I sparred today!!!

[gyrokai]

I spar in 2-3 weeks. Any suggestions, or more suggestions before I enter the ring? I've been keeping in shape since November 2005. Off and on, I shadow box and hit the heavybag. After my cardio gets better, I think I'm ready.

I've been gaining muscle, since I have been lifting weights since January. I stretch, and I'm not muscle bound. I don't consider myself clumsy either. I told myself that my cardio MUST get better before I spar. So I have been running on the elipticals seriously for a week already, and by the third or fourth week of this, I'm going to spar. I'd run on the road, because I love to do that, but my knees aren't good anymore, I'm 25.

I just bought boxing shoes. I'm going to shadowbox, only to practice defensive moves.

And I got a reflex bag, I'm going to use, starting tomorrow.


I'm going to see if I can practice with a mouthpeice next week.

I need to buy head gear, is this good (shown below)? I know it's p*ssy, because it's huge, but I like it because it protects my nose, and seems to offer the best protection. For my smart brain.

I wish I had a partner to box at me, while I block punches. But I have to train myself, before I spar. Stupid, yes. But the gym we have here is dumb, the guys here don't care about sh*t when it comes to their health. They have PAINT THINNER laying in buckets everywhere!!! In case you don't know, that kills major brain cells! Especially if your huffin' and puffin' that stuff from a hard workout. I used to work hard there, and always came home wondering if I felt natural "high" from the b*dass workout or from the paint thinner.

But since I just want to spar only once or twice there, before I start the summer off. I'm in pretty good shape, I eat very well, and I don't think I will have this opportunity again, so...
Two days of learning boxing there, won't be enough to lose brain cells.

Any suggestions, on how to prepare? Mentally and physically?


Hope this isn't too long of a post.

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[greynotsoold]

To sharpen your wind, run 'rounds'. Say you expect spar 3 rounds: walk a time or two around the track at a good pace to warm up then, using a watch, spend the next 3 minutes as follows: start off jogging at a good pace for 30 or 45 seconds then run for a minute then jog for half a minute then sprint for 30 seconds and finish jogging to 3 minutes.(any variation of the above is fine- you see the point of it all?) Spend one minute walking briskly then three minutes as before but changing the pattwern and the durations. What you are doing is sharpening your wind and enhancing your ability to regain it quickly.
There are a few things that could help you once its 'that time'.
Don't stand around in punching range as that is how you get hit. Stay just out of range and you can ignore a lot of the leather flying about; step in to punch and get backout. If your opponent hits your gloves when he jabs you are in range and need to get away or to begin punching or ducking. Try to move around and jab a bit, get used to the ring at first. Let him lead and get a feel for what he's doing or trying to do, hit the openings his leads create. The whole idea is to enjoy it and that is best accomplished by relaxing and taking your time, not being tight and having to fight for your life.
Also don't forget to breath and I am not kidding. Lots of people-pros included- forget to breath when throwing punches. This is especially true when they get somebody hurt or are involved in a prolonged exchange; punching one's self out is the term. It is especially true among guys in the ring for the first time- the tension gets them. Breath.
Getting hit sucks but that only makes a successfuldefensive move that much sweeter. Chin down, elbows in and don't stand around in punching range. You'll do alright.

[gyrokai]

To sharpen your wind, run 'rounds'. Say you expect spar 3 rounds: walk a time or two around the track at a good pace to warm up then, using a watch, spend the next 3 minutes as follows: start off jogging at a good pace for 30 or 45 seconds then run for a minute then jog for half a minute then sprint for 30 seconds and finish jogging to 3 minutes.(any variation of the above is fine- you see the point of it all?) Spend one minute walking briskly then three minutes as before but changing the pattwern and the durations. What you are doing is sharpening your wind and enhancing your ability to regain it quickly.
There are a few things that could help you once its 'that time'.
Don't stand around in punching range as that is how you get hit. Stay just out of range and you can ignore a lot of the leather flying about; step in to punch and get backout. If your opponent hits your gloves when he jabs you are in range and need to get away or to begin punching or ducking. Try to move around and jab a bit, get used to the ring at first. Let him lead and get a feel for what he's doing or trying to do, hit the openings his leads create. The whole idea is to enjoy it and that is best accomplished by relaxing and taking your time, not being tight and having to fight for your life.
Also don't forget to breath and I am not kidding. Lots of people-pros included- forget to breath when throwing punches. This is especially true when they get somebody hurt or are involved in a prolonged exchange; punching one's self out is the term. It is especially true among guys in the ring for the first time- the tension gets them. Breath.
Getting hit sucks but that only makes a successfuldefensive move that much sweeter. Chin down, elbows in and don't stand around in punching range. You'll do alright.

