sparring in Kyoto, Japan

[blockhar]

this is my second video of me sparring. the other video i posted was my first time sparring at another gym. also this time I am sparring the same guy and we go 4 rounds. I know i need to work on a lot of things but for me, noticing my own improvements and also the areas i need to work on give me confidence. I am learning as I go. The only thing i wish i was able to do more is spar. There arent many big fighters in japan and due to my work schedule, its just hard to do so. but given that I cant change either I will just continue to improve what i can. and please all advice is welcome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsrDB_y_A30

[jjbj2]

this is my second video of me sparring. the other video i posted was my first time sparring at another gym. also this time I am sparring the same guy and we go 4 rounds. I know i need to work on a lot of things but for me, noticing my own improvements and also the areas i need to work on give me confidence. I am learning as I go. The only thing i wish i was able to do more is spar. There arent many big fighters in japan and due to my work schedule, its just hard to do so. but given that I cant change either I will just continue to improve what i can. and please all advice is welcome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsrDB_y_A30

That was great spar!

Now, to the advice:

- At the beginning, you started off with that shoulder roll position. With one arm down and one arm ****ed up/guarding. As the spar continued, your head kept getting hit that slowly you raised both your arms up to protect your head. And that lessened the times your head got rocked. Keep your arms up and elbows up so that those two will take the brunt of the punches not your head.

- You are pretty good attacking the body with that shoulder roll position but when you did the peekaboo style you started hitting the taller guy's head and body. You pretty much increased your target. I saw you getting more confident going for his head and body combinations.

- I like your combinations and your confidence to go through it even though you are getting hit too. I think you have a natural instinct of not caring getting hit (as long as it is not fatal like a knockout punch) that you will keep going forward to do and finish your combinations.

- Is it fair for me to say that you respect your sparring partner's strength too. The reason I say that is because you changed your defensive position from shoulder roll to traditional guard.

- Upper left cut, upper left cut/ left hook, and straight right that was a nice combo. You rocked that guy back hard. I think this one should be one your baseline combos. Pacquiao has baseline combos he keeps using. The jab, jab, and then straight left to jab, jab, right hook combos. Martinez has one too, the circle jab circle jab, and then finishes opponents either straight right or any other type of power punch.

- Keep those arms up. Practice your left and right hooks because those have powers in them and so does your straight right. Although, you can practice a bit more jabs. Right now, you are sort of an open book. You charge a lot and one of the reasons why your head got hit a lot. You need to learn how to jab. Your opponent was practicing feints like jab, jab, and then right or left hooks to your head. And you just kept bullying forward. I think you should learn to distinguish an opponent's feints. If a stronger opponent started feinting by throwing jabs and then you just walk through it thinking they are weak punches but at then meets a hard power punch at the end then you deserve it. That is why when you watch boxing live, you see boxers not charging in all the time because feints and power punches will start mixing in and both will sometimes feel the same so be wary of it.

- What else, ring generalship. You are like a Pacquiao of back then who only knows how to move forward just like Margarito or Rios too. Still, you should learn how to move in circles because as you can see in Margarito's face and Rios' situation against Acosta straight sometimes is not a smart strategy to have. You will get into a toe-to-toe fight against same thinking fighters. You should really practice in moving in circles. Take the sparring session not just to showcase how strong or powerful you are but how smart you are too by throwing jabs/feints and ring generalship it is not all about strength and power. Look at Pacquiao vs Morales/Marquez those fights showed what happens to a boxer who only knows how to move forward versus a boxer with technical and ring generalship skills. Morales and Marquez moved circles against Pacquiao. In Pacquiao's defense he learned how to move in circles too.

Anyway those are my observations. Why did the guy at second half of the video stopped almost throwing power punches? Did he get tired? If he did must be all those body shots you got him.

[boxer2k5]

which one are you btw? and no need to say i know i need improvements. you can have 1000 fights and still need improvements noone perfect and thats the reason why we train. but checking out the vid now. i dont know which you are so im going to watch twice and to pay attention to both guys.

[boxer2k5]

Red shorts- keeps guard too high at times when both hands are up leaving body exposed. you can leave your gloves by chin and use your legs to cover the rest of the ground to slip and make them miss. so your elbows can protect your body.

