Sparring with Bigger Beginner

Hi,

I've been sparring with the coaches girlfriend for a while now - I usually don't let go of much power and just use a lot of jabs to dance around her.

As I have an experience advantage this has been OK up until recently. Now she's getting better at using her reach advantage so trying to box her from the outside is beginning to be inpractical.

She lets punches go on me but I'm not sure it'd be looked upon favourably if I hit her back too hard. She has over ten kgs on me so can put out a bit of power but no one has ever really unloaded on her before.

Problem is now I'm trying to move in and she still doesn't ever move back and box me from a distance - just keeps charging in - i think it's a bit inevitable that she's going to run into a few hard ones.

She's been touch sparring for about a year and has had one kickboxing fight before so while she's never fought as a boxer she's not a complete novice either.

Should I let them go if she keeps walking into them and let her a get a feel for when she should and shouldn't walk in that way or just keep dancing around knowing it'll mean I take a few more hard ones?

Trial and error and she'll pick it up eventually. If it makes you feel better you show her what's wrong and show her what she ought to do all the while with your coach listening. You don't have to go hard on her, just keep staying a step ahead of her, keep alert and give her some punches that will show her what's going wrong. You can also benefit by learning how to side-step and counter, also working on controlling the range and drawing her in.

The best way to learn is by sparring against someone sharp and more experienced, that can turn out to be a world of good.

You don't need to flatten her, but not countering her mistakes would be worst because then she won't be able to learn from her mistakes.

Drawing her in is not a problem because she likes to attack and attack and attack and basically never steps back -

I'm thinking throwing body shots might be the safest way to counter her without taking her head off as she walks in and save the head shots for when she's not walking into them -

but like you say if she leaves her head open as she moves in she needs to know she's doing it because she is aiming to fight and girls her weight will hit harder than me - difficult!

Just tap your chin, give her a nice smile and politely remind her to keep her guard up.

You don't have to be restricted to fighting in close, find your best range which let's you land more your punches. Shortening up the punches and closing the distance can help you as well. Keep her in check, you can use side-stepping to gain the upperhand when she rushes towards you, and your hands when she's leaving herself wide open.

Anyways what this boild down to is a two-sided learning experience for you and her. On her end it's about learning first hand about what a boxer should do, on your side it's about learning control. Good luck.

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Originally Posted by Sharla

Drawing her in is not a problem because she likes to attack and attack and attack and basically never steps back -

I'm thinking throwing body shots might be the safest way to counter her without taking her head off as she walks in and save the head shots for when she's not walking into them -

but like you say if she leaves her head open as she moves in she needs to know she's doing it because she is aiming to fight and girls her weight will hit harder than me - difficult!

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Step her and throw the overhand cross,it sounds like its mthere all day every dqy,and if you do it right its an easy shot to pull
As Chris said a quick tap with an upercut might work,but if she pushes you off balance a shot you meant to pull might get mean

Yeah will do thanks - i guess it will be easier to control after a sidestep and she's more likely to see an overhand coming than an uppercut. It wasn't so long ago i wasn't allowed to throw anything at her except straight punches so I'd want to give her more time to get used to them being thrown when she's not charging before i risk throwing one she might walk into.

Just don't go too far out of her league, it's just like you wouldn't be able to learn much if I was to put you in with a pro. As for yourslef work on the timing of putting your side-steps, slips and counters together with a love tap here and there. What's your trainer have to say?

Sharla give her a dig if it was the other way round she would your being used and falling in to bad habits. Now be honest you know you want to.

Pssst it's the trainer's girlfriend. ;) He might go mad if anything happened to her.

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Originally Posted by Chris N.

Pssst it's the trainer's girlfriend. ;) He might go mad if anything happened to her.

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I have this sneaking suspicion its not as funny as Chris meant
God,what happened to the days of,"You want to be a fighter,prove it to me"?

Yeah, he's probably right. Go ahead and "Off" his girlfriend, just explain to him that it's all in the name of boxing.

I do want to Scrap - I think she puts in more power when people are watching and often tries to coach me but I do notice a change in the coaches mood sometimes after I have sparred her which I don't like - so I'm being a little cautious.

Overall she's a nice girl - just very happy playing the dominant role whenever she can.

