training as a beginner with bigger pro/amateur fighters a good thing?

chrizzle23

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so ive been training MMA for +-4 months now at a fight team with guys that all have good fighting experience. Me on the other hand have zero fight experience and only know MMA from training (in total half a year of experience) and watching alot of UFC/Bellator. They went easy on me in the beginning but are pushing me more and more now. At first i thought it was a good thing to learn from these guys and soak up their knowledge, but i am getting to the point as to where i am getting mauled standing up and on the ground on a regular basis, and even if i apply the right technique they just power out of it (i am 63kg/140lbs and they are all pretty big LW's or WW's) i do however like the atmosphere and they really try to help me but in actual sparring it sometimes feels as too much and barely get to dominant position.

my question is basically should i keep getting my ass kicked every day and 'keep learning' or find a gym with more fighters of my height/weight and more newbies so i can work on my confidence/dominance and control a bit more ?
 
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I'd recommend taking a break from sparring. I used to get mauled too, took time off, worked technique, got a decent jab going and gave people fits when I resumed sparring. However I recommend maybe try to split some time between a BJJ school and a boxing gym. Try to work on improving your game in focused areas. You gain little from knucklehead training.
 
so ive been training MMA for +-4 months now at a fight team with guys that all have good fighting experience. Me on the other hand have zero fight experience and only know MMA from training (in total half a year of experience) and watching alot of UFC/Bellator. They went easy on me in the beginning but are pushing me more and more now. At first i thought it was a good thing to learn from these guys and soak up their knowledge, but i am getting to the point as to where i am getting mauled standing up and on the ground on a regular basis, and even if i apply the right technique they just power out of it (i am 63kg/140lbs and they are all pretty big LW's or WW's) i do however like the atmosphere and they really try to help me but in actual sparring it sometimes feels as too much and barely get to dominant position.

my question is basically should i keep getting my ass kicked every day and 'keep learning' or find a gym with more fighters of my height/weight and more newbies so i can work on my confidence/dominance and control a bit more ?

I think it's good in the sense that it forces you to utilize footwork. If you can hang with bigger guys eventually, smaller dude will be a walk in the park psychologically.
 
so ive been training MMA for +-4 months now at a fight team with guys that all have good fighting experience. Me on the other hand have zero fight experience and only know MMA from training (in total half a year of experience) and watching alot of UFC/Bellator. They went easy on me in the beginning but are pushing me more and more now. At first i thought it was a good thing to learn from these guys and soak up their knowledge, but i am getting to the point as to where i am getting mauled standing up and on the ground on a regular basis, and even if i apply the right technique they just power out of it (i am 63kg/140lbs and they are all pretty big LW's or WW's) i do however like the atmosphere and they really try to help me but in actual sparring it sometimes feels as too much and barely get to dominant position.

my question is basically should i keep getting my ass kicked every day and 'keep learning' or find a gym with more fighters of my height/weight and more newbies so i can work on my confidence/dominance and control a bit more ?
I know how you feel as I had the same issue at my Judo club - it was a very small class, mixed belts but the majority were huge blackbelts who threw me like a rag doll... I was busted after every training but I noticed my "feel" for the balance improved rapidly and I could see all the techniques incoming - just couldn't stop them. A few months later as we had free sparring in my Karate class (did both at the time) I naturally Osoto'ed my opponent without much thinking about it - and it was hella easy because I was used to resistance of 100 kg Judo pros, not 70 kg Karate brownbelts... I even got scolded by the sensei for going too hard. :p

So despite getting mauled I still learned and improved. Besides, the blackbelts would go easy on me (when I asked them to) and would take care not to hurt me - lower belts can be too ambitious and not care as much for your safety!
 
One downside I learned was that when I got to spar high level guys around my weight, I had some trouble adjusting to the fact that they were so quicker. My quickness advantage had evaporated. New strategies had to come in play. I couldn't just rely on being fast.
 
Sounds like a good time for you to
A. Focus on bagwork and technique.
and
B. Get private lessons with your striking or jiujitsu coach.

When you start to plateau, make little goals for yourself to hit every free roll or sparring session. It keeps you motivated and focused.

Get some 1 on 1 time with a coach to patch up any holes in your game or develop a new game.

Chances are not only are they better than you, but they know your style and patterns.
 
