What do u tell yourself after an off day sparring

[Towel88]

My gym does light sparring but there are always those few guys who will go harder than needed. i usually spar 2 days a week, and on average probably take 1 solid blow to the head each session of sparring by one of these guys(the coach matches everyone and switches it every round, so i end up sparring one of these guys every time). Nothing that would knock me out but jarring. I end up dwelling on that one shot and thinking I'm going retarded, even if i got hit a bunch of other times, i still can stop focusing on that one shot that jarred me because it pisses me off I took that damage.

Am I just working myself up over nothing?


Thanks for all the replies, so far

 

[j123]

My gym does light sparring but there are always those few guys who will go harder than needed. i usually spar 2 days a week, and on average probably take 1 solid blow to the head each session of sparring by one of these guys(the coach matches everyone and switches it every round, so i end up sparring one of these guys every time). Nothing that would knock me out but jarring. I end up dwelling on that one shot and thinking I'm going retarded, even if i got hit a bunch of other times, i still can stop focusing on that one shot that jarred me because it pisses me off I took that damage.

Am I just working myself up over nothing?


Thanks for all the replies, so far

Jarred as in you got rocked?

If its what I think it is, its the rhythm is thrown off, its like being at the starting line, then the other guy jumps the gun and you try to catch up and feel a bit uncoordinated.

Even if they say "let's go light", don't buy it, and expect a harder spar with these guys. I've had that mistake happen to me before where lets go light, and my head adjusts to a lower level, then when I get hit with the bombs my coordination is slightly off, and everything else fucks afterwards. Trying to "catch up", and my breathing isn't normal, and I run into tank issues with that.

If you are feeling dis-coordinated physically, as in being drunk and whatnaught, then yeah you took damage, but if it stings and you're still okay, its not bad. Don't overthink stuff, when you do is when things go out the window; If you're going to be competing in the future, thats going to be something that will cost you a round if you end up dwelling on it. I'm talking about during the spar, post-spar always think about improving and how to mitigate it like Uchi Mata said.

 

[Uchi Mata]

My gym does light sparring but there are always those few guys who will go harder than needed. i usually spar 2 days a week, and on average probably take 1 solid blow to the head each session of sparring by one of these guys(the coach matches everyone and switches it every round, so i end up sparring one of these guys every time). Nothing that would knock me out but jarring. I end up dwelling on that one shot and thinking I'm going retarded, even if i got hit a bunch of other times, i still can stop focusing on that one shot that jarred me because it pisses me off I took that damage.

Am I just working myself up over nothing?


Thanks for all the replies, so far

Are you wearing headgear? It's amazing to me how many people complain about taking hard shots but aren't wearing headgear to spar. I always do, and even though I prefer a slightly lighter competition model just for better visibility I almost never get rocked, even in hard sparring (and when I do it's almost always a head kick, never just from punches). And my defense isn't that great, so I know the headgear is doing it's job.

 

[Towel88]

Are you wearing headgear? It's amazing to me how many people complain about taking hard shots but aren't wearing headgear to spar. I always do, and even though I prefer a slightly lighter competition model just for better visibility I almost never get rocked, even in hard sparring (and when I do it's almost always a head kick, never just from punches). And my defense isn't that great, so I know the headgear is doing it's job.

No I don't wear head gear....probably pretty silly but i feel people will go much harder if i have the head gear on like its a consent to go hard...especially being the only guy wearing it. Like I mentioned we do very light sparring so i am not normally worried about it. Other than those couple assholes whl you know will go harder than the rest.


Back to the original question, do u guys focus more on certain exchanges, like how could i have not taken that single punch or more on strategies, like i need to keep more distance against this fighter or, this fighter is open to pot shots but i want to stay out of exchanges with him, ect.

Thansk for all the replies much appreciated

 

[j123]

No I don't wear head gear....probably pretty silly but i feel people will go much harder if i have the head gear on like its a consent to go hard...especially being the only guy wearing it. Like I mentioned we do very light sparring so i am not normally worried about it. Other than those couple assholes whl you know will go harder than the rest.

Thats not silly, its one of the many reasons headgear got removed from AIBA.

Back to the original question, do u guys focus more on certain exchanges, like how could i have not taken that single punch or more on strategies, like i need to keep more distance against this fighter or, this fighter is open to pot shots but i want to stay out of exchanges with him, ect.

"Just bang"
"Let me bang bro"

 

[ctrlaltdelete]

I normally go 'no headgear' and the gyms I prescribe to don't wear them.

I just bought some R2C headgear and am going to wear it during sparring for the next few sessions and see how I feel.

 

[Uchi Mata]

No I don't wear head gear....probably pretty silly but i feel people will go much harder if i have the head gear on like its a consent to go hard...especially being the only guy wearing it. Like I mentioned we do very light sparring so i am not normally worried about it. Other than those couple assholes whl you know will go harder than the rest.


Back to the original question, do u guys focus more on certain exchanges, like how could i have not taken that single punch or more on strategies, like i need to keep more distance against this fighter or, this fighter is open to pot shots but i want to stay out of exchanges with him, ect.