I've given her a couple of blood noses just with straights she's walked into when I'm boxing from the outside and she forgives me but I'm not sure about the coach.

Still you're right I am falling into bad habits - being too submissive when it actually gets me into trouble more than helps me -

She's not a complete beginner anymore so maybe I'll gradually amp it up when the coach is watching enough to see I'm not the one initiating the power.

I know she wants to learn enough to get over it eventually and I guess if he doesn't then I'll just tackle that if it happens.

It's like I just told you, it's learning for both of you. You don't want to short change yourself by just trying to give it to her easy, neither of you get anything out of that. Stay alert, if she makes a wrong move don't hesitate to give back. Sparring is all give and take in the end, you gotta take something with you. Why not also work on polishing your punches, strive to make them better each time, do things with reason, work it out before you spar so you don't hesitate when it really counts.

sharla, KO her ass out. if she wants to charge and hit on u i would teach her not to fuk with u 8)
thats what i would do anyways ;)

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Originally Posted by Troy McClure

sharla, KO her a** out. if she wants to charge and hit on u i would teach her not to fuk with u 8)
thats what i would do anyways ;)

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Do your girlfriends leave with blackeyes?

why would you say something like that cris ??? ihave never hit a chick!
but sharla is a chick and sparring a chick so i said hit her back.
if a guy was doing that to me i would hit as hard as i could to back him off.
what is ur point? im confused :-\

It's only joke. Since you said if you were Sharla you'd KO her ass out. This is assuming that you'd need to be a girl to be able to hit one. Ah, forget about it, you're confusing me now.

You're confusing me now Chris - are you saying I have girlfriends? I'm not a lesbian - not that I think theres anything wrong with that.

Thanks for your advice too Troy - I know what you mean and while I won't KO her I'm a bantamweight so I can throw a lot of leather and a reasonable amount of power without KOing her so i will gradually build it up until she stops charging and then I'll hold it at that intensity if she likes that or back it off if she doesn't.

She's not a weak little girl so maybe she wants a bit more action in her sparring sessions - who knows maybe thats what she's trying to say? As she gets better and closer to fighting she probably needs to feel something closer to what she'll face in the ring anyway.

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Originally Posted by Chris N.

It's only joke. Since you said if you were Sharla you'd KO her ass out. This is assuming that you'd need to be a girl to be able to hit one. Ah, forget about it, you're confusing me now.

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ahhhhhhhh haaaaaaa ;D sorry columbus ;D i thought u were serious, my bad.
you should use a smily to let my dumb ass know that u are joking 8)

First of all don't ever call me columbus again, I'm serious about that... second of all let's try this again.

Puts his hand on Troy's shoulder, "Troy-- (insert dramatic pause here...) Did you hit that girl?"






;) Now that kinda sounds soap-opera'ish don't you think?

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Originally Posted by Sharla

You're confusing me now Chris - are you saying I have girlfriends? I'm not a lesbian - not that I think theres anything wrong with that.

Thanks for your advice too Troy - I know what you mean and while I won't KO her I'm a bantamweight so I can throw a lot of leather and a reasonable amount of power without KOing her so i will gradually build it up until she stops charging and then I'll hold it at that intensity if she likes that or back it off if she doesn't.

She's not a weak little girl so maybe she wants a bit more action in her sparring sessions - who knows maybe thats what she's trying to say? As she gets better and closer to fighting she probably needs to feel something closer to what she'll face in the ring anyway.

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I didn't ever say that you are a lesbian... but It's okay for you to be curious Sharla, since you said it yourself there's nothing wrong with that...

I'm dead serious... ;) ;D

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Originally Posted by Chris N.

First of all don't ever call me columbus again, I'm serious about that... second of all let's try this again.

Puts his hand on Troy's shoulder, "Troy-- (insert dramatic pause here...) Did you hit that girl?"






;) Now that kinda sounds soap-opera'ish don't you think?

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Originally Posted by Sharla

You're confusing me now Chris - are you saying I have girlfriends? I'm not a lesbian - not that I think theres anything wrong with that.

