Sparring Video - Tips / Advice Thread

[JulVal]

Hi All,

I'm a huge boxing fan and decided to try out boxing. I do quite a few boxing training since a few years ago but has shifted to Muay Thai since I find that it's more of a complete body workout.

I've never sparred in boxing except for very light sparring with a trainer and beginners where you do not get punched except for very light jabs but last weekend, I tried to ask someone to spar with me and I think this might be my first real sparring. After sparring, I fell in love with boxing again and I decided that I want to get better.

From the video, I got tagged quite a bit of times and I watched it over and over again to see what are the things I did wrong but wanted to get advice. The video is quite ugly and so is my 'boxing'. I'm definitely a newbie so tips / advice are appreciated.

[HughJass]

Hi.

Don't hold your chin in the air when you'r trying to avoid a punch.Keep those hands up at all times,you have a big habit of lowering your left hand.Try not to be so bouncey on your feet.Your wasting far too much energy.You need more head movement.

Stop dropping your right hand when you're close to your opponent,he's tagging you with jabs he should never be able to land on you.

Your stance...You're to square,get in that half guard so your opponent has to work to tag you.

It all comes with practice...You seem like you enjoyed yourself.Keep at it homie.This is all good criticism,nothing to pull you down.We have some ex coaches/fighters on this forum who might be able to explain it better in writing.

[JulVal]

Hi.

Don't hold your chin in the air when you'r trying to avoid a punch.Keep those hands up at all times,you have a big habit of lowering your left hand.Try not to be so bouncey on your feet.Your wasting far too much energy.You need more head movement.

Stop dropping your right hand when you're close to your opponent,he's tagging you with jabs he should never be able to land on you.

Your stance...You're to square,get in that half guard so your opponent has to work to tag you.

It all comes with practice...You seem like you enjoyed yourself.Keep at it homie.This is all good criticism,nothing to pull you down.We have some ex coaches/fighters on this forum who might be able to explain it better in writing.

Thank you for all the advice. I noticed that I keep putting my hand down too except for the right hand when Im close to my opponent so Ill take special note of that. Ill rewatch to check again.

You are also right that I bounce too much. Lost energy towards the second round that I asked my partner to stop

Regarding the half guard or stance, Ill make sure to research on it. Boxing gyms I go to are mostly just workout boxing so I am rarely getting the advice I need. (Checked on it, is half guard = philly shell stance)?

Advice is highly appreciated homie. I know I suck at it and it helps a lot hearing the tips from someone else. Thanks!

[HughJass]

Thank you for all the advice. I noticed that I keep putting my hand down too except for the right hand when Im close to my opponent so Ill take special note of that. Ill rewatch to check again.

You are also right that I bounce too much. Lost energy towards the second round that I asked my partner to stop

Regarding the half guard or stance, Ill make sure to research on it. Boxing gyms I go to are mostly just workout boxing so I am rarely getting the advice I need. (Checked on it, is half guard = philly shell stance)?

Advice is highly appreciated homie. I know I suck at it and it helps a lot hearing the tips from someone else. Thanks!

No problem my man.Your stance is mega important.I remember a few years ago(might be more)when Bernard Hopkins did like a tutorial in the back pages of the ring magazine,those were quite helpful.



Notice how Bernard's feet are.That's the stance you want to master.His right arm is ready to catch a shot to the body,also his left hand is ready to parry that jab of De La Hoya's away,then he's ready to shoot the right hand down the pipe.

[JulVal]

No problem my man.Your stance is mega important.I remember a few years ago(might be more)when Bernard Hopkins did like a tutorial in the back pages of the ring magazine,those were quite helpful.



Notice how Bernard's feet are.That's the stance you want to master.His right arm is ready to catch a shot to the body,also his left hand is ready to parry that jab of De La Hoya's away,then he's ready to shoot the right hand down the pipe.

