I need some advice regarding fear.

Obsidian Fury

Orange Belt
Joined
Aug 15, 2018
Messages
86
Reaction score
18
Iā€™ve practiced Martial Arts since grade school, I enjoy the whole thing the drills, the forms, the sparring, the tournaments, etc. About 6 months ago I injured one of my peers during practice, I was doing a Morote Seoi Nage something went wrong and I broke his arm.

I didnā€™t intent to do so I messed up, my peers and teacher tell me that it was an accident and the guy told me not to worry accidents happen they were very nice and understanding. However ever since the incident Iā€™m unable to go on the offensive, I just freeze and stick to defense only blocking and dodging.

I really want to regain my former self, so to speak, I want to fully engage in combat but my body just wouldnā€™t listen, Iā€™m afraid to hurt someone else. Can you offer me some advice to deal with this fear so Iā€™m able to fully engage in practice? I still love Martial Arts and I donā€™t want to quit but this fear really isn't helping.
 
you have a mental block and are suffering a confidence problem in that you think you cannot control what you do

You don't plain and simple ...it was a freak accident and that happens

The only way imo is to get back in the saddle like when you fell of your bike when a kid ....you got back on ...same thing ...

The more you continue to debate it the harder it will be


get back to it young man
 
you have a mental block and are suffering a confidence problem in that you think you cannot control what you do

You don't plain and simple ...it was a freak accident and that happens

The only way imo is to get back in the saddle like when you fell of your bike when a kid ....you got back on ...same thing ...

The more you continue to debate it the harder it will be


get back to it young man


Thanks for the advice I'll get on it.
 
Yes you have to keep training. But maybe you are putting pressure on yourself. Try not to put pressure on yourself to perform the way you were before. Relax and try to enjoy your training time. You had a bad experience and it is imprinted on your brain. You need to replace that with more good experiences. If you just focus on enjoying your training, in time the hesitation and fear will go away.
 
Think about the roles being reversed.

Would you lay blame for the same type of accident that led to you being injured?
 
Think about the roles being reversed.

Would you lay blame for the same type of accident that led to you being injured?

I hadn't thought of that. I'm sure I wouldn't as there was no ill will. As Hoshin1600 said I need to focus on the possitive experiences and get back to it. Thanks for your perspective.
 
When my teacher was young, one day he trained the square bag throwing with his classmates. When he caught the bag, turned, and threw to his next partner, an old lady passed by. That 23 lb bag hit on the old lady's head and killed her. That accident didn't stop my teacher's MA training for the rest of his life.

At least in your MA training, you have not killed anybody yet.


Accident could happen in the past, it can happen during the present time, it will happen in the future too.

 
Last edited:
I hadn't thought of that. I'm sure I wouldn't as there was no ill will. As Hoshin1600 said I need to focus on the possitive experiences and get back to it. Thanks for your perspective.

It's a perspective I kind of know - a few weeks back I got a cracked rib from a kick.

Stuff happens, I'd hate for him to feel guilty about it to the extent it affects his performance or training.

I think you'll find there's a fair few people here who have been on one side or the other of this type of thing.
 
Iā€™ve practiced Martial Arts since grade school, I enjoy the whole thing the drills, the forms, the sparring, the tournaments, etc. About 6 months ago I injured one of my peers during practice, I was doing a Morote Seoi Nage something went wrong and I broke his arm.

I didnā€™t intent to do so I messed up, my peers and teacher tell me that it was an accident and the guy told me not to worry accidents happen they were very nice and understanding. However ever since the incident Iā€™m unable to go on the offensive, I just freeze and stick to defense only blocking and dodging.

