First spar fail

[Danny Gunz]

I think my trainer let me spar after like a week or two of being at the gym

[adamooo]

Had my first spar today after 3 or 4 visits to my boxing club.

It went terribly, I felt like I couldn't breathe with my new mouthpiece and kept semi-gagging on it like I was gonna throw up.

Then I was sparring with this black guy who was pretty good, he just kept attacking and all I could do was guard really.

I couldn't stop closing my eyes so I was pretty much a sandbag.

Really disappointed since I love boxing and want to improve but this has certainly been a kick in the balls and made me realize I suck.

my first sparring was something similar to this - they put againt me a short light guy, and I felt pretty confident about myself as I was over 90 kg - but that pygmy - totally demoralized me - he was so quick I couldn't hit him a single time, while he was throwing hundrends of his lightweight punches every minute!

[1moreround]

Had my first spar today after 3 or 4 visits to my boxing club.

It went terribly, I felt like I couldn't breathe with my new mouthpiece and kept semi-gagging on it like I was gonna throw up.

Then I was sparring with this black guy who was pretty good, he just kept attacking and all I could do was guard really.

I couldn't stop closing my eyes so I was pretty much a sandbag.

Really disappointed since I love boxing and want to improve but this has certainly been a kick in the balls and made me realize I suck.

Sparring is like ***...everyone sucks their first time and can't go long. So don't get discouraged. Most of the time, beginners get gassed in sparring mainly because they are nervous. Once your initial adrenaline goes, you're going to feel really drained. You got to practice enough to where you feel more comfortable and loose in the ring. Closing your eyes is an instinctual response that will only go away with more experience. That should be the first thing you work on...just keeping your eyes on your opponent's eyes. You'll get hit less and less the better you get at it, and you'll see openings for counters. Bottom line, don't get disappointed and just keep at it. Find a good sparring partner that will teach you as you spar and you'll get better. Keep it up!

[x-y-z]

You wouldn't happen to be in Chicago..are you?

[DoctorKillJoy]

It sounds like you're being kind of hard on yourself for a first sparring session. You should be proud that you got in there and even if you got beat up a little it sounds like you didn't quit, which is something a lot of people do when they're starting out. I think a lot of the most helpful sparring I've had has been me mostly getting my ass kicked because it showed me things I was doing wrong and a lot of moves or combinations that worked on me so I could try them on someone else the next time. It can be discouraging but hang in there and you'll get better.

As far as the problem with closing your eyes, you might ask someone to just stand with you and hit you in the forehead with some really lite punches for a minute or two at a time so you can get used to keeping your eyes open as punches are coming at you. I used to have a girlfriend do this and it helped a lot, plus I think she enjoyed getting to kick my ass.

[_original_]

Sparring is like ***...everyone sucks their first time and can't go long. So don't get discouraged. Most of the time, beginners get gassed in sparring mainly because they are nervous. Once your initial adrenaline goes, you're going to feel really drained. You got to practice enough to where you feel more comfortable and loose in the ring. Closing your eyes is an instinctual response that will only go away with more experience. That should be the first thing you work on...just keeping your eyes on your opponent's eyes. You'll get hit less and less the better you get at it, and you'll see openings for counters. Bottom line, don't get disappointed and just keep at it. Find a good sparring partner that will teach you as you spar and you'll get better. Keep it up!

lol classic

[mikeyh1015]

happens to all of us

[FIGHTING_FLIP]

haha thas exactly what happned to me the first time. stocky short buff dude who happened to be younger than me. i boxed good like the first 10 seconds. then he just pressed and i shelled up. all the trainers told him and yellled at him to stop but he kept goin. what an ahole.

[Barn]

lol classic

I enjoyed it as well.

[i_am_a_champ]

What have you learned to earned the right to go in the ring? What could you possibly learn in a few visits to warrent you to spar? Spar what? You know nothing! The only reason to let anyone spar is to teach them the lesson that the think they know, which is, I could do this without conditioning or anyones help! If thats the reasons you were in there fine! If not your being used!
It takes months of teaching basics to be able to transfer your lesson to the ring with a spar partner. I'm hoping it was the "hard lesson" that was needed and that your not in for a tuff time in a gym. Ray.

Great points and i agree with what you wrote there.

My first boxing sparring session was with someone who took me round the ring. The coach told him to keep his power down and to watch his shots.

The coaches here do that to all the new guys. They bring them along by easing them into sparring and matching them with guys their weight and skill level until they are capable of sparring competently , but still are matched in weight to spar not matter what. Only the top amatuers/pros can sometimes spar outside their weight class if needed too.


I sparred with a new dude a week or two ago. The first time round the coach told me i was not allowed any shots whilst the new dude was.

2nd time round the coach just let me jab and nothing else because the new dude was improving.

Thats how it is in our gym. There is a big difference between a new guy and seasoned fighters/amatuers/pros/etc .