The Biggest Mistake that EVERY Fighter is Making in Training, Sparring and Competition

[@hard2hurt]

Question for Viewers: Can you think of any methods to help train this out of people?

[@ThomasHepler05]

Get beat with a bamboo staff if you reset

[@JiuJitsuCowboy1]

Yeah I agree with ThomasFits, beat them. A pain penalty is a hell of a teaching tool.

[@abortedlord]

I think what you showed is the perfect solution. You're doing "drills", but the rule is that if your drilling opponent stops intelligently defending themselves you "capitalize". Don't have to hurt them, but just an extra little tap in there to "wake em up". You might have to personally go around and trade out with everybody to show them how to do it one on one if the break is drilled in real hard. That seems like the best way. The only problem is that everyone would have to actually understand what is going on prior otherwise dudes would definitely get pissy about it.

[@formoney5255]

I think maybe if you framed drills to students as cardio training as well as drills: "alright, we are doing X drill for X time, let's keep up the intensity" and try to get that same trainer/trainee vibe you get when you are doing something like a plank and the trainer is saying "c'mon, 15 more seconds!"

[@kofiadugyan169]

Check out Barry Robinson’s work. His drilling style addresses these issues

[@BecozPro]

"Is that your good side over there?" "uh no but it's your video" Ideal training partner right there

[@Thunderbox100]

I love how he just puts up with Mike's ranting all the time.

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

@@Thunderbox100 ha

[@gonzalo_conducir]

Many years ago I used to have an old school Muay Thai master, Mr. Jorge Vazques in Xalapa, Mexico., he used to push us to train exactly like this, he never explained why, he just kept repeating: "he who strikes first, strikes twice", and then just pushed us into it non stop. Now I understand, I am grateful to him and to you for explaining some 20 years later. Thanx a lot!

[@jayflo714]

XALAPEÑO!

[@edanirz]

Bro I watch your car channel, I like it…. It was so unexpected to see you here in the comments of a english speaking fight channel.

[@ezykill]

I think Jeff Chan (MMAshredded) has like said the best help for sparring is doing combos, but in a sparring-like environment so you get used to combos not being a turn-based combat situation and people actually responding

[@blumind_web2264]

You know what's funny untrained fighters typically don't do the reset while it's the trained people who are supposed to be better at this are the ones trying to reset

[@ezykill]

@@blumind_web2264 it's definitely manifestation of drills and partner work

[@hard2hurt]

Yeah sparring high volume definitely helps, but then it still happens in drilling or technical work... and then shades of it leak back into sparring

[@logandwyer8727]

I think a good solution to this problem might be the “Mayweather” way of ending combos. They end everything with jabs. So when drilling or hitting pads you throw your combo come back to stance and jab. It reinforces the idea of “stealing” a turn. And forces you to correct your stance. Especially if it’s a hard jab. Or multiple jabs. They tend to finish everything with several jabs really high on the pads. It this could work in the Dutch style drilling you showed.

[@boshirahmed]

People are tired man, not everyone is a pro. Unless you are fighting in compettitions. Do you realise how many people gets muscle fatigue and gas out just trying to lose a few punds. Icy Mike is just funny about good advice.

[@logandwyer8727]

@@boshirahmed well this is way to implement his good advice. Not everyone has to drill like this. And even people who are just there for a workout could benefit from good technique and what amounts to a better workout.

[@hard2hurt]

The big problem is then we see that reset after the jabs

[@logandwyer8727]

@@hard2hurt Yea… sadly it is up to the individuals practicing to “do it right” but the jabs after the combo will at least leave the person in good fighting position after the combo ready to continue striking or defend. And maybe I’d they are extra smart they will put 2+2 together and see that they when they do this they steal a turn. And might start using it in sparring. And for the less Intelligent maybe a timed drill of “stealing turns” one partner has the be throwing a combo, jabbing, of feinting the whole time. The other partner gets told if they reset take your turn.

