Best to learn techniques when sparring?

[MMouse]

Being a begginer and training now for nearly 8 months. I see how learning new techniques from doing pad work/bags and then transitioning over to sparring makes it seem as you have to work on your technique all over again.

Wouldn't it just be best to learn techniques during sparring?

 

[oasfc]

technique classes are vital to sparring, you wouldnt need to re-learn your technique again, a round kick on the pad is the same technique as a round kick in sparring, you may need to adjust some stuff and there is a ton of new technique to learn for sparring, such as ring contol, defense etc. if you wish to start sparring it is vital you carry on in technique classes aswell.

 

[Da Speeit]

look at it like this:

When youre in the military, you train shooting at targets, and you train with live ammunition going off.

When you hit pads, youre working on your timing, precision, speed, and technique.
When you spar, youre learning how to develop that under pressure.

 

[SteelHammer]

No, when you're sparring you have to use what you already know, to avoid getting clobbered. It's not the best time to try techniques you're still iffy with.

 

[OHNO]

The better your technique the easier your sparring will be..

Surprising what a difference keeping your hands up makes.

 

[panamaican]

The value of training technique on the pads is that you get a chance to focus on doing it right without the pressure of an opponent. That is what you take into sparring. If you skipped that step, you would be sparring with techniques that were badly underdeveloped and wouldn't have the time to improve them or prevent the grooving of bad habits.

 

[Seppuku Sam]

When you learn music, you learn chords and notes first, yes? Do you ever start out by learning to play a whole song? Sparring is the time to show what you have learned. Basics, basics, basics.

 

[RemyR]

You stick with the basics at first when your sparring.

Work on your footwork and distancing. Get in, land your shots, and get out (or stay in if that's your goal)

Work on lateral movement and circling.

Work on attacking in combinations and changing your timing up every now and then.

Work on recovering from your strikes to a solid guard quickly.

Work on clearing your mind and relaxing so that you can read and react to your opponent better.



Stuff like that. When you get all that down, THEN you can start to apply what you learned in training. There is a reason why you practice the technique first. If you didn't your technique would be sloppy and you would just telegraph everything and get countered all day long while just standing there. After learning the basics of sparring and how to punch/kick correctly, THEN you can put them together. It's pretty much the same as grappling. Better to practice stuff beforehand than to flail around like a fish aimlessly.

 

[RemyR]

All that being said, you should practice your technique on the bag and shadow box as if you ARE in a sparring session. How you practice translates over to how you fight.

 

[AdamL]

Pretty much what everyone else said. You apply techniques you learned in class during sparring sessions. If you find the pressure is too high and you're not able to practice techniques you've learned, ask your sparring partner to slow down. Tell him you're new to sparring and you'd like to focus on technique. If you can start off at a really low power and at a slower speed, you'll be able to build from there. Some people are comfortable with jumping right into the heat and taking their knocks in order to learn, some aren't. Nothing wrong with either approach.

If your sparring partner isn't interested, see if you can find one who is. If your gym is full of people who only want to spar at a level you're not comfortable with yet, it might be in your best interest to spend a little extra money and see if one of your trainers will give you a private sparring session, letting him know what your goals are. Almost all gyms have private lessons, just costs a little extra. You'll learn a hell of a lot with an hour long 1-1 sparring session with a trainer.

 

[RemyR]

Some people are comfortable with jumping right into the heat and taking their knocks in order to learn, some aren't. Nothing wrong with either approach.

Agree with this and one thing I want to add is that IMO one of the very most important thing for beginners is to get over the fear of getting hit. There is nothing wrong with getting hit when your trying out new things. If you get hit then you should later think about why this happened. I would rather get hit 100xs in practice adding something new to my game than to play it safe and go into a fight stiff as a board and predictable as hell.

You shouldn't want to get hit, but at the same time it's not the end of the world if you do. My instructor always told me "Respect the KO, but don't fear it."

 

[MMouse]

Hey thanks alot for the reply guys. I thought I asks on this cause I've made the mistake to spar alot and get in the ring rather more so then work on technique. I've even had an exibition bout 6 months into training.

I realize as a beginner this is a mistake, to jump in and spar and want to compete rather then work on technique.

So I've made the decision to revert back to the basics and work on it from the bottom, but I'm kinda worried I'll get stale if I end up sparring again. Should I keep sparring in once in a while?

 

[Connoisseur]

The way I see it, working on technique (and especially hitting the mitts w/ your trainer) helps you perfect your form, tell you what your best moves are, and help you get the muscle memory down. Sparring helps you practically apply those techniques, and they show you what your most basic and natural instincts are. The more you drill techniques, the more natural they'll become, the more you'll start using them in sparring.

When I first started sparring, all I could do was jab, keep my hands up, check kicks, and focus on my footwork. As I progressed technically and sparred more, I started being able to use my cross & leg kicks, then eventually my left hook came into play and I started slipping punches and countering occasionally.

 

[Vovchanchyn Fan]

The way I see it, working on technique (and especially hitting the mitts w/ your trainer) helps you perfect your form, tell you what your best moves are, and help you get the muscle memory down. Sparring helps you practically apply those techniques, and they show you what your most basic and natural instincts are. The more you drill techniques, the more natural they'll become, the more you'll start using them in sparring.

Definitely agree. Sparring with a new technique is the final step of completely absorbing a technique..and not the place to start learning it.

If you don't have things down thoroughly you are likely to just scramble it up under pressure in sparring...so you definitely want to learn the techniques in practice and perfect them, repeatedly, then apply in sparring for the finishing touches.

 

[Inquisitus]

Would you let an untrained, inexperienced guy operate a forklift?

Same principle. Some can figure it out, but most will hurt people or get hurt.