It was definately harder than 20 40%. We weren't going full out but like I said I don't think I was ready. I guess I could have refused but who wants to be that guy. It was pretty discouraging.
I've seen guys spar the first day. But that consists of getting in the ring with somebody really good who will barely even tap them, while the new guy can do whatever he wants.
I've also been to a place that tried to use new guys as punching bags. Shitty thing is that a lot of places will do this.
I think there's too many assumptions that the coach knows what he's doing. This putting the coach on a pedestal thing needs some reevaluation.
If the guy doesn't have the fundamentals, then he shouldn't be sparring. He should be doing sparring DRILLS. Footwork drills, blocking drills, jab counters, cross counters, kick counters, etc. He should be going over fragments of fighting...everyone needs to learn to stand before they can walk, walk before they run, and defend themselves before they spar.
Otherwise bad things happen.
I think everyone should spar from day one. They won't have skill, but they'll be working on the most thing early, i.e. actually fighting a person. Structured technique work can be done first, then sparring should be light, focused on technique and be supervised.
getting hit is a great teacher. ..