[@charlieparker7159]

@@sword7166 this is the real solution. You have to work up to having the proper conditioning tho

[@taylorfiksdal2895]

I felt called out when you said not to wait till you're "ready" to start something. I've been watching this channel for over a year and I keep saying I'll start taking some form of martial art soon, but it hasn't happened. I'll start looking for one

[@hard2hurt]

Just pick a place and go. Now.

[@flynn8845]

I hope you're been able to push yourself to start. I find the start is the hardest part for anything:P

[@wrlk636]

Hey man friendly reminder to do this if you haven't and to keep going if you have

[@RonniePTexan]

"Should probably write em down then" best quote.

[@ilike2filmstuff786]

Best Unwritten quote

[@nikosmith4631]

Barry Robinson talks extensively about the rhythm step which is what happens at like 4 minutes, his instagram is full of analyzing people losing because of it

[@TheMilitant_1]

He even shows how it can be effective as well. Every time I see it in fights now I just scream "RHYTHM STEP!"

[@ryanweiss1721]

I don't know how to fix it but I have a hypothesis of why it exists. One of the biggest things that is stressed to a person new to striking is the importance of looseness. If you are loose you will ultimately move and react quicker. Some new people will tense up after striking and I remember coaches talking about 'shaking it out' to become loose again. Maybe this is one of the origins of this training scar?

[@andrewgiegerich153]

No I believe he's talking about laziness

[@HittokiriBatosai]

I think you're right, some coaches have code words to instruct their fighters to do exactly this and reset. Once you're past the point of needing to do that, you should outgrow the old habit that helped you before, but hinders you now

[@formoney5255]

Great video, I've never even come close to having this thought before. This is the type of stuff I come here to see.

[@hard2hurt]

now think more and help me with a solution

[@vikhneshmanoj1748]

@@hard2hurt well it looks like a mindset problem so I'd say feint an attack after the combo so you force yourself to still be in that combat mode. Dunno if it will work tho 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

[@formoney5255]

@@hard2hurt My idea was to train drills as if its cardio rather than just practicing the techniques.

[@domzbu]

@@hard2hurt You already found the solution early in your video. The solution is just stop doing it.

[@BenKuyt64]

After watching this, then rewatching a lot of Max Holloway fights, he doesn't seem to reset as often as other fighters. Really interesting, and great insight.

[@Condeycon]

That little exchange you two had about so much of sparring being an unwritten code is so on point. Every gym has a different culture and expectation around sparring and you're kinda just supposed to 'figure it out'. Its a bad system, especially in, as you said, such an emotionally charged and test-filled environment. First off, it should be a written code that everyone can see and reference, probably up on a wall somewhere. Additionally, I think responsible gyms need to make sparring etiquette a day one class for everyone. I don't care if you have 50 fights under your belt, every gym is different and that should be kept well in mind.

[@blackmagick77]

You would think fighters would like an aggressive sparring opponent especially if they aren't used to it. That will only make them better.

[@Coachbarryrobinson]

Wow Coach...great content. Appreciate the shout out

[@youngmf6052]

“There are unwritten codes of conduct” “You should probably write them down then” 🤯 Bro 💰👏

[@tailanthaiboxing]

Imma throw some gold out here for you all. Coach barry robinson has a system based on attacking the rhythm step and getting rid of it yourself. And the only way to do it is to unlearn it through drilling and drilling. You would probably save yourself from a lot of brain damage getting rid of the rythm step.

[@BaldOmniMan]

Good point about loading the muscles

[@Sceadusawol]

This reminds me of the combative training "scar" about disarms, where people train disarms, then return the weapon to their partner. And then have done it for real and returned the weapon to their attacker.

[@boshirahmed]

Most people are just nice people not John Wick. Come on.

[@SI-ln6tc]

Yep its a bad habit. A escrima instructor in talks about that.

[@Sceadusawol]

@@boshirahmed Very true. But when you are talking about police officers, security guards, and the like, niceness can be a liability.

[@hard2hurt]

Do you have a source on that one ever actually happening?