Thansk for all the replies much appreciated

Always strategies/fundamentals. Generally if you're getting lit up by a certain guy, either he's a lot better than you or you're doing something fundamentally wrong that he's taking advantage of. I'm always most interested in what I'm doing fundamentally wrong. Often it's as simple as not moving your feet enough, telegraphing, etc. Basic stuff. But those basics tend to break down under pressure if they're not really well trained.

 

[Noodles03]

I normally go 'no headgear' and the gyms I prescribe to don't wear them.

I just bought some R2C headgear and am going to wear it during sparring for the next few sessions and see how I feel.

Coming from a boxing gym, it was a cultural shock when I walked into a Muay Thai gym and the people there were sparring with no head gear.

 

[SaiWa]

Just curious, i know the mental game is half the battle. Sometimes im just not up to par with in the gym, in sure everyone can relate, who hasn't had a bad day. Where you might have felt stiff or slow whatever and didn't do as well in sparring.

What do you tell yourself, to mitigate the bad vibes after and keep your confidence up?

This might be your answer:

 

[DaGenius]

If I really got had on a given day of sparring I simply try to identify one specific thing, of the many, that I wish I would have done better. "I didn't move enough" "I need to lead more exchanges" "I was too stiff". When I can boil down to one thing, my mind gets back on improvement of that one thing and that gives me an easy goal for next sparring session.

lol at all of you who posted stories about a friend or a sparring partner as opposed to yourself...as if you've never had a rough day sparring! This question can be useful if we all speak from personal experience instead of projecting onto someone else.

 

[devante]

If I really got had on a given day of sparring I simply try to identify one specific thing, of the many, that I wish I would have done better. "I didn't move enough" "I need to lead more exchanges" "I was too stiff". When I can boil down to one thing, my mind gets back on improvement of that one thing and that gives me an easy goal for next sparring session.

lol at all of you who posted stories about a friend or a sparring partner as opposed to yourself...as if you've never had a rough day sparring! This question can be useful if we all speak from personal experience instead of projecting onto someone else.

facts

i find people develop better and are able to communicate lessons better when discussing THEIR own struggles..obstacles..failures..etc

 

[Pugilistic]

"I guess that means I should train more"
What else is there to say.

 

[Uchi Mata]

Coming from a boxing gym, it was a cultural shock when I walked into a Muay Thai gym and the people there were sparring with no head gear.

Yeah, I don't really get it. I wear fairly light competition headgear, it doesn't obscure my vision or anything but it still makes a huge difference in how I feel after sparring. There are definitely people I'll spar with no head gear, but most guys just don't have that great of control once you start picking it up a little. Especially with head kicks...man, you should wear headgear unless you're just flow sparring.

My guess is that it's probably part of the whole 'Thais don't spar hard' thing. You don't see them wearing headgear that often, but they rarely spar hard since they fight 3x a month. In the US where we rarely fight but spar hard a lot, that's a bad practice to bring over.

 

[Fire of Youth]

You know about the toilet paper trick guys use to get an edge in their fights?

Toilet paper trick??

 

[DaGenius]

Coming from a boxing gym, it was a cultural shock when I walked into a Muay Thai gym and the people there were sparring with no head gear.

Indeed. On the other side I didn't own a set of head gear until I joined my first mma gym and had my first non thai instructor. Boxing spars harder than any striking art. There is a value to that

When I went to Thailand and saw how they spar light...it really opened my eyes and I don't hard spar at all any longer. Sometimes I will because there won't be anyone in the gym who does spar light

 

[DaGenius]

Yeah, I don't really get it. I wear fairly light competition headgear, it doesn't obscure my vision or anything but it still makes a huge difference in how I feel after sparring. There are definitely people I'll spar with no head gear, but most guys just don't have that great of control once you start picking it up a little. Especially with head kicks...man, you should wear headgear unless you're just flow sparring.

My guess is that it's probably part of the whole 'Thais don't spar hard' thing. You don't see them wearing headgear that often, but they rarely spar hard since they fight 3x a month. In the US where we rarely fight but spar hard a lot, that's a bad practice to bring over.

You don't get it because you've never been to Thailand. Nothing wrong with sparring hard but, believe it or not, there is nothing wrong with Thai style sparring.

Btw Im not hating on you or anything. I'm just trying to explain the other side

 

[j123]

Toilet paper trick??

While wrapping up your hands before you go up to fight, you puts damp toilet paper on the padding to make it heavier

 

[Fire of Youth]

While wrapping up your hands before you go up to fight, you puts damp toilet paper on the padding to make it heavier

I had never heard of that. Thanks.

 

[Uchi Mata]

You don't get it because you've never been to Thailand. Nothing wrong with sparring hard but, believe it or not, there is nothing wrong with Thai style sparring.

Btw Im not hating on you or anything. I'm just trying to explain the other side

I'm not saying there is. If you fight constantly, you don't need to spar hard. My point was that I don't get why people don't wear headgear for hard sparring, since in the US most sparring is harder since people fight rarely. I get why the Thais don't wear it when they aren't sparring hard.

I actually like to have more of a mix of flow sparring and spar hard only a few times a month, I wish there was more of that in the States. Maybe I'm missing your point.