How to spar lightly but with speed and good technique?

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barrin6

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I understand hand speed and quickness is a good tool to have in the ring but how do you practice it during sparring sessions without throwing too much power and also at the same time not throw sloppy punches? I feel like if I try to use speed without power, I am just using arm punches since I don't want to hurt my sparring partner. If I do use proper technique (ie using hips to punch) I have to slow down so I don't throw too hard.
 
You can trow lightly then midway power up.
Some guys seem to have problems with restraining their power, i can just go full speed and make sure i just graze them. Then sometimes trow a few with a little bit of power.
Always depends on who your up against. It's also good to just restrain yourself on side and head shots.
 
Ever shadow box? You aren't (planning on) hitting anything, so even though you are going with good technique, your shots are not carrying as much power as they normally would, because the intent to hit is not there. It's similar to that.

Honestly, how long have you been training? A lot of beginners only have one setting, which is to go hard (then they have another setting: Exhausted!) all the time, but everyone learns with practice.
 
For me, it's a case of simply not squeezing my fists when connecting.
 
Ayin said:
Ever shadow box? You aren't (planning on) hitting anything, so even though you are going with good technique, your shots are not carrying as much power as they normally would, because the intent to hit is not there. It's similar to that.

Honestly, how long have you been training? A lot of beginners only have one setting, which is to go hard (then they have another setting: Exhausted!) all the time, but everyone learns with practice.
Click to expand...

Yea I'm pretty new, probably 2 months in now. I dont think I have that go hard setting, I'm way too scared of hurting my sparring partner, even during bjj training I never lock in an arm bar since I'm always slow and gentle haha

As for shadow boxing, I always thought that was still hitting too hard.
 
i hate sparring lightly. Real talk.
 
It's just something you have to learn.

Your arm isn't the only thing powering the movement of your fist though - you can practice just barely making contact with the fist, then pulling it, but continue the motion of the rest of your body. That way you can still practice the form.
 
I pull my punches and kicks when sparring. If you injure your sparring partners you are going to be shadowboxing for a while. Also, if you get a reputation as someone who hurts people when sparring when you get caught you are going to get caught much harder.
 
A lost art. You'll need to slow down some and take the heat off the last 3-6 inches of your strike.
 
It all comes down to your sparring partner. If you are constantly hurting them with your reduced power or tagging them with your reduced speed, then you need a new class of sparring partner.

You should always spar up in class when you are just starting out. The worst thing that a novice can do when beginning sparring is to only spar with other novice fighters. It gives you a false sense of a lot of things.

To answer your question about how to spar fast with less power, try popping your punches off your targets and not punching into them.
 
Another trick is change your aim point. you can use your aim point to control how deep you are hitting your partner. Don't care how hard you throw, if you are only just grazing the skin it is not going to be very hard. If you are always throwing to the spine even low power shots start to hurt.
 
barrin6 said:
I understand hand speed and quickness is a good tool to have in the ring but how do you practice it during sparring sessions without throwing too much power and also at the same time not throw sloppy punches? I feel like if I try to use speed without power, I am just using arm punches since I don't want to hurt my sparring partner. If I do use proper technique (ie using hips to punch) I have to slow down so I don't throw too hard.
Click to expand...

You've got three choices to go about light sparring. (1) Use less speed and explosiveness but proper technique, (2) Turning off some of the mechanical generators of power (hips / shoulders) but keeping the speed there, (3) using a combination of the two previous where sometimes you throw fast without all the power transfer from the mechanical generators and sometimes you throw slower but with all the mechanical pieces in place.

My preference is to use a combination of both. I often will throw using good technique (meaning mechanically correct) but stay completely relaxed when I throw--not tensing at the last part of the movement as I normally would. For example when I kick, kick with a "dead" lead. The leg will feel heavy to my partner when it connects, but it won't be explosive enough to hurt my partner. Within all that I'll throw in fast techniques that offer no mechanical backup (or as you say "arm punches"). It's not that the technique isn't there, it's that the technique isn't as pronounced...meaning I won't be turning the hips as much or putting as much hip and shoulder into it.

Just remember that "speed kills". It's an important component to explosiveness and power generation. When combined with good technique...you'll have great effectiveness. So when you light spar in general, either turn off some of the power generators (like the hips and/or shoulder), or you slow down the speed or perhaps a little of both.

Also, disregard anyone that says you need to spar hard all the time or even most of the time. As a fighter, that's not how it's done at most Thai gyms and not how you should go about it if you want to gain skill in an efficient and safe manner. You don't beat down your body in training and then go fight--that's not logical.

You DO need to make sure that you're going 75%+ intensity every so often though to keep things honest and find holes in your game. Light sparring is where you will gain insight into distance, timing, footwork, and everything else you'll be using in real fights, the difference being only in the pace at times and the amount of power you're being hit with. So the heavy sparring is meant to make sure that your "defense" is truly going to keep you safe and to familiarize your body with the resiliency it will need when someone is trying to hit you fast and hard.
 
Last edited:
vankuen said:
You've got three choices to go about light sparring. (1) Use less speed and explosiveness but proper technique, (2) Turning off some of the mechanical generators of power (hips / shoulders) but keeping the speed there, (3) using a combination of the two previous where sometimes you throw fast without all the power transfer from the mechanical generators and sometimes you throw slower but with all the mechanical pieces in place.

My preference is to use a combination of both. I often will throw using good technique (meaning mechanically correct) but stay completely relaxed when I throw--not tensing at the last part of the movement as I normally would. For example when I kick, kick with a "dead" lead. The leg will feel heavy to my partner when it connects, but it won't be explosive enough to hurt my partner. Within all that I'll throw in fast techniques that offer no mechanical backup (or as you say "arm punches"). It's not that the technique isn't there, it's that the technique isn't as pronounced...meaning I won't be turning the hips as much or putting as much hip and shoulder into it.

Just remember that "speed kills". It's an important component to explosiveness and power generation. When combined with good technique...you'll have great effectiveness. So when you light spar in general, either turn off some of the power generators (like the hips and/or shoulder), or you slow down the speed or perhaps a little of both.

Also, disregard anyone that says you need to spar hard all the time or even most of the time. As a fighter, that's not how it's done at most Thai gyms and not how you should go about it if you want to gain skill in an efficient and safe manner. You don't beat down your body in training and then go fight--that's not logical.

You DO need to make sure that you're going 75%+ intensity every so often though to keep things honest and find holes in your game. Light sparring is where you will gain insight into distance, timing, footwork, and everything else you'll be using in real fights, the difference being only in the pace at times and the amount of power you're being hit with. So the heavy sparring is meant to make sure that your "defense" is truly going to keep you safe and to familiarize your body with the resiliency it will need when someone is trying to hit you fast and hard.
Click to expand...

you said it better, again.
 
Well you got the idea right...less hips. Or I'd say limit the amount of weight you're transferring into your punches.

If you're concerned about hurting your sparring partner you can continue with the speed theme except shoot your punches to his chest and shoulders.
 
Noooooo. Not less hips. If your punch is powered by your hips, use them completely, every time. Just pull the punch when you make contact.

Why would you practice NOT doing your punch the way you'd normally do it?
 
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