How often do you think athetes should sparr?

[Luke Rockholds (?) kick]

My experience on sparring I did boxing for 3 quarters of a year at a dumb gym with hard sparring I mean you walk in the sparring ring to sparr. You punch someone swing wild when they are rocked go after them and swing wild. When they are trapped against the ropes same happened to me. I have not had the same memory maybe it's nothing but I think. That sparring can be a bad but good thing I mean throwing begginers in the spring and not telling them to slow there pace is silly. What are your thoughts on the topic? Thanks Sherdog can be annoying with all the rude people on here but this forum seems polite.

 

[Kanka]

Depends on how hard you spar and how often you fight

 

[AusTosh]

I personally spar a few times a week and heavily believe that sparring is a necessity if you compete. How often depends, as I know in countries like Thailand, Thais don't spar as much as they fight so frequently as opposed to fighters in Western countries.

But if i'm sparring say 3-4 x a week I would definitely want at least 1 or 2 x a week of hard sparring sessions as lets be honest, no one's going to 'slow down their pace' or 'tap you' comes actual fight night.

Sparring isn't about winning or losing though... it's about implementing new techniques, combos, counters etc. lol so yes bottom end.. if you match with beginners the way you spar is not going to be the same as sparring someone that's more advanced...

or you could just drop the sparring and just smash out the pads. i presume you're doing it more for fitness than for competitive goals/reasons?

 

[Luke Rockholds (?) kick]

I personally spar a few times a week and heavily believe that sparring is a necessity if you compete. How often depends, as I know in countries like Thailand, Thais don't spar as much as they fight so frequently as opposed to fighters in Western countries.

But if i'm sparring say 3-4 x a week I would definitely want at least 1 or 2 x a week of hard sparring sessions as lets be honest, no one's going to 'slow down their pace' or 'tap you' comes actual fight night.

Sparring isn't about winning or losing though... it's about implementing new techniques, combos, counters etc. lol so yes bottom end.. if you match with beginners the way you spar is not going to be the same as sparring someone that's more advanced...

or you could just drop the sparring and just smash out the pads. i presume you're doing it more for fitness than for competitive goals/reasons?

I don't do it anymore I did do boxing for 3 quarters of a year and took a shit ton of punishment sparring hard doesn't seem smart I mean your taking punishment in the gym. When you should be in the gym just learning and not taking punishment. Interesting that most of the punishment and brain damage in ones fight career isn't taken in the fight it's taken in the gym.

 

[Vinzr]

I do it once a week a most, typically once every two weeks and even then it's not 100%. I also try to fight at least once a month though.

Personally, I have a life outside of fighting that relies on cognitive ability so I'd rather not get brain damage, trauma or anything of the sort on a regular basis.

 

[Luke Rockholds (?) kick]

I do it once a week a most, typically once every two weeks and even then it's not 100%. I also try to fight at least once a month though.

Personally, I have a life outside of fighting that relies on cognitive ability so I'd rather not get brain damage, trauma or anything of the sort on a regular basis.

Totally agree even as a fighter you shouldn't sparr 100% ever the more hard you sparr the less technically sound you are. I would say just drill techniques because. You can say lets hit each other lightly and then he hits a little harder then you a brawl breaks out. And loads of brain damage drilling technique I think works best

 

[Silver tongue samurai]

My experience on sparring I did boxing for 3 quarters of a year at a dumb gym with hard sparring I mean you walk in the sparring ring to sparr. You punch someone swing wild when they are rocked go after them and swing wild. When they are trapped against the ropes same happened to me. I have not had the same memory maybe it's nothing but I think. That sparring can be a bad but good thing I mean throwing begginers in the spring and not telling them to slow there pace is silly. What are your thoughts on the topic? Thanks Sherdog can be annoying with all the rude people on here but this forum seems polite.

I train 4-5 days a week and ill spar maybe 1 or 2 times a week. Usually i will flow spar on tuesday to try things and get set ups and baits right then on friday we go harder but not 100% just hard enough to know "okay that would hurt." or "okay that would have gotten me bad."

First gym i sparred at was open sparring and it was meathead breeding ground, got rocked my a HW and im like WW. Had guys try to team up and find ways to tag me hard too.

Like everyone says it really depends on what your goal is. If its fun then get in there every few weeks and play around with a partner you trust (we have Grace a 65 year old lady who spars with us). If you want to compete but have not yet id say spar and get use to the nerves and getting hit and moving around with another body but dont over do it. As a fighter you would probably want to spar just not as much as the new fighter since you know the feeling but it is still needed for preparation

Speaking of brain injury have you guys heard about the little cap you put under headgear (an argument for damage in itself) something like 22% energy dispersal as opposed to not wearing it

 

[Luke Rockholds (?) kick]

I train 4-5 days a week and ill spar maybe 1 or 2 times a week. Usually i will flow spar on tuesday to try things and get set ups and baits right then on friday we go harder but not 100% just hard enough to know "okay that would hurt." or "okay that would have gotten me bad."

First gym i sparred at was open sparring and it was meathead breeding ground, got rocked my a HW and im like WW. Had guys try to team up and find ways to tag me hard too.

