Im starting to get really fustrated with my mma sparring. I've been sparrign with mostly
beginners whereas i've had tma training before. Once the punches start flying and my opponents start flailing, i lose my composure and start flailing back with NO technique whatsoever.
My footwork, structure, and accuracy just go out the window and i get gassed much quicker than i should. I know in my head that if i calm down and keep my composure i can do ok.
But for whatever reason , i just end up looking worse than people that just started who are just swinging and goin for power punches out of control. Its so bad that at night when i get home after class im angry and stressed at my poor performance. Maybe the fact that everyoen is bigger and stronger and sometimes a beter athlete that gets my fear factor up.
but im wearing a freaking face cage so i know im not gonna get hurt. I can think of a million excuses as to why im sucking it up so bad but what i really want is to just train to get better. I'm thinking of waking up early now and doing more cardio, hitting the weights which i've been neglecting.. anything just to get me out of this stupor. What do you guys suggest i do to get out of this rut so i can actually work my basics under pressure?
"trying is the first step towards flailure." -Homer Simpson.
Flailing is to standup as spazzing is to grappling. Weather the storm with a good guard and them pop the snot out of him when he's gassed out.
*grabs pirate hat*
"Flailing flailing over the bounding main.."
DO NOT WEAR A FACE CAGE if you are serious about training to eventually fight. Those freaking things dont do a damn thing except promote brawls in gyms. If the guys you are sparring are swinging for the fences that is VERY POOR sparring. Fighting is for the ring only sparring is for the gym.
But the situation does bring out a weakness in your tech. The best way to fix a sparring "spaz out" is with pad drills designed speciffically for your weakness. In this case you clearly have a weak "aggressive defense" meaning you dont bob&weave, slip, and block and counter well under pressure. Most people dont. I have several hands only drills I use on guys who flake out under heavy pressure and after a month or so they look like different fighters. Your trainer/teacher should be able to address this problem specifically.
Don't get too frustrated. To me it simply sounds like your striking skills just aren't up to the standard yet. I was the same way when I first started training for real (i.e. muay thai, mma). I just had to face the fact that much of the crap I learned doing traditional MA simply didn't translate to real brawling. Just keep working hard with your muay thai or boxing trainer. Once your skills in the muay thai/boxing ring start coming together, then you can focus on translating those abilities to an MMA situation. It just takes time. As long as you're working hard and have a competent trainer it'll all come together sooner than you think. The most important thing is that you have a good boxing or muay thai trainer showing you the ropes (and I do mean a STRIKING trainer...not a grappler who likes to hold thai pads once in awhile).
stln + Maxximus = Correctness.
"My footwork, structure, and accuracy just go out the window and i get gassed much quicker than i should."
What you are doing is completely different than tma. In fact, you may need to overcome habits developed in tma that work against you when there is real contact. I certainly did. This sounds perfectly normal to me and if they are bigger than you you will even feel more pressure.
First time I sparred MT I was shaken up and walked away ready to never come back. It can be very emotionally stressful.
Forget the weights and cardio as an answer to this problem. They won't fix it. You are not gassing from lack of physical condition but rather from your mental state. Spar more, talk to your trainer as mentioned above.
I agree with stln about the face cage too.
It sounds like you might be trying to spar at or near 100%, which contributes to shitty technique and alot of dropouts.
Newbies at my gym start at 20-30% and slowly increase in intensity over time, so that after six months or so they're sparring 50-70% a few times a week. Save the hard sparring for pre-fight training. You will learn MUCH more and do so much faster by working in a low stress enviromnment when you're first sparring.