Processing First Sparring Session (What was yours like?)

[fjord91]

I'm sure there are a thousand posts like this so I'm anticipating getting ripped apart but I want to get some feedback anyway...

So a little background, I joined an MMA gym a little over 3 weeks ago and have been attending kickboxing classes there to get my conditioning back (I had shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum back in September) and eventually transition into the jiu jitsu classes. Anyway, the kickboxing class has been pretty cool and I've learned that I know absolutely nothing about anything.

Anyway, our instructor seems like a pretty cool guy and has been encouraging me and some of the other newbies to check out sparring on Fridays. I've explained to him that I probably wouldn't come out for those for at least a while in the interest of protecting this shoulder and getting my feet under me. Earlier this week he mentioned that we'd do some light sparring in our next class (not the regular sparring session).

So, showed up got our warm up on, did some give and go's, and then started sparring. I'd estimate we did about 8 three min rounds in total (no idea, I ate like a billion punches to the head even while turtling up). The more senior guys didn't seem to hold back too much and would absolutely light me up through my guard. They gave me great tips along the way as well.

Finally I get to the final round of the night and the teacher wants to spar with me. I can barely even keep my hands up but I keep them glued to my head and do my damnedest to get in some leg kicks and body punches. He is throwing solid leg kicks and mixing up soft shots to the body throughout the round until all of a sudden in the last 30 seconds...BOOM! He hits me with a liver shot. "That's a liver shot" he says. And then it set in and I crouched down and spit out the mouth piece. Totally wrecked me...

Anyone else have a similar first sparring experience? I'm eager to hear what other people's experience has been.

TL;DR I'm a noob, I sparred for the first time and my coach dropped me with a liver shot. Come blow smoke up my ass

 

[Zodd]

Is normal...practice takes time and try not to overthink it.

 

[Krattic]

Yes, I have. They’re just giving you some love, and want to see if you’ll come back – stay with it.

 

[fjord91]

Yes, I have. They’re just giving you some love, and want to see if you’ll come back – stay with it.

That's what I figured

Yeah, I'm definitely going to keep with it and learn new stuff for the next couple of weeks. Not sure if I'll keep sparring though...

My goal was to start the jiu jitsu classes and this sort of took it's place while I got my shoulder healthy.

 

[wilddeuces]

I mean, if your coach needs to liver shot you on the first day of sparring to see if you'll come back, then fine, it's their world, right? But I guess it depends what they are trying to do when they are setting up sparring for you. It's meant to do more than just dole out pain and humility (though you get a good dose of those).

 

[FadeLess]

At 1st glance it seems a dick move by the coach, cause its a totally obvious and unnecessary lesson at this point.
But how did you introduce yourselfe ? Have you told him your goal is to compete ?
Either way imo you should continue going, you can allways learn and with a bit of time you will feel if you are in the best suiting gym for your goals.

 

[fjord91]

At 1st glance it seems a dick move by the coach, cause its a totally obvious and unnecessary lesson at this point.
But how did you introduce yourselfe ? Have you told him your goal is to compete ?
Either way imo you should continue going, you can allways learn and with a bit of time you will feel if you are in the best suiting gym for your goals.

Yeah man...that's kinda why I wanted to post this. I don't want to come across as a pussy but it did seem sorta hardcore...

I never introduced myself as wanting to compete. Purely just wanting to learn a bit about it and get in shape. Was kinda meh on sparring...

Anyway he seems to be a generally nice guy but I didn't quite know how to process that one. I doubled over and recovered but i was done for the day at that point. I think it'll be a while before I spar again. Will keep coming to class though. Does that still count as showing up?

 

[fjord91]

I mean, if your coach needs to liver shot you on the first day of sparring to see if you'll come back, then fine, it's their world, right? But I guess it depends what they are trying to do when they are setting up sparring for you. It's meant to do more than just dole out pain and humility (though you get a good dose of those).

Yeah man, kinda hoping it was a bit of a goof/test to see how I took it. I just try and show up with my best effort, acknowledge I know nothing and listen to people who do.

 

[FadeLess]

Yeah man...that's kinda why I wanted to post this. I don't want to come across as a pussy but it did seem sorta hardcore...

I never introduced myself as wanting to compete. Purely just wanting to learn a bit about it and get in shape. Was kinda meh on sparring...

Anyway he seems to be a generally nice guy but I didn't quite know how to process that one. I doubled over and recovered but i was done for the day at that point. I think it'll be a while before I spar again. Will keep coming to class though. Does that still count as showing up?