[@necronomiclastodon]

I have heard this a few times in training - but I have never found a real life example of it happening. I mean the number of effective weapon disarms that we have really any hard data on is rare anyway. So one where this actually happened and somebody told the story or some kind of footage was found-I've never seen it, not once. I even train this way so I am fully sympathetic with avoiding that habit - I make my students either discard or present the weapon offensively whenever we do weapon disarm stuff - but I think this is one of those old karate myths.

[@theprodigalson4003]

I learn a lot from you. I know you make your bag but Thankyou for what you do, I appreciate how passionate you are about what you do and that you share it with others so that they may become better

[@lightsoul8973]

Resetting to me is also a tactic manovre to regain distance and wait for an opening of the oppenent, if you are too aggressive with combos and Always push forward you can gas out much more quickly or be hard countered from more defensive technical opponents

[@andrewgiegerich153]

Yea he's talking bout resetting while being ready still

[@ives3572]

Only a handful of fighters or coaches out there are that aware of this resetting thing when engaging or defending.

[@riversidema7578]

....probably should write them down.......love it.

[@Markblood889]

The funny thing about that reset is Barry Robinson constantly talks about never doing it, but Trevor Wittman has actually talked about having his guys drill it and moving laterally off it in either direction

[@konradbanfi4967]

Great video I can totally see this move in Dustin Porier's fights where he kinda re-sets and then goes back to hit a combination. On the flip side, boxers who are extremly strong mentally (Andre Ward) are always having this mental sharpness for the whole fight.

[@joaovitoraquinoferreira5062]

that's probably one of your best advices ever, if you don't train it, you'll never be relentless, if people wanna be scary active fighters then go ahead and do it. guys mistake intensity with ill intent, well, like you put it, it's agression but not hard shots, it's fast but not impossible to keep up. great content as always Mike!

[@samalford8923]

Dang, that's some good advice for life. Saying "I'll do it when I'm ready" is the mind killer.

[@StrangerThing369]

Thank you so much for what you do!

[@nurglematthew893]

Luv it. Well said, Coach. Get back in there, Team.

[@DaitoryuBlog]

Absolutely agree! It's one thing I enjoy in classical Japanese martial arts kata: ending a technique or kata isn't where things end, and you are expected to maintain a heightened level of attention and readiness throughout. But of course you can put this in any practice. Like you say, it's an easy fix, but the issue isn't really the motion, it's the mentality. I could swear having seen boxing training clips where the practitioner doesn't break focus and "stays on target". I suspect many people don't do this because it's mentally tiring for both the practitioner and the instructor to make sure that mental state is maintained throughout. Other than really carefully maintaining the school/training hall's culture and getting active buy-in from every students, I don't know how much could be done about that though. Will definitely follow-up on the comments here to see what comes out, it's an interesting subject.

[@lightsoul8973]

Yeah all load up like that and you'll gas out after 2-3 rounds in Real fights, than you look at geniuses like old saenchai fights and look like they are playful even against fierce opponents instead of being full on-guard al the time. You have a good point, but mastering this would be to me something in the middle: loose and fluid in the movement, hard in the contact

[@LordSeethe]

He goes over that in the video though. It's tough, and it puts strain on you both mentally and physically, but his point is that you can train to get better at it. Let's say doing that for 3 minutes straight would gas you out both physically and mentally in your current state. However, you can simply train like that for a year or two until you can go 3 rounds for 3 minutes each. Then after 4 to 5 years, you can go maybe 5 rounds for 3 minutes each, and in a street fight scenario, I can't imagine a fight going on longer than say, 10 to 15 minutes. However, you do have a good point. Sometimes it's not all about tension and pressure. Sometimes being loose and fluid works better for different situations, but even so, your mind can't get lax. Sometimes the opponent can sense when your guard is at its lowest, and that's when they exploit it and get you down. I don't know, fighting is never that simple, and there are lots of variables to calculate, but it's definitely something to consider the next time you're out training.

[@davidthewlis4911]

Nate's looking good here! Clearly working hard right now

[@Sceadusawol]

"Unwritten codes are really hard to follow." All the this!!!

