Got beat up in sparring today, ask me anything

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First time sparing or what?

How long you been boxing m8?

I got beat up in sparring last night too. I boxed some good rounds but was completely gassed by the 3rd round and ended eating too many shots to the mouth. Now the inside of my lip is cut and bruised.
This is the first time ive got cut in the mouth in my 6 months of boxing so far

good. when i boxed i went to a shit club where everyone was just doing it for fitness and no one put any effort into learning how to fight. within 6 months of joining I was the best in the club and sparring was just me beating the shit out of them or having to slow down and teach them. i never got any better because there was no one better than me for me to learn. i hope youve enjoyed my blog post

How long do you train until you can get some sparring in? Was thinking of joining a boxing gym and try for novice golden gloves

depends on your coach and how fast you progress but typically 3-6 months you'd be sparring

Yep. All against dudes much better than me. I ate punches all day.

I started self teaching boxing for cardio for since last year and decided to go do the real thing at a mma gym.

Biggest lesson. Shadow boxing, bag work, and double ended bag did not translate into me being a better fighter. Honestly didn’t think I would do this bad today.

Second biggest lesson. I was being a bitch. I didn’t want to really punch my opponent because I thought it was rude. Not kidding. Must be some deep psychological thing. Not happening next time.

I didn’t quit but damn it was hard keeping up. 4 rounds with each one a different partner. One guy barely gave a fuck about going easy. I’m typing this with a headache. I’m still salty about that dude doing that but I’m glad cuz I learned this shit ain’t a joke.

I enjoyed it.

My gym has pros in it so it’s pretty fast to get action. Showed up to sparring day. Sparred. That’s it.

My gym had me sparring as soon as I wanted, which was on the second session. Albiet he matched me with someone who was only reasonably more experienced.

Not sure why people have such a stigma to jumping into sparring. An ethical gym with decent humans in it will aim to challenge you in sparring not trying to kill you.

>I didn’t want to really punch my opponent because I thought it was rude. Not kidding. Must be some deep psychological thing. Not happening next time.

No your just not used to punching someone .

Isn't the whole point of sparring, NOT to beat eachother up? Like why not just do amateur fights if you want to get CTE?

Yeah man dont kid yourself when it comes to respecting experience. The best way to get better is to constantly and consistently humble yourself. Gain respect of your sparring partners in the gym by being a good sport and showing heart, they will guide you.

I felt like an idiot shadow boxing and doing bag work before I did sparring because I did not know how to train for the real moment. Getting sparring experience will give you the scope needed to effectively train the other elements.

Sparring with good headgear on and not FULL power is not really that traumatic, garunteed OP took so much damage from not having proper defense skills.

He will be ok though.

That’s something I didn’t think of. I really never fought people before, so it makes sense.

Three of the guys took pity and guided me a bit. I felt bad because i felt I wasn’t doing my part in making it good training. I was just a bag.

The guy who didn’t really held back though. I could tell he only held back from finishing me but gave me the fucking business. Ate punches from every angle. No where was safe.

You go it. My defense was trash. I was getting hit and thinking “how the fuck? But my hands are up”

At the end it was a struggle just to keep them up to my cheeks let alone my eye brows.

Recommendations for good headgear?

Were you wearing a mouth guard?

It is typical of seasoned veterans to but the heat on people to see if they really want it. I sparred with the best fighter in our gym who is pro mma, he put me down twice in one round. I was struggling all the way through but stayed with it until the end regardless of my condition.
I think I earned respect from that.

I would say when you are doing shadow boxing and bag work mix in defensive moves like slips, pivots, guards, rolls, all in your combos to better keep you in that rhythm of defence.
Think of your head as the thumbstick on an xbox controller, you want to be moving it up and all around to naturally dodge and roll with punches.

This is the best one I have used in terms of build quality and fitting and protection.
Dont be an egoist and use minimal headgear regularly, nothing brave about taking needless brain trauma

Thanks for the recommendation my man. I'm planning on putting MMA on hiatus and going to a boxing gym for at least 6 months to sharpen my boxing skills. God gifted me with long arms for my height, so I figure I learn how to better use them. Not to mention most MMA guys can't box for shit

sounds like u got minor concussion

how risky is amateur boxing?

Yea. It sucked. But it helped. No head gear though.

Guy told me good job not quitting. The thought of asking for a break honestly passed through my head a few times, but I truly rather get beat up then get disgraced by quitting in a damn sparring match of all things.

extremely. you're literally getting punched in the head repeatedly. how hard is this to figure out

I wouldn't even call it "risky", brain damage is just part of the sport.

My bitch mom never let me join a boxing club i know I would have been a pro

It might not be too late. How old are you?

Never understood those who treat sparring as a title match.

Do MMA instead nigga. Its easier to get further in that than in boxing anyway. Also, less brain damage. Only trade-off is the lack of money.

>No your just not used to punching someone .
This.
For life, fitness and "self defence" I prefer building someone up rather than reigning them in (also prefer teaching them).
But for competing? Give me the thug who can barely control himself.

Getting beat up in sparring is always super discouraging for me. My muay thai coach encouraged me to sign up for a tournament at the end of April, despite me starting mt at the beginning of June last year. I thought I wasn't ready for it, but he said that he wouldn't encourage me to sign up if he thought I wasn't ready.