Thanks for the image. Tried looking for the ring magazine article but I couldn't find it. I found this instead though : http://www.expertboxing.com/boxing-b...-boxing-stance

I'll make sure to force my body to switch out my stance. I red the article after your advice and realized my stance is literally too square which exposes a big chunk of my body/head as compared to being angled (exposes less part of my body).

No wonder I keep getting tagged by those right hooks and straights

[HughJass]

Thanks for the image. Tried looking for the ring magazine article but I couldn't find it. I found this instead though : http://www.expertboxing.com/boxing-b...-boxing-stance

I'll make sure to force my body to switch out my stance. I red the article after your advice and realized my stance is literally too square which exposes a big chunk of my body/head as compared to being angled (exposes less part of my body).

No wonder I keep getting tagged by those right hooks and straights

Yeah,that site might be helpful to you.What i found helped me was to shadowbox in a mirror for hours on end.Then i applied what i was taught and bingo.Like i said before,practice makes perfect.

If i can help you in anyway,i will.Just keep working hard homie.

[packerfan78]

you look pretty good. i would suggest bringing your left back higher when you jab. thats how he was able to land his right counter punch. my trainer made me touch my nose everytime i threw a jab so i got in the habit of bringing it back. you could double up on your jab too. like others said keep your chin tucked and relax. otherwise you have good handspeed and good instincts.

[2ofEverything]

Well, first your hands are too low, I mean Hugh pointed out you're dropping the right when you come in but you're also dropping the left. Another thing is your elbows are way out there, tuck them in a bit more because if you go in with a guy with any experience he'll rip those uppercuts down the middle into your solar plexus hard. Another thing is when you go in for anything with a moderate amount of power you're stepping in way too far, almost lunging, and in the video you can see if you don't land those punches you're off balance because of those huge steps.

And overall I know it was just some light technical but that doesn't mean you have to half ass it, leaving those jabs out for a year isn't going to help you with anything except for catching hooks on the chin.

Good job so far but you've got a lot of work to do.

[wilberbear]

I am not a boxing expert, but if you are a footwork oriented boxer like me instead of a tanker who wades through punches, your footwork seems pointless in terms of timing, rhythm, direction. You seem to be doing footwork for the sake of doing footwork instead of the relevant results from the footwork. youtube.com/watch?v=6q_D4ZS0GQU There is my video. The guy without the gloves is me. I don't have a gym sparring video (didn't have anyone to record video for me). I am very footwork oriented. I don't wade through punches. I just make it difficult for the opponent to aim (the moment I circle around is usually the moment the opponent's punch already started; my timing & rhythm for circling is not random but either spontaneous while the opponent doesn't punch or at the opponent's punch timing). If you are not a footwork oriented boxer, I still think you should move around more often because your opponent can't quite capture the timing whether you are going in or just moving around as your footworks look about the same. If you are stationary without moving your feet, the moment your suddenly start moving your feet, your opponent knows you are doing something. If you are always moving your feet, when you try to do something, your opponent doesn't know if you are just moving your feet or actually doing something. That's my 2 cents (2 cents is the right expression, right? I'm ESL). The most important thing in boxing is not about some pose you do with arms or legs but how to blend in your arm moves & feet moves into casual movements. That's how I see it.

Blending in moves is also the unique trait in boxing & Muaythai. Most (not all as you see even from Muaythai) East Asian martial arts or Fight Games (I don't really consider Fight Games as martial arts in neither structure nor intention) don't really teach you to shake (or however you call that) your arms & legs at all times. You can hit heavy or light. You can have a lot of muscles or skinny. You can pose however you want. But you gotta land your punches & not get punches landed on. You gotta conceal your intention while reading the opponent's intention. Some people compare boxing to chess, but that's false. Boxing is closer to poker. It is not about brain stamina (calculating up to how many moves) but mental analysis (the power to capture). That's how I see it.

[PsychoJim]

No problem my man.Your stance is mega important.I remember a few years ago(might be more)when Bernard Hopkins did like a tutorial in the back pages of the ring magazine,those were quite helpful.

He's also done a video series on the Ring website called "Perfect Execution".