[Bispo]

Hey guys I just started Sparring at the Gym I go to so let me know how your first sparring experiences went down. Here's mine.

I trained MT and western boxing In 2006 from april to november then took time off until April of 07. Just went to my first sparring situation a week ago. I also have a black belt in a TMA (Tang So Doo) which is pretty damn meaningless but I figure I would put it in there.

I sparred with the schools Muay Thai Trainer (after getting his permission of course) and with my gym's resident "Bad Ass."

I did this only because they were the only two people who showed up for the designated sparring time. The week before there were people of varying skills and sizes (and both sexes). Both the guys I sparred are easily 180+ , the BA kid is probably 200+. I weigh in a at a monstrous 161 lbs and am 6' tall. (read: skinny)

I hung tough for a round vs my trainer, then came in the toughguy student. He beat the hell out of me, I landed shots, but was unaware of how hard to hit him since it was my first sparring session at this gym. The Student smashed my nose Bloody and I had to go clean up.

Fast forward- Blood is cleaned up I get back in the ring with my instructor. 2 minutes into the round he RHK's me (he is orthodox stance so it is his "power Leg"). everything gets fuzzy. He informs me to keep my hands up. I barely get my bearings back when he RHK's me again this time dropping me to a knee. I still manage to survive until the end of the round and the student gets back in the ring. I land some shots and realize he is susceptible to a certain combo that I land on him three times before he throws one right down the pipe and smashes my nose into pieces again. I am then informed that was my last round since my nose will undoubtably start gushing again even if I stop the bleeding.

After the adrenaline wears off I have a headache that lasts for 3 days (mild concussion?) a twisted ankle and a very sore knee that keeps me laid up for 2 days. Miraculously, my nose isn't broken. All this from 12 whole minutes of action.

Anyone have similar experiences?

[slugger]

sounds like you jumped into the deep end of the pool for your first time. you have a pretty good attitude about it.

after my first real beating i felt better and less anxious about steping into the ring

kind of sucks about your ankle...make sure you are always balanced and properly warmed up when you spar to avoid injuries

since you are still green/wet behind the ears, ask your partners to ease off a bit till you get situated to sparing in the ring.

keep working hard man

[darnok]

Having your instructor teach you a lesson about keeping your hands up by kicking you in the head hard enough to almost KO you on your first time sparring is ridiculous. Did you get any type of light sparring intro atleast? If this trend continues I would probably not wanna stay at that gym unless they're cranking out champions left and right. I can sorta understand the students beating up you up a bit, but the instructor should be able to see what level you're at and how to pull back so you don't get hurt.

I had a guy at the gym almost KO me as well, but he had no idea I was a noob and he was still pumped from sparring the other experienced guys. He threw an overhand right that stunned me and then pulled back on a big left hook when he realized I was out on my feet and had no idea what I was doing. He went nice and light after that.

Another experienced student that I often got paired up with would beat the crap out of me. He would also hit me harder if I made a mistake, but only hard enough to get the point across, I never had a broken nose or got a headache. More importantly I knew that he wasn't there just to beat me up but he was teaching me some very valueable lessons as well. (It only took me 5 minutes with him to learn not to drop my hands to block low kicks)

[Don Richardson]

In my first sparring session, we went 12 rounds, three minutes each, with 1 minute rest in between. We would spar 3 rounds with one opponent, then switch to another. I started off pretty easy, going against another student who was a bit smaller than me. Then I went against one of the instructors and I did pretty well. Then I went three rounds with our head instructor. He beat me like I was his son. He rang my bell a few times, but it was nothing compared to the 20 or so leg kicks that I got. I managed to finish the full 12 rounds, but I was so beat up and tired that I went home and went straight to bed. I was too tired to eat. When I woke up, I could barely walk. It was definitely a tough, first experience.

[Bispo]

Thanks for the input guys. I have a feeling the beating was more of them putting me through the Gauntlet to see if I was tough enough to keep training. I think I proved that and once this ankle heals up right I will be right back in the gym.

Besides, I am much more mentally relaxed in the ring and who the hell can they throw at me now?

