So, it was two 'unofficial' spars I suppose. I'm sick and tired of reading and reading about boxing, boxing tactics etc and working on the bag and just waiting until I get back to Uni' so I can join the local boxing gym. Seems as my brother boxed/s in the military abit (not to a high standard, more like sparring and training for fitness and combat, and he had recently stopped for a while as it was focusing on a canoeing race) we gloved up and agreed to have a fair "spar", not at full strength, for fun, to help me and because, well let's face it we're going to fight anyway - if it wasn't without gloves in a "spar" it would be because of conflict and bare knuckle. Let's just say the match was somewhat 'mis-matched' and he is 187lbs, military trained and i'm a novice who's read up tactics weighing at about 151lb. But I was happy to give it a go.
So we began and I reckon I started out exactly how any moron who sticks some gloves on acts, trying to fight and not box. No defence, just go in, swinging etc. Once a I caught a clean shot on the nose which hurt like hell I realised that I was being a ***** and I knew the basics of boxing, i'd read it all up, I just had to think and actually bloody do it. So I lifted my guard, abit of trial and error taught me I prefer a much fuller defence. With my gloves up at nose/eye level, similar to the "peek a boo" as leading with one hand in front, which i've read is how most novices are told to do, I was not comfortable which I believe made me more "glove shy". I always knew boxing required alot of fitness but, woah...Getting hit in the face did not bother me, christ, taking a clean one to the side of my nose stumbled me for a few seconds but I was fine to carry on. I've always been happy to fight, so it wasn't the pain, it was the fitness that was killing me! By 3 rounds of 3 mins my lungs felt as if they were burning. I had then realised i'd made rookie mistake #1...Barely breathing, not exhaling when I went in. I was also moving too much.
We later had a 2nd one and I had come up with an idea to help stay in breath, that was to do what you're actually supposed to do, combos, I tried jabbing with the left, then again, then a right hook once I had shaken him. I also realised when he's fulled blocked there is no point going in like a mad man and using up my energy, like you all know, Ali knew people would do this with his 'rope a dope' style. I also figured out something I found to really help me, maintain the centre. This way I could almost pivot around and let him move around, using his energy. When I started putting all of this in I managed to even get a knock down which I was really happy with. I got a good few rights and then took him down with a left cross. He wasn't down and out, just fell over but, you know, it helps.
So these fake "spars" really did help me. It allowed me to use my knowledge and put it into practice and to figure out how my state of mind should be. It also helped me figure out what style I prefer. But like I said, most importantly it allowed me to get into that state of mind. Actually exhaling when I hit, actually transfering the energy from my feet to my knuckles, using combos etc which I think was crucial.
But here's my problems that I don't know how to fix and even though I wont be "sparring" with my brother again before I finally get to this boxing gym because he is only here to visit I would like to know the answers to problems I know I have for the future so I thought i'd ask. Basically, my defence is pretty good whilst i'm standing and jabbing etc. But when I go in with a hook I keep leaving my entire face open which really left me open to some nasty hits. How do you all keep a guard when you go in with hooks? Also, I know i'm pretty quick and when punches were thrown at me I would sometimes lean back out of it which allowed me to dodge many punches but I just ended up constantly on the defence. Is a lean back away a no no? If not, how can you utilise this to actually get back onto the offensive rather than struggeling to get back to a safe point? My punches are probably awful but that's something i'll learn when I get to the gym.
All in all I loved it. I've been in fights before but a fair fight with rules and at a normal state of mind is very different, you're not "geared up" in the same way. It hurt like hell, I took a few good cracks to the jaw, nose, forward, eye, alot of places (I gave a few good back though) and I was relieved to confirm that I can take it. If anything, actually trying it out has made me more determind to drag my ass off to the gym.
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P.S, you can post stuff like "you should only ever do it in a gym" and I accept that but it was frustrating reading it all, watching it all but having not gone up at all. End of the day, we were both gloved up, we both knew the rules and both maintained calm. It was a good experience which really helped me learn.
So we began and I reckon I started out exactly how any moron who sticks some gloves on acts, trying to fight and not box. No defence, just go in, swinging etc. Once a I caught a clean shot on the nose which hurt like hell I realised that I was being a ***** and I knew the basics of boxing, i'd read it all up, I just had to think and actually bloody do it. So I lifted my guard, abit of trial and error taught me I prefer a much fuller defence. With my gloves up at nose/eye level, similar to the "peek a boo" as leading with one hand in front, which i've read is how most novices are told to do, I was not comfortable which I believe made me more "glove shy". I always knew boxing required alot of fitness but, woah...Getting hit in the face did not bother me, christ, taking a clean one to the side of my nose stumbled me for a few seconds but I was fine to carry on. I've always been happy to fight, so it wasn't the pain, it was the fitness that was killing me! By 3 rounds of 3 mins my lungs felt as if they were burning. I had then realised i'd made rookie mistake #1...Barely breathing, not exhaling when I went in. I was also moving too much.
We later had a 2nd one and I had come up with an idea to help stay in breath, that was to do what you're actually supposed to do, combos, I tried jabbing with the left, then again, then a right hook once I had shaken him. I also realised when he's fulled blocked there is no point going in like a mad man and using up my energy, like you all know, Ali knew people would do this with his 'rope a dope' style. I also figured out something I found to really help me, maintain the centre. This way I could almost pivot around and let him move around, using his energy. When I started putting all of this in I managed to even get a knock down which I was really happy with. I got a good few rights and then took him down with a left cross. He wasn't down and out, just fell over but, you know, it helps.
So these fake "spars" really did help me. It allowed me to use my knowledge and put it into practice and to figure out how my state of mind should be. It also helped me figure out what style I prefer. But like I said, most importantly it allowed me to get into that state of mind. Actually exhaling when I hit, actually transfering the energy from my feet to my knuckles, using combos etc which I think was crucial.
But here's my problems that I don't know how to fix and even though I wont be "sparring" with my brother again before I finally get to this boxing gym because he is only here to visit I would like to know the answers to problems I know I have for the future so I thought i'd ask. Basically, my defence is pretty good whilst i'm standing and jabbing etc. But when I go in with a hook I keep leaving my entire face open which really left me open to some nasty hits. How do you all keep a guard when you go in with hooks? Also, I know i'm pretty quick and when punches were thrown at me I would sometimes lean back out of it which allowed me to dodge many punches but I just ended up constantly on the defence. Is a lean back away a no no? If not, how can you utilise this to actually get back onto the offensive rather than struggeling to get back to a safe point? My punches are probably awful but that's something i'll learn when I get to the gym.
All in all I loved it. I've been in fights before but a fair fight with rules and at a normal state of mind is very different, you're not "geared up" in the same way. It hurt like hell, I took a few good cracks to the jaw, nose, forward, eye, alot of places (I gave a few good back though) and I was relieved to confirm that I can take it. If anything, actually trying it out has made me more determind to drag my ass off to the gym.
.P.S, you can post stuff like "you should only ever do it in a gym" and I accept that but it was frustrating reading it all, watching it all but having not gone up at all. End of the day, we were both gloved up, we both knew the rules and both maintained calm. It was a good experience which really helped me learn.
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