Weight differences in Training/Sparring

casper1kebab said:
the reason im still at it is 1. because its habit, and the only thing i personally think im ok at
2. even after all the abuse im still stupidly loyal to my team and when they say jump i, for some reason always say how high
3. most important, my dream is to become world champion and i dont care what abuse is given, i would do anything to become world champion, in my opinon, if i become world champion all the abuse was worth it i guess
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Bro, we all need to feel WANTED and part of the team..its the best feeling you can have the feeling of being wanted, and part of a club.
You sound Loyal..any decent club would want a guy like you on their squad..you dont need to be stepped on like shit. We are all better than that.
 
the guy i spar with is about 50 pounds heavier than me but i can take him down whenever i want and were about same experience level standing
 
NuTzOnSwOll said:
yeah no shit huh ?
its easier being the bigger guy.

20-30+ lbs higher than me im fine with. Its sparring a tall 50+ lbs HARD hitting guy i dont like sparring with.
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My former coach actually made me spar with a 270 lbs dude. Im 170 after eating a full meal. needless to say, i no longer go to that gym
 
I sparred with heavier guys quite a lot when I was training for my amateur MMA bouts. My first ever sparring session was after I went to class (BJJ) for 2 weeks and decided I wanted to spar. I sparred a guy who was 6'0'' tall and was about 160-165 (with 3years of MT). I am 5'8'' and was 130lbs at the time. He really went hard on me and I had to throw hard punches back to keeps him off me. I was in hard sparring sessions for 2 months with mostly 155lbs class fighters and other heavier ppl, and I was very wild and getting into brawls with them-had lots of headaches from that. I have also bad experiences sparring 170lbs'ers who were not going easy on me (Ie,..beating the crap out of me). Later, I became more slick and started to defend better, giving them problems with my speed and power sometimes. I once sparred a guy who was 6'4'' and 250lbs and undefeated in 8 or so fights. He was a nice guy though and even asked me to sample punch him lol. I had trouble at first with his jabs, but I used head movement and started countering a lot. It was really scary sparring a guy that big, but I think fear actually made me a little quicker. Before a fight, when we were taping our hands, some guys asked him how he got a black eye, and he pointed at me-that was awesome. Interestingly enough, I lost that fight (it was something of a local champ. match).

Moral of the story is, some of the big guys have no idea how much harder training for the little guys is. I have seen a lot of small guys quit because they were getting crushed all the time. It's funny when someone who's 200lbs complains about sparring a guy 20lbs heavier.
 
I've never turned down or even blinked at the thought of sparring bigger guys. I'm 150 and spar guys my size up until 250 (not fat). It's just a challenge and makes you tougher and teaches you to not be afraid of people, I never even thought of size difference, just more as another day at the office, spar a few rounds and move on to the next sparring partner.
 
My gym has a lot of professional and amateur fighters who compete regularly. In the Pro/Am Muay Thai sparring class, I am probably the heaviest/biggest person (6'4, 92kg) - the lightest person I have sparred against would probably be around 60kgs.

It's no problem. Everyone fights everyone. I think this is good - you get a chance to fight people of all sizes. The Ams (like myself) mostly spar other Ams, and Pros v Pros, but they give us a few rounds against a pro every sparring night just for the experience.



Now, in the MMA classes, and the sparring classes, we have >130kg juggernauts. The heaviest person I have sparred with said he was 'about 125kg' (275lbs). Luckily for me he kept it on the feet. Maybe he thought it would be too harsh taking me to ground.
 
im 75kg and spar with guys from 50-100 kgs from intermediates to an australian champ its all a good challenge if hes way bigger than you and goes harder than u can handle, he's a dick.
 
I'm 80kg and I've sparred with people 110kg and 50kg, you've just got to adjust accordingly. If you go too hard with someone a lot bigger than you and accidentally hurt them, you're going to feel it later :redface:
 
The unfortunate part of my gym is that the other dudes my size are too old and or pussies. So i usualy spar with guys 15-30lbs lighter than me. Fortunatley a couple of them have more standup experience so I still get a lot out of it.

I miss my old gym!! Lots of good sized guys
 
Im 160 and usually full contact spar full grown men (im 16) from 180-210. Most of them have been training for less then me though. Its muay thai to, not mma.
 
I've sparred with more bigger and more experienced guys since my first day sparring. They just take it easy at first and then go harder as I get better. Works out good if the guys aren't assholes and will actually work with you instead of just looking at you as fresh meat to beat on. You will improve a lot faster than sparring with other noobs.
 
if you can find partners with different body types, skills, and styles that are within 20 pounds of you either way, then your all set. chances are though, your going to have to vary in weight to get more variant in fighting style and skill.

the key word though is training 'partner'. sparring 'partner'. someone who's bigger, stronger and/or more technically proficent than you, they should be able to push you to grow and work on their own short fallings as a fighter without injuring you. (hurting is ok, injuring is not.)

just like you learn on all those made for TV afterschool lifetime movies, "its ok to say no. if a guy makes you uncomfortable or you don't feel safe with him, tell him to find someone else."
 
I'm 154 lbs and I spar with people from about 140lbs to 240lbs. Obviously the heavier guys pull some punches so as not to put me in a coma.

However, I regularly spar with a 195lb'er who goes at least 90% with his hands every time, he's a bit less experienced than me but I still get caught. I find it gives me a confidence that if I can hang with guys 40+ lbs heavier than me, I'm gonna be alright.

Strangely though one of the guys I have the most problems with is only 10lbs heavier than me.
 
I enjoy sparring many different weight classes and sizes, although my coaches will try to pair me up with someone closest to my size if possible (I'm 5'11" and 154 pounds). I've sparred people from probably 120 to close to 300 pounds.

Size really does matter. Mentally, I feel much more confident going up against someone much lighter or I have a considerable reach advantage against, but I'm sure that's normal. It's much more intimidating to face someone much bigger than me, even though one of the coaches will always tell them to "work" with me.

Working with smaller people tests my reflexes, because I feel I have to adapt to their quickness, but with bigger people I have to work on getting inside more, which is tough for me because I feel most of the time I am going against someone I have a reach advantage against. I am most comfortable keeping people at the end of my jab and my teeps.

The hardest puncher I actually fought was a boxer who only had about 5 pounds of weight on me and maybe 1 inch of height, so I guess he figured he would hit me hard. I don't think I've ever been rocked before, but I was definitely struggling with this guy. The following 2 - 3 days my neck was in major pain from my head being knocked around.
 
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