I have been doing martial arts for about 18 months now..?

and been light sparring for about 6 months occasionly in class.. sparring still makes me feel ultra uncomfortable and I really don't like the confrontation of one-on-one fighting.. I love learning the moves and doing padwork and takedowns and even grappling though.. will i become more comfortable with sparring as time goes on and my technique gets better?? or do you think its not for me and I should try something else?? has anyone else that has done martial arts felt like this to start with??

I have been doing martial arts for about 18 months now..?
Yes, you will get more comfortable with sparring as time goes on. Your instructor should have you sparring an advanced belt and that person should be working with you (leaving open spots for you to find and hit him, punching slow so you can block, correcting your movements) If you don't have someone like this to work with then I suggest you talk to your instructor and ask him if you could get more one on one instruction in sparring.


I used to not enjoy sparring and it took me a while before I got over that so I could start to learn. RELAX.


Now getting people over that feeling and letting them have fun and assuring them that I don't intend to hurt them, is the FIRST thing I teach. Then we can move on to more relaxed, fluid movements.
Reply:!8 months huh? That means you are good and ready for me to kick your *ss.





HAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!!!!!!
Reply:There are alot of different styles and martial arts.


Find one which is comfortable!


I did a hard style of Karate, which was full contact, and havine to smash boards, press ups on knuckles, but wanted to be surgeon so didnt want to break my hands, or develope calouses.


I got black belt, and found kund fu. Wing chun, completely different ethos.


Was taught in much more relaxed atmosphere!


Eventually I have gone onto Tai chi , just to keep healthy and supple, but having a backgroung of the hard arts, I am still trained!


Though by definition, the martial arts are fighting, you should really be able to find one that suits you.


If you are female, wing chun is very good, was actually found and developed by a woman.


Perhaps take what you have learnt already and move on.
Reply:personally i love fighting in real life without gloves, and the best way i would try to convince a person like you is to tell you to knock the person out, thats how i look at it. If thats not your style then see it as a competition, and that you are a more skillful fighter. Or see it as a learning experience. Or see it as a good workout, because when u spar it doesnt hurt and u wont die! Hope this lights a fire in your spirit.
Reply:Really if you watch Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter , you should contend to that as a learning step in MMA . But train and sooner or later you may be on that show.
Reply:will there is many types of martial arts , among them there is only for show like tai chi , some types of woo shu , %26amp; more of the chinees sports %26amp; thing there is something near from that in the japanees sports


any way change your style to one suitable for you


good luck
Reply:it takes lots of stomach work and time to get a feel. By stomach work i mean you got to spar more often. Ide find some one you know you can trust and do soft hand practice. Most people won't do soft hands and figure your inept. wrong, in order to get technique down pat you should always allow yourself soft hand work.


soft hands now heres a long explanation sorry for taking up your time. Soft hands is known by most aikido, kung-fu, or tai-chi martial artists. Its a way of training form rather than strength. you go very slowly and very softly as upposed to wailing on your friends head or breaking his arm. both people act slowly and you could start out slow and work your way up to par. I've had to teach many people i tutour this way. don't worry your not the only person that feels uncomfortable sparring or fighting you shouldn't feel good about getting hit in the head, well unless of course your a masachist than its ok. But after sparring lo9ts you get used to hit and your pain tolerance gets higher. Oh P.S watch out for those morons that act like tehy know what they are doing but don't. even sparring with them is dangerous.
Reply:No one should like to fight. It is the way society says be good. For martial art training I would suggest that the experience is good. You at least you know how to react if placed in a situation. Confrontation is in ones mind for the most part. Think of it this way , Your opponent is also gaining knowledge of fighting another, so they should feel this way also.
Reply:I've been into martial arts for almost a year now. I myself felt really uncomfortable during the first few months of my training particullarly during kumite sessions. I tend to have mental block outs and it was quite hard to apply those techniques when you feel tensed or uncomfortable. As a result, i turned out to be a living punching bag to my opponent! So what i did is, i tried to figure out what's making me tensed and i tried ways to overcome those negative factors. Secondly, you have to get used to the feeling. In our class we spar once or twice out of three sessions per week, and after each class, i ask one of my classmates to sparr with me for 15 or 20 mins more. That way, theres only the two of us in the dojo and i feel much relaxed since theres no audience watching. While your mind is relaxed and you don't feel tensed up, you can move freely, apply techniques quickly, and at the same time learn from the experience itself. When you overcome your fears, learn techniques, and you know deep inside you that you have what it takes to not necessarily defeat your opponent but at least defend yourself from your opponent, then there is no reason to feel uncomfortable.





Just try to think that sparring is the best way you can learn and apply all the techniques you learned from "basics" and "forms".
Reply:Look the best way to get over this uncomfortable feeling is repetitively doing it. and not just that but when ever you do , don't think about how uncomfortable you are. think about the previous class and the things you learned. sparring gives us an opportunity to apply what we learned in class. after repeatedly confronting this feeling you will be able to control it. note, you may never get over this, but you will learn to accept it and work with out it hindering your ability to fight. I still am "afraid" every time i step into the ring but i don't let it bother me.