Sparring !

IzzyBooNZ1

I am curious to hear how you went in your first few sparring classes, how did you feel, how did it go etc??

On saturday I had my 2nd sparring class. I have been doing muay thai for a few months now but decided recently to try our Intro sparring class. The first part of the class is doing drills then the last 15 mins is freeststyle.
Now I know you are gonna get punched in the face and kicked around I accept that but I just felt like a complete noob - I basically stood there and got pummeled. Mind went blank . I got punched in the faces a few times as I was careless with my guard but I was too nervous to throw my own punches back as I felt like if I did throw a punch it would be obvious or I would be too slow.. Also I am so embarrassed to say I felt like crying, just from frustration and the feeling of being useless. I felt a bit panicy like "wtf do I do" as the guy was landing punches on me. I did manage to land some kicks but alot of mine he blocked and he landed a few on me as I was too slow to block as I was quite nervous & finding it hard to concentrrate on everything at once
.And the guy I was paired up with was going a little too hard, I did tell him it was my 2nd time. I should have told him to go a bit more easy but at the time I thought I just had to suck it up.

So would appreciate feedback, advice etc . I know it is a great learning experience but I feel a little down to be honest.

thanks!

Alehmer

You 'roll', spar, with people right from the very beginning in most good grappling disciplines, and yes it's amazing how hopeless you can feet to begin with. I had a hundred pounds on a teenage girl (Judo) and she threw me around like I was her little brother.

It's a good thing though, for two main reasons:

1 - You realize that if you keep practicing, you too will be on the other side of that equation. You'll have some guy or gal wondering how in the world they could ever have a chance against someone like you!

2 - You understand how out-of-touch any art without regular hard sparring is. You can feel like you can take on the world before you get into a real spar/fight, and that reality check is a hard one. You never know what you can do if you never get out there and do it for real, and you know just where you are if you do. No illusions.

Keep it up!

jesusHchris

Full contact sparring in Muay Thai with only a few months of practice is an accomplishment in and of itself! Many people don't get into that until 6 months to a year in. Congrats on mustering up the courage to step into that situation.

Try to have someone video tape the sparring sessions. It is extremely helpful to see how and when you are dropping your guard and check on your form.

You will feel like a noob and forget proper tactics for a long time to come. We all do. Don't let it get to you.

Edit: I feel like your trainer should have been more heavily involved in your sparring session. Someone who is so new should not be getting punched hard by a dude. Just my opinion.

michaelocampo

You 'roll', spar, with people right from the very beginning in most good grappling disciplines, and yes it's amazing how hopeless you can feet to begin with. I had a hundred pounds on a teenage girl (Judo) and she threw me around like I was her little brother.

It's a good thing though, for two main reasons:

1 - You realize that if you keep practicing, you too will be on the other side of that equation. You'll have some guy or gal wondering how in the world they could ever have a chance against someone like you!

2 - You understand how out-of-touch any art without regular hard sparring is. You can feel like you can take on the world before you get into a real spar/fight, and that reality check is a hard one. You never know what you can do if you never get out there and do it for real, and you know just where you are if you do. No illusions.

Keep it up!

i second this! ive been doing martial arts for 28 yrs, the last 4 of which have been dedicated to mma, judo, and jiu jitsu... and MAN... i almost feel like the actual combat aspect of the arts have been an illusion to me until then. Don't get me wrong, traditional martial arts have developed my timing and agility... but the pace, mindset, and adrenaline cannot be ingrained until you are consistently rolling with your partners in full-out effort. The panic drowns out the techniques that have been practiced in a controlled setting.

j75j75

Your instructor really shouldn't throw you into a sparring match until you are ready. Otherwise it really doesn't teach you anything. It is commendable though that you did it. I don't think I had my first sparring match until a year into my MT training. And even before that I had done months of corner drills, so I was getting pretty used to getting hit lol

I am curious to hear how you went in your first few sparring classes, how did you feel, how did it go etc??