When in shell floyd defense where your left arm protects your body left shoulder protects chin and right arm protects the right side. you should be on angle little more so that you can deflect and roll with shots better. if not your chin is exposed for right hands and with the right hand behind your chin you have no way to turn with the punch thus taken full impact. reason why floyd got hit with the first right hand by mosley.

you have nice explosive offense work on either being a little more calm meaning making less movements thats not needed. every step you take should be for offense or defense every roll slip duck. anything else with no action after is a wasted effort. its sometime myself is working on so when i spar i work on being calm and not wasting any actions n movements. use your explosiveness attack and make it count. because its hard to be volume n explosive at same time and dont want to get out worked.

sit down and lean into your body shots. you had some openings to attack the body but they were alot of arm punches and you can be countered while off balance. plus you get more power and its harder for your opponent to predict since you lean in out of his sight. you can rip to body head body head. you have nice combos you put together i like the double hook into right hand.

Blue- should be popping that jab more since hes taller guy. but again something im working on as well. is building a power jab. but jabs is all about confidence and consistancy. just keep popping it. and dont play with the jab hand so much.

throws nice body shots should do it more often.

anyway pretty good sparring. all practice and ment to improve your game. main thing listen to your coach and train hard. keep it up. maybe ill see you one day when you ready for 168 lol

[blockhar]

thanks jjbj2 and boxer2k5. Im the black guy in the red shorts. I will take heed off your advice. you guys really watched and analyzed it. thanks so much for that. yeah, i am a little too exposed to the body. i will lower my guard and learn to use more head movement and my feet. and put more combos together. and def use more of my legs for those body shots. im trying to condition my legs more to be able to go in and out fast but man its tiring. but we all have to start somewhere. and sometimes i get so excited because i dont get too spar often so i was overanxious than usual. will try to not waste movements and energy.

oh and boxer2k5 im 154, jr middle. i just look big.

and thanks again

[BG_Knocc_Out]

I remember you from before. I'm very impressed considering how long you have been boxing (from what I remember it was a relatively short time considering your skill set). Everyone else seems to have pointed out everything that would be need to be pointed out. The only thing I would say is that when you decide to put your hands up high, make sure to tuck the elbows as well. You obviously got caught with a nice body shot when you did. Think of Clottey if you decide to do it. Hands up high, but at the same time you're not lifting your elbows. I do this sometimes just to readjust my positioning if I get hit with something clean.

But, this is pretty cool. How is your experience in Japan? I assume you're not from there and you're either there for work or school. See any differences between Japanese boxing gyms and American boxing gyms? I've always been fascinated in everything Japan for some odd reason, so I'm curious.

[blockhar]

yeah my experience in japan is great. I got a crib, a wife and 2 daughters. probably live my entire life here. And the gyms here are so different from what I experience in the states, albeit only about 3 times at Gleason's in NY. Here is more like a team, the gyms are managed, promoted and trained in house. You gotta sell tickets to get fight money. and also my debut will be next month, July 17th. It will be against another guy who is also debuting. we actually took the pro test together. no so good but there is always chance of a lucky punch. but im working hard and with you guys advice i know I will become better.

[Monte Fisto]

Blockhar, my two cents.. I don't understand why when you close the distance to strike and you land a punch or combo you back out again, and you end up having to find that distance you worked hard for ?

Since you're the shorter fighter, I think once you find your range to get your punches off, you should fight as hard to keep it in that range, like the old boxing saying "keep your head on his chest". Many of us don't have the luxury of having that killer speed where we can just pop-in, jump out and go at it again, unless our opponent or sparring partner is a complete dud.

Anyway, about Japan, i'm just curious what you're doing over there, are you in the military ? I love the country/food/culture, and want to explore more next time I get a chance to visit.

[blockhar]

@monte, good point. i really didnt think about just staying on the inside. i guess cuz my trainer always tells me to work on coming in since i tend to bully the smaller guys at my gym. they want me to stay working on me boxing from the outside. this sparring partner was from another gym so i often dont get the opportunity to fight taller guys so i just kinda forgot to stay on the inside. but i will definitely pay more attention to that. and im fast but carrying all these muscles makes it very difficult to bounce up and down and in and out, so i should get in my range and stay there.

and about japan. well i first came to japan on a teaching program. then I got married, started to work for a friend at a private english school. Its a nice life here. people are nice but irritating sometimes. just cuz im a foreigner they dont think i know anything about japan, the language or the culture. but overall its my home. Its a great place and i would recommend it to anyone who is willing to come out of their comfort zone to explore a different atmosphere.

[Monte Fisto]

well i first came to japan on a teaching program. then I got married, started to work for a friend at a private english school. Its a nice life here. people are nice but irritating sometimes. just cuz im a foreigner they dont think i know anything about japan, the language or the culture. but overall its my home. Its a great place and i would recommend it to anyone who is willing to come out of their comfort zone to explore a different atmosphere.

How long have you been living there ?

how good is your japanese ?

how is Japan these days since the tsunami ?