have much desire to hit other people. as my sparring improves I find myself saying sorry everytime I clock someone.

Find a club or training partner you can trust.thats important! Put you chin down and practice being jabbed in the head until you stop flinshing anymore. they hurt less when you see them coming! when you can see them coming then you can learn to duck. do a couple of amature fights (no head shots) thats where im at now!

[Brett]

My trouble is not the fear of being hit but I dont have much desire to hit other people. as my sparring improves I find myself saying sorry everytime I clock someone.

Find a club or training partner you can trust.thats important! Put you chin down and practice being jabbed in the head until you stop flinshing anymore. they hurt less when you see them coming! when you can see them coming then you can learn to duck. do a couple of amature fights (no head shots) thats where im at now!

I'm exactly the same, in sparring i'll happily go in with the better guys and spend most of my time getting beat up, yet whenever i do hit anyone properly (which is quite rare as always seem to pull my shots) i feel bad about it even though they've probably spent the last 3 minutes hammering me.

however i've done a few amateur fights this year and in those situations i've been completely different and have had no real regard for my opponents and have just tried to hit them (albeit only to the body) as hard as possible

i just can't seem to get any adrenaline or whatever you call it going in the gym and so every time i get a kick checked etc it kills n feels like my leg is going to fall off yet when i've fought i've had hard kicks checked and no even noticed it until getting home n seeing a 2 inch lump sticking out my shin

[Exiled Gooner]

Speaking from experience as a teacher you'll have problems convincing most schools to let you teach anything that resembles a decent combat sport to kids at school these days.

Yeah i can believe that. but there are some schools introducing something that at least resembles boxing, so a guy can hope! I have trained at a fantastic club that was doing great youth work by linking community service to boxing and weightlifting.

It's good to hear other people have had similar if not exactly the same concerns! But I am looking forward to taking them on.

[Joat-Mon]

Go for it mate. As long as you join a decent club you'll be fine.

When I started boxing I'd never been hit in the face but after a couple of months I was sparring 3 times a week & loved it.

It boosted my confidence knowing I could take a shot & carry on firing back.

[Baz]

Go for it man, and make the most of it.

[Ben_Hutch]

I used to have this problem, it started when about 3 years ago I was standing next to a snooker table, someone thought it'd be a gret idea if they threw a snooker ball as hard as they could into one of the pockets, they threw it and it managed to bounce off the side of the pocket and hit me square in the mouth! blood everywhere haha, my lip was swolen to fuck!

I was never bothered about being punched before that, but ever since that day i'd been scared of it, luckily i'm good at talking people down and walking away because i've found myself trying to calm down a few drunk twats at cage rage before lol.

I overcame the fear by going round a mates house who had a couple of pairs of boxing gloves, neither of us ae great so we took it lightly, at first i was a bit edgy but not long after that i began to really enjoy it.

My advice would be to take it slow to start off with and take it up a notch whenever you feel comfortable.

[vileniall]

have you played snooker since?

[AVI4]

Had you ever taken balls to the face prior to this incident?

[Ben_Hutch]

have you played snooker since?

Haha yes, albeit not very well :(

And AVI4, i'd rather not know about your weird fantasies.

[Brett]

I used to have this problem, it started when about 3 years ago I was standing next to a snooker table, someone thought it'd be a gret idea if they threw a snooker ball as hard as they could into one of the pockets, they threw it and it managed to bounce off the side of the pocket and hit me square in the mouth! blood everywhere haha, my lip was swolen to fuck!

I was never bothered about being punched before that, but ever since that day i'd been scared of it, luckily i'm good at talking people down and walking away because i've found myself trying to calm down a few drunk twats at cage rage before lol.

I overcame the fear by going round a mates house who had a couple of pairs of boxing gloves, neither of us ae great so we took it lightly, at first i was a bit edgy but not long after that i began to really enjoy it.

My advice would be to take it slow to start off with and take it up a notch whenever you feel comfortable.

That's a beautiful story, you're an inspiration to us all

[SDR]

Had you ever taken balls to the face prior to this incident?

Winnnnnnnnner!

[MikeyL]

I enjoyed the 'I take people down then walk away' and 'Isort shit out at cage rage' bits......

[Jamie Taylor]

He said ' talking ' you muppet.

[Rob T]

I once took a ball to the mouth and since then I've never accepted drinks off strangers.

[Baz]

LMFAO... love it when serious threads turned funny outta nowhere.

[Oleg]

Creonte gon face Demon in Oleg!