I am sort of having an issue with sparring in class which is bothering the shit out of me. I have 3 months of training under my belt now which isn't alot but I expect that I should be able to apply from drilling and whats in my head from being taught to actual "fighting".
My teachers are great and its certainly not anything to do with how I am being taught. I know what I am supposed to be doing as far as blocking and striking goes, its just I can't seem to apply it. I wouldn't say I am afraid of getting hit its just in the process of trying not to get hit, I am doing the wrong things. I lift my chin, drop my hands, yadda yadda yadda. I understand that pretty much everyone in class is better than me but I also understand I don't want to use that as an excuse to why I get destroyed when I spar.
I know that doing things the right way will lead me to not getting hit as much but I can't seem to take that next step quick enough. This is why I called it a leap of faith, as I know what I should be doing is better and correct but I just can't bring myself while sparring to do it.
A good example is someone throwing a combo at me of punches and instead of blocking the way I should I lean back instead. A second after I do it, I know its wrong. I don't even have to get hit for me to know its wrong.
It's like being an armchair quaterback imo. I know what to do, I just can't bring myself to actually doing it.
How common is this? Does everyone go through this? Am I just intimidated by this all still or do I need to spar more, drill more..?
keep practicing and you will start to see things better instead of just reacting all the time.. plus soon some other newbie will join and you'll have someone to practice your ali shuffle on!
You are afraid of getting hit, nothing to be ashamed of, it happens to everyone in the beginning
Stand with your back against the wall and have someone throw punches slowly at you, no combinations early, just like throw a slow jab, jab, jab, jab, right, and increasing the combinations and speed as you defend.
if it was easy everyone whould be doing it.....
btw konwing you are doing shit wrong is half teh battle.....more practice will rewire your brain to the rest of your body...you will then have a whole different set of problems........
I have 3 months of training under my belt now which isn't alot
There is your answer.
Is that expecting too much in 3 months though? It seems others who have been there as long as me catch on much quicker then I do. The back to the wall idea is a good one. Should I maybe ask for a private, or is that something I should be doing later on?
Just promise yourself you're not going to take a backward step during your next sparring session, write yourself a contract do whatever you need to do to be sorely disaapointed with yourself if you don't meet your agreement.Tuck your chin in and concentrate on the basics (hitting them), everything else will follow. Your mind's not doing you any favours, the more you back up the easier you are to hit, crowd them bully them a bit to mess up their range and stop being a punch bag. The sooner you tweak it a bit the sooner you will stop getting full blown twatted on the chin and feeling like a failure after sparring.
This will take a little bit of nerve at first but follow the plan and you will take less damage, start to give some back and enjoy yourself a little.
You are expecting shit way too soon.....at 3 months boxing under my belt I'd always drop my hands, and at my gym the trainer would slap you with the target mitt if you dropped your hand, after that happens a few times you get really pissed off and watch out for that so I instantly so it coming and would block it.......but it takes a while to learn to keep your hands up and chin down because of fatigue.....you wont notice your hands are dropping until you're getting lit up.
David@AccutestMi -
Is that expecting too much in 3 months though?
Yes. Even most talented, dedicated people at three months still move like stiff, robotic clods while doing drills. This is because you haven't internalized the gross movements, much less the smaller, fine movements. Throw in someone trying to hit you and everything goes out the window.
Good news is that you realize that you have some stuff to work on.
Should I maybe ask for a private, or is that something I should be doing later on?
IMO privates are vastly overrated for new guys. Like I mentioned before, someone with 3 months experience is still trying to get the gross motor stuff down and a lot of the $ spent on your private is just stuff you should be picking up in class anyway.
What I would recommend is this:
a) go back to doing drills for another 3 months or so, but keep in mind what you need to work on (i.e. keep everything tight). You'll need to internalize this in drills then _re_internalize it when you take it up a step to sparring, so make sure you've got it down to begin with.
b) a variation of the above: have a classmate throw punches at you as slowly as they can. You'll both get to work on defense as well as picking up on the motions that start the punch so you can see them coming. As you get better, go faster and faster (but not harder! Find someone with control). Then mix it up and do it while moving. Then switch so you can see how someone reacts to your attacks. Then do some sparring slow as hell.
You'll look like idiots, but it'll be helpful.
<-- Took years to stop dropping his hands and putting his chin up when he saw a punch coming. Hopefully it'll take you less time!
I always block with my face and I am 100% successful.
when i started boxing i litterally told my instructor to just jab away..i needed to "see" what it looked like...
if you were smoking people in your gym after 3 months i would change gyms.........
it'll come...it's not normal to come off the street and be completely comfortable in the face of oncoming puches....everyone else in your gym probably was in the same boat 3 months in
mteub - when i started boxing i litterally told my instructor to just jab away..i needed to "see" what it looked like...
if you were smoking people in your gym after 3 months i would change gyms.........
I don't expect to be smoking ANYONE at my gym any time soon. Those guys are beasts. I just want to kind of keep up with whats going on is all. Its like i'm spinning wheels at this point and I don't know if I should completely throw out what little I know and start from scratch.
The simple answer is it just takes time.
You have to trust your trainer, put in the time, and make an honest effort to get better. You've been training for 3 freaking months. I understand it's frustrating but you are still at the very beginning stages of development.
It takes a lot longer than 3 months before something becomes instinct. You won't start utilizing aforementioned skills until they are instincts. It's all about the muscle memory and not having to think about it. Just listen to your coaches as they yell at you, during sparring, and it will come along. Rome wasn't built in a day and learning to keep your hands up is a damn hard trait to remember, even for some veterans... Same goes for all the other skill sets that you have to use. Just keep at it and one day you will realize that, "Damn, I didn't really get hit that much today." or something else along those lines, depending on what skill you're working on.
Cruz Gomez
YOU REALLY WON;T KNOW HOW GOOD YOU ARE GETTING UNTIL YOU GET TO SPAR THE NEWB THAT'S BEEN THERE FOR 3 MONTHS WONDERING WHY HE CAN'T THROW FIREBALLS YET.......
love seeing the 6 month guys spar with the newest students. you'll get your turn and be beating up on the newbs soon enough
Honestly, it sounds like you are thinking too much when you spar; try to relax your brain and just try to feel the movement and spacing, be comfortable and balanced in your stance and light on your feet. In the beginning, expect to work much more on defense than offense, because the guys you are fighting are more experienced, so you are unlikely to be able to mount much of an attack without leaving youself exposed. Just use sparring initially as a chance to get used to the timing of fighting and to overcome bad instincts. Stick with it.
Dougie - I always block with my face and I am 100% successful.
lol
Try ramming your face into thier fist. It will confuse them.