Dealing with bad partners during class??

[kmyoshi]

Re: Dealing with bad partners during class??

I’ve been switched by my instructor before because I was training with someone much bigger than me (which I’m fine with) but next to us was a 13 year old (about 4’11”) partnered up with a much bigger guy than himself. The instructor switched me with the younger guy as I wasn’t that much bigger than him as compared to his original partner.

[lions2011]

Re: Dealing with bad partners during class??

I had to switch more to the night classes to remedy the situation. Very unfortunate because it messes up my schedule.

Maybe Kman is right that the person is thinking the same about me .:woohoo:

Funny in MT, most people do not like being my partner because I have a hard time holding the Thai pads to big kickers. If I had 10 pounds of muscle on me I could handle it better the pads.
Very hard to practice Mount escapes on somebody who is 110 pounds and has less strength than a cat.
You want to practice choke and ground defense on big, strong guys.
I am only 165 pounds but I am pretty strong for my size.

[mdeaneuscg]

Re: Dealing with bad partners during class??

I’ve had similar situations. One of my issues arise when the partner is in an intermediate level class and does not seem to grasp the concepts of the previous level. It is hard to get proper training yourself when the partner is not giving you the attack that is needed for the defense.
This also ties into how your partner reacts to you when you make the defense. I know I try to emulate the condition the attacker would likely be in after the defense is made (bending over from a strike to the groin, etc.) to give my partner an accurate representation of targets for follow up combatives. It does me absolutely no good when every time I make a defense and turn to finish the fight, my partner cowers and turns their back to me. I very rarely actually strike my partners. I understand this could be A RESPONSE from an attacker when I make the defense, but it shouldn’t be the only response.
Another issue is when safety concerns arise. I have hyper-extended my knee and thrown out my arm while doing pad work, because my partner would not take the hit on the pad to absorb the shock. I can take the occasional punch in the face or getting a groin check, because we are training for a real world attack here, but issues like that bug me when it comes from an intermediate or higher level student.

When it comes to cultivating and assisting newer members during class, I do my best to work with new people, because they will be the future orange and green belts. It just annoys me when I see some level 1 guys and gals with more aggression and energy than some guys that have been there for a couple years.

Also, sort of relating to this, what is the suggestion when working with someone that is of a MUCH smaller stature than you? I’ve had to work ground with a 12 year old before, and it is very uncomfortable. Any defenses I had to make, or working on gaining position, was extremely easy for me, and I felt I was not learning anything from it. I can certainly see where it is good for the 12 year old to work against a full size attacker, but having me work against him is just awkward.

[Author]

Posts