Shady Sparring Story

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jm0b

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Joined a new gym recently.

Walked in last night to see a competent, ~126lb 16yo completely light up a ~200lb much taller novice. And when I say novice, I mean it looked like his first night in a sparring session.

The trainers were encouraging it. The novice just wouldn't throw punches and was getting hurt to the body because he was totally unprepared mentally or physically for the punishment. I don't care who you are, even weak liver shots hurt.

There was a lot of laughing and taunting going on. They were building the kid up I guess... But I think it's shameful to mismatch so poorly.

I think it's pretty shady practice. Wondering what your opinions are?
 
i sparred with Rocco Santomauro who is 14-1 at 126lb and he beat my ass. i am 6'2, 205 and not even a novice. I mean he didnt try to kill me as we are friends he just worked me over a little bit. Its just amazing how fast he was. It was like being electrocuted. Much worse than when i sparred with cruiserweight/heavyweight Michael Hunter. But he just basically let me beat on him. Of course they both could have killed me had they wanted to
 
any gym that taunts noobs and encourages beatdowns is a shitty gym.

i've had intense sparring sessions both boxing and grappling, and there's nothing wrong with going hard, as long as both guys are prepared for it. when i boxed experienced dudes and we turned it up, it was with clear consent from both sides. but when someone new walks in and spars for the first time, they don't know what the hell they're doing anyway, and they're usually afraid to look like bitches if they say they want out. it's a shitty situation that no inexperienced guy should be put in.

when you're boxing someone much worse than you, hit them often, but hit them light. make them work, but don't hurt them. if you just go in there and beat the shit out of some poor sod, neither of you learn anything, and they take a beating. they're not going to stick around.
 
My gym is complete opp. To OP. Gym owner/main trainer always uses analogy of sparring is like going to library to borrow a book. You are borrowing the book/opponent to learn off and there is an expectation you return it in state you borrowed it in. Couple of times when experienced guys from other gyms come in and start lighting people up ive seen him give a nod to one of the better pros to make an example of them. Only time bar a fighters training camps I have seen hard sparring however.
 
randomg1t said:
any gym that taunts noobs and encourages beatdowns is a shitty gym.

i've had intense sparring sessions both boxing and grappling, and there's nothing wrong with going hard, as long as both guys are prepared for it. when i boxed experienced dudes and we turned it up, it was with clear consent from both sides. but when someone new walks in and spars for the first time, they don't know what the hell they're doing anyway, and they're usually afraid to look like bitches if they say they want out. it's a shitty situation that no inexperienced guy should be put in.

when you're boxing someone much worse than you, hit them often, but hit them light. make them work, but don't hurt them. if you just go in there and beat the shit out of some poor sod, neither of you learn anything, and they take a beating. they're not going to stick around.
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thats what hunter did when i sparred him. he just kind of gave me a glorified love tap every time i made a mistake like dropping my hands, etc
 
ProBoxingInsidr said:
thats what hunter did when i sparred him. he just kind of gave me a glorified love tap every time i made a mistake like dropping my hands, etc
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exactly. a good boxer can throw punches perfectly and with real speed, but close to no power. the outmatched man gets to feel the movement and timing of a proper sparring partner, but not the damage.

the problem is a lot of people think they're better than they really are, and what they believe is controlled sparring is really just them wailing on some clueless bastard. i think that's what turns most people away from training boxing, they're not really ready to be punched in the face and think that's how every day training looks like. you shouldn't need to be put through the grinder just to learn. in fact, you don't need to go through that at all if you're not competing, but you can still enjoy the sport and get in great shape. i wish more gyms were ran by people who understand this.
 
I saw the opposite thing in a gym I went to once. Sparring was really controlled and well done, but when this new (and massive) guy got in the ring, he just started windmilling. The trainer told him to calm down and box, but then when he took a soft jab to the nose he totally lost his shit and charged the fella with his head into his stomach and started trying to beat on him.

The other guy was just laughing it off, but the big guy had to be dragged off and out of the ring, and then started calling everyone in the gym a bitch, at which point the whole gym started laughing at him and he left.
 
maybe the 200lb guy had been talking some shit, who knows. there are plenty of noobs who deserve it
 
randomg1t said:
any gym that taunts noobs and encourages beatdowns is a shitty gym.

i've had intense sparring sessions both boxing and grappling, and there's nothing wrong with going hard, as long as both guys are prepared for it. when i boxed experienced dudes and we turned it up, it was with clear consent from both sides. but when someone new walks in and spars for the first time, they don't know what the hell they're doing anyway, and they're usually afraid to look like bitches if they say they want out. it's a shitty situation that no inexperienced guy should be put in.

when you're boxing someone much worse than you, hit them often, but hit them light. make them work, but don't hurt them. if you just go in there and beat the shit out of some poor sod, neither of you learn anything, and they take a beating. they're not going to stick around.
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Was the novice trying to take the kids head off?
 
Remember back in the day there was this guy who was a really good boxer that I would spar with on a regular basis. We'd have intense sessions since he was always trying to go 100 , good boxer but outside of it he was pretty much a meatheaded dick of a person. One day I come in and he's wailing on this noob who had only been there a week , the poor kid left pretty bruised and bloodied (never came back after that) . After that him and his trainer were asked to leave the gym but yeah there are just some shitty people in gyms. These days Im just a hobbyist after I finished my ammy career and try to only half spar these days.
 
