First day sparring

Discussion in 'Boxing' started by Ero-Sennin, Jun 5, 2012.

  1. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    I bet as you typed that you thought about my post and said "Yeah, I am pretty awesome, thanks for noticing. But I bet I'll even sound even more awesome if I type a response to my praise that makes me seem that I'm extremely humble and don't acknowledge my awesomeness."

    Credit given where credit due. You exposed me to it, you get the credit : P.
     
  2. Madao13

    Madao13 Valued Member

    Last edited: Jun 5, 2012
  3. seiken steve

    seiken steve golden member

    simon that 30-30-30 drill sounds good, i'll have to have a bash of that, if your ears are burning tomorow morning thats just me.

    relaxing will be a huge part of it as has been said, usually around the time you realise getting hurt doesnt hurt that much sparring becomes less gassy.

    to me sparring is the number one drill, for fitness and technique, you road work etc helps a lot but sparring gets you there.

    I'm also a big fan of body sparring, it's probably safer long term and it does wonders for fitness, (still spar obviously, i try to to each once a week) given that its easier to unload on the bigger target, people are less tenataive and people can keep walking through a hit more.

    a good way to relax into a sparring session is to do a round or two of 'conditioned sparring' ie jab and parry only or something similar to ease yourself in then add more and more contact.

    ie: 2 rounds jab and parry
    1 round straights only
    2 rounds sparring.

    by the time the two rounds come in you'll be a lot looser and hopefully more confident.
     
  4. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    Well, today was the second day of sparring for me. Did a lot better and got to spar some male opponents who even rocked me a few times.

    I had a real bad week last week with my mental state, some people dying, and some other issues along with a physical problem that left me in bed for the first half of the week, and then drinking myself into a hole for three days straight so that's why it's taken me so long to spar a second time. I read everything everyone posted and what I found helped me out a lot today was really practicing imagining the heavy bag as an opponent during workouts and running full three minute rounds and staying focused and treating it like it was a sparring match.

    Doing that I learned how to relax a lot more, throw my jab more and judge distance a little better. I was trying to work too much on intervals beforehand and I think that was a bit of a problem for me because I didn't find a good breathing rhythm and pace when I trained like that. I started socializing with some of the steady people today too about getting in the gym together to do some lighter work on technique, mirroring, footwork, all that stuff so I'll update once that starts going on.

    As far as sparring today though, people have good stuff to say about me whenever we're done but all I seem to be able to focus on is how my judgment on distance needs to get better, working angles, keeping my hands up, stuff like that. I never really pay attention to anything I do good but I'm not getting down about myself or anything. I just really want to get a lot better and am trying to network a bit with people to start doing stuff to work on the issues I'm having. I can say I'm glad to know I can get rocked and keep going with no problem which I learned today. In MMA I've never really gotten rocked too bad, but boxing is a bit different. You're going to get hit and you can't just wrestle the guy to the ground. I got hit quite a bit due to not keeping my hands up at certain points and was able to recover each time and deflect the oncoming onslaught afterwards to hang in there. Nice to know I have a decent chin without having being toughened up from a lot of sparring and only being in somewhat decent shape.

    Again, I really appreciate all the posted articles from Simon and Madao13. They helped me out a bit for my latest bit of sparring and I'm trying to partner with people who have a serious interest to work on the other things. One thing I found that I could tell actually deterred a few beatings was keeping eye contact with my hands up, not trying to move out of the way (in a running sense) as much and to stand my ground regardless of anything which was in some of the articles Madao12 posted from what I remember. I had to focus on doing that a bit so I ended up lacking in some other things I could have taken advantage of but this stuff isn't natural to me yet.

    So yeah, had fun. Feel kinda' bad though because I didn't work out at the gym again today. I showed up, sparred, socialized and then dipped out : P.
     
  5. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    Have you ever been exposed to panantukan sparring drills? I use them with my guys to give them exposure to danger without the full on risk of being KO'd

    edit: This is from an earlier post on the drill itself

     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2012
  6. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    I just did a search on Panantukan drills, clicked the first article and the article says:

    "Rick Faye has described the techniques of Panantukan as "everything that is in western boxing andeverything that is illegal(not allowed) in boxing. The art is aloosely systematic method of street fighting."

    Obviously a different mindset and I need to refine my search a bit more : P.

    Do you by chance have any youtube or article links in mind that explain this well?
     
