An issue of confidence

The notion of someone punching you in the head has always and remains a terrifying thought and it was partly because of this fear that led me to continually seek better ways to address this - head on.

Understanding the concepts that drive the CMD structure is what gives the user an immediate confidence boost because probably for the first time, he or she may feel that none of the opponent's punches are getting through. They are surviving the onslaught of combinations yet it is as simple as only keeping the hands attached to the head.

It is exactly with this type of training that leads to increasing self-confidence levels. A simple and highly effective technique which can be easily learned and allows for many levels of applications and plenty of room for further refinement.

Athletes are encouraged to make mistakes only on condition they learn from them. They are free to experiment to test the "feel" of the technique, tweak the timing and play with different energy levels to induce a different outcome every time. Through understanding how and why the CM structure works they also learn why and how it doesn't work. Through this they develop a feel of when they can use either to their advantage. By familiarizing themselves with both sides of the coin they are confident to be able to use either to their advantage.

In practical terms, we can use the following example.

Say we flip a coin, tails representing a solid T.E.S. while heads has a loose, open guard, used to lure and invite punches, one athlete will adopt the structure that is determined by chance while the other has no idea what will be done and will spar as they usually do. The coined athlete will play their game with the intention of using their T.E.S. and CM defense to their advantage. This kind of drill ties in neatly with the Fight Compass. See if you can spot which type of T.E.S. works best with the Fight Compass games.

Through these games and experiments, the athlete's understanding of the different components should increase their confidence levels.

As always, I welcome comments and suggestions. See you on the mats.