im relatively new to boxing, ive been doing it for 4 months now, in this period ive broken my hand 2, on extra caricular activities :yepand had a cut in sparring. so in those 4 months ive sparred 2 weeks and injured, 2 weeks and injured, 2weeks and injured.. but with relatively low amount of sparring, ive been allowed to have a diploma fight.. so im actually doing alright.. but i have a "little" problem, which is sometimes i close my eyes when i attack and often look down when being attacked, behing my guard.. i could imagine, its a common rookie mistake, but nevertheless its something i want removed as quickly as possible.. so perhaps some you guys here, could share some advice, on how to stop closing my eyes..? perhaps some exercises..
Important part in bold, you need to spar more. Start with very light sparring (more like play boxing, there should be nothing to fear as far as power is concerned) so you can get used to punches coming in your direction, increase the ferocity as you improve. It's a rather natural reaction, after thousands of punches you won't know better than to keep them open.
i will certainly try to follow that advice mate.. could it be helpfull, if i had a mate using me as "punching bag", while i try to focus on him and his movements..?
Yes, that would be very helpful as long as he takes all the power off his punches. Block, parry and evade his punches but never take your eyes off him. Defensive drills (because that is what you are describing) are very useful to get you used to being punched. Are there girls or young kids in your gym? They're excellent for that purpose, even if they do connect there's nothing to worry about.
yes but try to dodge, parry and block (duh) Dont just let him wail on you though, it should be very controlled
i have a friend, he also goes to the gym, although not on the same team, as he is only there for the aerobic exercises. he will be visiting me tomorrow, so ill jusk ask him.. ill do that, i was actually prepared, to let him go full force, after som light-medium punches
by the way, thanks for the advice guys.. eventhough i probably wont be using the one, about looking straight into the sun ;-)
Please don't do that, it will render the exercise useless as you will fall back on your eye closing instinct. Punches need to be light so they don't require your protection mechanism to kick in, you can increase intensity later as you progress.
We have a mentally disabled girl in our gym that I sometimes practice defence with. She's useful because she wails away without constraint but has little power It's nice for her too, she can get very aggressive so I let her blow off some steam.
so basically start out with rather slow punches, increase both speed and power, as i get used to the the pace..? while sparring today i noticed, that the first couple of rounds wnet okay, until i got caught a couple of times. and as im a hot head, i go into windmill mode, face down and swing away and thats often the time, where i close my eyes.. we dont have mentally disabled kids at our gym, eventhough my mate sometimes could fool me, into believing we do
