Last Weeks before first fight, any tips & tricks?

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Jobuden

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Hey,
I'm gonna have my first amateur fight just some days, on June 30th. Since I'm more or less training myself for it, I'd love any tips and tricks for the final weeks prior to the fight from guys who have already done it.

I train BJJ on Monday and Thursday, sometimes there are guys to roll with on fridays.
Tuesday I do medium to heavy sparring and some bagwork.
Wednesday I do some BWE conditioning and shadowboxing, for anaerobic endurance. On Friday and / or Saturday I go for a run (typicalls about 6 kilometers / 4 miles in 35-40 minutes on a up-and-down track.

Any stuff you would recommend me to do additional to this? I want to go in the fight with as much cardio as possible. Any tips & tricks appreciated

Should I spar hard or more technique oriented?
What should I do in the final week? I've been told to not train the last three days before the fight, so I thought about going to BJJ on Monday, doing a last, light sparring session on Tuesday and than just relaxing Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and going to the competition on Saturday?

Thank you!
 
6 kilometers / 4 miles in 35-40 minutes? What Weight Class are you? If you are lower than Heavyweight you would want to be aiming around 30 mins this will pick your cardio right up.

They days before the fight I would go light enough, It is hard to stay relaxed, but try, nothing you do over a few days will benefit your cardio drastically.
 
Okay so I should run just a bit faster to get the track done in <30 minutes? I've been running relativley slow because I was told that 40-45 min. are the time to go for aerobic conditionung. But I could definitley do the track in under 30 min., I'd say even under 25 min.

What have you done to deal with the nervousness prior to the fight? From the rules and protective equipment worn I know there isn't going to happen anything too bad, worst case may be a broken nose or sth. like that, wich I've already experienced a few times ... but still, sometimes I'm very comfortable thinking about the fight(s), and sometimes it freaks me out :P
 
Sometimes I conceive of the fight as just another training session. Sometimes I purposely think of it as life and death. Honestly, once you get in there you don't think. You just do...
 
I was expecting something like that :wink:

BTW, I'm fighting at welterweight and I'm 6 feet 2 inches (1,88 meter) tall.
 
Jobuden said:
Okay so I should run just a bit faster to get the track done in <30 minutes? I've been running relativley slow because I was told that 40-45 min. are the time to go for aerobic conditionung. But I could definitley do the track in under 30 min., I'd say even under 25 min.

What have you done to deal with the nervousness prior to the fight? From the rules and protective equipment worn I know there isn't going to happen anything too bad, worst case may be a broken nose or sth. like that, wich I've already experienced a few times ... but still, sometimes I'm very comfortable thinking about the fight(s), and sometimes it freaks me out :P
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No I meant increase your speed/Distance, i.e. Run for the 45 Min if you have to, but you should cover 8K, this will help with conditioning. There is no point in doing the 6K Slowly if you find it easy. So Hit the Track and run as fast as you think you can for 45 mins.

Nerves before a fight? Nothing can be done really, it is all part of it. You go through waves of Nerves and excitment, however if you think about how disappointed you would be if you didn't get to fight!? That would be the worst after all that training, and planning... that usually does it for me and keeps me sane, and focused - Goodluck and keep us posted.
 
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Get some good sleep the night before the fight. If you're cutting weight (and evem if you're not) make sure to get good quality carbs in the 24 hours leading up to the fight, as well as plenty of water (+ some pedialyte if you cut water weight).
Have a good corner team who can build you up and shout good instructions during the match.
In the end, go out to have fun.
 
I don't have to cut down weight .... originally, I planned to fight at 155 but didn't want to cut down ~18 pounds for my first fight ... so now, I'm a few pounds under 175, wich is good, because I like eating :P
 
I like eating, too. I'm 5'9" and generally around 205. My last semester of college I got up to 233 while lifting 3x and doing BJJ 2 or 3x per week. I was constantly eating. But anyways, not cutting for your first fight is good. One less thing to worry about. There's some good threads around here, such as "the weight cutting thread", that I would definitely look into before your next one.
Be sure to let us know how your match goes.
 
Jobuden said:
I don't have to cut down weight .... originally, I planned to fight at 155 but didn't want to cut down ~18 pounds for my first fight ... so now, I'm a few pounds under 175, wich is good, because I like eating :P
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See, to me a welterweight is 66.6kg (not sure how many pounds that is). I was worried when you mentioned your height and weight, but I guess that's a bit better.

Your plan sounds fine. Keep working hard and you'll do well.
 
I've never fought competitively but I would say relaxing and resting up are the most important.
 
I've trained right up to the Thursday before a fight on the Sunday, Friday I did a deloaded weights session and a Tabata, Saturday night I did an easy 30 minute run(I was doing a same day weigh in and had to cut 2kg). Prior to that I'd had 4 days rest before fights and mentally I wasn't there, as the nerves had brewed too much. Staying active right up until the fights helped me because I just saw it as a super hard sparring session, I was way more relaxed and it helped me do what I'd been training to do. Nothing worse than spending 8-12 weeks drilling stuff and then throwing it away because you're in an alien environment. Some guys "get up" for a fight and change their mindset, but me personally I feel like having that persona is just another drain on my mental strength.

