Sparring Questions for everyone

[humble]

Hey guys,

Just a question for everyone, trainers and trainees and pro fighters. When you guys sparr, how hard do you actually go at each other? Do you usually sparr bigger guys, smaller guys, same weight guys and vary your sparring intensity and exertion accordingly? Do you wear headgear?

Anything else you want to add, feel free.

thanks in advance

If the rulers knew how much peace a poor man had, they would fight them with swords to obtain it. - Imam Al Haddad

[Mitch Seth]

Pretty much there is a un-written rule where you only sparr as hard as the other guy. You usually let each other know if you are going light or hard. And Most of the guys wear head gear when sparring hard.

Hope this helped you a bit,

Mitch :)

[Kostet]

Like Mitch said, you usually spar as hard as the other guy. When with someone with less experience than you, we don't go all out, just try to keep it intense for the other guy, when fighting someone equal or better than you then we go all out, spar as hard as possible.

We don't wear headgear (unless specifically doing headwork), but it's also because our instructor is from a Kyokushin background and we don't do much headwork with our hands, we do throw headkicks though but shin pads + in-step protectors are sufficient for that.

[humble]

thanks for your responses.

The only reason I ask, is that you'd ideally want sparring to be as realistic as possible so that come fight time, you can re-live what you've trained for. I personally don't wear headgear and adopt the same reason as Mike Tysons late trainer cus damato had, that is, the headgear gives you a false sense of security and leaves you less fearful of being hit therefore not being able to transfer your skills to the ring appropriately.

Obviously sparring smaller guys you'd have to take it easy, but unless specifically working your speed, i see no point of it as your not effectively getting used to the weight of blows you'd be taking from your normal opponents. Sure if your just starting out then you need to gradually get used to taking blows in the first place and someone lighter but more experienced than you might be good, but eventually your gonna need a heavier opponent to make sure everything is as real as possible. There has to be some degree of specificity.

That is what I'm wondering.... how many people take their sparring to the nth degree and try to have it as close to a fight as possible.

If the rulers knew how much peace a poor man had, they would fight them with swords to obtain it. - Imam Al Haddad

[BULLET]

Humble,

In answer to your question, i dont think its about how 'hard' you hit your sparring partner whilst sparring, but how high the 'intensity' or work rate is whilst sparring.

I am lightweight, and I sparred guys from featherweights to middleweights. Speed vs power is something very beneficial sparring guys in different weight divisions.

Although it does come down to who you're sparring against, it is important to keep your workrate up and making it as intense and beneficial as possible.

Trust me, you can still learn from being tagged with a body rip or straight jab at half power, but plenty of sting!

Simulating a fight is easy when you have the same intensity level of your sparring partner. Because you are more 'relaxed' and less tense in sparring - and not concerned about winning or losing, it is easier to work on your mistakes, combinations, and things that are going to help you win. So when it comes to fight time, you will learn from the mistakes you make in sparring.

And if your sparring partner does take it to the next level and tags you with a good one - give one back to let him know you're still in the game. HAHAHA.


BULLET'S OPINION

[Mitch Seth]

humble,

The way you sparr is usually in relation to upcoming fights. At the moment alot of the people from my gym are preparing for the IFMA World Championships in November so when sparring we get the full gear on to get a feel for it and get used to it when sparring. When there is no fights coming up in Perth we usually don't sparr hard but if there is fights coming up we sparr hard up untill the last week before the fights, We sparr with shin pads, mouth guards and ball guards. The females, juniors and novice fighters will sparr with head gear though.