Flinching

Hi, I've been learning boxing for a few months.

Now I've started sparring, I have found a big weakness. Every time the opponent throws a punch at my face I flinch. By this I mean, I blink my eyes, or turn away, thus taking my eyes off my opponent.

I only get to spar a couple of times a weak, and I can't break the habit.

Is there anything I can do to solve this? Or to improve my confidence? Will it just come with time?

Anyone else have any similar experience?

Thanks for reading.

You will certainly get better answeres from other boxers (expierenced ones at that) but fo my 2c....

What got me away from that habit was training in a new response. The art I chose spends a lot of time on being aggressive. Perhaps trying to prepare a new response will help you overcome the one you have. If you don't mind getting hit in the process, decide that seeing an incoming punch will be your que to jab at his face. That will give you an affirative thing to do rather than just the 'try not to flinch'

As I said, my 2c. Be patient and I am sure one of the people who trains boxers will post as well, I cannot imagine they have not seen / decided ways to overcome this before.

Oh yes. I've been sparring since last July, on and off, and I was really bad this way to begin with. Tonight I think I shut my eyes half a dozen times in an hour of sparring - still not good but much better. It's a will power thing, I think.

Roy

I still have this problem to some degree, and tend to do a little worse than flinch sometimes when facing the intructor, but I'm gettin better Try defensive drills with light contact. Ie, partner throws a combo and you cover up... he should be intent on hitting in the same places he would during sparring but with light contact, that's helped me a bit... I find I don't flinch out of fear of being hit, exactly, but in a way I do... err that is to say I don't mind getting hit, but my face is just like, 'HEY!' or something

Chris Sanders

What you are experiencing is common when starting out in boxing. You're finding that your body wants to do the intuitive thing when a punch is coming

IMHO, try using a soft eye focus. That means to look through your opponent and at no one thing in particular. The soft focus is harder to interrupt causing a flinch and it also btings in the periphery vision which picks up on movement faster. Get someone to just throw some jabs at your face while you look through them. It does take practice. Don't foget to relax, breath, and enjoy yourself.

Lynn Tenshinkai Aikido/Lucaylucay Kali

'We do not rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training.' Train well. KWATZ!

Informative pages at http://members.aol.com/SeiserL/index.html 'Change is Natural & Inevitable'

Coming from the German school of the cutting rapier.... where a flinch meant forfeiture of the Mensur or bout... I think you're keeping your eyes to much trained on the opponent's fists.

Look straight at his forehead, or right at the root of his nose, so you take in incoming jabs etc more from your peripheral vision.

(That helped me...)

Chris Amberger

Well, let me go ahead and throw in my 2 cents. I believe the solution to be a combination of 3 things.

1) Experience 2) As posted previously, 'Soft Focus' or as I like to say, 'Zoom out' (Look at the whole mountain Danielson, and do not stare at the rocks. - You notice when a mountain moves) 3) (also as posted earlier) Being put in the box or corner and forced to defend.

All of these things lead to your confidence level going up. Some flinching, I believe to be a good thing. Your body is responding to an attack. Your reflex takes over. The techniques that you have conditioned yourself to use just seem to happen without you having to think about it. For that matter if you have to stop and think, you are already hit.