[@SPONGEY7244]

AWARENESS!!! Love it, thank you

[@nicksalvatore5717]

In the Chris Barnett fight he was able to achieve the finish by breaking the rhythm They keep taking turns and then he gets push kicked, guy waits for him to square up again and he instead does a spin hook kick

[@DoomRater]

I know I saw someone talk about using the sparring mentality while drilling combos, where you get active about it and vary the timing of when you go back and forth. Basically the drill still involves the same movements, but you're pushing and pulling the drilled combo, never giving your opponent a comfortable rhythm so they have to react and actually deal with the combo. If I was dealing with someone advanced enough, I'd even allow feints to be used before throwing the combo- the only thing that must be consistent is the combo being drilled, you still have to use it. And that's my gut reaction after only a minute and a half in. In the video I saw people never pick up their stance while drililng. They treated it the same as sparring. They actually tried to attack each other, and if someone didn't defend correctly they got hit. Sometimes progress reqiures risk.

[@randomtvninja]

Last night I talked about this because of the women's UFC fight last night.. the constant pauses, the bad over extended punches etc.. and then boom this video pops up! Yes! Exactly what I was talking about last night with everyone. Love you man keep up the good work!

[@scaraboy]

I like it man, really interesting, and very true, cardio tank shouldn't be an excuse, get a bigger tank, keep the pressure on. As in the eternal words of General George S. Patton "Attack rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, without rest, however tired and hungry you may be, the enemy will be more tired, more hungry. Keep punching.”

[@webexpertcharlie]

Mike is awesome. Love his channel.

[@RawDoggin_78]

i am guilty of this a lot but it is just so tempting and natural to hop back thinking that little 2 feet is enough to keep you safe lol

[@MG-bi6mq]

Oh yeah. My instructor complained about this years ago. The simple fix is to fight more often. To get used to attacking until the other guy is down. But most people don’t live in places where you can fight all the time and not get arrested. So, another solution is to maintain a “connection” to the other person. Not necessarily a physical connection but a mental effort to maintain aggressive energy - as if your guard and distancing are also part of your combinations. Which they are! It’s all one thing. Traditional martial arts forms/kata train this “continuously linked” attribute. But I never see people training forms correctly.

[@jamielondon6436]

Very good point!

[@cadcc]

This is a sick video and it's inspiried my fighting style a bit. Thanks bro

[@michaelstovicek7873]

Thank you I really needed to hear this

[@thesadanimations]

The biggest mistake is not lubing up your jab

[@Domzdream]

I exactly what you're talking about. That's why I love watching Prince Naseem Hamed when he boxed. Watch how he always makes use of that 'window of opportunity' and just KO's them. That part of Timing when fighting.

[@heresjonny666]

It's interesting, one of my HEMA instructors is constantly ragging on us to recover to a ready position or to do something at the end of an exchange, technique, drill rep etc. Good to have it backed up. A funny thing about that example of putting it on a sparring partner by not taking it in turns...As you were doing the example I was feeling like 'Damn, Mike's being aggressive and showing him up' then when you demonstrated the taking turns thing it hit some weird dopamine receptor in my head and made me go 'yeah that's nice to see.' Our brains are weird dude. Good vid though, I'm taking this away to implement it. I think the way to get it to happen is to foster a culture of it, which you do by positively reinforcing it. Tell someone to get after it and give them a big ol' 'THAT'S WHAT I WANNA SEE KEEP IT UP!' And I think it'll eventually seep into the DNA. I'll report back with my findings.

[@ME_YA4P]

Bigger, heavier weapons are more reliant on good posture, so it does make some sense and the old masters were pretty big on moving from guard to guard.

[@timanderson6499]

Great wisdom in this video

[@yazanarafat5997]

golden advice. don’t rhythm step

[@r0guel1ke48]

Rhythym stepping should be fine so long as you make it a point to break your rhythym.

[@lihchong2267]

During pad drills the pad holder often does those fill in punches to keep the attacked on guard. It's happened in every muay thai school I've been to, but some people looooove to make a point of keeping it like a fight. That's what happened in the previous gym i went to, though to be fair on that one night half the class seemed to have a fight coming up.

