what do you bring to the table-how do you help when sparring

[devante]

sparring is not a fight, its a learning process between to resisting opp in a dynamic situation that allows you to condition, ingrain and apply tech, strategies or situations in your mind and your overall approach; it helps you grow in regards to functionality and so on.

so my question is w/ur training partners, what is it you bring to the table, how do you help them get better or broaden their horizons...

example- a gym i used to go to we had a guy who was called the truth machine cus of his physicality durability and pressure; whatever you said you were, technician defensive guy volume guy brawler power puncher tough guy, would be exposed as true or not because he was the kind of guy who stayed on you, wasnt dissuaded by an inability to land, getting hit w/sharp shots or hard shots or numerous shots or having to chase you. So if you say you like to brawl, we will find that out cus your not gonna bully or walk through him; so if hallfway through you get on your bike or start being tech we know your not the brawler you think you are, cus once your in front of a guy who can't or won't be handled like that you go another route. Part of that is having diff dimensions to your game, part of that is you not being what you said you were; like mayweather is a boxer, you won't catch him trading or walking through shots or focusing just on landing or getting away from shots BECAUSE HE IS A PURE BOXER. He won't be pushed into another realm or approach regardless of what you do or don't do.

in my case im the more defensive, mobile guy; i think i make people have to be a bit more technical or thoughtful or balanced in how they approach/attack cus i don't make myself available to get hit w/everything, nor do i make it easy to get range, corner or measure me. So in my case i help guys have to do more than normal, cus your going to have to find me and catch me; im not going to be available for you to do work on unless you come up w/a way to ply your trade, i won't give you a way to.

so what do you do or bring that allows your partners to grow, develop, round out their games... power (cus they know u can put their lights out at any moment) durability (they have to work harder to keep you off or dissuade u) volume (they have to up their rate of work and awareness cus u do so much) pressure (take away their comfort zone spacing angles) athleticism (have to be more aware and on point tech cus of the freedom your ability gives you) defense (make them work to land or get in position to land) or tech (exposing holes in their game and forcing them to have to be smarter or be tougher to get at you) mobile (guys have to chase you, stay composed and recognize opp cus u are noncomittal and won't give them much)these are just loose examples..

thoughts/opinions

 

[SpineBreaker]

I generally don't consider myself good at something. I try to learn, I can give simple advice to people below me but I'm not the teacher. I don't need to worry about what my strengths are, because I want to be good at everything.

 

[shouldercharge]

i provide a mobile punching bag

 

[Higus]

I'm still a noob, so right now I'm more focused on picking up from other people rather than what I offer them. I tend to be pretty defensive, so I suppose I would offer someone a chance to work on pressuring me by cutting off angles and using lots of head movement and fakes to close distance on me

 

[Ocion]

Longer arms, good stiff jab, fairly quick, tend to lean more toward a technical boxer, hate getting into brawls and have a decent pressure throughout.

Fists that explode on your face like soft, cotton, pillows. That about sums me up.

 

[Craftster]

Good clinch game, body punches, and footwork.

 

[SAAMAG]

I bring my 16 oz gloves, shin guards, and mouth piece!

More seriously, I think I bring a level headed no-nonsense approach to learning and applying one's skill set to sparring.

If my opponent isn't as skilled as me, then I'll keep things down to their level or just above to keep them challenged. I'll make sure to leave openings here and there for them to capitalize one, I'll make sure to hit their openings to let them know of their existence. If I see a flaw that's getting them hit a lot I'll tell them and give some suggestions so they can improve.

If I legitimately get hit when I'm trying not to, I acknowledge it and let him or her know to encourage whatever it was they did successfully.

I fight in the way that the person has the most trouble. So if before the sparring session the guy says they want to get better at counter striking, I'll make sure to provide a lot of strikes--giving them pressure working on my ability to attack and find openings, while that gives them fodder to practice countering. If they say they have a bad clinch game, I'll close the distance and make them work that. If they're not good at countering kicks, I'll kick a lot.

 

[Human Bass]

i provide a mobile punching bag

This.

 

[Oh Mah Gawd]

I like to consider myself a technical fighter.

I help my sparring partners sharpen their striking game, master basics and I educate them on the threat of kicks, as I am by far the most experienced kicker in our school.

