Sparring Nervousness

B Rock,

Seriously, take Sentoguy’s last post to heart. Now is always a good time to look for a sparring partner that will work with you like he describes.

Regards,

Robert A

relax.
the guy who is relaxed and comfortable in the ring has a different kind of energy about him. things run smoothly. make sure you are enjoying yourself too. convert the nervous energy into positivity, go into the ring/cage/mat knowing that after every sparring session you will be a better fighter.

"I’ve gotten hit in the head plenty to know it doesn’t hurt. I think I just … I dunno. I feel as if my mind is blank when I’m sparring and it’s because there is “too much” to think of…should I throw a jab/cross/hook, is he gonna throw a jab/cross/hook, should I faint/bob/weave… "

there is some thinking involved in sparring of course, but you should never be thinking about a single situation in terms of defense. replace ‘should i bob/weave’ with an occasional ‘keep moving’. dont think about punches, feel them. eliminate the mental dialogue. if your mind is blank you’re on the right track, train your instincts and you will be half a second faster than the guy who has to mentally process a fight. the only thoughts you should have is your overall strategy, the times you need to outsmart him. but when you see an opening, when he drops his hands, when he’s in range, its your chance, dont think, hit.

you will get over this pretty easily with time. i sparred with a guy like this recently. he would come in throwing big haymakers then when i got him with a couple combos he turned his back to protect his head, it was like a reflex. my advice is spar more and more, you will break the habit.

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
B Rock, from your reactions it sounds to me like you need to take things down a notch in terms of your sparring intensity. Your goal should be to learn how to do things right, and it sounds like you don’t have enough confidence/practice in your skills at the intensity you’re sparring at to execute your skills correctly. Bring things down to a speed/intensity where you do feel confident and then slowly build up from there.

Different people have different temperaments, tolerances to stress, pain tolerance levels, and even life experiences which can cause them to respond differently to certain situations. Therefore, the same level of intensity might be just right for one person, way too much for another, or not enough for yet another. The same cookie cutter “you should spend the majority of time training at X intensity…” approach may work great for one individual and horribly for another.

I’d suggest starting out your sparring session at 10% speed/intensity, if that feels fine, go up to 20%. Still fine? Then go up to 30%, and so on until you reach a level of speed/intensity where you start to feel tense, panicky, start to “think” too much, and stop being able to execute your techniques effectively. Then drop back down just below that level. Work in that intensity/speed range for a while until you really start to feel comfortable, and then every now and then test to see if you can ratchet up the intensity and still be able to keep your cool. Eventually over time you will get comfortable at greater and greater intensity levels and eventually be able to go full speed/intensity comfortably.

Once you get to that point, then it’s a matter of maintaining your comfort in going full speed, but not doing it too much that it starts to wear down your body or possibly have adverse affects down the road (hard strikes to the head can cause bruising of the brain, which, if done too often can lead to nervous system problems, like Parkinsons, down the road). Even professional coaches like Freddie Roach don’t advocate going all out all the time. So no need for someone who isn’t a professional fighter to do so IMO.

This is of course also going to require that you find a training partner who is capable of controlling themselves, not ego driven (isn’t going to ratchet up the speed/intensity if they get hit or start to “lose”), and comfortable training at or above your level of intensity.

[/quote]

Very well put man. It’s monday morning when I’m reading this and I sparred/rolling a bunch this weekend.

I found a bunch of guys that are more than willing to work only defense on their part, go slower, and work at my pace. So I was able to take it down a notch, slow down, think…and wouldn’t you know it; I wasn’t nervous really. I was able to breath, look for openings and have a game plan.

That was a great few rounds of sparring having some guys that would only work defense or throw out some jabs if I was dropping my hands.

It’s all going to come in due time. I’m just going to have to put more mat time in, and I will.

good attitude, that will take you far my friend.

enjoy
11 year olds

[quote]B rocK wrote:
I was called out on this last night when sparring with a few guys. I do a good job at keeping my hands up, until I get a few punches thrown at me and my hands shake a bit; and eventually drop them enough to get hit.

Shit I just told everyone my weakness!

I was hoping some of the more seasoned guys can chime in and let me know if this is just a beginner thing or what.

I’ve gotten hit in the head plenty to know it doesn’t hurt. I think I just … I dunno. I feel as if my mind is blank when I’m sparring and it’s because there is “too much” to think of…should I throw a jab/cross/hook, is he gonna throw a jab/cross/hook, should I faint/bob/weave…

So with all that going through my brain in a flash of a second…Bang! I get hit.