Will take that note. cc of course. I'm listening and very serious. I'm glad you mentioned the running part, fast then slow. I will do everything you said. I want to be ready, mentally and physically.

[X]

Try to learn how to relax and spar/move smoothly. You can train like anything and get really fit, but sparring is one of the most tiring things you will ever do. If you watch others in your gym, you will see some people seem to get tired more quickly than others (but they are just as fit, as you can check out during training).

A lot of people get very tense in the shoulders and clench their fists too tightly - I know it sounds odd, but I think the gift of relaxation is a greater gift than immediate one-punch power.

Oh, and good luck - make sure you enjoy it!

[Howlin Mad Missy]

if it's a crappy gym I wouldn't be risking my health there.

What the other guys say is true but I'd add something else as it sounds like your place is not supervised very well. If it's unsupervised you only have yourself to blame if you get battered! That being said if it is that way pick a mature guy from the guy, someone you trust, have a few words with him beforehand so you can agree not to go mental, try not to go and kill the guy, otherwise he is likely to put you in your place. Stick to the basics, jab, move and keep your hands high.

I know some gyms like to blood the new guys and I don't think that's a good way of learning to box. Fight yes learn skills? Anyhooo good luck.

[lightweight132]

Dude the best thing for you is to get in there and do it. Its natural to be scared but you get used to it. It may look like it hurts but trust me you really dont feel pain until the next day because your endorphins are going full blast as well as your adrenaline. While your getting hit you wont feel much. Theres no need for that nose guard headgear the best thing to use is a full face, I prefere the one from title, because when you compete you need to weat open face headgear and if your nose isnt conditioned it will bleed fast. Every time you damage a bone it reconstructs itself to be twice as strong during the healing process. Thats why vitamin D and calcium is important. The best way to build cardio is to sparr. When i first started i thought i was in shape because i ran 11 miles but when i got in the ring i could barely last 3 rounds. now im up to about 8 rounds of sparring and i dont do much running just boxing. Theres only so much you can learn from shadowboxing and bag work you need to get in there and do it. not in a couple of weeks i say tomarrow

[gyrokai]

if it's a crappy gym I wouldn't be risking my health there.

What the other guys say is true but I'd add something else as it sounds like your place is not supervised very well. If it's unsupervised you only have yourself to blame if you get battered! That being said if it is that way pick a mature guy from the guy, someone you trust, have a few words with him beforehand so you can agree not to go mental, try not to go and kill the guy, otherwise he is likely to put you in your place. Stick to the basics, jab, move and keep your hands high.

I know some gyms like to blood the new guys and I don't think that's a good way of learning to box. Fight yes learn skills? Anyhooo good luck.

Thanks. There is one guy I trust there. He's going to put me in with someone who's a beginner too. Beforehand, I'll tell him that if anything happens, I get hurt, lets say, he should stop it.

But lets say I go in with a good guy, I'll try not to go wild, as you say. And if I get an unnecessary beating, I will blame myself.

[gyrokai]

Try to learn how to relax and spar/move smoothly. You can train like anything and get really fit, but sparring is one of the most tiring things you will ever do. If you watch others in your gym, you will see some people seem to get tired more quickly than others (but they are just as fit, as you can check out during training).

A lot of people get very tense in the shoulders and clench their fists too tightly - I know it sounds odd, but I think the gift of relaxation is a greater gift than immediate one-punch power.

Oh, and good luck - make sure you enjoy it!

Relax and move smoothly, gotcha.

[gyrokai]

Dude the best thing for you is to get in there and do it. Its natural to be scared but you get used to it. It may look like it hurts but trust me you really dont feel pain until the next day because your endorphins are going full blast as well as your adrenaline. While your getting hit you wont feel much. Theres no need for that nose guard headgear the best thing to use is a full face, I prefere the one from title, because when you compete you need to weat open face headgear and if your nose isnt conditioned it will bleed fast. Every time you damage a bone it reconstructs itself to be twice as strong during the healing process. Thats why vitamin D and calcium is important. The best way to build cardio is to sparr. When i first started i thought i was in shape because i ran 11 miles but when i got in the ring i could barely last 3 rounds. now im up to about 8 rounds of sparring and i dont do much running just boxing. Theres only so much you can learn from shadowboxing and bag work you need to get in there and do it. not in a couple of weeks i say tomarrow

I've been punched before. I know that the adrenaline covers most of the pain. But "preparing" to spar beforehand, I think, will make me more relaxed by the time I get in there. Kinda like a mental preparation. Sometimes I workout thinking, I'm in the ring with everybody watching, and an opponent across from me. It actually gets my heartbeat rising. By the time, I actually get in there, I think I'll be more relaxed because of it. This is just my personality also. I like to plan things, make sure every thing is right and covered, even if it is barely covered and right.