If you dont want to compete you dont really need to spar, but sparring, allthough being a very good learning exercise, it is also subjective.
Be patient and take your time, learn the basics and improve your cardio & conditioning the best way you can whilst recovering from the injury. You can allways try sparring again later.
I wouldnt mind what others may think of you, you cant control it, and one cant please everyone. And if they feel great by beating a noob what does that say about them?
You have your own goals, so foccus on them and go for it.

 

[fjord91]

If you dont want to compete you dont really need to spar, but sparring, allthough being a very good learning exercise, it is also subjective.
Be patient and take your time, learn the basics and improve your cardio & conditioning the best way you can whilst recovering from the injury. You can allways try sparring again later.
I wouldnt mind what others may think of you, you cant control it, and one cant please everyone. And if they feel great by beating a noob what does that s ay about them?
You have your own goals, so foccus on them and go for it.

Hey man, thanks for keeping It positive. I saw some other commenters on here beforeand expected to hear "man the fuck up" over and over.

For sure, it's fun! I love hitting pads and working cardio. IM excited to start jiu jitsu soon as well.

At any rate, I can say I had the balls to spar and I'll have a good story about that I got punched in the gut

 

[fjord91]

THAT time*

 

[bobthebuilder]

maybe it wasn't as intense as you think, I doubt they were trying to injure you.

 

[fjord91]

maybe it wasn't as intense as you think, I doubt they were trying to injure you.

Totally possible.

I definitely don't think they were trying to injure me by any means. Just even more intense than I expected

 

[j123]

My first time was pretty bad, I was a killer on pads, and saw people doing simple basic stuff in sparring, so I thought I'd floor them with head movement and all kinds of fancy shit. I got humbled real fast. I was very pot shotty after getting hit a few times. I gassed also not being used to it, and because of that irregular breathing.

I was actually scared of sparring for awhile, and it ate away at me, and eventually I hated that feeling (how can I say I enjoyed combat sports and its a big part of my life if I'm too much of a bitch to sparring) and pulled up my bootstraps and signed up for a long camp, which included LOTS of sparring to get the fear out of me.

maybe it wasn't as intense as you think, I doubt they were trying to injure you.

This is true.

When we are told power is 30-50% we think that number is way too low, so we think its like a love tap, but its not. And expectations get shattered thinking its harder than it really is. Not to mention walking into a counter is going to hurt more and will feel more than 30-50%. Its one reason why new guys go from 0-100 in 10 seconds starting out.

 

[fjord91]

My first time was pretty bad, I was a killer on pads, and saw people doing simple basic stuff in sparring, so I thought I'd floor them with head movement and all kinds of fancy shit. I got humbled real fast. I was very pot shotty after getting hit a few times. I gassed also not being used to it, and because of that irregular breathing.

I was actually scared of sparring for awhile, and it ate away at me, and eventually I hated that feeling (how can I say I enjoyed combat sports and its a big part of my life if I'm too much of a bitch to sparring) and pulled up my bootstraps and signed up for a long camp, which included LOTS of sparring to get the fear out of me.


This is true.

When we are told power is 30-50% we think that number is way too low, so we think its like a love tap, but its not. And expectations get shattered thinking its harder than it really is. Not to mention walking into a counter is going to hurt more and will feel more than 30-50%. Its one reason why new guys go from 0-100 in 10 seconds starting out.

The first time was a gut check for sure. Not sure if the second time will be more or less scary haha.

Yeah, I think if anything this gives me infinitely more respect for people who do this full-bore, 100% power for a living. Absolutely incredible.

 

[Ilk]

My first spar I got almost knocked down by a newbie. He was more advanced from me and was really soft but landed a couple of good shots. My very first round was against an advanced guy who jabbed me on my nose and said chin down hands up or I am going to do it again and then let me work while countering with soft shots to my arm. Then the assistant coach jabbed me twice to the head to make me chin down in the next round. Then there few more rounds with other guys who were light sparring me. Then a heavy guy I have no clue how I survived against as he was not holding back. The first spar session I hit none cleanly. That motivated me a lot. Next I am super hyped and working hard on movement and jabs and low kicks and defence to land some shots. The coach was very happy with my progress for a week and was joking with me that I needed a rough spar session to get to work. Great experience.

I admire my coach since then. Oh btw he won his first pro kick boxing match at the age of 34 transitioning from MMA.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

A couple of questions for you:
How old are you?
And how much do you weigh?

It honestly sounds like a gym where you learn by getting your ass kicked and go decently hard everytime.

