Can you PREDICT your opponent?

[Jenna]

Not much help I know , just more thoughts

Hey Sheldon Never say that. I promise you I consider every thought and every opinion given.

And I want to say I appreciate the spirit in which everyone here has given those thoughts and opinions and expertise and I want to say thank you to everyone who has contributed and for patience at my endless questions and rambling on and on
Yr most obdt hmble srvt,
Jenna

 

[morph4me]

Hey tshadowchaser Yes of course, this is true and I agree completely. And but I think there is another aspect that I have noticed and I wonder would you or anyone have a comment. When I am in happy randori with another aikidoka, I can predict their movement with a decent accuracy and with no great worry. I like to take myself around people and places though and have found when I face players from other arts KF, JJ and TKD for example, I have no notion what to look for IN TERMS OF PREDICTION. I can still defend to best of my ability and but zero chance of prediction. Zero for me.

I do try to spread my wings and see other arts and try them, and try them against my aikido also, for my own improvement. And but one can never know everything about everything. I understand this. If I could just figure out the pre-movement flinches for simple straight front punch or front or side kick I would be happier.

For me, knowing what to look for in that fractional interim between the opponent thinking of his punch and actually throwing it, is what I am keenest to learn at this time..
Thank you sincerely for your patience
Yr most obdt hmble srvt,
Jenna

When you practice against other arts, are you in the same place mentally as you are when you practice with other aikidoka? If you aren't as relaxed because you aren't as familiar with them, you might be "in your own way" with regards to predicting their attacks. If you practice with someone that will go slowly so that you can relax, you may find yourself equally adept at predicting their movements.

 

[chinto]

yes I can in that I tend to read the movements of that attacker better then the averedge person on the street. I will tend to spot the movements earlier and more correctly then that averidge person would. this is not mind reading but practice and a skill like any other.

 

[still learning]

Hello, Many times you can set up an opponent (feint) to make your opponent do what you want them to do or move to!

Everyone knows it takes experience to see those small movements to predict the opponent actions.

In most sports,football,baseball,basketball...you can predict the opponents line of attack thru experiences....

In martial arts it is the same training...you can learn to predict alot of attacks from your opponent...we this learn as part of our training thru sparring and contact fighting.....!

Even dating someone..we can predict if they like us or not...well many times anyway...

Predicting is base on experience ...more experiences's ....the more predictions possible!

Aloha ( oh oh? ....I predict...this may get blown down?)

PS: Predict = before it happens ........sore body= after it happens .....best be pro-active!!

 

[tshadowchaser]

still learning, well said you have stated what many have said in a different way

 

[Jenna]

When you practice against other arts, are you in the same place mentally as you are when you practice with other aikidoka? If you aren't as relaxed because you aren't as familiar with them, you might be "in your own way" with regards to predicting their attacks. If you practice with someone that will go slowly so that you can relax, you may find yourself equally adept at predicting their movements.

Oh no sir I am well out of my zone! Tom, you are exactly right in what you say and but I think being out of zone is a also good thing, no? In the dojo with my Aikido guys I never have to face the high kick - few of us can even stretch a kick to head height!! Nor am I ever concerned about leg sweeps and the like. I am sure you maybe appreciate that? Even in NGA? When I train with my own guys I can see our Aiki atemi / sword hand / shuto types coming from the next county. And there is no art in the prediction. Nor does feeling for balance change present a problem with my hand or hands already on the opponent. And but I accept that in my own style of Aikikai we are in no way conditioned for striking beyond functioning as uke.

And but jabs, hooks, simple side kicks and whatnot, these are the staples of outside fights, yes? That is why I have taken leave of myself and befriended practitioners of one or two other arts. I am not seeking to learn their arts, only how they strike. I am happy to DEAL with these as I see them coming. I would dearly love to be able to predict them BEFORE they come as I can with Aikido atemi. I am just uncertain of what to look for. I had thought there may have been specific knowledge of this and but I guess folk know how to do it while maybe not knowing exactly HOW they do it. I can see a backwards roll of the hips before most Aikido atemi are thrown. If the opponent is noving forwards I will notice a sudden forwards thrust. That is the general pattern I spot in Aikido terms. Boxers have a great tempo and but that can be a giveaway too. Though I have never matched a boxer when we have mucked around in my dad's gym. Never without taking a crazy load of hits before managing just one Aiki tech! And that is just mucking about and not for real, no ways!

