Muay Thai Sparring

[higginz92]

Hey,

So ive been training muay thai for about 1 month max now, got really into it excersizing and training every morning and night, dieting hard and love the shit. Anyway had my first spar the other night, used hands only as im a beginner...

We sparred okay, but everytime i got a bit rushed with jabs and hooks/uppercuts i kinda froze and just bloked..what can i do to cut that habit and how can i get out and stay out of that kind of situation?

Also do you guys have any tips on sparring and training at all.?

Any tips greatly appreciated!

higginz92

 

[xilliun]

Spar more. Most people sparring for the first time are like that. Just relax and breath and over time you'll become more fluid in there.

When you go to spar set yourself objectives, what combinations you want to use etc

 

[Griever]

I'm early days into my training too so this is by no means expert advice

I found in my first few sparring sessions I got absolutely mauled. I came from a Karate background and when I was under attack I was trying to back-peddle as quickly as possibly whilst parrying away the shots. This was very ineffective for the most part and I quickly fell into a flurry of strikes. I've found recently that being patient and covering up when under attack then launching counter shots when I see an opening is working quite well, but obviously this is not something I will just settle into. I intend to keep learning and improving. The more advanced partners and fighters at my gym help out whenever I ask too so I find that quite helpful.

So basically what I'd recommend (as a beginner myself) is:

-Just keep sparring!
-Watch and Study better fighters when they spar
-Think of combinations you may have learnt from pad-work and try to implement them during sparring.

 

[Tempo]

spar more, thats it really.. i think most people are like that when they begin and just tend to turtle or freeze when hit, but as you become more experienced you will become tolerant so to say, and fight back instead of just standing there blocking.

 

[BenTheBellator]

Spar more
Simple parries of the jab
Counter off the parry

It will come in time no need to worry

 

[Roger z2]

Maintain eye contact with opponent; I used to look down or get distracted by the punches rather than relying or peripheral vision to keep track of his moves.

 

[Tempo]

Maintain eye contact with opponent; I used to look down or get distracted by the punches rather than relying or peripheral vision to keep track of his moves.

you keep eye contact? I try to look around the higher chest area, looking into the eyes could throw you off..eg looking low then going high.

 

[mmafreedom]

Just spar and spar and spar. Once you accept the fact that getting punch doesn't hurt, you will grow in leaps and bounds.

 

[Roger z2]

you keep eye contact? I try to look around the higher chest area, looking into the eyes could throw you off..eg looking low then going high.

I suppose it is related to the distance you keep between your opponent, I look further down as the distance closes before clinching (keeping chin down). Either way it was much better than me looking at centre mass and around at the limbs all the time, then looking shocked when I got hit in the face. :redface:

 

[Dougiek]

keep eye contact and you're going to get kicked... a lot.

Sparring is pretty intimidating the first couple of times. Just remember that once in a while you're going to have to eat a body shot in order to get yourself into a position to do some damage. sometimes even eat a head jab or something.

Work on your combinations until you can do them without thinking. Most noobs at my gym seem to throw Jab Cross or Jab Jab Cross and not much else. get your hooks in there, throw and uppercut and most importantly KEEP YOUR HANDS UP AND YOUR CHIN DOWN.

Don't worry too much about getting hit, learn to enjoy it

 

[zx]

You'll get better with time going on, while sparing.

In that particular situation try to focus on your defence, moving around, blocking and maintaining your eyes on your sparing partner.

 

[Team Supremacy]

you keep eye contact? I try to look around the higher chest area, looking into the eyes could throw you off..eg looking low then going high.

Exactly. Never look in their eyes.

 

[thaiklinch12]

a rule in our gym is to never ball up and say that it is defense. Balling up should be a last resort, you always want to defend actively, otherwise your opponent will just pick his shots against a balled up opponent. This took me so long to figure out but once i did it all made sense. To shut down the jab (against traditional stances) parry with your right and throw YOUR jab in his face every time he jabs at you. Then when the opportunity arises parry the jab and throw a jab/cross/left switch kick or hook...its gotta be quick tho. That'll make him think twice about wanting to come in at you.