What should a boxer think about when fighting/sparring?

[WayneFlint]

I agree 100% with andre, there was a thread like this not long ago and i said pretty much same thing ill say now, the work is done drilling your movements, just have fun sparring and i usually do well then, if i start worrying about how im doing or what im doing things go wrong, i think overall too much forethought while in the ring is what stops you from addapting as well, simply put just have fun and dont worry about getting hit too much and things usually go well for me, i think its that simple.

Agreed that 'worrying' is counter-productive and that 'having fun' is both useful (in terms of success) and just MORE FUN.

How do you adapt if you don't think? Serious question, how does that work?

Do you (ideally) have any thoughts? How about the simple ideas like "move, relax" etc?

Personally, I CAN think and have fun at the same time, but this isn't in any sense worrying about 'getting hit' while still having fun -- but I am thinking about this more in the sense of 'got hit because....' and 'do this instead...' or 'good, got three hits in for that one' or 'he's giving me (something) when he does that'.

Not arguing (at least not yet) that this is good, but rather wanted to hear from people who have thought about this outside the ring and figured how what works for them or their fighters.

Heck, I LIKE getting HIT up to a point, as long as I am not getting injured and I am doing some hitting.

Part of what I currently talk to myself about is to remind myself to avoid getting hit even though it does NOT bother me. Especially in easy sparring, so I won't ignore a valid punch simply because we are going easy.

I agree with this last sentance 100% and i find myself in this situation sometimes just not caring about someones jab because its not a damaging shot in slow sparring, this became a habbit with one guy i sparr with so what i do is make sure i spar with somone with a good jab aswell the next day or next time i sparr, aswell there is a guy thats got 3 stone on me that ill sometimes sparr with, even with a glove in the way of some of the shots it rattles me which i like doing incase i find myself in a bad way in the ring and have to just cover up and try n hold on then it doesnt seem half as bad against someone closer to my own weight, i have to say this is quite a good subject and its had me thinking about things i have never really thought about before, but basically i would say there are tiny little thoughts going on like you mentioned when you get the better or worse end of an exchange, when you see an opening you might go for the next time it appears etc but atleast in my case these types of thoughts just seem to happen automatically without really considering them as actual thoughts, maybe thats because ive fought in different martial arts since a young age and im just used to these thoughts so much that they dont really seem like a big part of things while fighting if you get me? the only time i would say i do actually try and think things out is when im doing slow sparring trying to figure out and get the timing down for a new move or lure them into a trap, but over time ive tried to stop doing this as i think it slows you down a little, ive tried to just have a sort of system when i come out in the first round and have 1 trick lead my fighter onto the next etc, so i dont have to think about it so much while boxing, i think by getting into this system way of fighting it allows alot more speed because when you think about it in a fight speed isnt just being able to physically move fast, its a mixture of 3 things, reflex on how quickly you react to your opponent starts with you eyes i think, they see whats going on and then its your brain/reflexes turn to make a decision on what you will do to evade this attack, and then its the physical speed in which you can actually do the selected counter movement that is the final contribution to the overall speed of things, wouldnt it be great if there was a way to train and improve this process? sort of getting side tracked from my point, anyway to answer your question, yes there are little thoughts going on in there but i think they are more like your sub con just sort of relaying bak to you whats actually happening during the fight like a check list, rather than actual thought of what im going to do next. this is a good subject though im definently interested on what other people think or dont think while boxing? it probably comes down to everyone being different and having their own way of dealing with things, just like personality the way someone would approach a fight or any task depends on their brain and how it works things out and that depends on the everyday interactions and experiences that have helped to form that brains opinions on things as its gone through life, i watched a programme on the brain the other day it was really fascinating to find out how it might actually work and how the everyday interactions and situations that youve experienced through life is what sort of moulds you ,determines your personality/views on certain things and gives people their indervidual personalities, oops gone off track again >.<