How to Predict Your Opponents next move... An Introduction

Today we are looking at predicting your opponents’ next move...

I’ll start by saying this is not an exact science. But there will be instances where you can get this working beautifully and you just seem to know what is coming. This gives you scope to block, avoid, parry.

Rather than relying solely on this skill, it is better to treat it as one of your skill set that you can pull out when needed.

In tune

In tune

In essence, what we are discussing is not comprehensive. But we are using our powers of focus and concentration to build something special.

You are in effect, getting in ‘tune’ with your opponents’ thought process. It is this state of ‘tune’ that allows you to gauge what is coming.

Take away

Although you know what is coming, you shouldn’t:

• Wait for it
• Play your opponents game
• Plan your next move around it.

Visualise it

Visualise it

It goes without saying, that this level of art is achieved only when you have mastered the basics, trained regularly and use visualisation techniques on a regular basis...

It takes being at a higher plane, as far as martial arts is concerned and you only get there when all the basics and intermediaries are covered.

Never the less, it is worth all the effort... When on that higher plane, you’ll really enjoy your martial arts and continually find challenges to conquer along the way.

These only serve to strengthen your resolve to live a martial arts way of life, and truly experience all the wonder it brings.

How?

Pick a spot on your opponent and see everything else peripherally.

Get into his groove of movement.

Be completely relaxed, but prepared to move as required.

See yourself blocking or countering every move your opponent throws at you.

Expect to see and block whatever attack comes – Expectancy, again is based on your training and preparation for this skill to develop.

You’ll notice there is a lot of ‘expecting’ and ‘believing’ going on... It is under these conditions that the art of seeing what is coming seems to work the most.

What we have done is looked at an intro to how to predict your opponents’ next move...

As I suggested, it takes mastering the basics and quite a degree of both self confidence, belief and a belief in your art.

At this stage however, you’ll be able to regularly predict what is coming.

This is an introduction... I will revisit with more in depth information and how to in due course. But for now, it is enough to know the possibility exists... This will start to build that belief system



Thank you for taking the time, I hope you have enjoyed this post. Please leave a comment below.

Invest in a quality and Boost your confidence

A quality Gi makes a statement...

It says I’m serious about what I’m doing and I look the part.

This applies to any uniform worn for martial arts, for those who don’t wear a traditional Gi.

Preparation

Your Gi is washed, ironed and presentable. You put it on and tie up all the laces. Then tie your belt. The sense of a great training session gets you into the mood required. You are ready.

The video below shows how to tie your belt;

Pride

Wearing a Gi fills you with pride simply because of what it represents, your skill, your energy, your dedication to the art over the years.

There is also a belonging. You are part of a huge worldwide hub of martial Arts  practitioners.

Confidence

You have put it all together and the way it feels, the way it sounds all help to boost your confidence, which is an important part of Martial Arts. 

There are different types of Gi from design to thickness of the material.

It is definitely worth spending a little extra, if affordable, to get a better quality Gi.

And remember, you are representing the best of you.

This post was written to highlight the importance of the Gi you train in. Although short, I hope you found it and the video useful.

Please leave any comments in the box below

Thank you for taking the time

Conditioning for Martial Arts

Today, we are looking at conditioning for martial arts. The what, why and how...

What?

It is improving the muscles, tendons, bones and organs to a high degree of performance, resistance, resilience to help accomplish the aim of the mind and body being a weapon in martial arts.

Why?

To train the body to withstand the effects of being hit and improve performance in the sport...

Strengthening, hardening, increasing the resistance and flexibility of the entire body, to enable it to meet and deal with the dynamism of martial arts.

Reps

 

How?

Simply by training regularly...

But isolate the areas that need conditioning and work. 

The types of exercises that condition the body are all the exercises you would do as a matter of course anyway. Only for conditioning, you do more. Focus on an area till you literally transform the muscle through what I call blitzing.

As an example, to condition the quadriceps – you can do squats. 

Squats with weights, step ups to a low height, step ups to a medium height. Then box jumps, then increase the intensity by adding weights into the mix... Where you do the step ups with ankle weights or dumbbells.

The other aspect of conditioning is in preparation for impact.

So, you’ve built your muscles for explosive power – for endurance - for speed.

Squats to condition those legs

Now... You need to look out for what happens when you get hit, and worse than that – when hit repeatedly in the same area.

How will my muscles/body deal with that?

This is where what I like to call the ‘impact conditioning’ comes in.

Put simply, give your body a taste of what it’s in for, by starting slowly and building intensity as you go... So,  for your legs, you can start with a light stick (bamboo is good) wrapped in foam and hit your legs gently all over.

As you become immune to this, take the foam off. When you get accustomed to the strikes with the naked bamboo. You can transition to something harder.

The other way you can do this is to have one of your training partners or fellow martial artist kick you repeatedly and build up the intensity in speed, power and also vary the target area to encompass the whole leg...

This is conditioning and can be done for the whole body, step by step.

Now, depending on your level and where you want to take your martial arts... There are some martial artists who have never done impact conditioning... why?

Because just by taking part in martial arts. Your entire body becomes conditioned to take a degree of punishment anyway.

Impact conditioning is taking it a few steps further or for more intense competition use.

That wraps up our look at conditioning for martial arts

Please comment or ask any questions in the box below.

Thank you for your time.