Like everyone says it really depends on what your goal is. If its fun then get in there every few weeks and play around with a partner you trust (we have Grace a 65 year old lady who spars with us). If you want to compete but have not yet id say spar and get use to the nerves and getting hit and moving around with another body but dont over do it. As a fighter you would probably want to spar just not as much as the new fighter since you know the feeling but it is still needed for preparation

Speaking of brain injury have you guys heard about the little cap you put under headgear (an argument for damage in itself) something like 22% energy dispersal as opposed to not wearing it

Yeah apparently head guards stop bruises and don't prevent Brain damage. Not tucking your chin can be a large issue too the tennis ball and cap a lot of people, use that to tuck there chins and hand to eye coordination

 

[Silver tongue samurai]

Yeah apparently head guards stop bruises and don't prevent Brain damage. Not tucking your chin can be a large issue too the tennis ball and cap a lot of people, use that to tuck there chins and hand to eye coordination

Yeah i read "fight like a physicist" and basically it said headgear acts like a lever and actually can cause worse axonal injury to your brain. I remember that the Olympics took head gear out for the ammys and people didnt like it because people got bruised, swollen and cut and in some cases couldn't continue to the next round.

People think their hot shit sometimes and pull the "to quick to be hit im conor McGregor chin in the air card" first thing i ever did Martial arts wise was slow shadow boxing with a tennis ball under my chin not letting it drop. I think people forget that you have to understand rules to break or bend them. You cant learn with your hands down but some people evolve into it

 

[AusTosh]

I don't do it anymore I did do boxing for 3 quarters of a year and took a shit ton of punishment sparring hard doesn't seem smart I mean your taking punishment in the gym. When you should be in the gym just learning and not taking punishment. Interesting that most of the punishment and brain damage in ones fight career isn't taken in the fight it's taken in the gym.

Yeah, I agree. I can't speak for boxing that much as I only train boxing 1 - 2 x a week on top to supplement my muay thai and kyokushin but I can only presume that boxing wouldn't be the best for your brains. However, I believe it depends on what your end goal is. If you're looking at competing/fighting then yes, you need to spar as well as do hard sparring once a week at least (not every sparring session ofc - mainly light) - though from what you're saying I'd chose a better gym if all they do is promote hardsparring lol. pad work and drills can only get your muscle memory to a certain point imo. Sparring helps put all that live with the addition of timing etc. If you're only training for fitness then do what you want man, why spar if you don't want to. you're paying for the training at the end of the day.

I used to think it's bad for my brains too and I agree that studies prove that it's not healthy on your brains but then I know 20 year olds with over 50 pro fights, in Thailand kids with over 300 fights etc. and they don't seem brain dead lol. Guess anything in life involves 'risk' to some extent.

 

[Vinzr]

Yep, I've consulted my doctor (or more so he advised me) and he has lectured me about headgears not doing much to prevent brain damage.

Unfortunately, the head, brain and nervous system are things you just cannot physically condition to tolerate pain like the rest of your body. I'm fortunate enough to have understanding training partners who know that if they're going to spar hard then they're going to have to cop a few back and lose the opportunity to spar with me in future.

 

[KenkaBancho]

I'm starting to think any form of impact is bad. Like if a guy like RVR covers up with a two handed guard, the force of the punches would still travel through the gloves and wobble the brain.

Sparring and stand up martial arts are generally going to be degenerative to your body as a whole in the long run I think. The body wasn't mean to take that much crushing force.

 

[shincheckin]

Depends on how hard you spar and how often you fight

exactly what he said. Ill elaborate a bit more from my personal experience.

it depends on what you are doing.

Sparring doesnt need to be hard, but you need to get hard sparring in maybe once a week, or once every other week if........your fighting every couple of months.

When you are fighting frequently, like once a month. For myself, I found that I didnt need hard sparring. Fighting once a month gives you 3-4 weeks to prepare for another fight. with that short of a time frame, if you get injured, you will be going into your next fight injured because its too short of a time frame.

I prefer light/medium controlled sparring with training partners I trust and know, so I dont get injured before my fight. This type of sparring can be done daily, which I think is good.

If you fight frequently your sparring will be lighter and more often.

 

[ARIZE]

What @shincheckin said... We spar daily here too, but always light and controlled. We throw with speed but without the attention to hurt. As soon as contact is made, we retract back the strike, we don't go through with the motion... But that is done between experienced fighters, who fight 1once a month at least, and more importantly, they know to control their strikes. And also, they know that if one strike was a bit harder, it's no big deal, they wont try to escalade the intensity for their ego...

So no need to train the hard shoots in spar. Bag work and constant matches are enough to keep the feeling alive.

For those who fight less often, I believe a hard session is necessary once a month. Doesn't necessarily mean you go for the kill, but your strikes are meant to hurt...And your mind must feel the need to defend properly. You can train hard shots on the bag or the mitts, but even that, it's not the same. But I believe the most important part to get used to, its to be on the receiving end...

Also be sure to know the "inside rules" of the gym. Usually no hard elbows, or just the motion... Some will front with the high teep... No flying knees...etc...