You win the fight in the training camp, so do as much as you can to stay calm and confident. At the end of the day, no one cares if you win or lose - this isn't the UFC. Just make a good showing of yourself and work the things you've been training/drilling.
 
Thx for your help guys :)

The fight will be on a saturday and I just tought about going to the swiming pool on friday to relax and enjoy the sauna ... I usually sleep very well after a saune, and because I've got to get up early on Saturday to travel to the location and I think my nerves will give me a hard time sleeping, I don't want to go to the fight in zombie mode :P

A question to the tall guys around here: I will probably have the reach advantage over my opponent, because 6'2 is quite tall for welterweight ... what are your strategies and tactics when fighting a smaller guys? Obviously a lot of straight punches down the middle, and moving a lot to avoid him closing the distance, but I'm looking for some more 'sophisticated' tips. Especially everything that hinders him in clinching / getting the TD. I've been training striking for about 7 years now, but I'm relativley new to grappling (training BJJ for one and a half year, but since it is a course at my university, theres no training in the semester brakes), so my general strategy will be to keep the fight standig at all costs, and only pull guard or go for the TD if I'm really outclassed in the striking game (no ground and pound in this fight, so no matter how bad the position is, I won't get my face beaten to pulp :P ).

I'll definitley keep you updated, amd if the fight gets video-taped, I'll post it. Thx for your support so far, I really appreciate it.
 
Jobuden said:
A question to the tall guys around here: I will probably have the reach advantage over my opponent, because 6'2 is quite tall for welterweight ... what are your strategies and tactics when fighting a smaller guys? Obviously a lot of straight punches down the middle, and moving a lot to avoid him closing the distance, but I'm looking for some more 'sophisticated' tips. Especially everything that hinders him in clinching / getting the TD. I've been training striking for about 7 years now, but I'm relativley new to grappling (training BJJ for one and a half year, but since it is a course at my university, theres no training in the semester brakes), so my general strategy will be to keep the fight standig at all costs, and only pull guard or go for the TD if I'm really outclassed in the striking game (no ground and pound in this fight, so no matter how bad the position is, I won't get my face beaten to pulp :P ).
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Upper-cuts whilst circling.
 
It is likely that you will have trouble implementing this in your first fight. And difficult for me to explain. The absolute KEY is thinking and reading your opponents energy.

Stay outside and THINK. Don't go in and engage unless you have a plan.

If you see your opponent tensing up and you don't have a plan, let him come BUT get out when he does. This will let you figure his timing. When you have his timing go back then come in with your counter.

Conversely, if you have a plan and you see that he is about to launch, BE FIRST. If you have a plan (combo in mind), use it!

When I say "get out" I mean once, maybe twice. Getting out is used to understand your opponents timing and make him miss. If you continually back up, you will just encourage him to throw what he wants. Your opponent is only as good as you let him be.
 
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I am at home on my computer now. I have a few more "sophisticated tips", as requested.

If you have the reach advantage (and I don't think you should assume you will), control with your lead hand (jabs, shallow hooks, hooking as you circle to create angles, etc). But SAVE your right hand. Think of throwing your right as "spending" it.

A common strategy for a shorter fighter will be to wait for the taller to throw his right, then come in. Rather, keep using your lead hand, and only throw your right when he comes in. Use the rear upper-cut and the straight right. Knowing that he'll meet a heavy right hand every time he comes in will make him hesitant to the point where he might just hang at the end of your reach.

If he uses a lot of head movement coming in, you might like to dissuade him with kicks. This will stop him doing that. However, perhaps a better plan, would be to let him think he can keep doing it, and then start aiming for his shoulders as he comes in (this is where his head will move). If he sees you punching, he'll move his head, little does he know, he's moving his head right to where you are throwing. If his neck is taught, you can finish him.
 
Oh, another thing: relax. If you are tense you actually convey an aggressiveness to your opponent. He will think an attack is imminent. If you are "planning" and "assessing" but just simply tense through nerves, this will work against you because your opponent fearing attack, will attack you. Effectively turning your own "energy" against you.

On the flip side, if you see your opponent trying to relax and assess the situation from outside of range, attack him before he has made up his mind. If you are ready to engage, but he isn't, don't use that as an excuse to rest. Because all you're really doing is giving him the time to be ready and willing to engage.
 
Thanks for the tipps, good stuff :)

Wich kicks would you recommend? Due to my Kung Fu training, I've got a broad arsenal of kicks to use, but I plan on sticking with the frontkick, the roundhouse and maybe a sidekick right of the bat to keep him guessing ...
 
Jobuden said:
Thanks for the tipps, good stuff :)

Wich kicks would you recommend? Due to my Kung Fu training, I've got a broad arsenal of kicks to use, but I plan on sticking with the frontkick, the roundhouse and maybe a sidekick right of the bat to keep him guessing ...
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Keep it basic. I wouldn't plan on using a million different kicks. That tends to be counter intuitive, because the effectiveness of exotic kicks is generally premised on the fact that they are a deviation from what your opponent anticipates.
 
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