Thanks for your advice too Troy - I know what you mean and while I won't KO her I'm a bantamweight so I can throw a lot of leather and a reasonable amount of power without KOing her so i will gradually build it up until she stops charging and then I'll hold it at that intensity if she likes that or back it off if she doesn't.

She's not a weak little girl so maybe she wants a bit more action in her sparring sessions - who knows maybe thats what she's trying to say? As she gets better and closer to fighting she probably needs to feel something closer to what she'll face in the ring anyway.

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I didn't ever say that you are a lesbian... but It's okay for you to be curious Sharla, since you said it yourself there's nothing wrong with that...

I'm dead serious... ;) ;D

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;D umm did u get teased a school young man? about sailing the ocean-blue in 1672 ;D

Hey, what do you tell a chick with two black eyes?

Nothing. You alreday told her twice.
















Just ask Roger Mayweather.

Aw that's awful... :coolclick:

Heya Sharla, the way that i see it a spar is a spar. She's going in there to get hit and there is no point in you holding back too much as ul only develop bad habits urself. Im not saying to load up and take her out, but throw punches, u gotta train 2!

Yeah You're right hitmandonny - the more I think about it the more I'm sure it's just a matter of us getting her to the next stage where she knows whether or not she's walking in too much and when she's leaving herself open - as she improves she won't walk in with every punch and it'll be safer for us both. It's just and awkward transition for us both. We have sparring tonight I think so I'll see how it goes.

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Originally Posted by Chris N.

I didn't ever say that you are a lesbian... but It's okay for you to be curious Sharla, since you said it yourself there's nothing wrong with that...

I'm dead serious... ;) ;D

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Chris you're a strange one sometimes - really if I didn't allow for some cultural/language miscommunications I'd be pretty offended by you sometimes.

Just so you can avoid future communication problems on this topic:

1) Australians don't use word girlfriend in a plutonic sense so saying I hit my girlfriends IS calling me a lesbian who bashes my partners,

2) A girl like the one I described is not going to leave the gym just because she gets a bit of eye shadow from one sparring session. - if she was that kinda girl she wouldn't have fought as a kickboxer and wouldn't have put in the time she already has. People who actually put some effort in won't quit that easily.

Well Sharla have you given her a clump yet

We only did three very easy, light, warm up rounds before doing pad work last night so we didn't get into proper sparring and I haven't clumped her yet.

She'll normally try to charge in and unload big haymakers more in longer sessions out of excitement/frustration as time goes on just because she's trying hard and she's competitive.

She's a quick learner and I'm glad I've got her to work with because I think once we've got these little issues sorted out we'll work really well together. I'll enjoy it when we can spar consistently with a reasonable amount of tempo and controlled power without brawling.

I will have to wait until we have a normal, longer sparring session again to see what happens if I have to clump her though. We're actually good mates and I think she'll take it like a ....... a mature adult.

I'm going to refuse to do any longer sparring sessions if a coach isn't watching closely though because I don't want to be thought of as a bully if I do clump her and she doesn't realize it's self defence clumping rather than out to kill her for fun clumping.

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Originally Posted by Sharla

Hi,

I've been sparring with the coaches girlfriend for a while now - I usually don't let go of much power and just use a lot of jabs to dance around her.

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I'll bet you're incredibly hot when you dance. 8)

About before Sharla, when I said "girlfriend" I was talking to Troy. My post was right after his, and I just made that joke because I saw some humor in his tone and what he was saying. Understand me I wasn't calling you a lesbo, and I can see how you thought I was talking to you. I apologise for the misunderstanding this kind of stuff happens online, and I should have cleared this up earlier. I hope this helps.

By the way it's good that you both leave it in the ring. How's everything progressing? How's her defense coming along, are her punches improving? How's everything else going with you, you should have an idea of what you're going to work on in your sparring sessions if you really want to makes some good progress.

girls should be restricted to mud wrestling. I mean that in a very good way.

Howabout PPV Von?

Hey Lucky, you now have 13 cool clicks ;)

Having seen Sharla, Shes a lovely girl with a good attitude thats all you lot are getting.