I guess it is as most folk have rightly said, simply knowing the art? There are a lot of arts though. I had hoped striking mechanisms might have been similar? And but yes, this thread however has been very very helpful indeed. As has your advice

Yr most obdt hmble srvt,
Jenna

 

[morph4me]

Oh no sir I am well out of my zone! Tom, you are exactly right in what you say and but I think being out of zone is a also good thing, no? In the dojo with my Aikido guys I never have to face the high kick - few of us can even stretch a kick to head height!! Nor am I ever concerned about leg sweeps and the like. I am sure you maybe appreciate that? Even in NGA? When I train with my own guys I can see our Aiki atemi / sword hand / shuto types coming from the next county. And there is no art in the prediction. Nor does feeling for balance change present a problem with my hand or hands already on the opponent. And but I accept that in my own style of Aikikai we are in no way conditioned for striking beyond functioning as uke.

And but jabs, hooks, simple side kicks and whatnot, these are the staples of outside fights, yes? That is why I have taken leave of myself and befriended practitioners of one or two other arts. I am not seeking to learn their arts, only how they strike. I am happy to DEAL with these as I see them coming. I would dearly love to be able to predict them BEFORE they come as I can with Aikido atemi. I am just uncertain of what to look for. I had thought there may have been specific knowledge of this and but I guess folk know how to do it while maybe not knowing exactly HOW they do it. I can see a backwards roll of the hips before most Aikido atemi are thrown. If the opponent is noving forwards I will notice a sudden forwards thrust. That is the general pattern I spot in Aikido terms. Boxers have a great tempo and but that can be a giveaway too. Though I have never matched a boxer when we have mucked around in my dad's gym. Never without taking a crazy load of hits before managing just one Aiki tech! And that is just mucking about and not for real, no ways!

I guess it is as most folk have rightly said, simply knowing the art? There are a lot of arts though. I had hoped striking mechanisms might have been similar? And but yes, this thread however has been very very helpful indeed. As has your advice

Yr most obdt hmble srvt,
Jenna

I believe that if you look at an attacker more as an "interested observer" and less as a "potential victim" that your mind is calm and you would be able to see the attack before it is launched and definetly before it has landed and your body will do what it is trained to do. When you first started practising Aikdido I'll bet you never saw the attacks coming either. I suggest an exercise, step into the ring with a boxer and don't think technique, let him move around the ring and throw punches and simply avoid them, do the same with the other martial artists you train with don't worry about techniques, just avoid the attack. I think you'll be quite suprised by how quickly you can predict the attack and figure out what to look for. When you can avoid the attacks you'll begin to find yourself in familiar positions and your techniques will happen.

 

[kidswarrior]

OK, I admit to not reading the middle pages of this thread, but've been outa town so if this post is redundant or has been squashed already, please overlook it.

I was trained in Kung Fu San Soo to look in an unfocused way at their torso--hip crease to shoulder, or if one had x-ray vision, their spine. Another way of saying what Sukerkin's beat me to:

See everything; focus on nothing

Because the first tell is going to be movement of the spine, which leads to movement of the hip/shoulder, whatever, which will propel the limb movement. Don't have any scientific/empirical evidence, but it's worked for me pretty well. I think TShadowchaser also nails my *feeling* on this (pun alert ):

Sometime it is also a “feeling” you get rather than an actual knowing. Listen to this feeling and react without questioning it. You might get some surprising results.

These two gents have so well stated 'my' view, I may have to steal their material. Many thanks. :asian:

____
Edit: And now I see Hawke beat me to the punch as well:

A soft unfocused gaze around the middle of the chest to see the shoulders and hips has worked for me.