Your Ego and Boxing..

[Machete Juarez]

they say there is no place for ego in the ring, because anything can happen in boxing. flash knockouts, missed openings, judges' politics. shit happens. just get in there, do your best, and leave with no regrets.

for one, i have this true story of a green professional boxer. in the final round, his opponent was almost drowning in his own blood, and was being staggered with every power straight and hook. and this guy was actually fighting with his hands down. smiling. but our guy still lost on a split decision, probably because the fight was promoted by the opponent's stable.

 

[KidneyDigs]

Great post. I personally believe that there is no room for ego once a spar/fight begins. If you are aware of ego whilst you're boxing, and you get caught by someone you "shouldn't" get caught by, your mind is already asking "how did he hit me??" - which will only make matters worse.

I'd say leave the ego to locker-room banter, and leave pre-fight odds on what should or shouldn't happen to the bookmakers.

Easier said than done though.

 

[mikehmike]

Having someone bull rush you is always good because you never know how someone in boxing, thai boxing, mma, real life, etc is going to react

 

[Machete Juarez]

Great post. I personally believe that there is no room for ego once a spar/fight begins. If you are aware of ego whilst you're boxing, and you get caught by someone you "shouldn't" get caught by, your mind is already asking "how did he hit me??" - which will only make matters worse.

I'd say leave the ego to locker-room banter, and leave pre-fight odds on what should or shouldn't happen to the bookmakers.

Easier said than done though.

there are also the times when the crowd gets to you. you forget your game plan because of those ignorant motherfuckers who talk so much shit on the sidelines, but have never stepped in a live ring before, let alone box for a whole round. your ego just can't leave it alone. it can't just let that side comment slide. and while you're thinking about that, the other guy is probably bashing your face in.

 

[Dissenter]

No offense, but it's completely your fault for taking him lightly. The inexperienced become dangerous for this very reason. You can hold back without being careless. We learn, and I'm sure you must have.

 

[Rockomon]

when i kickboxed in the states, every saturday was sparring day and there was this frenchman who would go 100% in class during the week, often injuring his partner or completely ignoring the instructor's lesson

my instructor knew this so asked me to 'introduce' him to sparring for his first time in the ring.

i knew exactly what he was going to do, i.e bull rush me so i was more than prepared.

sure enough, the bell sounds and he comes right at me and i simply teep him with my lead leg, sending him sprawling to the canvas. he gets up, tries the same tactic, looking for my leg again, but this time i connected with a stiff jab instead, also resulting in a canvass kissing.

that was the last time he sparred.

u should of connected with the overhand right instead of the jab. that woulda ktfo'd his ass lol

 

[fightingrabbit]

No offense, but it's completely your fault for taking him lightly. The inexperienced become dangerous for this very reason. You can hold back without being careless. We learn, and I'm sure you must have.

yeah man its weird. after some unfriendly bumrushes and spazzes. im always cautious for that one big right swing when they put me in there with first timers. because i know if i apply too much pressure. they'll snap. but i learned the hard way. its cool. it knocked some sense into me lol.

 

[ambertch]

I think the beauty of fighting lies not in the deafeat of your enemies but in the personal insights you gain from the experience. Having an opponent is like a physical manifestation of your own insecurities and in the end, that's what we really conquor.

EXACTAMUNDO. Man I wish everybody who trained in a martial art knew this. Seeing that this ain't feudal Japan and we aren't ronin samurai running around challenging fools for our honor.

But they don't. They think they're learning to box so they can kick ass and be tough. They aren't conquering themselves, they're just continuing to let their personal demons, their personal weaknesses control them.


And it's so, so sad. But I guess just like all the real lessons learned in life - you can't teach a guy what to learn in martial arts or fighting. They gotta learn by themselves and some people learn, others don't

 

[ambertch]

yeah man its weird. after some unfriendly bumrushes and spazzes. im always cautious for that one big right swing when they put me in there with first timers. because i know if i apply too much pressure. they'll snap. but i learned the hard way. its cool. it knocked some sense into me lol.

Actually reading your post I don't think it's not 'ego' per se but experience and the fact that you aren't super awesomely good. (this isn't a knock since the same thing happened to me) Sparred a new guy who came bullrushing and I got embarrassingly hammered. Another day that guy went all out on one of the pros in my gym. The pro did the same as me coming in with his hands down nonchalantly, but the skill level difference was just too great for it to matter that the pro just didn't give a fuck. The pro shoulder rolled the first big bomb, immediately realized the guy was serious, and that was it

But in my case the guy eventually got tired and I started hammering him haha. And him and I were smiling and laughing the whole time we were beating eachother up. Maybe it's cause he 's from Russia and Russians just plain don't give a fuck about life cause they are so hardcore to the max ("In Soviet Russia...").