[@a925sw5]

These resets drive me crazy, especially when the opponent allows it as if it'd be sacrilege to attack during the reset. I try to train to take advantage of peoples resets which inherently help you become aware and begin to fix the issue. Having someone attacking you on your own resets you're forced to do something about it. Having a third person attack/pressure you ANYTIME you or even someone else resets is how I began to break the habit. Which is also great for the outman bc they learn to see the tells. I also like using a GO word while drilling different techniques, as in no matter what ANYTIME someone yells said word you execute. Drill it. Learn to trust it. Especially in a pupil coach scenario. Combinations of the two is at least a way to begin to break the habit. Then you start taking off the training wheels. From psychological perspective, using sound like they do with a clicker for a dog can be beneficial. We train ourselves and each other by sounds as much as everything so its a great way to trigger a responses. After a certain point the response will be innate and even trigger the release of dopamine etc, reinforcing the good habits. I think part of the issue is in gym culture. Very few gyms have a healthy productive/serious/fun culture and I think gym culture is one of the biggest issues. You need a culture where people know you're there to work hard but also you're also having fun. People kill the fun/creative side of it and drilling/training just becomes a routine beep bop boop....dead pan face. When you're in good spirits and having fun, you move better, you flow, your heart rate is lower, most people perform better anyway. The ways we train are inherently instilling a lot of these terrible tendencies. If we could more regularly hit that fun/flow state we could learn to better access that part of ourselves and of course break the reset habit. There are studies that have shown how effective even just smiling can be, even in an athletic scenario. Some marathon runners and other endurance athletes will smile while they run bc it helps, even forcing a smile chemicals are released in body. Keep things lighthearted and fun and I also think there's other areas to exploit here like using humor. Just one example is bringing a person back into a fight. A joke.....a joke can completely reset a persons mental state. This could be used as a tool in the corner. I know that may sound crazy but how many times have you yourself or someone you know been very upset and a joke is what breaks and brings people out of their head. IF anyone has read this far...a couple more things off the top. Sitting between rounds is terrible. When do we sit? When we want to relax/rest. Just sitting down there are a whole bunch of things going on in us. You know when you sit muscles in your back and legs relax and just sitting for a couple minutes you can lose more than like 50% of the strength you had before you did. Think about that, this isn't made up it's been studied and if you've ever done much s&c you might realize most of the time you're weaker. But more importantly, sitting is TERRIBLE for recovering and lowering your heart rate. The recent studies I've researched say just leaning forward with hands on knees is the best way to recover.

[@nelsonl2268]

I really like implementing this in my sparring because I can keep contact light. I don’t have to be faster or stronger than my opponent to tag them I just gotta disrupt their rhythm and throw when they aren’t expecting me to throw.

[@Markblood889]

Haha Icy Mike needs to join forces with Barry Robinson. I swear he talks about this in every instructional he’s put out

[@_tauschung]

Laughing my ass off at that clip at the end. The wood-propelling palm.

[@blackdog7275]

Is that why the pro's seem to be surprised when their opponent falls after a combo, as if they weren't expecting it?

[@hard2hurt]

Maybe a little, like they were planning on hreaking and then have that oh shit moment

[@mellonhead9568]

i dont do muay thai much but i see why some trainers like at Tiger MuayThai fire back after combo during pad work keeping them alert and even punishing them for defensive errors

[@denisl2760]

Yep as a pad holder we were always taught to punish a dropped guard or lack of focus.

[@KazanmaTheSilverWind]

