Stuck in a Rut

Hey guys, I've got a problem and would like some advice.

So, I've been doing martial arts (Hapkido) for around 7 years now, I've advanced through belts and am now 3 away from black belt, going for my red. However, I feel like I'm just not advancing as a fighter.

Let me explain, when it comes to memorising and performing moves from the syllabus be it throws, breakfalls, counters, kicks, punches etc, I can memorise them and perform them perfectly. So much so that it got me recognised in my group and given the position of assistant coach, to help those on lower grades than me.

The problem I have is when it comes to sparring, stood up face to face or grappling on the mat, I can't seem to get the moves out of my head and into my body. I have never won a single ground spar, and it's starting to get embarrassing for me, I can't defeat the people I'm supposed to be teaching. It's not that I get to the point where I'm blacking out or in too much pain to continue, I just get to a position where I physically can't get out of it and counter so have to tap. Especially when I lose sight of my opponent, I can't visualise any way to escape, or feint him so I can get a lock in of my own. And it's not like we haven't been taught any moves, because those I spar against seem to be able to do it.

I feel like my fighting skills haven't improved from the day I walked into the gym and everyone around me has. I seem to be standing still, as I said, stuck in a rut.

Has anyone else encountered this problem? And if so, how did you overcome it?

 

Not precisely the same but very similar.

It sounds awfully similar to when I made the transition from karate to kickboxing. I went from having surprisingly good technique and actually being a bit of a bad ass at randori and some forms of kumite (except that damn points based stuff) to getting battered left, right and centre pretty violently by guys with horrible looking technique that I just "knew" I should have been beating. When I was drilling techniques my form was good enough even the instructors of new clubs didn't entirely believe I'd only been training a few years. When it came to pad work I could hit pads hard enough that I actually caused minor injuries to a couple of pad holders. I looked surprisingly good for a guy my size, weight and lack of athleticism.

You put me in a gentle sparring warm up and everything went out the window. Timing, distancing, confidence in myself, the techniques...the whole shebang. Put me in a more vigorous sparring situation and it was many times worse.

It took me a very long time but I had to be put in an environment that forced me to adjust and acclimatise to the pressure. There's a big difference between knowing how a technique works and being able to apply it under pressure. Eventually I got to the point I now actually throw punches back that connect and get hit less, even though I still make silly mistakes and occasionally am still far too timid.

Might be you need to either a) ask your partners to go slow and slowly build up so you can learn to drill the techniques under increasing pressure, b) talk to your instructor about the mental block you're experiencing or c) find an environment that forces you to adjust a bit harder. Acclimatising to being able to perform techniques under pressure is pretty hard though.

Hope that helps. I imagine others like Simon, Hannibal and JWT will be along with presumably better advice but there's my two very English pennies for you anyway.

EDIT: Also, welcome to MAP

 

Thanks for your advice Lemon, I would talk to my instructor or other classmates about it, but as I said it feels embarrassing for me (damn my pride). But more than that, I feel like everyone else didn't need any special treatment to improve and I'm being beaten by people who put in half as much effort as me. :bang:

And thanks, it's good to have somewhere to vent my frustrations to people with knowledge but knowing it won't affect my classmates or instructors view of me and my abilities.

 

Lost my initial response to this! so will try again.....

I had a simular experience to Mr Sloth the first time that I had a full contact spar with gloves as a fresh faced young Shotokan BB who was not bad at Sport Karate type sparring and assumed the transition would not be too bad....Oops. I quickly found out that I was far to static with my techniques i.e. snapping a Kazama Zuki (Snap punch/Jab) and not following up, dropping my hands ect.. I put this down to nerves and the sparring format i was used to. After that I want to crawl back to my comfort zone and what I was good at but I stuck with it as I knew it was vital to what I want to be. i.e. a better fighter. I also had to tell my bruised ego to get over himself as well and also looked into cross training (which I have never stopped from that point)

Doing compliant technique well is fine for learning and refining but you need drill these regularly in a resistive enviroment with plenty of padwork as well as sparring and you will also learn to relax.

