How do you stop Over Thinking?

[Andrew Green]

I would have to agree with what Brian said above. Concentrate on your breathing which will give you somthing to occupy your mind, and will give you the benefit of helping your stamina. I know that it helped me a whole lot while doing forms for my black belt test. It is funny how when we feel stress the first thing our body wants to do is start holding our breath. Not sure why this is, but it does happen. The way my instructor taught me to do this was to try to breath in for at least two moves of the form and then breath out for two or so moves. Good luck on your test and please let us know how it turns out!

I'm going to disagree on focusing on breathing. For forms maybe, but not for sparring. Breathing needs to be instinctual, switching the focus to breathing is a bad idea in increases the chance of getting hurt.

In.... Out..... In.... Out... I *thud* gasp..gasp..wheeze..gasp..wheeze...

 

[Big Don]

I'm going to disagree on focusing on breathing. For forms maybe, but not for sparring. Breathing needs to be instinctual, switching the focus to breathing is a bad idea in increases the chance of getting hurt.

In.... Out..... In.... Out... I *thud* gasp..gasp..wheeze..gasp..wheeze...

Depending on who I am sparring it is more like In...out...smack...ow...damn...smack....crap...out...in...out...smack...
:uhyeah:

 

[Imua Kuntao]

Everyone says to practice this way and that, maybe taking a couple of days off will do.

 

[7starmarc]

Another thought about sparring. I think some people over think in sparring because they want to "keep it interesting" for either their opponent or a spectator. I know I have at times. What this means is that you try to vary techniques for the sake of variety, not for the sake of effectiveness. If you're doing this, then you start to get wrapped up in coming up with new ways to strike your opponent when you don't have to. Vary techniques when you need to, or when you're trying something new on someone (in this case, you should know you're trying something different ahead of time), but you don't have to do this in sparring when it matters -- stick to what you know best.

Sometimes, I think this is also a result of adding too many techniques to your repetoire before you have integrated your previous techniques into your fighting. If you find yourself doing this, refine your "play list". Practice with a more limited set of techniques (your favorites) and start adding new ones in one at a time.

The same can be said for forms. If you're still thinking your way through a form, it probably means you haven't practiced it enough before adding more material. I realize this can be a problem in some curriculae, where you finish one set and then move onto the next, but see if you can focus on your current sets before moving too far ahead. Failing that, commit to continued practice of past sets even while learning the newer one -- I know many student in our school who have had to relearn significant parts of the curriculum because they fail to practice past sets regularly.

 

[hpulley]

First of all, practice, practice, practice. When you know a form really well you'll run through it perfectly and at the end you won't be sure if you did it right or even if you didt it at all because you will be running through it on muscle memory, on 'autopilot' if you will. If you have to think about it to do it then it will disappear on you both in a grading and in a fight you will be hit before you can think of a defense. You may know what you should have done...

I think breathing is good but not concentrating on the breathing; that too must be trained for the proper method so you do it automatically. Doing some brief breathing meditation before a form is good (that's what the mokuso is there for, use it!) but before a fight this isn't practical unless it is arranged in which case you must ask yourself (if it isn't a pro match), why are you fighting again?

Finally, I find warming up really well helps. Get yourself warmed up to the point of exhaustion or do some immersion training for hours and hours in the same day and you'll find near the end that you are just doing things rather than thinking about them because you won't have the energy to do both. Perhaps rather than taking some days off you need to train more intensely to get your mind out of it.

 

[Nomad]

Great advice on this so far.

For kata, focusing on the breathing will help, as will many many repetitions. It may be helpful as well to do some light meditation (outside of class) to practice quieting your mind (concentrate on the slow breathing to start). 5 minutes a day is not a bad way to begin (if you use a timer, it stops you from breaking the meditation to see how much time is left!)

For sparring, one of the biggest pieces of advice I have (and one of the hardest to implement, I must admit) is to relax. If you can take away the fear, anxiety and ego from the match, it actually makes it much easier to react to your opponent's attacks and openings. It also makes your attacks much faster because you don't have to overcome the muscles that oppose your action if they're relaxed instead of stiff.

Good luck!

 

[Mimir]

For sparring you might try thinking about what combinations you want to throw next. I think Nomad's advice to relax while sparring is very good too. One of the things my instructors always had us do is to close our eyes and see ourselves with that next belt. This has the double effect of boosting you confidence and also reducing your anxiety.

 

[tko4u]

mostly just get comfortable with your martial arts. let it flow through you, not you flowing through it (whoa, that sounded deep)

practice until its natural

 

[tshadowchaser]

Practicing against two or more opponents at the same time dose not allow you time to think and will increase your reaction time. Make sure they are constantly attacking.
As for not thinking in forms that is something that comes from doing the form literally thousands of times

 

[hogstooth]

This is common and it is mainly nerves and the will to try to impress.
If you are going for your brown belt then you have experience and should know the material you will be tested for. Clear your mind of worries and do what you have been trained to do. Have confidence in your self and trust that your instructor would not test you if he didn't think you were ready.
Try not thinking about being tested and try trick your mind into thinking it is just another day in class. I would bet you don't get stuck during regular classes. It's that you have put undo stress on your self because of the test.
As an instructor I tell my students not to worry about it because I have seen them do the same thing every day of practice and this will be no different than a class. Of coarse part of the test is the stress and if you can put yourself in a state of mind that "it is what it is" and "whatever happens happens" you will find that you can go through it and your body will just take over. Don't over think it. It is just a test. If you know the material and your instructor has told you that you are ready, why second guess that?
I know easier said than done. I guess the thing is to have confidence in your abilities and your instructors judgement and stop worrying about it. Just let it happen. Mushin = no mind. Let your training take over and don't second guess yourself.

 

[girlbug2]

Lots and lotsof caffeine before the event. You can't think when you're really wired. Your reaction time will certainly improve!

Heh, I'm a yellow belt, take that for what it's worth