Confidence in your art

[sensei8]

The title of this thread is "Confidence In Your Art", however, before one can have confidence in the art that they practice, one MUST, imho, have confidence in themself first. Which one should one have confidence in first? YOURSELF! Without confidence in yourself first, there's no way to properly judge your art nor is there anyway to build any confidence in your art.

[Tzu-Logic]

The title of this thread is "Confidence In Your Art", however, before one can have confidence in the art that they practice, one MUST, imho, have confidence in themself first. Which one should one have confidence in first? YOURSELF! Without confidence in yourself first, there's no way to properly judge your art nor is there anyway to build any confidence in your art.

that's deep man.

So I earned my green belt last night. It was a long grueling test. I am very sore today, but I got my belt.

The thing about tests at my school is that they are true tests. You will be pushed until you find your weaknesses.

I do have more confidence just making it through the test to get green.

[sensei8]

The title of this thread is "Confidence In Your Art", however, before one can have confidence in the art that they practice, one MUST, imho, have confidence in themself first. Which one should one have confidence in first? YOURSELF! Without confidence in yourself first, there's no way to properly judge your art nor is there anyway to build any confidence in your art.

that's deep man.

So I earned my green belt last night. It was a long grueling test. I am very sore today, but I got my belt.

The thing about tests at my school is that they are true tests. You will be pushed until you find your weaknesses.

I do have more confidence just making it through the test to get green.

First off...CONGRATS on your green belt. Feels good, doesn't it?

You're gaining confidence in yourself, this is first and foremost. Continue in having that confidence as well as in any newfound confidence while you're on your martial arts journey.

Edited September 5, 2010 by sensei8

[brickshooter]

I'm not sure whether more sparring is better for self defense.

The problem with sparring is that you're limited to techniques that won't permanently harm your classmates. Can't really poke him or her in the eye. Can't crush his testicals with a bionic grip. Can't improvise by grabbing a brick and hammering him with it.

Second, the military and police don't generally spar. They do self-defense drills. Over and over until it's second nature. Yet there's no outcry for the need of more sparing in either organizations.

[sensei8]

Would you rather to spar or not to spar? Drilling is necessary. Guess what? Sparring is drilling of its type [ippon kumite, Sanbon kumite, Kiso kumite, Jiyu kumite]. I would've rather sparred than to have never sparred because that way I can at least know and understand what it's like to have a fist and/or a foot come towards me. Techniques within sparring are far different from drilling in self-defense, yet, not by much.

The methodology of the military and law-enforcement doesn't spar!? That's fine; it's their methodology. Those MA styles that do spar; it's their methodology. I'd rather spar as well, than do self-defense drills with no sparring. Why? Self-defense drills have one terrible thing...the WILLING Uke. As long as the WILLING Uke is part of ANY drill, the drill is ineffective imho!

[just2kicku]

I'm not sure whether more sparring is better for self defense.

The problem with sparring is that you're limited to techniques that won't permanently harm your classmates. Can't really poke him or her in the eye. Can't crush his testicals with a bionic grip. Can't improvise by grabbing a brick and hammering him with it.

quote]

I think that sparring is good for self defense. Not so much for the techniques used in sparring, but I think that sparring helps with speed, reaction and timing.

At green belt, your techniques should be done "without thinking", you should own the techniques and they should be done second nature. Keep practicing your pinians, they too will help with balance and weight transfer in your fighting.

The bottom line is this, It's not whether you have confidence in your art, but do you have confidence in yourself? Just like was said earlier.

It really is not the art, but the individual.

[DWx]

I'm not sure whether more sparring is better for self defense.

The problem with sparring is that you're limited to techniques that won't permanently harm your classmates. Can't really poke him or her in the eye. Can't crush his testicals with a bionic grip. Can't improvise by grabbing a brick and hammering him with it.

Second, the military and police don't generally spar. They do self-defense drills. Over and over until it's second nature. Yet there's no outcry for the need of more sparing in either organizations.

Maybe you need to change the way you're sparring then. Start padding up or using props so you can do this type of stuff.

You can't really poke someone in the eyes or crush their testicles in drill work either. Drill work's fine but you do need to spar once in a while for the unpredictability factor. Drill work you know what your partner will do, sparring not so much. sensei8's willing uke is also a big problem in drills too.

[dwarf2]

You dont have to tell black belts to hit you harder, whether they hit you harder is not really the issue . It is the art to a point but it is about you and the instruction you are getting. If your instructor is a good teacher he will find a way to get you to learn the right way . Well at that point it is up to you to practice. Every thing said here is great but at my job for the state i would have to run in and grab people and pull them to the ground and cuff them. Well the first time i did it i didn't think i just reacted and my training for the groud took over i didn't think. Then the chemicals in my body hit me and every thing seemed like slow motion . If i were you i would tell my instructor about your issue and he would help you with it. Dont fear not being the best, fear being the best with out measure.

[bushido_man96]

I'm not sure whether more sparring is better for self defense.

The problem with sparring is that you're limited to techniques that won't permanently harm your classmates. Can't really poke him or her in the eye. Can't crush his testicals with a bionic grip. Can't improvise by grabbing a brick and hammering him with it.

Second, the military and police don't generally spar. They do self-defense drills. Over and over until it's second nature. Yet there's no outcry for the need of more sparing in either organizations.

Maybe you need to change the way you're sparring then. Start padding up or using props so you can do this type of stuff.

You can't really poke someone in the eyes or crush their testicles in drill work either. Drill work's fine but you do need to spar once in a while for the unpredictability factor. Drill work you know what your partner will do, sparring not so much. sensei8's willing uke is also a big problem in drills too.

I agree. Sparring is great for the interaction it gives the trainers, along with resistance and reaction. Those things mentioned above couldn't really be drilled safely, sparring or not. Its good to train them in drills, and then in sparring, see and note when those opportunities arise.

[JiuJitsuNation]

I'm not sure whether more sparring is better for self defense.

The problem with sparring is that you're limited to techniques that won't permanently harm your classmates. Can't really poke him or her in the eye. Can't crush his testicals with a bionic grip. Can't improvise by grabbing a brick and hammering him with it.

Second, the military and police don't generally spar. They do self-defense drills. Over and over until it's second nature. Yet there's no outcry for the need of more sparing in either organizations.

Eye poking, biting, groin grabbing and brick bashing don't really require practice. Also I have had people (some supposedly skilled some not) try to eye gouge in a fight and grab at my groin. I've also been kicked in the groin. I wouldn't rule them out but not exactly high percentage moves.