Question 4 those starting 2 spar

hmm says
last longer..... adding a mouthpiece can really restrict your breathing

 

do you mean you're thinking about joining a gym but you want to know what the perks are once it'øs in your system?

 

Actually get into my rhythm. When I first started I couldn't find gaps, and so relied on counter punching, then I'd get jumped and just cover up and try and survive, going into a bit of a shell.

I feel more comfortable moving around and finding gaps in my opponents defence. I also feel I can set the tempo of the fight more and fight at my own pace.

 

couldnt keep my hands up for a full round or slip punches.i could jab and throw rights and move

 

No he's doesn't. I think John knows a bit about sparring if I'm honest.

 

thats a good post.

if you're learning the ropes and just starting to spar (as an intro to boxing) the biggest thing you get out of it is being comfortable in the ring, getting hit, and learning to think clearly once you're use to it.

no trainer is going to put you in the ring with someone who is going to compound your fears (if that's what you want to overcome). and you'll overcome it easily once you realise that it's the fear of getting hit that holds most novices back in a fight - rather than the punch itself.

 

alright i wasn't sure.

thought it might have been a 'feeler' becasue he wanted to overcome a fear...

 

haha!
good answer

but i was wondering what you were looking for in the post, john.

 

i think that sparring is the key to fluidity of hand, foot and body movement. i remember, years and years ago, learning the fundamentals, the technical methods of each punch and defensive movement and practicing them until they were automatic, muscle memory...but, i think, i could have shadowboxed, beat the speed, heavy and double-end bags and worked the mitts forever and only put it all together to a limited degree. sparring evolves the technical basics into a a personalized style of fighting.

within the first few weeks of sparring i learned more intuitively, naturally, about how to put it all together from just doing it than i would have doing anything else. sparring gives real, physical, sensical meaning to many of the old boxing adages, bits of gym wisdom, the things you might have had screamed at you a thousand times while beating the bag or pounding the paddles. it can be explained to you over and over--don't lock out your elbows, don't squat on your punches, keep your head centered when you're turning--but it's all theory until it happens in a simulated fight and mistakes happen at the cost of getting hit and losing, not just being corrected and yelled at.

in addition, in sparring you learn your limitations--a vulnerable chin, a tendency to go off balance during a certain punch motion, a lack of flexibility in your arms or legs, a tendency to cramp up when beaten in the shoulders or on the hips--and you can work out ways to not only compensate for these difficulties, but also to be comfortable enough working around them to keep your cool and stay calm through danger spots.

 

well...a long time. ha. i am naturally left handed, but i learned to fight out of an orthodox stance because i broke my left hand several times in stupid playground fights, football games and so on when i was very young and my coach quickly realizes i couldn't make a tight enough fist with it anymore to support power punching off my back foot. i had junked my fist for life, in some way. so he converted me and taught me to protect my left hand by using the shoulder to line up and stick my jab more like a broomstick than a whip.

it took probably a year before i got really comfortable ad******g the jab at angles, because i had to adjust my torso and shoulders a bit to work around the limitations of the injury. however, the combination of the awkwardness and the tender left hand did really force me to get serious about footwork, about knowing how far apart my feet were and were my balance and weight was at all times. eventually, getting whipped in sparring matches helped me to stop leaning on my toes or on the blades of my feet and rotate properly on the balls of the feet into the flexible jab motion that can probe left or right.