So Icy Mike is proposing to stop with minibreaks mid-trainng/combo/fight, makes sense to keep your pressure tighr Ramsey Dewey is proposing to stop with rounds/breaks in MMA to avoid shortening one's career through more head injuries & the like combine the two and you could get some of the more realistic training for if someone was actually trying to kill you, which would go great for seeing who's truly the best fighter, and maybe a bit for training actual self defense (an incredibly nebulous topic as is, how do you train that without dying?) As for how to train it, I have no idea, having never done the training myself, but here's what I think. Iirc in Kali your Flows never really end. Maybe depending on who's teaching, you may start adding new movements to a flow to catch your partner off guard, maybe you'll have disconnects, to go from 1 set of motions to another, etc. But the Flow never ends. I would start by presenting your combos and general pressure like that, so you can start to build the idea that "Okay, the game doesn't end after i land this" at the start of training a given skill, maybe by adding certain followups to chain them together more seamlessly and really push your partner to the wall, or forcing your partner to immediately check your pressure reset and make you react and take your turn back. Or maybe incorporate some active footwork to change the positions in a fast paced manner after the combo's done This is just a really rough idea (and makes it feel like i'm talking more about a Fighting Video Game like Killer Instinct or Guilty Gear instead of real fighting), but if you alter the drills such that you can chain 1 drill to the next, you might see people cleaning up their pressure and defense in a pinch, as well as seeing people who crack without that break. I could see it making everyone better fighters by the end

[@gustavor.canezini5024]

My instructor tells everyone to hit our partner whenever he lowers his guard or something similar. I didn't like nor understand it at first but after you spar with someone and can't do shit because of bad habits, you start to get why he's telling you to do that.

[@alduin69]

5:18 I hear "finish with a kick" so much, that during sparring and fighting, I just don't finish combos; meaning, I "finish" with a kick, and then just fire off a bunch of jabs. Generally they're so used to this "okay, kick means the combo is done", that they run directly into the jabs (and stiff jabs, I may add), and it pisses them off. Like a "this isn't what we're supposed to do" moment happens in their brain, and they get angry. No breaks in fighting, only disco.

[@JamieRCorder]

I think understanding what you're up against is the issue. Whether I'm teaching or to 7 year olds, 10 year olds, teenagers, or working with adults, when you first start you have limb coordination hesitancy (yes, that's my term). But it's just this reluctance to throw because you're uncertain about what you're supposed to do and from where it should come. I think the key to changing the behavior is the instant you as the coach see they've figured it out, pull that pair aside and have that conversation with them. Then you can verbally reinforce the right behavior and punish the bad behavior (20 squats every time I have to call you out for it! ) It's Pavlovian. You have to break the old muscle memory down before you can train the new one.

[@Geburah82]

Been calling this out for years, dude. I feel ya. It's amazing when you see people in the top 10, top 5, in UFC, doing this shit... Those bad habits run so deep. What's amazing is the few guys who hit that flow state and never stop to admire their work or think about it. They're always on their muscles, circling, managing distance, or firing that next shot... Like Khamzat Chimaev. Dude is engaged 100% of the time.

[@Loyal2law]

This. Is Gold. It's the simplest of things that are neglected. I am guilty of this in shadowboxing, and it finally answers my anxiety of not giving enough. This is it. I finally found it. Thank you.

[@cullanhamilton1539]

This is actually how we spar in the boxing club at my school’s campus! Glad to see others call it legit 😂

[@Jedi_Jed]

I knew you going to say this probably because I just watched Sean O'Malley knock out Eddie Wineland in one of those reset moments. I think fighters that rely on movement tend to not take these resets because it introduces mental sloppyness but they are for sure rare. Conor had a video on IG about it too. Good stuff.

[@danielordonez412]

I agree. There's no need of getting beaten up in the ring to learn that there's no negotiating with intensity. Just keep them informed that this is a sport of high demand of good cardio, and burning your oil with stress is not burning it with technique and action. Believe me, I'll never get in a ring again, I hate it, but I wont waste my time, my peace of mind and money by cheating myself and everyone around pretending I'm doing a sport if I'm just standing there and infecting the room with freeze.

[@ben-arte8936]

Our whole gym gets burnouts if someone doesn't exit a drill rep with their guard up in fighting stance. Can confidently say we don't have this problem 🤮

[@megacraig97]

It’s called a rhythm step and it serves as a psychological reset, Barry Robinson covers this extensively and how to correct it

[@rezzerwrecked]

I like to look at it like playing Smash or Tekken: no one's gonna give you a turn, you have to TAKE it, and if they don't take their turn then you take that shit instead. Also cause I'm a nerd and it's fun to pretend you're Captain Falcon pulling 0 to death combos.

