Advise for someone new to sparring.

[glasgowviper]

Got pretty much mirked at Muay Thai in my first proper sparring session, anyone got any good tips for implementing what you learn doing pad work into sparring.

 

[ssssmashing]

Keep your eyes open. Keep your hands up. Work your angles. Stick with the basics at first. Work your combos.

You will get hit. It will hurt. It will get better. Everyone starts at the begining and it sucks, but it does get better.

Invest in ibuprofen. Use ice. Buy some Dit Dow Jow for the bruises.

Hang in there!

 

[Azy]

ssssmashing pretty much has it down. You will get hit. The more you get hit the less scared/worried you are about it. Remember to keeep your technique right and not lose it in the heat of the moment which is easy to do. Also remember to block. That too will hurt until your conditioning is better and I mean body conditioning not cardio.

 

[glasgowviper]

cheers for the info troops., gonna try and implement it tonight at training.

 

[vince89]

Keep your hands up, elbows in. Everyone thinks they do it, but most dont. Even the pros dont keep their hands up fully most of the time. If you develop a good guard and have confidence in it you will relax more, at least that is what has worked for me.

 

[Anir]

Hands up chin down. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of a good guard. Pracice your guard when you are shaddow boxing, when you are hitting the pads, when you are sparring, hell, even when you're at home doing nothing of importance. Look at yoursef in a mirror. Do you manage to cover your head and body well? Do you drop your guard when you are punching? Are your hands always up and your chin always down? Do your hands always come back to guard positin after throwing a strike? Work on your guard. At this stage, everything else is secondary.

 

[T.J.T]

Dont shell up to the point where your smothering your face. you need a good gaurd where you keep your hands in front of your face but you still need to be watching for other punches. dont close your eyes or turn your head. and mainly what everyone else said above.

Youor going to get hit anyways so you might as well watch and try to hit back

 

[Curtis Gibbs]

try not to get nervous, and don't turtle up and let him/her beat the hell out of you while you just sit there turtle for like 2 seconds then time and counter him.

 

[andrewbc]

get beat up, discover that you love getting punched (even if you don't) the fear of getting punched is what seperates those who look good hitting a bag from those who look good sparring

 

[2om30]

Conditioning is gonna be your best friend...

 

[Hit-or-be-hit]

if they don't fight a lot throw a lot of jabs
i usually throw a ton of jabs just 2 distract some1 or maybe 2 recover from a hit.
I mean if u throw a ton of jabs they could think ur next punch is gonna be a jab then u can fake w ur other hand and that will distract them then get a nice kick.
Just mix it up. DOn't do the same combo everytime cuz then they will just counter and start tearing u up

 

[glasgowviper]

cheers for the info everyone.

 

[gherdog]

everyone pretty much touched on everything i think except dont try to "win" sparring focus on what are you want to improve on and if you gotta eat 100 punches to do so then do it.

 

[mschatz]

My only advice would be to keep going. You'll get the hang of it eventually, and as you get more comfortable and used to the idea of hitting and getting hit, you'll naturally relax and find it easier to experiment with new stuff. I think too much advice in the beginning will just confuse you and make you too tense or focused on remembering what to do. Just get in there, try not to spaz, and follow your trainer's instructions. Then rinse and repeat.

 

[PECK CHOKE]

The best advice is to relax! Get a good partner that isn't going cave your skull in, and go light! Work on technique, because you are new you don't have any! When you spar other guys you will have a hard time hitting them, and they will hit you. A good partner wont hit you hard, unless you force them to! Don't make up for your lack of skill by trying to throw faster and harder punches! Your partner will rock you! This happens all the time at the gym, go slow, go light and work on technique. Once you get some technique, and some new guy goes too hard with you, then you add some power and rock the new guy! LOL!

 

[Payak]

Stay calm,stick to the basics at first and always stay sharp.
Never get lazy and untidy even if your tired.
To improve at sparring you must do plenty of it.

 

[ZGSON]

When I first started sparring, I was more concerned with keeping my composure and keeping my guard up. I did more covering up and moving than I did striking. Alot of people when they first start will turn into wild punching noobs the second a fist comes at them. They do the lean your head back and swing wildly technique. If you just practice staying calm and covering up properly I think that will help you out in the beginning. It also helps you get used to getting hit because lets face it, no one wants to get hit but you will no matter what.