I'm good friends with him - I never got it to my head that he beat my ass though. I try to approach this whole thing without pride. You kick my ass? That's great, I learned something. Next time I'm not taking the new guy lightly.

 

[IMustBreakYou]

Sparring is not about winning but improving an aspect of your game. Sparring is not a fight and sure sometimes you have to spar like you fight to get mentally tough. I go in there with a plan, (like today I'm going to work on my jab.) Or today catch and counter or whatever and maybe if it was a fight he would have one. But in the long run I won b/c I improved on an aspect of my game, to make me more complete.

 

[fightingrabbit]

Sparring is not about winning but improving an aspect of your game. Sparring is not a fight and sure sometimes you have to spar like you fight to get mentally tough. I go in there with a plan, (like today I'm going to work on my jab.) Or today catch and counter or whatever and maybe if it was a fight he would have one. But in the long run I won b/c I improved on an aspect of my game, to make me more complete.

yeah. i consider it a failed session.

 

[bfmv300]

Haha nice story.

I remember one time I told one of my friends to come in to a sparring session, and work some striking. Anyway we get our gear on and start the opening round. My friend starts bouncing up and down like he's on crack and starts throwing these wild haymakers. The first one lands and I get pissed. After that I start slipping, bobbing and weaving and I start putting together light combos on the head and power shots to the body, trying to get him to relax. Well I have to give him credit he never stopped the intensity, but at the end he had bruised ribs and a bloody nose despite having a caged facemask.

 

[Matt505]

How are new ppl susspose to learn if you guys just want to kill them/Wand Choke them now? You were a Newb as one time as well ppl took it easy on you.

 

[Fzubek]

The first thing that popped in my mind was that you said as soon as he caught you and rocked you, you kidnal ost your composure..

Ive seen this in fights and in sparring before... are you not used to getting hit hard in training?

In the future, you should always be 100 percent focues on your sparring partner, you said your guard was half assed.. why?

Dont fight/sparr down to somebody elses level.

You dont have to kill them but display your technical superiority.

And to answer your question... im not an outwardly egotistic person.. but in my head I think I can beat ANYBODY. Im for real, if you were to put me in there with Tyson circa 1988, I would convince myself that I could win, ya know... even if I knew somewhere deep down that I was about to be raped.. id convince myself that I was about to lay down an asswhooping..

 

[bfmv300]

How are new ppl susspose to learn if you guys just want to kill them/Wand Choke them now? You were a Newb as one time as well ppl took it easy on you.

That's not exactly the way I see it. If you don't challenge someone how are they supposed to learn? I agree that you shouldn't try and kill them, but if you don't get tagged a couple times then you didn't really learn anything did you? Another problem is that people get a false sense of confidence about their abilities when you go too easy on them.

It's a balance.

 

[fightingrabbit]

The first thing that popped in my mind was that you said as soon as he caught you and rocked you, you kidnal ost your composure..

Ive seen this in fights and in sparring before... are you not used to getting hit hard in training?

In the future, you should always be 100 percent focues on your sparring partner, you said your guard was half assed.. why?

Dont fight/sparr down to somebody elses level.

You dont have to kill them but display your technical superiority.

And to answer your question... im not an outwardly egotistic person.. but in my head I think I can beat ANYBODY. Im for real, if you were to put me in there with Tyson circa 1988, I would convince myself that I could win, ya know... even if I knew somewhere deep down that I was about to be raped.. id convince myself that I was about to lay down an asswhooping..

lol well to be honest. im not trying to brag and say i can take hits. but that swing was no sissy punch. the fucker had some heavy hands. fuckin cholo hands of stone. it was all adrenaline and nervous energy concentrated into one punch. i gotta give it to him though, it was a damn good one two and i was the sucker lol.. and i know he doesnt have the technique. but you gotta admit, some bastards hit like a truck regardless. yeah i really thought it was over for me, but somehow i managed to come back and turn it into a rumble.

yeah trust me. i learned not to take anyone lightly.i dont have enough brain cells left to be learning the hard way. yeah and i dont know about all that raping stuff..but maybe ill give it a try sometime.