[@kenthan9388]

My favorite martial arts teacher used to yell at me about that and just standing up and leaving fighting stance way too often while doing drills. For like.. weeks, he would ride me about that until I stopped being a lazy slob. TBF, it was a 6am class dammit, I was half-awake walking in half the time.

[@tristram0073]

A few days after watching th this video, watching fights pro to amateur level, and I can’t help but noticing this alllllllllllll the time. Good eye mike

[@HittokiriBatosai]

I think you raised 2 very good points on why it continues, being "too cool for school" and not appearing like "that guy" who takes sparring too seriously. I'm not sure there's a solution to those when sparring with new people. Within a gym is doable though, I think.

[@KelpWolf]

I see this as 100% a mental issue, primarily about focus. Each drilling/sparring partner gets a reward (points) for every time they tag their opponent when "checking out." Also, I have done 10-minute sets of circuit training that should normally take 15 minutes to complete. Forces no breaks with jumping straight from one set to the next to make it under the time limit. No loss of focus when the timer is inexorably counting down...

[@alexschneider812]

"Spar" drill. Do the drill and build in some counter from the partner who was defending. Then move straight into the next combo. Make it how they back up to reset. So, 2 2 body low kick, counter double jab, back step back step then 2 2 body low kick. Or just have them alternate back and forth with the same drill, just ALWAYS. MOVING. If someone stops, everyone hits them with a pad. Hell, you can walk around with a pad and smack them when they drop guard to reset. My instructor had a special beating pad he'd use, worked great.

[@geoffreylevens9045]

Here's a nasty training tip for this. Learned from my Aikido teacher about 35 hears ago. Yes, Aikido, barely a martial art if at all though Sensei was a madman of the first degree ;) His m.o. in classes when you were paired with him (or if he spotted you with someone else would call you for a demo in front of the class), if you took that break, before you knew what was happening you would find yourself jacked up against the wall, barely standing on your toes, with him holding you up by your gi lapels, and screaming in your face. I never saw anyone take that little break more than once.

[@TwistedMist77]

Ya my instructor was a kickboxing champion and ya after every combo you do even in a drill do not drop your hands and do the dumb reset thing. Exit on an angel after finishing every combo and keep hands up. Always gotta get away on the diagonals or circles.

[@tomwinters4576]

With (agressive) sparring sessions, my Personal Trainer and I have a build in safety catch, if things gets too rough, etc. And that's the safety word "STOP".

[@wrlk636]

THIS IS MY FAVORITE VIDEO YOU HAVE EVER MADE

[@JEM-fo6rs]

Good point! Keep it live and real until the drill is actually over.

[@flyingknee23]

You’re right. This is all psychological. I find myself to be too flustered when pressured, but I think that goes away or ease with time.

[@ME_YA4P]

Amusingly, kendo is extremely aware of this. Maintaining "zanshin" is one of the biggest factors in good kendo, so in tournaments any kind of big reaction following a good hit (ippon) can be grounds for it to be dismissed or for a warning. Also, seme/tame, where you're supposed to sense when they clock out and hit them in that instant. But because the distances are longer and hits more dangerous, it allows for that kind of distinction from the press, press, press of unarmed fighting.

[@mwardp201]

I went from backyard stick fighting to a couple of weekends in Fma back to stick fighting and I knew it was weird when I tried take stick fighting at an MMA Place IcyMike’s comments Really made sense of all the weird shit that happened there they got mad when I swing the stick it made a noise they stop sparring to tell me that hammer fists and upper cuts didn’t work and yeah they got mad when I followed them and continued The spar

[@GABA-Gool]

I love when you leave the door open for Nate to answer a question you expect him to know the answer to, then he just shuts unintentionally shuts the door on you by not answering correctly, but with confidence. lol.

[@WesternCommie]

My original trainer, Frank lee, always made sure we went back to our stance properly every time. I wish I was still able to train with him, but I moved out of the province. He was a very good teacher, and made sure we were well trained.