Sharla i have nowhere near the inner strength or patience u do...I found myself in a similar situation as you last nite. This big guy called james with a lil less expieience than me wanted me on the outside so i said thats fine an i slipped and parried a while. But then he got frustrated and he elbowed me....Now if it was u u probably would have taken it in ur stride and got on with it....but no...how do i react...BANG bodyshot BANG down goes James :-[

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Originally Posted by Chris N.

I apologise for the misunderstanding this kind of stuff happens online.

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Thats alright Chris - I have to confess sometimes I write something and then have to go back and edit it several times because it sounded bitchier than intended :-[ I forgive ya!

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Originally Posted by Von Milash

I'll bet you're incredibly hot when you dance. 8)

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Thanks Von but I actually don't rate myself as a dancer. There are 4 'kids' in my family - me, my younger sister and my two older bros. ME and my bros got the non creative, athletic and competitive genes and my younger sister hogged all the creativity genes - she's a belly dancer and no I won't post any vids of her because she's permanently an innocent 5 year old as far as I'm concerned :)

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Originally Posted by Scrap

Having seen Sharla, Shes a lovely girl with a good attitude thats all you lot are getting.

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Aww thanks Scrap CC :)

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Originally Posted by Chris N.

By the way it's good that you both leave it in the ring. How's everything progressing? How's her defense coming along, are her punches improving? How's everything else going with you, you should have an idea of what you're going to work on in your sparring sessions if you really want to makes some good progress.

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Haven't done enough sparring since I first started this thread to know how much progress she's making there but doing pad work she's improving throwing punches moving backwards which she finds harder than moving forwards - so I guess that's a good sign.

As for what I'm working on with sparring the first thing is just getting back into it properly after coming back from injury. That's going OK.

Apart from that I found out last night my coaches are going to try to get me a match to fight in June (Yay! :)) so I'll be working on visualizing (not easy being so damn uncreative) myself in front of a crowd etc so I'm better able to perform in that environment. In a lot of my competitive bouts I think I haven't been able to demonstrate everything I can do because of nerves etc.

I'll also try to finally have a more effective guard. Strange how little things make other things click - a more experienced guy was nice enough to spar with me the other week and told me I drop my right hand when I jab. I find it easier to hold a guard now if I keep that right up because I can make the transition from punching to holding my guard a lot smoother.

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Originally Posted by hitmandonny

But then he got frustrated and he elbowed me....Now if it was u u probably would have taken it in ur stride and got on with it....but no...how do i react...BANG bodyshot BANG down goes James :-[

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Did he elbow you deliberately? That's really dangerous - as far as I'm aware elbow gloves haven't been invented yet (unless Scrap and Von just haven't released it yet :))

I'm not sure I wouldn't loose it at someone deliberately elbowing me!

I donno whether or not it was intententional but i feel real bad for loading up the way i did...Well bein completely honest i wasnt sorry at the time, at all at all :P

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Originally Posted by Sharla

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Originally Posted by Chris N.

I apologise for the misunderstanding this kind of stuff happens online.

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Thats alright Chris - I have to confess sometimes I write something and then have to go back and edit it several times because it sounded bitchier than intended :-[ I forgive ya!

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I don't blame you either. It's not easy for you to convey tone when you're typing something.

One thing that sounds funny coming from your mouth it doesn't fly so well when you're reading it. I guess a word of advice is "Smilies," we should make good use of them when we're joking; anyways they're good way to put things in the right tone without coming across as bitchy or asshol-ish.

Good luck on your upcoming fight. I'll see about posting some good ideas when it comes to visualizing and training. I have some good ideas about speed bag work that'll add a whole new dimension to the way we can fight.

Speed bag work sounds interesting - I have been making that a regular part of my routine just to try to get things flowing a bit more.

As for visualizing I think I'm a lost cause! :) For me the difficult part is bringing what I have in the gym into a fight and I think the answer is to compete as often as possible and develop some techniques to put myself in the right relaxed mode and the close to the fight a relaxed but pumped mental state. I think I have always put too much mental energy into worrying about what the fight outcome will be instead of what I'm actually going to be doing in there.

Don't have a set date or opponent yet so I might be getting excited a little prematurely but will be posting a vid of it so everyone can pay me out. I also promised glut man (AKA Von) some skanky ring girl flesh on vid so if it's too embarrassing I'll just edit out the fight part and leave the minute breaks :)