Hey guys, I think I am asking a pretty valid question, so if you are going to say something like "man up, you pussy", don't bother.
I've been doing bjj for a bit now, and decided to take muay thai as well. After a few lessons I started sparing a couple weeks ago, the first day went good, everyone went easy on me and it wasn't too bad. The second day of sparing I fought this one guy who was probably 20 lbs lighter than me, less height, and less reach. However, he's had several mma fights under his belt (I believe he is 4-0 actually). He almost KOed me with a right hook, he was throwing leg kicks that I could really feel (to my head, chest, etc.), and at the end of the session it was 3 minutes of me getting beaten up. The one punch he hit me with dazed me for a bit, as I called timeout, but I still stood up. I told the guy I was brand new at the start, but it didn't seem to affect his strategy as he still went like what appeared to be 100%. He even told me afterwards he knocked a huge guy out last week in sparring with the same combo.
Sorry for the rambling story, but what I am getting at is this: How the hell do I get better without getting a shitload of concussions?! I'm in the healthcare field, and do require my brain, and I thought that the chance of getting a concussion would be pretty damn low until i was preparing for an MMA fight and people went more "all out". I tried throwing the odd combo at him, but for the most part it just seemed like I was a sitting duck. I am trying to wonder if anyone can give me advice on how to prevent this again, because I wanted to go relatively light in sparing and then get more serious as I got better. I don't want to get 50 concussions as I am "learning", ya know? I just feel like for the odd guy at my gym, i'm just a piece of meat they can use as target practice since I am new.
I wasn't wearing headgear at the time, but nobody else seems to at my gym as well. Any advice??
I've been doing bjj for a bit now, and decided to take muay thai as well. After a few lessons I started sparing a couple weeks ago, the first day went good, everyone went easy on me and it wasn't too bad. The second day of sparing I fought this one guy who was probably 20 lbs lighter than me, less height, and less reach. However, he's had several mma fights under his belt (I believe he is 4-0 actually). He almost KOed me with a right hook, he was throwing leg kicks that I could really feel (to my head, chest, etc.), and at the end of the session it was 3 minutes of me getting beaten up. The one punch he hit me with dazed me for a bit, as I called timeout, but I still stood up. I told the guy I was brand new at the start, but it didn't seem to affect his strategy as he still went like what appeared to be 100%. He even told me afterwards he knocked a huge guy out last week in sparring with the same combo.
Sorry for the rambling story, but what I am getting at is this: How the hell do I get better without getting a shitload of concussions?! I'm in the healthcare field, and do require my brain, and I thought that the chance of getting a concussion would be pretty damn low until i was preparing for an MMA fight and people went more "all out". I tried throwing the odd combo at him, but for the most part it just seemed like I was a sitting duck. I am trying to wonder if anyone can give me advice on how to prevent this again, because I wanted to go relatively light in sparing and then get more serious as I got better. I don't want to get 50 concussions as I am "learning", ya know? I just feel like for the odd guy at my gym, i'm just a piece of meat they can use as target practice since I am new.
I wasn't wearing headgear at the time, but nobody else seems to at my gym as well. Any advice??