I’m hoping it’s a beginner thing b/c I’ve been told I have great hands (when using focus mits and heavy bag) and want to see it come to fruition. [/quote]

It’s better to spar/fight with a clear head. With that said, its natural that you have your ‘what if’s’ floating in your head. I tend to think this is better than some cocky fatty thinking he can beat everyone up because he can punch the heavy bag really hard.

Realize that even the most elite fighters still have the ‘what if’s’ constantly running through their minds. However, for a trained fighter, this is only prior to a fight.

Before entering the ring you’re body (or mind) is constantly going to remind you of the dangers that are eminent. What if he’s aggressive? What if he catches me with a good shot? What if he goes for the body? What if he knocks me out and embarrasses me?

You have to think, you’re going to be toe to toe with this guy anyway… will constantly doubting my skills or wondering about how hard im going to get hit going to help me get out of this alive?

Your mindset is obviously set to defense mode, you’re basically set yourself to just survive. On the other hand, you can choose to be that monster.

Be that guy on the otherside that is going to go really hard to the body, be aggressive, and knock the other guy out and embarrass him. Not intentionally of course.

With that said, you have to train. Obviously. Why do boxers CONSTANTLY repeat the same punches, the same feints, the same heavy bag drill, throw endless jabs, shadow box for hours…
It’s so that your brain, or rather your mind is more at ease with the situation.

Doesn’t matter how hard you can throw, or how accurate your punches are… if you freeze when push comes to shove.

Re evaluate your thoughts.

Remember to be the monster, not the victim.

to the OP,

a lot of good advice here…

when you train, how much sparring do you do, as compared to shadowboxing, pad drills, etc?

one thign i see is people sparring a lot, without knowing counters, or really understanding how the drills they pratice apply when sparring/fighting…

[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
to the OP,

a lot of good advice here…

when you train, how much sparring do you do, as compared to shadowboxing, pad drills, etc?

one thign i see is people sparring a lot, without knowing counters, or really understanding how the drills they pratice apply when sparring/fighting…[/quote]

I’d say we spar 50% of the class each time. More if enough people want to keep going. (that’s usually the case)

I get 3-5 rounds of 3+min typically.

Last night I got to spar with 2 different people (and one guy I usually spar with) and it was a great mental boost. The first guy was a bit smaller (for once) and I was able to keep him away with my jab and set up some good crosses. The second guy had a good 6" reach on me so I was working ducking and getting used to taking a jab (or two) to set up a hit.

I can say that just within a week or two, I’ve seen good mental progress. Might not see much on the mat, but I can say for sure that my mind is clear going into each round and the nerves aren’t as in control.

That alone, excites me for the future.

[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
to the OP,

a lot of good advice here…

when you train, how much sparring do you do, as compared to shadowboxing, pad drills, etc?

one thign i see is people sparring a lot, without knowing counters, or really understanding how the drills they pratice apply when sparring/fighting…[/quote]

I feel like it’s pendulur if that makes sense.

I feel like there are times when I benifit from a lot of pad and bagwork, then reach a stage where I need to concentrate applying it more in context, to see and feel it working (or not working as the case may be). But then after a time of concentrating on sparring (which is where I am now), I feel like I benefit more from going back to the mitts and pads for a bit so I can then get my form cleaned up again.

Part of what’s hard for me is that the only guys who spar hard (headgear and go more than 20%) are the guys who fight, and the training often revolves around their fight schedules,with the pro-guys getting priority.

For me this means that it’s been awhile since I’ve gotten to spend time in the 40-60% (just kind of tossing numbers out their to try and give context) where I don’t need to ‘fear’ getting hit, but everything is moving fast enough and hitting hard enough to not just be timing.

I don’t know. One of our pro-guys is defending his belt this weekend. After that non of the pros have any fights coming up for a bit, so hopefully we can take it down a notch so I can improve more than my survival game for a bit.

[quote]Spartiates wrote:

Part of what’s hard for me is that the only guys who spar hard (headgear and go more than 20%) are the guys who fight, and the training often revolves around their fight schedules,with the pro-guys getting priority.

For me this means that it’s been awhile since I’ve gotten to spend time in the 40-60% (just kind of tossing numbers out their to try and give context) where I don’t need to ‘fear’ getting hit, but everything is moving fast enough and hitting hard enough to not just be timing.

I don’t know. One of our pro-guys is defending his belt this weekend. After that non of the pros have any fights coming up for a bit, so hopefully we can take it down a notch so I can improve more than my survival game for a bit.[/quote]

That’s what I have been told will happen at most places where guys actually fight.

It’s best to get into a camp after some fights where guys are going to take it down a notch.

Hang in there man, the lower % sparing is great once you get some guys to drop down with ya.