Light Sparring Vids

[Sharla]

Hi

I've put some boxing vids on U Tube for people to give me their opinions.

It's only light sparring but all against sparring partners I haven't had much to do with so unfortunately you all get to witness how daft I am when confronted with unfamiliar styles!

There are 3 different guys here - one southpaw (I'm not sure what's wrong with me but i didn't even click that he was a southpaw until later!), one younger guy in a red top - who's had 15 bouts apparently if I can believe what I've been told so he's very tricky despite his age, and another guy in a black top who i think was going easy on me.

I'm the one in the orange top. I would say that I'm the girl but my sister didn't recognize me in the vid so apparently the fact that I'm female is not that obvious!

I'd appreciate any feedback you can give me. I don't like watching this. I'm not commiting a lot to my punches - perhaps because it's only light sparring but still - looks bad. I'm not attacking much - perhaps being too conservative/ cautious. Also something off about my balance often.

Something is bugging me about it I just can't put my finger on so I'm ready to hear just how unco I am! You gotta be cruelt o be kind sometimes right so pick away!

I have to apologise for not really knowing how to embed these things. I only uploaded them onto U Tube this morning so hopefully you can view them all otherwise I guess it might take a little while to process or something .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiqCMMzSJDk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXdXdXwu3iw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHpqfejIhyk

[Sharla]

No advice? - surely there's heaps to pick on! Heaps missing that I should be doing that I'm not?

[killersheep]

Two things i noticed is that you let your lead hand come back low, just asking to be countered.
The other thing is that you are crossing your feet a lot, especially when you are moving backwards,
I think that could account a lot for your lack of balance.

Keep your lead leg forward. Pull your jab straight back.

CC for the vids.

[Sharla]

CC killersheep - I'll have another look at that and see what I can do about it I think I tend to cross my feet when I've just moved back out of range in an effort to reset myself - sort of goes with my overly bouncy fotwork I guess - but it's not something I do deliberately and I don't completely understand why I do it or how to stop.

[Scrap]

Sharla pleasanty surprised.The guys arnt experianced enougth to spar with a girl lighter than them be carefull.

[Sharla]

Thanks Scrap - you made my day CC The guy in the red top is actually lighter than me - not sure how much the others weigh - but i can feel the southpaw especially is a bit stronger than me so I'm trying to be cautious.

Still I usually attack more when i compete and I'm a bit concerned that I'm always practicing this single punch countering thing in sparring and then trying to be more offensive when i fight without having done that much in sparring. In my trainer's words I end up looking like an Octopus!

[iceman]

looks like you have the tendency to square up and want to settle down and brawl...like a thai boxer...stay away from that impulse...work on presenting less of a target but i have seen much much worse....not bad

[Lords Gym]

Sharla.. cc#89 Nice work. I like what I see.. The 3rd clip is more to my liking. A bit of pressing on your part not to much wasted movement. . It is very important to avoid shots., I prefer to make an opponents punch miss by inches rather then miles, that way your in range to return fire. also makes a better impression on the judges when you get to the competition level. . I like you instinct to fight.

Best of luck to you .

[Sharla]

Good points CC iceman - i did start off in kickboxing so your observation of me wanting to square up and settle down to brawl like a thaiboxer could be pretty close to the mark - i worry that the time slips away when I'm not attacking and perhaps don't always remember to attack and move at the same time.

Also I often feel like I bounce back out too far and then have to work hard to get back in again - if I know how to with that opponent at all. So I see what you mean CC Lords

Thanks for the encouragement guys

[Lords Gym]

right Sharla .. see you want to slip the shots but still be in your range.. your knee high to a grasshopper like myself . can't afford to be moving in reverse on taller opposition . need to work on aggressively perusing your taller opponents.

scrap makes a good point on safety issue there. so be careful.

you kinda remind me of my sister there sharla , when I was a youngster she kicked my country ass.. true story !

[Sharla]

Thanks Lords I have 2 older bros and they're both well over six foot (stole all the tall genes greedy buggers!) so I never kicked they're asses although I may have tried a few times with the one closer to my age

I'll try to stay closer in sparring over the next couple of months and see how it goes

[Sharla]

So just a couple of follow up Qs -

Is it really bad that I didn't register that the guy in the white shirt was a southpaw for the ENTIRE round? Do other people have that problem? Does it matter if i still see his openings etc?

Also can anyone tell me why I do that skippy movement when I have just moved back out of range - is it because I move too far back? Is it going to make me vulnerable to attack at that moment or slow me down - is it something important to eliminate?

[Kev]

So just a couple of follow up Qs -

Is it really bad that I didn't register that the guy in the white shirt was a southpaw for the ENTIRE round? Do other people have that problem? Does it matter if i still see his openings etc?

Also can anyone tell me why I do that skippy movement when I have just moved back out of range - is it because I move too far back? Is it going to make me vulnerable to attack at that moment or slow me down - is it something important to eliminate?

Hey Sharla, glad to see you are still going well with your training.

I'm an armchair fan only so can't offer any training advice but if it makes you feel better I didn't notice he was a southpaw until I saw you mention it either

He seemed to be quite a bit bigger than you, compared to the other two anyway so it might well have been you were just focused more on not getting hit rather than examining his footwork.

I guess as humans we all do things on autopilot from time to time, I've lost count of the number of times I driven somewhere with absolutely no memory of how I got there whatsoever!

At the end of the day that's why you have a trainer to point things out to you that otherwise you might miss. I've never sparred or fought in my life but imagine that it's probably quite an overwhelming experience at first with a million and one different things to concetrate on. I'm sure over time as your own movements, timings etc become second nature you will be more able to take in everything that's going on and notice more what your opponent is doing.

Just takes practise and more practise I would imagine.

Hope the knee is holding up well, good luck with the rest of your training

[Scrap]

Its the memory of Kickboxing or Karate, I work with a group once a week on punch quality and they all have the problem its finding the method to get the balance for all situations. So the use of touch and feel are understood in relation to balance, The kickpad routine works for all but has to be worked at.

[Sharla]

Is the kickpad routine the one for diagonal movement? I've been a bit disorganized and haven't done much of that yet but if that's the one you mean I'll get into it

Saturday just gone I went there again and sparred a Nigerian guy 3 kg lighter than me. He was slightly lighter but a lot more experienced (just turned pro) and he didn't pull his punches - seems I don't keep my hands up enough at all. I think i was a bit concust by the end which usually doesn't happen to me in normal sparring.

If my balance is the reason i don't always keep my hands up aswell I'd be eager to learn that ASAP! Any other suggestions Scrap?

He was a southpaw too but his reach slightly shorter than mine so not technically too difficult - if only I could NOT have my head so open I'd feel much safer doing what appears to be hard sparring now with him - according to his coach sometimes when you develop that power you just don't know how to control it - that theory seems a bit backwards to me though!

One of the coaches said if I punch with my thumbs facing upwards sometimes my shoulders will raise naturally a bit and protect me from some of the hooks. What do you think about that Scrap?