I really want to regain my former self, so to speak, I want to fully engage in combat but my body just wouldnā€™t listen, Iā€™m afraid to hurt someone else. Can you offer me some advice to deal with this fear so Iā€™m able to fully engage in practice? I still love Martial Arts and I donā€™t want to quit but this fear really isn't helping.
Curious how/when the arm was broken. Not being familiar with the move I youtubed it. It looked like it would be very hard to injure an arm with the arm bar. Did the injury occur during the fall? Either way it is just part of good, realistic MA practice. As long as you didn't lose your composure and intentionally try to hurt the other person you should not let it "hang you up". It would be wrong not to feel some remorse; someone got hurt. But remember it is MARTIAL Arts, not ballet class.
When I have gotten in a funk in the past, going really, really hard on the bag for a few days always helped. Talk to your instructor, they may already see your hesitation and are waiting for you to approach them. It is a sign of character.
 
Curious how/when the arm was broken. Not being familiar with the move I youtubed it. It looked like it would be very hard to injure an arm with the arm bar. Did the injury occur during the fall? Either way it is just part of good, realistic MA practice. As long as you didn't lose your composure and intentionally try to hurt the other person you should not let it "hang you up". It would be wrong not to feel some remorse; someone got hurt. But remember it is MARTIAL Arts, not ballet class.
When I have gotten in a funk in the past, going really, really hard on the bag for a few days always helped. Talk to your instructor, they may already see your hesitation and are waiting for you to approach them. It is a sign of character.

Thank you for your consideration. The injury happened right before I lift him he threw himself backwards and grabbed my shirt, however I kept my grip on his arm, so when I fell on him something broke.
 
There is no fear in this dojo!

No but seriously, something like this recently happened to me, only it was a rib and I was on the other side of it.

I would imagine he, as I, understand the risks and is willing to field the consequences. We aren't doing knitting here.
 
Thank you all for your kindness it really perked me up, during tomorrows practice I'm letting loose.
 
The injury happened right before I lift him he threw himself backwards and grabbed my shirt, however I kept my grip on his arm, so when I fell on him something broke.
This is why in Chinese wrestling, the moment that you feel that you lose your balance, you release all your grips and ready to fall. This way, less chance to have injury. Unfortunately the BJJ pull guide violates that guideline big time.

When I was a beginner, one day I wrestled with someone. When he threw me, I didn't release my grips on time, I pulled him down with me (like BJJ pull guard). he dropped his elbow right on top of my heart. When I got back up, suddenly everything turned to darkness, and I fell back down again. I almost got myself killed that day.
 
This is why in Chinese wrestling, the moment that you feel that you lose your balance, you release all your grips and ready to fall. This way, less chance to have injury. Unfortunately the BJJ pull guide violates that guideline big time.

When I was a beginner, one day I wrestled with someone. When he threw me, I didn't release my grips on time, I pulled him down with me (like BJJ pull guard). he dropped his elbow right on top of my heart. When I got back up, suddenly everything turned to darkness, and I fell back down again. I almost got myself killed that day.

Ouch! You are right my master told me some time ago to release my grip when I lose MY balance, I practice Judo so this happens often and the one time that I don't release this happens, thanks for the advice. By the way you say Chinese Wrestling could you provide me with a more specific name please? It really picked my interest and I want to do some further research in your MA style.
 
Ouch! You are right my master told me some time ago to release my grip when I lose MY balance, I practice Judo so this happens often and the one time that I don't release this happens, thanks for the advice. By the way you say Chinese Wrestling could you provide me with a more specific name please? It really picked my interest and I want to do some further research in your MA style.
I believe it is Shuai jiao, but I might be mistaken
 
Thank you for your consideration. The injury happened right before I lift him he threw himself backwards and grabbed my shirt, however I kept my grip on his arm, so when I fell on him something broke.
You don't typically fall on someone in a seoi nage throw, this sounds like his attempt to escape(throwing himself backwards) caused you to lose your balance. Did you complete your throw and land on him, or was your balance disrupted?
 
You don't typically fall on someone in a seoi nage throw, this sounds like his attempt to escape(throwing himself backwards) caused you to lose your balance. Did you complete your throw and land on him, or was your balance disrupted?

I didn't complete my throw I lost my balance and fell backwards with/on him while holding his arm.
 
Back
Top