i work mainly on these areas for sparring
*range
*blocking (defence)
*reading
*parrying
*if you understand the range of your punches it becomes second nature to understand where you are in terms of your opponent. In martial arts they are commonly called the 3 rings... in laymans terms, outer ring (out of reach) , intermediate ring (ranged attack such as jab), inside ring (toe to toe).
Throwing the wrong punches in the wrong rings leads to plenty of missed shots, open season for your opponent to counter and wasted energy.
*if you see the punch late then use your defence to soak it up, isnt it mayweather who has a rock solid defence?
*if you can read your opponent and notice the little 'tells' he gives off before throwing punches, you've half way beat him IMO. Never look at the eyes, look at the clavicles (shoulder line)... small twitches can telegraph punches.
Watching your opponent throw the same combo's and counters can lead to you obtaining the upperhand by throwing him a curve ball. I love doing this, it catches them with their pants down and the look on their face is a picture
*If you can read your opponent then you can parry him, ever try to parry a shot and walk straight into another? You need to work on parrying like its second nature otherwise its a painful learning experiance! Watch the shoulders, read the punch about to be thrown, parry BANG
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