Have you thought about looking at local boxing/MMA gyms or a good Judo dojo for some cross training to get some more exposure??

Good luck and keep us informed.

Dan

 

Are we having issues with MAP as mine crashed again with my response?? Will copy this just in case.. :saz:

Brought new meaning to the saying "the truth hurts" Mitch

It also important to realise that sparring is simply a test lab for testing what works and learning to read your opponent rather than some deadly duel and we all come off worse from time to time, take it for what it is a learning experience and use that to work on your weaknesses.

Remember reading a Dan Inosanto quote " leave your ego at the door" wise words that stuck with me..

 

I've been thinking of taking up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu which is also done in my area, but I'm hesitant to join groups where I don't know anybody and I know I'd go in there, lose badly and feel worse than I am. It's something I'd have to get over and stop thinking I'm letting my group down by getting beaten, which is why I avoid it for now I think.
But I also feel like I shouldn't have to go for more focused training, since we do ground work in Hapkido and everyone gets the same amount of training. I've had more in fact because I've missed fewer sessions than anyone else.

The problem is I'm not making a transition, I've been doing Hapkido for 7 years and I don't feel like I'm improving and it really sucks.

I'm pretty sure the only way to improve is to request to do sparring every session and just go until it clicks. But losing over and over, even if I tell myself it's for my own good (sometimes you can learn more from losing than you can from winning), it starts to knock my confidence, which at this point is rather low as it is.

I *really* don't want to get to the point where I'm dreading going for training and start to come up with excuses not to go. I look forward to training and really enjoy it, but know that when it comes to sparring I'd rather not do it.

When it comes to sparring with weapons I'm fine, I'm actually really good at it and my confidence is through the roof when I've got a sword in my hands, I even hold my own against my instructor. But it's completely the opposite when it goes hand to hand and there's no time to weigh up my opponent, judge the fight and react.

 

Go and try, Most people spend more time tapping when first trying BJJ so you would not be alone and its part of the training. stop thinking of loss and rather what do I need.

Stop thinking about your group and not representing if you get tapped, and you will but you will be much the wiser and stronger for it. Do it and stick with it, you will only get stronger from the resistive training, if its not your bag fine, try Judo or boxing for your standup striking/grappling. Do you not have a training buddy you can coax down to BJJ? First step is always the hardest.

Just ensure that you are honest from the start if your ego starts wanting to big up your 7years of Hapkido at the new gym check it. They will respect that more and everyone likes a tryer.

 

It's something I might have to look into and make the time to at least try it out. But none of my friends can go with me because of family and everyone is a little too poor lately.

To be honest I'd never want to go into a new martial art and say "Yeah I know Hapkido" because I'd not want to have them think I know more than I do and end up getting injured because of an assumption. I'd rather go in and them assume I know nothing (At least then I can keep my pride, because a newbie is *expected* to know nothing and lose a lot. lol)

The videos make sense and I know about feints, counters, blocks, guards etc but it just seems to go out of the window when I get into a fight.

In ground sparring, where I'm supposed to feel out my opponent, test where he's putting his weight and use that to figure out his next move. My mind just goes blank, I twist, lose my grip or lose my balance and I'm done. I also find myself getting surprised by the speed my opponent is going from move to move, when I know I shouldn't be, we've learnt the exact same things.
When I watch a ground spar from outside I can tell what the person getting locked should do to get out, I can also tell what the person putting the lock on should do to tighten it and make it stronger. But when I'm in there myself, I just can't visualise it and when I take the time to try, it gives my opponent those few seconds they needed to spin around and get into a good choke.

When it comes to stood up sparring I'm a little better, but still, all the counters, turns, misdirections and feints I've been drilling for years just vanish and I fall into a classic boxing stance and it lets my opponent go to town. I flinch constantly even though I'm wearing a full face guard and get rattled too easily, causing me to either pull my guard in too tight and crouch, restricting what I can see and what I can do, letting my opponent pick me off, or I'll drop my guard and take a full on headshot. Which is really frustrating because I know I'm better than that, but my reactions won't let me fight to my full potential.