[ahheadlock]

First time i sparred properly, i was against a guy a similar size to me (i'm 6'3", 220lbs) who was a lot fitter / stronger / more experienced. Prior to this i'd done some touch sparring and that - but this was the first time in the ring at a higher work rate. We started off easy and worked up to a bit of a harder pace, he basically kicked the crap out of me but that was ok - he was fighting at the time and i was still very inexperienced, so it was to be expected. He hit me with a couple of big hooks amongst other things. My jaw was fucked the next day - could barely eat. neck was crazy stiff too. Stayed that way for a week or more. Thats not to mention all the bruising from the leg kicks. I felt like shit when i got out of the ring, but that gave way to determination to improve after about 15 minutes of feeling sorry for myself.

[ACR4V3N]

First time I sparred was nice and relaxed against someone who had little experienced so it was just sonme easy going boxing. Though at one point I did kind of twist my ankle and fall into a punch that rung my bell, but I got better. We did box though and it wore the life out of me. Literally, for the next 3 days I ate everything I could.

That was on a weekend, but the next time was only about 3 days later and I sparred one of the coaches. He beat me pretty bad, almost broke my nose, and (accidentally) hit me in the back of the head. My head hurt for about 2 days.

Your bell is going to get "rung" alot but eventually you will look back on that and think "geez that rung my bell?" In other words, you get use to it.

[Stiffy]

Thats shitty dude; sparring is about learning not winning. Nevertheless, I had a similar experience, haha.

I first sparred for a few rounds with my trainer (ex-professional boxer: 30 wins and 7 losses or something,) which is a good thing, because, usually, someone as good as he is can keep his cool and wont go ape shit on you. While he didn't go all out on me, he definitely wore me out a few times with his stiff jabs and continues body shots. One thing that got to me was the fact that I couldn't land anything on him, so I lost a lot of confidence --most trainers tend to at least "give" you a few shots to build up confidence your first few times, Danny (my trainer) fought like he was fighting professionally, just without the power.)

After that, a kid who has a been there for a while stepped in, he was much taller than me and very powerful. First round with him, I was pushed against the ropes most of the time where I received a butt-load of uppercuts. Second round - I get a bloody nose and we have to stop and clean up the mess. I jump back in and get beat around for a while. Thrice, the round is going a little better for me, because I am starting to realize my mistakes and find my rythem; nonetheless, I get backed up into the ropes and he sends me into oblivion with a straight right. I didn't fall because of the ropes, but I am out of it and everyone knows it, so they break it up and I sit for a while.

I my head hurt for days after that...

Anyways, I. still spar with the guy, and he is really cool and down to earth. He just punches really hard.

Since then, I have sparred with a handful of different people. I have found most of the younger kids just like to brawl and knock you the fuck out, which is annoying, but I know how to handle them now.

[glebster_inc]

First time was the best, I HAD no idea wtf is going on, and my rich was showing adventage the guys still talk shit about my rich, but anyways it was redicules but everytime I would through a jabb or a straight right I would move with the side to the guy and thats when he realized he can kill me with body shots, I was getting 1000 body shots and then I got bruises all over my face LOL that was some redicules time...lol it was too funny because everybody goes through that, now i just laugh at how it was.

[JDaveG]

Well, my first REAL sparring experience was a wake-up call. I had done TKD as a kid, and Judo with some boxing (but VERY light sparring) some time ago, but my first time sparring in a MT class was an awakening. We basically did one round with every other student in the class. First guy took it pretty easy on me. Second guy beat me up pretty good. Third guy was one of our BJJ instructors (UFC vet, BTW), and he was training for a fight. He beat the crap out of me, and caught me with a nice sweep. Could barely walk the next day from the leg kicks. And I'm absolutely positive he took it VERY easy on me at that. I sat out the fourth round and then did 2 more before calling it a day.

The biggest eye-opener was that I was (and remain) in no condition to spar. I've started running to try to improve the cardio, but honestly, sparring is the only thing that prepares me for sparring. If I go 3 rounds with someone, I can't go another. It's hard to keep my guard up by the end of each round. So it's kind of a catch-22.

Second biggest eye-opener is that after all that martial arts training as a kid and a younger man, I'm still naturally and instinctively afraid to get hit. It's something I still work on today. It's not that I consciously want to avoid the hit - I've been hit hard and I know it won't kill me. Rather, my subconscious wants to back out, duck, cover up, whatever to avoid a hit to the face or body. When I force myself to stand in there and take the punch, I'm fine. I even counter pretty well. But if I don't consciously think about it, I revert to my natural instinct, which is to run. If I DO consciously think about it, it's hard to concentrate on the actual fight, which means I get hit a lot more before the counter.

It sucks being born a chicken shit. If Darwin was absolutely right, I'd be dead by now

I'll keep working on it, though.