 

[Kevinlinc]

I bring great timing and great leg kicks, forcing my training partners to work on checking and reacting, aswell as not making too many mistakes. Many of my training partners starting off having trouble getting in on me due to the timing of my jab, but have told me it really helped them with slipping, and getting inside.

 

[ssullivan80]

I bring my 16 oz gloves, shin guards, and mouth piece!

More seriously, I think I bring a level headed no-nonsense approach to learning and applying one's skill set to sparring.

If my opponent isn't as skilled as me, then I'll keep things down to their level or just above to keep them challenged. I'll make sure to leave openings here and there for them to capitalize one, I'll make sure to hit their openings to let them know of their existence. If I see a flaw that's getting them hit a lot I'll tell them and give some suggestions so they can improve.

If I legitimately get hit when I'm trying not to, I acknowledge it and let him or her know to encourage whatever it was they did successfully.

I fight in the way that the person has the most trouble. So if before the sparring session the guy says they want to get better at counter striking, I'll make sure to provide a lot of strikes--giving them pressure working on my ability to attack and find openings, while that gives them fodder to practice countering. If they say they have a bad clinch game, I'll close the distance and make them work that. If they're not good at countering kicks, I'll kick a lot.

Obviously spoken by someone who has experience, well put.

I would say the one thing I bring to my sparring/training partners that is the most valuable is CONTROL. I do my best to ensure that both myself and my sparring partner gain usable knowledge when we leave the ring. If it is a new guy i am working with, I don't throw my strikes in a manner that will dissuade him from practicing his technique correctly. It doesn't serve a guy well to just pound on him, he learns nothing that will make him a better fighter. When i work with a new guy, you will often see me spit out my mouthpiece about 1 min into the round and start talking to him while sparring. I will call out shots as I know they are open, and I will intentionally leave them openings, to the point where i will just pause mid exchange and stand there holding my position and start yelling "where is the opening", till they find it. Don't get me wrong, I hit em back too! But I hit them in a way that they know they got hit, but don't get hurt or intimidated. You can go full speed, without going full power! Keep your hands open in your gloves (not clinching or tightening your fist), and when the shot gets to your opponent and touches him, pull it back, don't drive through...... I use this analogy when explaining how to hold your hands in your gloves: "imagine you got a banana in your hand, dont smash it"..... Along with allowing you to train at full speed and avoid injuries, this practice in sparring will also help you develop punch control. Which leads to better timing, hand speed, accuracy and counter-punching awareness.

CONTROL is also why guys get invited (and paid) to work as a sparring partner for guys getting ready to compete. Unlike working with a new guy, I will hit em plenty hard and will give my best effort to make them work for it each and every round. However, by having CONTROL I also know when to pull a shot back (not follow through) and take precautions to make sure the guy who is getting ready to compete doesn't get injured. A good fighter knows when he leaves himself open, you don't have to try and blast his head off his shoulders. Just get the shot there, then stop it short or pull it back (avoiding unnecessary injury)....... Quite often you will see him (or his corner/coach) acknowledge the fact that you "could of" really laid into him, you hear him say "mmmmm...." then ya touch gloves and get back to it! CONTROL IS WHAT MAKES A GUY A VALUABLE SPARRING PARTNER AT ANY LEVEL.

 

[Matt Hilton]

i provide a mobile punching bag

I have actually done this seriously on more then one occasion. We had a few guys that were afraid to hit people because they didn't want to hurt them or guys that were super tenative sparring me because I was countering them and they didn't like getting hit. With headgear and 16 ounce gloves, odds are I wasn't going to get hurt so I would literally just let guys hit me with shots. I would use head movement and parry big shots, but I let a few through to show the scared guys that it was not going to hurt someone to hit them and not throw counters when I was sparring the guys I was countering a lot (I did keep a mental note of it though, so I could help them out with it later on).

 

[AdamL]

I've got a pretty good jab and a long reach for my height, which surprises many people I spar. However right now what I'm bringing is an empty gas tank since I've only recently started going to the gym regularly. I'm rusty, so I mostly block punches with my nose.