 

Honestly I think I'm right in saying that EVERYONE has that to some degree.
Even badasses.
Everyone has techniques that they like and can do, techniques they are working on and have minor success with and then techniques that they just have a hard time with and may never get.
The people landing stuff on you can't land everything they "know" on you. They have just found out how to land some things.
I think everyone has some measure of disconnect between what they know theoretically (in their head) and what they can actually pull off when needed.
I know I do..on MAP I can talk a good game but physically I can't do half of what I understand or think I should be able to do.
Minimising that disconnect is what doing martial arts is all about IMHO. So don't feel you are failing or something. You're in the midst of the doing and there will always be a lag.

My advice...pick one thing at a time. A technique you like or feel you have some affinity with and work to land that. Look for set ups, opportunities, make opportunities. Eventually (hopefully) you'll get some success with it. People will start thinking "I'll watch out for Rick this session as he's got a wicked straight right hand" (for example).
Then pick something else and work that (but without forgetting your first technique).
Build and an arsenal but understand you'll always have a hierarchy of techniques with your favourites at the top and a load of other stuff you're working on (and may never use) at the bottom.

 

I've always found that liberating to be honest with you. To go from one environment where everyone has a particular level of expectation of you to another where no-one knows you and you can make as many mistakes as you like and people won't think much worse of you...for me, it's bliss. It means I can relax about how bad I am at what I'm doing and just explore the training.

You never know, it might turn into one of the best decisions you make with your training.

I always tend to say "I've done a bit of X in the past but nothing significant" to people. Which still puts you in the noob category with most people but isn't completely dishonest.

It does sound a lot like when you're under pressure you clam up though, a place like a BJJ school that usually promotes pressure testing and resistant training sounds like it would do your Hapkido a world of good actually.

 

One massive disservice I think TMA's sell people is the impression that they need to be good at everything they are taught.
Like you need to know how to skillfully use very tool (technique) in the box (style).
When really a martial art should be like a hardware store where you get to pick which tools are useful to you to put in your own toolbox.
If you are an instructor you need to know how to use all the tools on offer (so people get access to the "hardware store") but as a fighter you need far less.

 

I understand where you're coming from, my instructor has always said we learn multiple techniques to get out of a choke for example, because you'll find one you like and that's the one you'll use and only change it depending on the situation if your favourite wasn't going to work for some reason.

My problem comes in getting *any* of them out, favourite or not. In a ground spar (I'm talking about ground sparring the most because it's my most recent experience, just lost 3 in a row last night), in a ground spar I don't have chance for setting up or waiting for an opportunity. It'll be 5 seconds from START to "ah crap, that's a good guillotine....I can't get a good grip. Come on, I know how to get out of it, but I just can't get it to work. Come on grab the wrist and elbow and roll out of it! You can get an arm bar from this!" but my grip will keep slipping, the strength keeps going out of my arms and I'll start doubting myself. And because it's taking me so long to react, he's had time to lock it in deeper and put his full weight into it to the point where I know I'm just wasting my strength because I can't get out of it. TAP.

 

I know you're right, but I still feel like I shouldn't have to, you know? Since everyone in my class has been learning the same thing, at the same pace, I should at least be able to keep up. It feels like I'm thinking about summer school because I'm just not as good as everyone else. If that makes any sense. Probably just pride talking again. :/

 

It does make a lot of sense actually. And yeah, some of it is pride. Pride is an awful thing though, isn't it?

That aside, this is one of the things that bugs me about the way a lot of TMAs are taught nowadays. Everything is cookie cutter, everyone goes through the exact same motions and the same techniques, everyone is expected to make the same level of progression and everyone is expected to be excellent at everything in every way.

