How do you develop "warrior" mentality in sparring?

Question

Does "taking a punch" develop by lots of sparring, or is it something one is just born with? How can I develop a more comfortable presence in sparring?

Answer 1

The warrior mentality does not fit with sparring. The warrior was taught to fight in a kill or be killed situation. Nothing held back, no mercy. Kill quickly or be killed if you hesitate.

By definition the term "warrior" is correctly used only to describe those trained for the battleground.

Answer 2

Hi there

Your question itself raises more questions than answers?

What type of warrior are you preferring to? A ring king or a battlefield samurai type warrior?

Both have completely different mind sets. One was a killer the other a sportsman. I hardly see how training hard or taking knocks to your noggin is going to develop a warrior state of mind. The examples you have so far are for conditioning which is fine for a boxer but not so good for the samurai. Warriors are not sportsman that's just a fad tag given to them by the media. If you want to get good at sparring then you need to train with different partners of different build and ability. You also need to train with a partner that works with you.

I think the key to the mindset is developing killer intent but knowing when and where to use it. How you choose to develop it is down to you. Everyone is different. There are  very good reasons why many warriors embraced things such as meditation and philosophy etc. These were to prepare them for their own death as well as others. This has no connection to sports so you see why your question as has issues.

Best wishes

idai

Answer 3

You won't develop a warrior mentality in sparring. Thats something you will learn while fighting. With that said though, the more you spar, the more comfortable you will get. Remember that old saying "practice makes perfect". Sparring a lot will get you used to everything and make you more confident hence making you more comfortable. But you won't develop the warrior in you until your in a battle with somebody and you have to dig deep to pull it off.

Answer 4

A warrior mentality is a state of mind. Honestly this mentality surfaces in combat when there is no quit in a person.

A way to start developing this mentality is by always going hard during practice and work outs, and when sparring or "going live" is to go a 100% like if it was real and going all out.

Answer 5

be confident in your style before you face off. if you know what you can use and how you can use it, there's no reason why you should be unable or afraid to use it.

secondly, a benificial sparring partner is key to breaking out of your shell. You need a peer or older training partner who can give you advice and show you how you should approach your opponent rather than just knocking your teeth out.

After these steps, i'd experiment. A technique might need to be tweeked to adjust to a different body type. this is why you should spar with all shapes and sizes to be confident with almost anyone.

The mentality of actually getting in the ring...well that's a confidence issue. once you convince yourself that you're the best you can be at that moment in time, then you're gold. Don't worry that you're actually sparring. besides, taking the hit is half the fun!!  you'll be fine.

~Jake