[@renwitchell6426]

Spot on Mike! I got reminded by a training partner who kneed me because I was on auto pilot, trying to conserve energy. Lol

[@vinnyfalzarano4911]

This is super true. As a MMA fighter with 8 years experience I'll even catch myself messing up and doing things like this every once in a while. Especially if I wif an overhand I'll step through and do a cross step (not inherently wrong but leave me open for chopping leg kicks or hard hooks

[@SmartMartialArts]

Hey Mike, do you think listening to music while sparring or practicing material is a good idea, or bad idea?

[@seannajor2080]

Barry Robinson from a million stylesof boxign talks about this with the rhythm step...i started looking for it in sparring and attacking based on the opponents reset

[@The_AntiVillain]

I did this when i was a wee lad back in elementary school but metronome sparing where both people move when there is a clap and then slowly pick up the pace to keep both people moving at the same time acting and reacting. In this case it would keep people moving and prevent the lul in sparring

[@mullihully2315]

I often see people holding pads for a combo and than, when the combo ends, they reset so the fighter is allowed to do the same. When I hold pads for the same fighter and keep the pressure on after the combo, maybe make them trhrow some jabs in between, they often get it fairly quickly. Therefor I think when coaching we should not only focus on the one who is doing the technique but also on who is receiving/holding the pads, train people to become better trainingpartners. Make it more appealing to them by stating that holding pads is a great way to work on your own techniques especially footwork. When working on a specific combo I think it is important to at least mix it up with, randomly, letting fighters throw jabs (or 1-2s) in between, it keeps both the padholder and the fighter on edge.

[@kylecurran6747]

Carrying this mentality into sparring is real. Quite often I find myself the only one in the ring in as many back to back bouts as I can get. Learn how to fight tired, and embrace it. You can’t increase your gas tank if you never use it

[@C4Aries]

So crazy thought here. In pre- modern battles, like with swords and spears where you had to get in close, they didn't happen like you see in movies where is a giant crazy melee that goes on until one side runs or dies. What happened was 2 sides formed up, got close, and then stared and yelled and mocked each other, building up the courage to clash. Finally they came together and fought, but only for a short while before the 2 side's broke apart and took a break, trying to build back up the courage and stamina to clash again. I think that maybe, long sustained violence is really difficult to handle for most people. Not that with the right training it can't be overcome, but I think this might be part of why it's so common.

[@MKSamson-cp9sx]

"If you wanna do it don't wait til you're ready" words to live by

[@dominicbiggs628]

Barry robinson has brought up on it before and coined it rhythm stepping, when you unintentionally bring your feet together for rest. Everyone does it but its something that boxing has worked on more than other sports by forcing competitors to always be on point for the whole round, always applying pressure and not taking a second to let the other guy breathe. Barry has sort of fixed it by forcing his athletes to do boring drills and to keep doing them until their footwork is always active within a fight.

[@pyroseed13]

Funny enough, I realized I was doing this other day, but only because the person I was sparring with was pushing the pace and not me giving a second to rest, when I normally would have tried to disengage haha.

[@fireeaglefitnessmartialart935]

I have noticed that habit in myself, but mostly when other people do it. I've definitely noticed it in ufc fights yrs ago and used to get annoyed by it. But I like to be close up when sparring, so I don't get that luxury cuz I'm always trying to move forward. Especially if the other guy is running around me.

[@eroope5713]

This is my favorite video in a long time. *PRIMAL SCREAM* "WE DONT NEED TO TRAIN THAT . OUR LOW KICKS ARE FUCKING AWESOME." I was rolling.

[@lokhistormborn4165]

That energy man!

[@christophervelez1561]

ICY MIKE COMING OUT WITH THE LIFE ADVICE!!!

[@WJWTAC]

You're so right about this.

[@jerediahgonzalez2315]

Max Holloway vs Calvin Kater is a perfect example of someone always moving and ready vs someone waiting to go.

[@borisp9163]

The thing about this is that if you doing it unconsciously, it is disadvantage, but if you do it consciously you can use it as trap, its important to relax during fight but more important is to be aware of everything you do... you are kind of analysing guy, I can relate to it.