  7. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    I posted an edit above :)
     
  8. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    I like that drill a lot. I love sparring but the necessity to drill things for muscle memory and proper technique is essential and a fast pace sparring match generally isn't where you learn technique. Sparring is where you apply your technique, and learn your lessons to be a better fighter. I can see doing a lot of different variations for this sort of drill as well.

    Thank you for making me aware of it. I'll definitely have to read up on it a lot more so later on if I bring it up I don't say, "It's called Panantukan" and get a "Uhhh, what the heck bro?" and have some information about it instead of a just "trust me" response.
     
  9. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    Boxing lesson of the day, learned by personal experience.

    ::Keep your friggen hands up, no matter how many hits your landing. You get comfortable, you get a black eye::

    (That's my eye, by the way)
     

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  10. minamo9

    minamo9 ファイター

    Hehe. Oh well, a wise reminder. we box alot too at kickboxing, and sometimes i forget to keep my hands up aswell. I used to step back alot, but since i learned to spar in a ring im starting to move forward.

    As for blocking, doing it in training and doing it in actual sparring are two complete different worlds. In the beginning it is hard to keep your calm and see what the other person is doing. This however, is essential. After all, it is better to hit one punch then miss to miss five.

    I found it difficult putting my gaurd up too, even though i know the techniques. Guys on this forum told me i should work on my timing. I know how to block, i just needed to time it. Also do not get too close to the opponent so you lose overview. fight as an outfighter and dash in if your attacking, then slip back with the same foot.

    As a final pointer i would suggest you look into bobbing and weaving. dodging is always better then blocking in my opinion, unless your planning to counter effectively in less then a second.

    Good luck!

    Henk
     
  11. Madao13

    Madao13 Valued Member

    :eek: Damn!! I'll try twice as hard to keep my hands up from now!!
     
  12. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    Keeping my hands up is becoming a lot more natural for me. No more black eyes lately and I'm noticing I only keep my right hand down in a clinch because of getting used to sparring with the same person all the time. We're both always in a position clinching where the power hand can't do anything, but yesterday I sparred different people and realized my bad habit I was developing.

    I have now achieved sparring proficiency level of "knock the kid who doesn't listen in classes, takes pictures of himself in the gym in boxing poses, and thinks he's way better then what he is and makes people a bit uncomfortable" in the gym. Knocked the kid down twice with right uppercuts I wasn't even throwing hard. He would swing wild, looping punches that I either ducked or let hit me (found out after 1 they had no power) and he would dip to the side WAY too much, then on his way back up I would throw out the uppercut and between me throwing a punch with good mechanics and him slamming his own head into it . . . he learned the lesson of getting rocked enough to fall down. I hope the kid straightens out honestly, that he starts listening to people trying to train him and practicing seriously. If he doesn't I hope he just leaves and doesn't come back, I don't like people that are there just to hang around and get in other people's way.
     
  13. Hapuka

    Hapuka Te Aho

    Loads of fantastic advice has been given so far, I haven't read through them all yet so some of what I'm going to say may echo what has already been given.

    Sparring is a completely different ball game to hitting the pads and the heavy bag, and its pretty simple why that is. Bags and pads don't hit back, but opponents do which takes everything up a notch.

    Here are some things that I recommend;

    1. Wear a helmet - Every fighter who is sparring in the gym should be wearing a full face helmet (ideally a helmet with chin and cheek protectors) every time they get in the ring. Helmets are important for lessening the opponents blows and protecting the face from nasty cuts and bruises. If your gym doesn't have any or you would rather buy your own, I would recommend Title Boxing's full face training headgear based on the good reviews and low price considering the quality.

    http://store.titleboxing.com/thgff.html

    http://www.expertboxing.com/boxing-basics/boxing-equipment/boxing-headgear-review

    2. Wear a mouth guard - I have seen some pretty nasty things happen in the ring as the result of people forgetting or not thinking that they need wear one. If you want to protect your jaw and your teeth, make it a mandatory (like wearing a helmet and a groin guard) requirement to wear one while sparring.

    3. Get comfortable with using the jab - Using the jab in sparring is a good way to get range on an opponent and to break through their guard, if you're new to sparring in boxing, I would recommend going a couple of rounds of only using the jab and practice moving in and out of your opponents range while maintaining a good defense with your back hand.

