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I know this is a thread for mental conditioning, but does anyone have any advice for overcoming mental blocks? I am a martial artist (tae kwon do) and find that I freeze when sparring. At home, when I'm practicing combinations, everything flows and feels good, but once I get in class and start sparring I seem to forget everything I know. I'm not timid, so I don't know what the problem is. I will be testing for my black belt in September and have to go three 1.5-minute rounds of sparring. I want to know that I've done my best, so any advice you may have will be greatly appreciated.
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I find it's really an experience thing. It's odd to be able to execute perfect techniques when you have to also defend and get hit.
One thing you could do is have your instructor slow down your sparring sessions, and increase the durations of them. Turn down the intensity but do it for longer periods of time, gradually increasing at a more comfortable pace. Then as you become more comfortable and find yourself wanting to go faster and with more intensity, gradually turn it up. That might help get adjusted to the pace and be able to think more clearly when things are full-speed.