 

[Bebop]

Jabroni

 

[panamaican]

I wish I could give an insignhtful response but truthfully, I don't think I bring anything particular to sparring beyond my desire to get better (at your expense, lol). I'm quick, aggressive and defensively mobile. I usually go in looking to work on something, closing the distance, establishing range, clinchwork, etc. That's what my partner will be dealing with that day with very little variation for 3-5 minutes at a time. If trips, knees and strikes from the clinch are what I'm working on, every chance I get I'm going for underhooks, MT clinch, something. I'll eat a shot to get there, I'll slip a strike and close, or I'll start with strikes to get my hands on you but we're always ending at the same place, in some kind of clinch.

It's the same with everything, if I'm working on lead hand and leg strikes, it's the only thing I'll be using. Mixing in feints and distance control to land with the lead hand or leg. If I want to work the other side, I change my stance to southpaw. I don't know if that's corny but it's how I make sure I'm working on something during sparring.

 

[SAAMAG]

I wish I could give an insignhtful response but truthfully, I don't think I bring anything particular to sparring beyond my desire to get better (at your expense, lol). I'm quick, aggressive and defensively mobile. I usually go in looking to work on something, closing the distance, establishing range, clinchwork, etc. That's what my partner will be dealing with that day with very little variation for 3-5 minutes at a time. If trips, knees and strikes from the clinch are what I'm working on, every chance I get I'm going for underhooks, MT clinch, something. I'll eat a shot to get there, I'll slip a strike and close, or I'll start with strikes to get my hands on you but we're always ending at the same place, in some kind of clinch.

It's the same with everything, if I'm working on lead hand and leg strikes, it's the only thing I'll be using. Mixing in feints and distance control to land with the lead hand or leg. If I want to work the other side, I change my stance to southpaw. I don't know if that's corny but it's how I make sure I'm working on something during sparring.

You seem to be a boon to your partners. Because while you're working on various things (and approaching sparring for what it is) your partners are learning to adapt to each of those 3-5 minute sessions in various areas of standup.

I do the same thing in terms of working on different things. Sometimes it's not all in one session though. I generally like to commit whole sessions on particular aspects of my standup.

 

[iluvballz]

i help them bring a world class sparring partner.

 

[GSPforLIFE]

Obviously spoken by someone who has experience, well put.

I would say the one thing I bring to my sparring/training partners that is the most valuable is CONTROL. I do my best to ensure that both myself and my sparring partner gain usable knowledge when we leave the ring. If it is a new guy i am working with, I don't throw my strikes in a manner that will dissuade him from practicing his technique correctly. It doesn't serve a guy well to just pound on him, he learns nothing that will make him a better fighter. When i work with a new guy, you will often see me spit out my mouthpiece about 1 min into the round and start talking to him while sparring. I will call out shots as I know they are open, and I will intentionally leave them openings, to the point where i will just pause mid exchange and stand there holding my position and start yelling "where is the opening", till they find it. Don't get me wrong, I hit em back too! But I hit them in a way that they know they got hit, but don't get hurt or intimidated. You can go full speed, without going full power! Keep your hands open in your gloves (not clinching or tightening your fist), and when the shot gets to your opponent and touches him, pull it back, don't drive through...... I use this analogy when explaining how to hold your hands in your gloves: "imagine you got a banana in your hand, dont smash it"..... Along with allowing you to train at full speed and avoid injuries, this practice in sparring will also help you develop punch control. Which leads to better timing, hand speed, accuracy and counter-punching awareness.

CONTROL is also why guys get invited (and paid) to work as a sparring partner for guys getting ready to compete. Unlike working with a new guy, I will hit em plenty hard and will give my best effort to make them work for it each and every round. However, by having CONTROL I also know when to pull a shot back (not follow through) and take precautions to make sure the guy who is getting ready to compete doesn't get injured. A good fighter knows when he leaves himself open, you don't have to try and blast his head off his shoulders. Just get the shot there, then stop it short or pull it back (avoiding unnecessary injury)....... Quite often you will see him (or his corner/coach) acknowledge the fact that you "could of" really laid into him, you hear him say "mmmmm...." then ya touch gloves and get back to it! CONTROL IS WHAT MAKES A GUY A VALUABLE SPARRING PARTNER AT ANY LEVEL.

I'm gonna remember the open-hand/banana analogy when I spar from now on; I like that. Thank you.