    On that note, keep in mind that when starting off with sparring, your punches should be light, like a light flicking motion (not heavy and stiff). Your goal at this stage shouldn't be about throwing power punches, but rather good technique. Power develops naturally over time as you get more comfortable with preforming a technique. Take some time shadow boxing and inspecting your technique in front of the mirror.

    http://www.expertboxing.com/boxing-techniques/punch-techniques/how-to-throw-a-straight-punch

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl7vT_Z3lSc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl7vT_Z3lSc[/ame]

    http://www.expertboxing.com/boxing-techniques/body-movement/jab-with-head-movement

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdBjwQn39eI"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdBjwQn39eI[/ame]

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH0rO2RFBPw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH0rO2RFBPw[/ame]

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB1RtID1js0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB1RtID1js0[/ame]

    4. Focus on the basic punches and combinations - To start off with, the only punches you should be throwing in the ring is the basic 1 and 2 (jab and cross), focus on setting up the cross by catching your opponent with your jab. If you throw a jab that connects, bring it back immediately to its starting position (near your chin) and then throw the cross. A really good basic combination that you should try is 1,1,2 and 1,1,1,2. Mixing up the timings of the jab and cross is a good way to avoid being predictable, also you don't always have to punch to your opponents head, you can also punch by bending your knees (not leaning over or dropping your hands) to your opponents sternum.



    5. Keep you hands up and focus on blocking and parrying punches to begin with - Slipping, bobbing and weaving are pretty advanced techniques and can take a while to learn how to do correctly and shouldn't be attempted until you have some experience with sparring.

    What you want to focus on is catching the opponents punch and then counter responding, a good way to do this is to watch your opponents shoulder (though don't fixate on it, when sparring its important to look at your opponent as a whole), when you see it turn over (moving forward), get ready to either take a step back with your back foot or block/parry it by rotating your hand towards the punch and catching it with the palm, or slightly pushing to the side eg; if you're standing in orthodox and you want to parry the jab, keep your front hand up (your left hand) while moving the opponents jab to your left with your back hand (your right hand), then counter with the jab. The process is the same with parrying the opponents cross but instead of parrying with the back hand, you're parrying with the front hand to your left while keeping your back hand up, then you counter with your own cross. Or you can tap the punch down instead of moving it to the side using the same technique as above.

    A note on this however, don't chase after your opponents punches (don't stick your hand out to block because that will leave the side of your face open, and the last thing you want is a unseen left or right hook making contact), instead, let your opponents punches come to you.

    http://www.expertboxing.com/boxing-techniques/defense-techniques/how-to-parry-punches

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL261oRyURE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL261oRyURE[/ame]

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHf5KaIBbTA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHf5KaIBbTA[/ame]

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvqJXIj7TTU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvqJXIj7TTU[/ame]

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW0fwHrVUds"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW0fwHrVUds[/ame]

    6. Practice getting in and out of range - Ideally you want to be a step away from your jabbing distance, so to throw the jab either you or your opponent needs to take a step forward to throw it. Like I said in step 3, spend a couple of rounds just working on the jab and catching your opponent with it. This will give you a mental imprint over time about how to control the distance between you and your opponent. On that note however, I would also strongly suggest learning how to pivot and side step out of your opponents range, so rather than ending up being backed up against the ropes (especially if you have a more aggressive opponent), you will have plenty of room to counter punch and set up punches of your own. Practice circling around the heavy bag (in both directions) while maintaining your range and throwing jabs (though do not get into the habit of throwing jabs and stepping at the same time as your jabs will end up with less power, telegraphed and you could end up losing your balance. Step first, then jab)

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEVIlec93Ps"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEVIlec93Ps[/ame]

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i72CiJhrJs"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i72CiJhrJs[/ame]

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snNE0xIt-1o"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snNE0xIt-1o[/ame]

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKxMniaqjyo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKxMniaqjyo[/ame]
     
  14. Ero-Sennin

    Ero-Sennin Well-Known Member Supporter

    Came across this site in a search on nutritional needs for boxers/endurance athletes. I didn't get past the second paragraph : P. They definitely don't have expertise in dietary matters!
     
  15. daggers

    daggers Valued Member

    its tension, nerves and adrenalin, you are probably holding your breath/breathing wrong too, as sparring should be easier than a class work out due to not hitting with full power, try not throwing so many shots, learn to move and breath under attack and tell yourself its ok not to "win" every sparring match. take the pressure off yourself
     

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