The experienced guy should only go as hard as the newb.

Sometimes though newbs come in swinging and its the other way.

I was 188 lbs and this Albanian doorman was a proper 6'3 HW and he just started swinging at me street style, we had two sparring matches 2nd time I took no prisoners as the guy was a fkin p*ss take.

I put him in hospital with a cut eye brow, hardest right hand I ever threw at someone in the gym, I felt my knuckles go through the 16oz gloves on his forehead.

........... the guy was humbled and he loves me now lol, every time I see him he's so respectful.

So moral of the story is ......... both sides need to show respect and trade with each other soft at first moving to hard so you both know where the other guys limit is.
 
Boxer said:
The experienced guy should only go as hard as the newb.

Sometimes though newbs come in swinging and its the other way.

I was 188 lbs and this Albanian doorman was a proper 6'3 HW and he just started swinging at me street style, we had two sparring matches 2nd time I took no prisoners as the guy was a fkin p*ss take.

I put him in hospital with a cut eye brow, hardest right hand I ever threw at someone in the gym, I felt my knuckles go through the 16oz gloves on his forehead.

........... they guy was humbled and he loves me now lol, every time I see him he's so respectful.

So moral of the story is ......... both sides need to show respect and trade with each other soft at first moving to hard so you both know where the other guys limit is.
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ya, i always felt really awkward sparring, being asked to spar a fucking total stranger. I just stopped doing it just to avoid that shit. Was definitely one of the more frustrating things about dealing with fighting for me, that, and the business aspects.
 
Boxiana said:
I saw the opposite thing in a gym I went to once. Sparring was really controlled and well done, but when this new (and massive) guy got in the ring, he just started windmilling. The trainer told him to calm down and box, but then when he took a soft jab to the nose he totally lost his shit and charged the fella with his head into his stomach and started trying to beat on him.

The other guy was just laughing it off, but the big guy had to be dragged off and out of the ring, and then started calling everyone in the gym a bitch, at which point the whole gym started laughing at him and he left.
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Hey, asshole, I thought you bitches said you wouldn't bring this up. You guys laughing at me hurt my feelings tho. I'm big and strong, and ruggedly handsome, yes. But two other things I do happen to be, sensitive in the nosea nd feels...
Laughing at me hurt me way more than the punches that day. <mma1>
 
I'm no gym rat but I do know that this type of shit happens, like bringing in the new guy to get his ass kicked to see if he can handle his ego while a child beats the fucking breaks off of him. If he shows up again that's basically like saying he's ready for the real thing.

It also pumps up the kid's ego, a small teenager like that beating up on a guy twice his size, that might boost his confidence even if he and everyone else knows he's better, there's something to be said about that size differential and being able to overcome it with just skill.

I'm not defending this gym, they sound like dicks, but this isn't unheard of. It keeps the novice honest and boosts the smaller kid's ego. I don't necessarily agree with it but to play devil's advocate, I get it.
 
As others said too, theres also the new guy who can be at fault too. I hate sparring people who don't train or had just started training, because they always think sparring is a contest...throwing wild haymakers all the time and thinking they 'won' the sparring session
 
randomg1t said:
any gym that taunts noobs and encourages beatdowns is a shitty gym.

i've had intense sparring sessions both boxing and grappling, and there's nothing wrong with going hard, as long as both guys are prepared for it. when i boxed experienced dudes and we turned it up, it was with clear consent from both sides. but when someone new walks in and spars for the first time, they don't know what the hell they're doing anyway, and they're usually afraid to look like bitches if they say they want out. it's a shitty situation that no inexperienced guy should be put in.

when you're boxing someone much worse than you, hit them often, but hit them light. make them work, but don't hurt them. if you just go in there and beat the shit out of some poor sod, neither of you learn anything, and they take a beating. they're not going to stick around.
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I agree 100%. touch a novice to let him know where he's open but not hurt or humiliate him.
 
nastyleft said:
I agree 100%. touch a novice to let him know where he's open but not hurt or humiliate him.
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I think that's too soft. They need to be shocked a little, the realism needs to be there as they train or else they are going to freeze paralyzed and get almost literally murdered IRL or in their first fight otherwise.

People think that their mind already knows how to analyze and act during a fight. That's not true at all. A real fight (sanctioned or otherwise) is nasty in ways that no one would be able to predict, the kinds of things you feel and think, the problems you have, the absolute madness of dynamics-- nothing can prepare you for that unless you've been in it to a decent extent. Mere touching is lying (that's what McDojo's do and the reason they have their typical McDojo results) and setting them up for something much much worse in life.

If it's not injuring them so they have to heal instead of come to class, but still hurts and is very unpleasant when you make mistakes, that's how it needs to be, somewhere along those lines. Anything else is kidding oneself.

It also needs to be said that even in fraud McDojo classes, the possibility of injury is still there.

There is such a thing as sparring too early, but when it is time to spar, the sparring needs to be real.

There are more fake places that offer to "teach" than real. If people are uncomfortable with the truth, they can always find and take their pick of fraudulent places nearby like one of these.
 
I've been thrown to the wolfs a number of times when we would cross to another gym for sparring. I wasn't a total beginner so I was able to learn from it. If that occurred being totally green, it wouldn't be beneficial in any circumstance.

Majority of people who have sparred, have at one point had to put their foot down as the opponent was getting ahead of themselves.
 
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