Rep?

[kuk sool won]

Tonight i was sparring with a few people who had been studying KSW for the same length of time as me and some who has been studying for a little less. It got round to near the end of the class and i come to sparring someone who had been studying for alittle less time than me and this bloke, he was 3 times my size. Naturally I thought this guy may be tough and be confident in his abilities especially due to his size.

To my suprise I found it too easy to knock him about and had all the time in the world to pick my strikes and connect. It occured to me that it wasn't because i was way too good for him but because he was basically in fear of me. In my school i seem to be known as one of the better students at sparring especially at my level and this bloke seemed to know that. Immediately he had gone into the session thinking he was going to lose, thinking that i was too tough for him, which brought me to consider how much of a factor reputation and fear actually is.

I've never really shyed away whilst sparring or been in this situation but im sure others have, do you think dealing with fear should be a big part of our training? Does this apply the same way in an actual self defense situation or does fear along with the adrenaline have the reverse effect and actually help you out?

[GranFire]

I would think it's a matter of personality.

If you overthink and let yourself be pushed about, you are in trouble.
If you are accustomed to be reactive and forward it becomes a reflex. But one never knows until push comes to shove!


I found it interesting, as soon as I got my Black Belt several of the other, lower rank students reversed in there sparring. One girl ran backwards so quickly, I couldn't keep up. And she had youth and agility on her side, too!


On a funny note, one of our kids flattened his dad...Dad startled kid, kid turns and kicks, dad goes down in a heap....for about a good 15+ minutes the kid is a good sparrer, active and forward! I would have not told the story if the dad himself would not proudly retell it all the time!