On saturday I had my 2nd sparring class. I have been doing muay thai for a few months now but decided recently to try our Intro sparring class. The first part of the class is doing drills then the last 15 mins is freeststyle.
Now I know you are gonna get punched in the face and kicked around I accept that but I just felt like a complete noob - I basically stood there and got pummeled. Mind went blank . I got punched in the faces a few times as I was careless with my guard but I was too nervous to throw my own punches back as I felt like if I did throw a punch it would be obvious or I would be too slow.. Also I am so embarrassed to say I felt like crying, just from frustration and the feeling of being useless. I felt a bit panicy like "wtf do I do" as the guy was landing punches on me. I did manage to land some kicks but alot of mine he blocked and he landed a few on me as I was too slow to block as I was quite nervous & finding it hard to concentrrate on everything at once
.And the guy I was paired up with was going a little too hard, I did tell him it was my 2nd time. I should have told him to go a bit more easy but at the time I thought I just had to suck it up.

So would appreciate feedback, advice etc . I know it is a great learning experience but I feel a little down to be honest.

thanks!

ttippie2000

A couple of thoughts. Sparring can be great or it can be a bummer depending on whether it is at a level that is accessible to you. I do feel it is good to learn correct form before you turn up the sparring--a month, two at most on basics of stance, footwork, basic kick mechanics and basic boxing mechanics. Usually I have people start sparring and go light and build volume. If they go too hard early they'll develop bad habits like flinching and swinging wildly and won't learn the infighting part of the art. Usually if I get a group of people who can manage to spar light without killing each other I know they can learn a lot and get better together. All the while they should be working hard on the conditioning and physicality work, so they will be able to have the legs and the lungs to deal.

As they progress they can work up to medium sparring (and by medium sparring I mean you aren't getting hit hard enough to get knocked out.) A lot of general population people don't go much beyond medium sparring. People who are fighters? That's different. They need a lot of hard sparring, but also that sparring needs to be periodized around their fight schedule. They need to taper down 1.5 weeks out and do no sparring at all the last 5 days. Note: In Thailand where a lot of guys have fights every week or two they spar very easy between fights, hence the term "Len Chen" timing sparring.

For women beginners starting in sparring (or anybody of smaller stature), walk up to the most advanced fighter you can and ask to spar them. The fighters will not hurt you. Instructors will not hurt you. It is the bonehead 20 year old stupid guy beginners who you have to fear. In my gym, we try to keep an eye out for that. And if we see a guy hammering on a girl beginner, there will be 6 or more very advanced guys that will line up to give that bonehead guy a taste of his own medicine in no uncertain terms. And after that the rest of the class gets the message.

j75j75

A couple of thoughts. Sparring can be great or it can be a bummer depending on whether it is at a level that is accessible to you. I do feel it is good to learn correct form before you turn up the sparring--a month, two at most on basics of stance, footwork, basic kick mechanics and basic boxing mechanics. Usually I have people start sparring and go light and build volume. If they go too hard early they'll develop bad habits like flinching and swinging wildly and won't learn the infighting part of the art. Usually if I get a group of people who can manage to spar light without killing each other I know they can learn a lot and get better together. All the while they should be working hard on the conditioning and physicality work, so they will be able to have the legs and the lungs to deal.

As they progress they can work up to medium sparring (and by medium sparring I mean you aren't getting hit hard enough to get knocked out.) A lot of general population people don't go much beyond medium sparring. People who are fighters? That's different. They need a lot of hard sparring, but also that sparring needs to be periodized around their fight schedule. They need to taper down 1.5 weeks out and do no sparring at all the last 5 days. Note: In Thailand where a lot of guys have fights every week or two they spar very easy between fights, hence the term "Len Chen" timing sparring.

For women beginners starting in sparring (or anybody of smaller stature), walk up to the most advanced fighter you can and ask to spar them. The fighters will not hurt you. Instructors will not hurt you. It is the bonehead 20 year old stupid guy beginners who you have to fear. In my gym, we try to keep an eye out for that. And if we see a guy hammering on a girl beginner, there will be 6 or more very advanced guys that will line up to give that bonehead guy a taste of his own medicine in no uncertain terms. And after that the rest of the class gets the message.

