Quote Originally Posted by andysutils
This has been a very weird experience for me.
I have been doing muay Thai boxing and boxing for 12 months now, but recently, I get real bad anxiety and extremely nervous when its time to spar and it makes me even dread going to the gym now.

A few months ago, I was fearless at sparing and use to rush to the gym as much as i could just to fight someone.

This is really doing my head in now and unless I get back to how i was a few month back, this feels like its all coming to an end.
Did this happen because someone got a little too rough and hit you too hard? Make sure you are sparring with coaches present to supervise and that you arent giving up too much weight...i would spar against heavyweights and got my bell rung more than a few times before i realized that it wasnt the brightest idea...(im a welterweight). Some things I would recommend; get in the 'zone' before goin in to the gym...listen to your favorite music and visualize your defensive and offensive moves beforehand...relax and breathe deeply while u are doing this. Also remember why you do it. You do it for fun. A lot of times i would be feeling tired or just outboxed in the ring and would find myself becoming frustrated, what i would do is step back and force myself to smile even if i didnt feel like it. doing that helped me sort of realize that this was for fun, i should be enjoying myself; it gave me energy back. Like some of the other guys said, maybe a break is in order. I find that after a break from training and/or sparring, I train much more enthusiastically and harder when i come back. Good luck and remember, dont stress on it. Putting your body through the wire week after week and exchanging punches with other skilled fighters week after week takes its toll mentally and physically on a person. It takes much dedication and focus to deal with that kind of training all the time. Sometimes even the greatest fighters need a break and a rest...