1. Train your brain!
Have you ever noticed how successful Randori players are able to react very quickly when a possibility arises to apply some waza or a strike with the tanto? You might call this timing, psychologists call this a very efficient “information processing”.
Information processing is the process in which your brain perceives certain cues from the environment (e.g. actions from your opponent), quickly decides what to do and gives instructions to your muscles to execute this command. In skillful martial artists and wrestlers, this process is very fast. Some even call it automatic.
What do you need to develop this skill?
 Select which cues to focus on and how to react to them. What possibilities or openings are you looking for and how are you going to exploit them. E.g. you notice your opponent has his weight on his front foot. This could be a cue to do sumi otoshi. Or the moment your opponent turns is the moment to execute your shomen ate, ... Do not overdo it: focus on a couple of possibilities, a number that your brain can handle. You do not want an information overload, because that will have a negative effect on your performance. Which cues to spot and how to react to them? Ask your teacher or skilled randori players.
Practice makes perfect! With practice you hard wire the execution of movements in your brain, something that psychologists call motor learning. The more you practice, the more your body starts to act automatically. Remember: just being in the dojo doesn’t count as practice time! To develop true skills, you have to practice with 100% commitment and concentration. Don’t let your thoughts wander off.
Did you know that you can enhance your performance by imagining a sequence of movements, a technique called imagery. When you imagine a movement, you use the same parts of the brain as when you really execute the movement (more specifically the pre-motor regions). The “program” for executing the movements gets hardwired in your brain. Use this effect! Mentally rehearse your cue-response strategy over and over again when you have a spare moment(in the train, in the bathtub, on the toilet, ...). The more you use imagery, the better!
Sometimes you think you react in a certain way, but in reality you don’t. Such differences can affect your performance. Feedback from others can help you to get more insight into your behaviour, which allows you to fine-tune the execution program in your head. Also video feedback, studying your own movement on screen, can be helpful.
2. Build self confidence!
Another secret ingredient of success. Self confidence. Even if their technical skills and physique are the same, people who believe that they are capable of doing it right, are more likely to do it right than people who do not believe that they can succeed. Thinking that you cannot succeed is a stressful thought that works in a destructive manner. Thinking that you can succeed reduces stress, and therefore makes it more likely that your performance will be better.
Tips to boost your self confidence:
Self confidence refers to the confidence you have in reaching certain goals. The trick is to choose your goals right. If you set a goal that is very hard to reach, the chance that you will experience a feeling of success in the short run is quite small. A pity, knowing that successful experiences are a necessity to build up self-confidence. To boost your self-confidence, set yourself some realistic short-term goals that will provide you with regular, “I can do this!” experiences. Such a goal can be anything, e.g.: breaking a persons balance at least once, not being thrown, making at least 2 Tsukiari’s, ... If success is not likely to happen with your current goals, set yourself some new, more reachable goals - or try to reach your goal with a less difficult training partner! With time, you can make your goals more and more challenging. Try to end each training session with a feeling of (at least a little bit) of success.
Don’t be so hard on yourself! If you do something wrong, it doesn’t help to tell yourself: you clumsy chicken, you cannot do anything right! Such negative comments have a negative effect on your self image. If something does not work well, don’t start insulting yourself. Look at it as a challenge, as an opportunity for improvement! Tell yourself: I can do this. If not now, then in the future! Let this be a motivation to keep on practicing!
Coming next:
Preparing to be a winner takes a lot of effort. How to keep your motivation sharp?
How to prepare yourself mentally the day(s) before a competition?
The day of the competition: how to get “the eye of the tiger”? |