Haha that's awesome!!

Mistya81

I've also just started sparring and it's been a big learning curve! I have about a year of Muay Thai behind me so I have some good technique. Sparring is totally different than being able to hit pads (I've been learning). I'm totally humbled and right now feel like I just keep getting repeatedly punched and kicked. I was very out of my element to start.

Lucky for me I have an amazing instructor who explained the basics and has helped me a lot! I'm finally starting to feel like I can block some of the kicks and punches but it's not automatic yet. My instructor assures me that it takes time to build that muscle memory. This is the first week I feel a little confidant in the class. It's coming and it's kind of exciting.

Biggest thing for me is that I'm learning to stand my ground and not back off because someone throws something at me. Everytime somebody throws something at you, it's an opportunity to strike back.

Best of luck!! Keep us posted! (Hope you don't mind if I add you as a friend.)

rayfu75

One word can describe my first sparring session in BJJ, Judo, Kickboxing & Kenpo

Humbling.



Instructors always watched and monitored when I did each first sparring session in each art. The humbling part was realizing that the person I was sparring was only going maybe 50-60% if that and I was getting my *kitten* handed to me. Humbling.

Alehmer

Fun sparring times:

You catch a skilled partner or the instructor with something (submission, throw, punch, whatever), and they give you the 'Oh, I guess you can handle more then'.

Proceed to immediate destruction.

ttippie2000

I've talked to women who have been frustrated that they either get paired up with a kid who doesn't have the concentration and skill to challenge them, or they get paired up with a dumb 20 year old guy with no control who blows them away. They're real happy when they get to go with somebody who will consider their stature & skill level and challenge them to do their best, but not, for example, give them a concussion. I can tell when they get their war face on that they're happy.

Conversely, on a couple of occasions, I ran into a bunch of female instructors for a local of women's self-defense group that were macho to the point of being dumb. They came into the police academy and were like, "We want to go all out." And we were scratching our heads and saying, "Um, even with very large guys we still negotiate a level of intensity that is accessible for that individual. Otherwise somebody is gonna get hurt bad. So...do you really want me to break your leg?" Of course, they answered no and we talked them into cooling it with the macho stuff and just doing what they could handle at their size and skill level. I mean, sheesh, I don't want to get sued cause somebody is dumb.

rayfu75

My wife also trains in brazilian jiu jitsu and kickboxing. She has sparred with a few younger mma fighters and a few seasoned martial artists as a beginner. (which we both still are; beginners.) luckily our instructors share the same mindset that no one needs to get hurt and our guys know how to use control. The first time watching her spar was rough for me but I got use to it. lol now she is my favorite sparring partner. Marriage therapy kind of lol.

j75j75

First rule is always "safety first"

jesusHchris

First rule is always "safety first"

I thought it was to never talk about fight club.

MizTerry

I'm in Taekwondo. My first few sparring classes? Ha! I was fresh meat!
I've been sparring for over a year. Some are easy, some...not so much. I try to make the most of it and learn what I can from the upper belts more experienced.

kendrafallon

Sparring's been a regular part of my Tae Kwon Do classes since I started. Hated it to begin with as we didn't do a huge amount. But it's gotten better over time. I'm not too bad against other of my grade and weight class (I compete in competitions every so often).

We do semi contact, so it's all about control and safety - gum shield, head guard, gloves, shin and foot guards (groin guards for blokes) and points can only be scored on the front of the body, head to waist region. Makes for some interesting matches.

raygunn_viola

first time I fought I got kicked in the face...now 8 years later I love it! Can;t wait to get in the ring! This summer though, I had a guy punch me really hard and I got a black eye and a concussion...I can go in and take care of business, but I prefer working with people that have control, then we both get to learn something!

simont123

You will get knocked about a fair bit at the start but will get better as you get more relaxed. Hopefully you have good sparring partners who don't take the Micky and just beat up on you so you make improvements. But ironically when you are relaxed and more experienced you may well want someone to go harder so you can push yourself.