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[Kentbob]

I'm teaching one of the soldiers in my company some Kali and impact weapon combatives.  He's about 22, I think, and he's very tense, very high strung.  I can't get him to relax or slow the pace of a drill or pattern unless I count it out by the numbers.  When it came to half-beat strikes before and after stick swings, he tried to make each punch into a skullcrushing blow. 


Any recommendations on how I can get this soldier to loosen up and relax?  Otherwise I think I'm going to have a very difficult time progressing through different material with him.


Kent

[Hock]

This is a problem, but thankfully, not too, too common.

You are going to have to coach him down to the learning levels...like breaking a horse.

Hock

[noload]

I was that guy and have now taught a few. If the guy is high strung and tense then I suggest besides getting him to relax in class you also have to get him to relax outside of class. Find out why he's so tense and try to get him to work through that. Usually a bit of a lifestyle change is needed.

Sometimes a person needs more, if like me they don't know when they're tensing, so the guy training me had me do some old style stump training (plum flower poles) and log walking. The point being that to do these you need balance and to have good balance on an object with questionable stability you need to relax. After a few falls you learn how to notice your body tensing right before you lose balance and after a while how to relax your body to get it back. Another less drastic way was trying to bushwhack as quietly as possible. These may sound stupid and like training for a ninja wanna be but they worked for me and a few of the other guys I've trained with.

[Professor]

Relaxation music in the background...


YES.  I'm serious.    Make him listen to the music, especially during solo warmup.

[JimH]

I like the Professor's idea of relaxing Music before and in the Background during training.
They did a study years ago with weight trainers and fitness trainers:
To get them to rev up,become more intense,to get them more determined and into the training they found Rock/Metal was the best.The Rock /Metal sort of just caused them to go faster,harder.
To get a more sustained,constant energy output, result they played more mellow music.
So music DOES Soothe the Beast.

also
If the training is one on one,Instructor and student ,once the student starts getting tense,or goes off the page ,STOP the Training,tell the student he is doing his own thing and not relaxing or paying attention to the training or drills.

That or when the student tenses,goes off the page and or speeds up or does their own thing,then in a one on one the Instructor can go off the page ,go faster,go harder and drive the student to ask to relax and slow it down.(show them what they are doing,by doing it to them)

[Hock]

As an aside...

This problem is like JKD's Broken Rhythm concept in a way.
Everyone is moving at one speed and this tense aggressive, student is moving at another. Another pace, another rhythm.

Good for fighting. Bad for training....unless you are training for that of course

Hock

[arnold]

Always have a Schlitz before training. Works for Wolfie

[whitewolf]

AND-afterwards I found a new beer-called El Presidente-from central America-pretty gooood gentlemen-pretty good-

as for the "tense" students-Take them down to the local house for "Ladies of the night"
if you get my drift-

WW (ELB)-"speed of light"

[redcap]

Give him a gay stick (Poof Stick) or knife. I used to have two, a pink stick and a purple stick with feather boa type hand grips and a ribbon off the tips and tassels on the butt end. Worked like a charm. I figured none of my tense robots lasted more than a few minutes before they relaxed (music does help as JimH said) and nobody wanted to have the gay stick a second time. Somehow you just can't take your anger out on a man with a pink stick with ribbons and tassels for your weapon.
Redcap

[whitewolf]

Red- thats a interesting way to relaz the student-glad it works-ww

[Kentbob]

Thanks for the advice, guys, I knew I could count on y'all. 


I'm learning more about this individual.  I think he may be legally mentally retarded, I'm not sure.  I'm not sure quite how he managed to make it through basic training.  After working with him some more, it has become apparent that he will shut down in the middle of a task if he is distracted.  It's an odd situation, maybe I can apply a workable solution and help him out.  I dunno.

Kent

[whitewolf]

Kent-is this guy in your platoon/squad? What does the 1stsgt say about this individual?
If he is not capable to be inrtergrated into the unit then he needs professional help-before you guys are sent out on a mission.

hope it works out- WW

[Kentbob]

Ha ha!

It's too late for all that, he's been on patrol with us, and manning the gun at the combined checkpoint. 

Kent

[whitewolf]

Well maybe thats what he needs-responsability- WW

[redcap]

Bloody hell! You are on active service with a bloke you think isn't the full quid? Scary stuff! Are they so hard up for recruiting numbers they don't test these people? It's a pity he has gone so far down the pipe and sad too (no offence Kentbob) that it takes an NCO in his squad to notice what the trick cyclists in recruiting and basic training should have detected.

As WW said, maybe some responsibility is the answer. Take care Kentbob.
Redcap