Anyway, I keep getting beat up during sparring and it's taking my confidence away. I know there are no "winners" or "losers" in sparring, but it's tough to stay positive when you can barely hang with your peers.

What is your game plan during sparring? One of my coaches told me that its crucial that you practice something during sparring. Don't go in blindly just to fight, practice something. Make one round purely about defensive tactics, make another about getting in and out, etc.

I was always put up against bigger,stronger, more experienced fighters. Constantly got my ass kicked. At the least my nose always bled. After a few months the tables turned. It will for you too eventually. You have to stick with it. Practicing against against superior boxers makes you better in the long run.

I have a really bad habit of dropping my hands after strikes, so I've been working on keeping them up regardless of what happens. That and pulling back faster my punches so that they are snappier and more quick. Getting into range without eating punches and kicks is my problem, and when I go against pressure fighters, I fold easily. I'm hoping that improving my basic strikes and keeping hands up with solve many of my problems.

I've been told that I have great kicks, but setting them up is a weakness of mine.

There's a lot for me to work on, and I'm pretty scared right now of all the holes in my game.

Be honest with me guys. Am I a bitch for having a hard time taking a punch or is it something I'll slowly get used to?

Is this standard practice? I thought the majority of sparring was deliberately "light" or not in high frequency. Do even amateurs all end up getting mashed up noses and brain damage?

Taking a punch sucks. No matter how you take it. Nobody likes getting hit in the face dude. You’re not a bitch.

What matters is that you come back.

Foot work.
You need to master foot work

Do you have any tips for footwork? MT doesn't really emphasize footwork, only the basics.

Pure boxing is also offered at my gym too.

I used to box. It's great until you come up against somebody much better than you

As soon as you get that slight rush from fighting, the hits feel more buffed out.

Ladder drills, box jumps and skipping.
Also WATCH lots of videos of the pros then try to incorporate into shadow boxing first.

Guillermo Rigondeaux

Never gonna get better fighting someone worse than you

It is extremely shocking to take a punch or kick from even a moderately well-trained fighter. The vast majority of people have never experienced a decent strike. It is 100% normal to feel like a bitch who can't take a punch. Your body simply has never experienced something like that and it will take time before you learn to adjust to be able to absorb blows.

It is also shocking from a mental standpoint which also makes taking the punches suck as you're just kind of in a survival mode daze the whole time.

Once your brain calms down so it isn't shocked by every half decent punch and you get your body used to absorbing blows it will be vastly better.

As someone who's boxed for 10 years I'd like to commend you both. The hardest part about learning to box is always getting your face plowed at the beginning. You both seem to have a good mentality. Here's to hoping you make it where you want.

No but fighting somebody so much better that you're essentially a punch bag for three rounds isn't going to teach you anything either.

I feel you brah. I've been boxing for 6 months and still get my ass whopped by 2-monthers. I'm just such a pussy and afraid of getting punched and flinch way too much.

Then don't be a punching bag. Find patterns to exploit or work on defense

Na mate, I just quit

>I was getting hit and thinking “how the fuck? But my hands are up”
Thinking a guard will save you in boxing is as green as it gets. Boxers hit hard enough that a block will only prevent an outright knockout. It will still disorient you. Learn head movement and timing.

Na mate, I just quit

Now I start fights in pubs for no reason and always complain to everybody how I could have been a contender. When I have kids ill live my dreams through them by making them do boxing from an early age

>being a quitter when things get hard

How do you overcome the fear of failure? I want to go pro one day, but I'm just always worried that I'm not good enough

I have days where i come home feeling great about myself, i was able to defend and strike properly, keeping everything clean. Then i have days where im just complete trash. Just yesterday i went into sparring thinking i was going to be pretty decent but just the few initial punches he landed completely threw me off my game.

I ended up just focusing completely on my defence seeing as though all my jabs just felt fucking useless. It's a psychological battle as much as it is physical

Nah, everyone was the same. You're not a bitch for not being able to do that last set of push ups in the beginning. Taking punches is the same. Your body needs to adjust to the stress it is put upon.
I used to fear that at first (well I only do amateur match but it's the same mindset). It's a matter of habit. After you lost 3 or 4 matches, it will be part of the sport
Good pedagogy should have exercises that make you question yourself and exercises that reassure yourself so you can keep your motivation.
If you only have the former, people will quit, if you only have the latter, people will get complacent. You need a change in training

Be humble, user. There are a million things you can learn from a loss. Few to learn from a win. It is not a matter of accomplishing things in the now, so long as you adapt and learn how to achieve your goals in the future.

Even the greatest fighters will get their shit kicked in before they achieve notoriety. Talent takes you far, but if you have no drive to improve your skill, your glory will give way to comfort, which is how the great lose their rank.

Basically, nobody is born perfect and most people that want to get good at something need to learn from someone better than them, be it from a rival or a mentor, which means you will probably be taking a beating until you can hold your own which will take time.

I feel like I often hit a mental block when it comes to sparring. I'm itching to get back to prove to myself that I'm not actually as bad as I felt during a shit sparring session but by doing so I also feel like I'm putting too much pressure on myself and just setting myself up for failure. How do I overcome this?