Hi, been going to a boxing gym for couple of weeks now, and my coach has started me off on body only sparring. First couple of times ive taken a right hammering. Has anyone got any tips?
How are you holding your guard? Are you keeping a high guard to protect the head and chin or are you holding a low guard to protect the body? I'd hope the latter of the two if you are only body sparring. If you are not doing so now, I'd say hold your elbows fairly close to your rib cage so your arms take the punches more than the ribs, liver and gut when your opponent gets within punching range. You can still hold a pretty good low guard without sacrificing your chin if you keep it tucked in and not out there like a big target. Make yourself small in the ring. By this I mean bend slightly at the waist so your body is farther away from your opponent and not an upright target. On a simpler note, hit them first and often. A good offense is sometimes the best defense.
Thanks for the advice. Lookin forward to the head and body sparring but need to learn a few more skills i rkn before he takes the shackles off!
Dont stand square on to him - this makes you easier to hit as there is a bigger available surface area. Try moving his hands around i.e. double left hook to the body followed by right upper cut to the stomach. Also go for the ribs (I still off training because of this!)
Either be side-on on the outside or square on throwing shots. All body shots need to be delivered with the weight on the front foot
Thanks guys, i'll try and put it into practice tonight. Think i was standing too sqaure on, makin it easier to get hit.
If your starting out I find some people basically do some crab defense covering almost all their body. If this is the case I'd unload a few 1-2s into their shoulders it'll tire them out and open them up. For the record I dislike body sparring as I find it encourages bad habits I see alot of guys doing it who just stand next to each other winging shots into each others ribs until one gets hurt and backs off.
Ive noticed, that Gyms who Body Spar, dont produce Guys who throw good Body shots. I find this of interest, as its all about position, before the act.
Along with keeping a tight guard, roll with the punches too. Time the impact of punches, with a slight body rotation. Punches hurt more when you take then dead on. By rotating your upper body on impact, you deflect some of the force.
Have you ever realised that body sparring turns into 'who can throw the wildest hay maker and wind the other guy with little technique' sparring a lot of the time? It's like "hey, we're not hitting to the head so we may as well just throw our hardest punches." If you can't tell I'm not a massive fan of it.
Ni ether am I, but in certain circumstances, with Novices I suppose there is an opening for it. As long as proper Technique is used.
body sparring only is ridiculous and pointless, if you know your gonna get shot to the body but not the head, cross guard your body and its practically impossible to penetrate, wheras normal sparring you tend to hold a high guard and you have many more opportunitys to throw a body shot.