My gym is a more technical gym that doesn't allow sparring until about 3 months of training so that you don't develop bad habits.

I may be a little biased because my first gym was a shitty technique-wise gym because we did MMA sparring the first time to 'test' me. Ended up getting mounted and ground and pounded kind of light but I felt the punches if you know what I mean. I knew it was about testing me heart and if I really want to do this but I don't think it was the correct way to go about it.
I went back for about a month until I realized it was more about "scraping" and toughness at this gym and less about skill and technique.

From my point of view I wouldn't like this gym too much unless:
A) You are older
B) You are pretty fit and muscular/heavier

 

[fjord91]

A couple of questions for you:
How old are you?
And how much do you weigh?

It honestly sounds like a gym where you learn by getting your ass kicked and go decently hard everytime.

My gym is a more technical gym that doesn't allow sparring until about 3 months of training so that you don't develop bad habits.

I may be a little biased because my first gym was a shitty technique-wise gym because we did MMA sparring the first time to 'test' me. Ended up getting mounted and ground and pounded kind of light but I felt the punches if you know what I mean. I knew it was about testing me heart and if I really want to do this but I don't think it was the correct way to go about it.
I went back for about a month until I realized it was more about "scraping" and toughness at this gym and less about skill and technique.

From my point of view I wouldn't like this gym too much unless:
A) You are older
B) You are pretty fit and muscular/heavier

I'm 26 but definitely not bigger or muscular (5'8, 145) so these shots rock me pretty good. The instructor has focused more on technique before this so I'm wondering if this might not have been to just get our feet wet and let us know what sparring COULD be and see if we're interested. I'm kind of glad he did it during a regular class in one way because I choose not to show up to Friday open mat sparring.

But hey, now I know sort of what it's like and can go back and try again some other time.

At the end of the day I'm starting jiu jitsu classes soon anyway (my original goal) so my training is going to change. Interested to see what sparring is like in that class.

 

[CFGroup]

It's a dick move.....

But try a few more classes. If they don't pair you up with people at around your level till you can get your feet on the ground, than ditch it cause they're just using you for ego stroking.

My old KB coach was merciless and would pepper me constantly, but he did it with 30% power and then taught us that he would limit himself to specific technique while we were allowed to use anything we had to compensate for our humiliation, LOL! After a year the me and the guys I came up with would use that philosophy on the newbies as we'd got our feet on the ground. At a couple of years he'd go 100% and beat the snot out of me still but I could get a few licks in of my own by then and protect myself with cover and defensive movement. But most importantly be learning from the sessions. cause I could process what mistakes I was making and form responses we'd go over after.

Hurting new students is never a good sign especially by an instructor in charge, it demonstrates a lack of skill and control on their part. Don't get me wrong I've been under the knife for multiple surgeries from training so it's not expecting patty cakes, but adding in getting stomped un necessarily just isn't cool cause you're gonna get the shit beat outta U anyway in accelerated training.

 

[fjord91]

It's a dick move.....

But try a few more classes. If they don't pair you up with people at around your level till you can get your feet on the ground, than ditch it cause they're just using you for ego stroking.

My old KB coach was merciless and would pepper me constantly, but he did it with 30% power and then taught us that he would limit himself to specific technique while we were allowed to use anything we had to compensate for our humiliation, LOL! After a year the me and the guys I came up with would use that philosophy on the newbies as we'd got our feet on the ground. At a couple of years he'd go 100% and beat the snot out of me still but I could get a few licks in of my own by then and protect myself with cover and defensive movement. But most importantly be learning from the sessions. cause I could process what mistakes I was making and form responses we'd go over after.

Hurting new students is never a good sign especially by an instructor in charge, it demonstrates a lack of skill and control on their part. Don't get me wrong I've been under the knife for multiple surgeries from training so it's not expecting patty cakes, but adding in getting stomped un necessarily just isn't cool cause you're gonna get the shit beat outta U anyway in accelerated training.

Thanks for the input. Yeah it was kinda embarrassing getting dropped like that when I wasn't expecting him to throw a hard shot. I don't actually remember if it was hard or not...I just knew I felt the impact and next thing I knew I was doubled over. One of the more senior guys said he had been hit with one before as well.

After I finished taking off my shin guards and was toweling off while his next class started running, the coach came over and told me to choose my punches more carefully and by just throw to throw them (he would just cover up and let me flurry). So I guess at least he was coaching me in that respect.

Gah...I don't know man. I hate weird interactions like this.