You'll 'lose' alot starting out, then you'll catch up and start to do well once you click.

My problem was I always felt guilty I couldn't help out my main partners since they were way more exp'd at the time. Fast forward 3 years, I'm in a spot where I can actually help and make them work giving them a good quality session they're giving me.

Now if you're getting injured that's a whole different story. But it sounds like they're putting you in a tough position and forcing you to defend properly while escaping.

Its a bad disservice to your partner to corner them throw shots then walk out like a picnic. You and the partner will come fight night getting used to that and it will throw you off

Eg. Guy takes me down, puts me in side and GNP 4 punches. Steps off after.

End result is me getting used to 4 punches, and lowering my guard on the 4th since I'm used to it. Fight night I'll eat as many punched til the ref pulls him off me and it will throe everything off.

So yeah they're working you, and its for the best at the same nd of the day.

As for powering out of subs, that's their problem. There's a huge chancr theyll face someone the same size and stronger so it wont work in the long term
 
One downside I learned was that when I got to spar high level guys around my weight, I had some trouble adjusting to the fact that they were so quicker. My quickness advantage had evaporated. New strategies had to come in play. I couldn't just rely on being fast.
it can be a bit of a shock. i was used to sparring bigger fighters for ages and thought i was pretty spiffy. sparred against decent amateurs around the same weight and got laced a bit. it fact i hate sparring little dudes as they sometimes give me a drubbing and i can't fall back on my power.
 
Honestly keep on going. It sucks losing, but this is what motivates me the most. I am a competitive person. I think you are the stages where you need to learn to fight. A lot of people know technique and some strategies, but they really do not know how to fight. j123 got that in my head long time ago, and when I practised in the past I concentrated on that and did learn a bit to fight.

What does it mean to learn to fight? It means that if you are going for a 1-2-3 combo you do not stop when you get countered. You eat the punches or kicks but keep on pressing forward. When someone is attacking you you try to stop them after the first hit, no matter if you are going to eat shots afterwards. I have very little to no experience in MMA, but what I mean is that you need to try to stop attacking combos as fast as possible. Drill 1 attack combo, drill one defensive combo to dead and go for them.

Get positive and learning mind set again. My first spar session since I come back I got tagged so much and my nose still hearts a week later. I sat down my ass, starting looking at youtube for quality content. Found some and started drilling some really simple stuff. For example in my 2nd spar I said to myself I am going to add defensive movement after my jab. I drilled 2-3 days jab-slip outside- left hook, jab-slip inside-right cross, jab-duck-jab (I do boxing). And I said to myself I am going to press forward all the other times I am going to look for good positions with movement. I drilled a lot of footwork, some outside pivots and check hooks. And guess what at my 2nd spar I did way better. Even the coach liked what I did. He said "that was some good stuff you did in the spar".

Now I have not stopped, I still do not like that I am a cross shy and I can not do a simple 1-2-3 in a spar. I am drilling that now. I also did not like how my southpaw friend had a freeby cross on me almost all the time, espcially if he set it up with a double jab. At some point I started blocking it, but I have no clue how. I am trying to figure it out.

Point is get that learning mind set. Do not say they over power me. You are no doing something right if they are able to over power you. Do not say you are doing all with a good technique. Figure out what you do not do well. Ask for feedback. Learn. Experiment. And most importantly learn to fight.
 
it can be a bit of a shock. i was used to sparring bigger fighters for ages and thought i was pretty spiffy. sparred against decent amateurs around the same weight and got laced a bit. it fact i hate sparring little dudes as they sometimes give me a drubbing and i can't fall back on my power.

Now the paradox is that this same big dude smashes the smaller guy that gave me trouble. Is it a classical case of rock paper scissor effect/styles makes fight?
 
In all sports it is important to build confidence at the right pace. Getting in over your level isn't helpful. Imagine a kid learning soccer and never getting close enough to get the ball. They'll never get confidence, will not improve skills and lose the joy of the sport. Because boxing is more complicated you might think you're learning something while being pummeled but if you confidence isn't growing in some aspect after training then it is actually detrimental. You'll be more hesitant etc.

Also there is a reason weight classes are so narrow and strict, there is a disadvantage in being smaller for the most part, especially reach. So probably not best thing to be adding to your disadvantage.

Actually just the fact you're asking the question indicates to me that you shouldn't do it regularly.
 
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