But if this were another gym, I'd probably follow your advise and spar tomorrow, because that sounds nice. But I only trust one guy there. Not to mention that HORRIBLE SMELL from the paint thinner.

I just have to do this, at least once. Before the summer starts. Maybe in the summer I can find another gym an hour 1/2 away from here that's better.

[greynotsoold]

Try this between now and then, every time you hit the bags or shadowbox, whatever. Don'tjust stand and throw punches. Imagine an opponent punching at you, make a move to avoid his blow and then counter and then get back outof range. (For example you and he are exchanging jabs, when you slip his jab over your left shoulder andthrow a right to his ribs as you moveinside,your left shoulder into his chest. From there go rt hook to the body, left upper to the body, left hook right hand up top. Fromthere you use your right hand to turn him slightly to your left so you can pivot out to your right) That is rather more detailed than you need, but do you see the point? In the ring you'll fight like you practice, so don't practice throwing punches and standing there. Practice the move that creates the opening, throw thepunches then practice avoiding gettinghitback.

[ThomasTabin]

here is a personal tip of mine on the shadowbox work...

yes you must create a boxer in your mind to spar with when you shadow box hence the term. i would like to spar some of my favorites: dempsey, monzon, sharkey, leonard (benny) and my not so favories chavez, whitaker, pryor, hearns -- whatever, the point is that this made the work fun for me and made me use my brain. so often the fellows at the gym like to treat this as busy work and as a result they never learn. it reminds of a kid held after school, forced to write some 'i will not...' sentence a thousand times over on the black board. he does it mindlessly, his soul somewhere off in the clouds as he pains himself through the movments eager to stop, looking up at the clock hoping and praying it would hurry the hell up.

another one is i would often adopt the style of a typical mexican or standard dim-wit amateur and box an imagined version of myself. i did this to understand what they saw as they fought me so that i may better know how to manipulate them. you see you must always box from the perspective of your opponent, by this it is meant that you must envision what he sees, what he thinks, the way he moves. you use this information to set your traps. so when i adopt the soul of my opponent and try to shadowbox myself it would put me more and more in tune with their perspectives and as a result more and more in tune with what is needed of me to beat them.

[lightweight132]

I've been punched before. I know that the adrenaline covers most of the pain. But "preparing" to spar beforehand, I think, will make me more relaxed by the time I get in there. Kinda like a mental preparation. Sometimes I workout thinking, I'm in the ring with everybody watching, and an opponent across from me. It actually gets my heartbeat rising. By the time, I actually get in there, I think I'll be more relaxed because of it. This is just my personality also. I like to plan things, make sure every thing is right and covered, even if it is barely covered and right.

But if this were another gym, I'd probably follow your advise and spar tomorrow, because that sounds nice. But I only trust one guy there. Not to mention that HORRIBLE SMELL from the paint thinner.

I just have to do this, at least once. Before the summer starts. Maybe in the summer I can find another gym an hour 1/2 away from here that's better.





Yea I forgot to mention you need to have a supervisor you trust because theres some gyms where they let guys fight other guys that are way more advanced and the inexperienced boxer gets his butt kicked unnecessarily. make sure its someone about the same skill as you, but staying calm is a huge advantage but that can only be achieved through experience.

[AdamGB]

Just remember your not going in there for a war. You're going in there to learn. For your first time the focus should be on not getting hit rather than hitting the other guy.

[TyBuff]

You have to be carefull, because getting in there with someone with the same or less experience as you can be a problem. They may or may not know not to punch all out, and they may just go crazy on you. Same goes with experienced fighters, some will try to beat you up, and some will take it a little easier on you. It is more beneficial if you can get in there with somebody that is experienced and take it easy on you, you will learn more that way. Make sure you talk it over with the guy you are comfortable with. Hopefully he will get you there with somebody that will be beneficial to you.

Good Luck!

[gyrokai]

Alright, avoiding getting hit is better than getting hit. I'll keep that in mind, as I have been thinking about offense too much lately.

I'll include shadowboxing: with head movement with blocking ducking and weaving, more than punches. Since I already punch a lot with the reflex motion bag.

Damn, I used that yesterday, and boy was I tired! But I did do weights and run that day too.
I forget how punching takes a lot outta you. Alright, thanks guys.

And I'll see if I can spar with someone experienced, who won't go 100% with me.