The problem is people don't work that way. We're not machines that all operate in the same way. Some people simply are better at certain things than others. I know my level of strength is greater than most the people I kickbox with. But I don't have the mindset to dominate the better fighters in the club, the cardio to keep up with the fitter ones, the speed to catch the faster ones. I don't train in the same way all of them do, I don't interpret the training in the exact way they do. Why should it be assumed I can get the exact same results?

It's not reasonable to expect all people to learn the same things at the same rate as everyone else. The standard of your technique is high enough you can help other people enhance their technique, that shows you have the potential to perform the technique. It just sounds like you need a couple of nudges to help do the same thing under pressure.

Besides, what's the worst thing that could happen by cross training?

*imagines a variety of nasty BJJ locks going wrong*

No, wait, don't answer that.

 

Yeah, I think the type of fighter I am is more of a slow, methodical, powerful counter type. I don't jump, I don't bounce, I'm not fast and I rarely kick unless I want to feint or catch someone off guard. I think it's borne out of me training in sword for a year before Hapkido, but I prefer to watch my opponent, learn his routine and tells and then counter with a powerful punch to rattle them and make them more weary to come back into range, where I can then hunt them down at my own pace and press while they're shaking. But this only really comes out when I'm against a much more inexperienced fighter, so someone who's new and hasn't really sparred me before and I can relax more, take more chances and try some different moves.

I really need to learn how to relax more while sparring and enjoy it rather than dread when it comes up. But no matter how many shots you take, a powerful hook still makes your teeth rattle and I can't seem to find enjoyment in that. It makes me think most boxers are masochists. lol

The worst that can happen? I find another martial art I love and take a crippling shot to the wallet. XD

 

First thing, don't count if you win or lose at sparring. You can say "I got tapped three times last night" and call it a learning experience or you can say "I lost three spars last night" and induce negativity into the way you speak.

You're problem is not and should not be escaping, your problem is allowing yourself in those positions in the first place. You should focus on not attacking or countering, but just about getting a good base and controlling your partner. I should be able to be in someone's guard and pretty much hold them down and not get swept or submitted, after that I can wait and then pass.

I'd say go to BJJ/judo/wrestling/sambo/MMA if there is a good club near you. When you go to BJJ in particular you'll find the quality of grappling on the ground will far surpass anything you are currently learning, unless your instructor is also competitive grappler.

 

You have a point, but I think it goes so fast that I don't actually learn anything from it. I spent some time afterwards trying to think of how it happened, what I should have done and how I should have escaped, but I was in a choke before I realised it. Then I just depressed myself thinking I should be better by now, hence why I came here.

The thing is I don't remember the last time I was in a conventional guard per se. We start kneeling, right hand on the back of the neck, left on the crook of their right arm. From that position I have all kinds of grand schemes to lure my opponent in, make him balance the wrong way, shift my balance etc but it all goes to pot the instant we start.

I'm sure a BJJ school would be better quality for grappling than the training we've had (Jack of all trades, master of none after all) and my instructor prefers what he calls "bitch moves" rather than traditional locks. So grabbing hair, knuckles in pressure points, leaning on elbows and knees into points on the chest or inner thighs. Basically forcing you to move in a way he wants, or open a guard to get an easy scarf hold on you and make you tap. He doesn't do the burst of speed and throw the weight around, he'll wait it out, let you get tired then force you into the position he wants.
I think this is the way I'd be suited to fight, but I'm not skilled enough to pull it off yet, so I need to learn more defensive moves and get a good strong "can't be locked down" style.

 

This will sound horribly sarcastic, and I don't mean it too, but how is that style choice working out for you?

If you see yourself as an "X" type of fighter but yoru successes are only against people markedly worse then you need to switch your paradigm. This alone may make a difference. Try being a speed fighter, a pressure fighter, a "stick and move" fighter....you will find that different approaches work better with different people

I will let you into another "secret" - everyone loses, you just stop caring about it. I tap out in training frequently and still get tagged. If this doesn't happen your training isn't good enough