Thinking of finding a new gym... Am I overreacting?

Discussion in 'Boxing Training' started by ben1990, Aug 15, 2013.


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  1. ben1990

    ben1990 Member Full Member

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    May 19, 2007
    I just joined a gym 2 weeks ago after taking a few years off(I had a few fights but spent a lot of time sparring). Anyways this trainer had us spar 9 rounds of just inside fighting... I'm all for doing this but he was also sparring at the time and made no effort to watch any of us(although he would give tips to the person he was sparring with). He also didnt pair us up according to weight... I am only 129lbs and had to do a few rounds with someone who was 220... When fighting on the inside the whole round, I feel it is inevitable that I am going to get hit with some punches. Let alone doing 9 of them back to back. At least with regular sparring, I would have some room to run around.

    When done I had bruises on my ears, my face, a small cut, and my jaw wouldn't even close because there was some weird pressure in between my ears and jaw. I'm all for hard sparring if it would allow me to learn, but this didn't at all. What the **** do I learn by some 220lb oaf pounding on me, breaking my guard. Sure I covered/ducked a lot of punches but the ones that got through kind of hurt. If this had happened by sparring someone of my own weight or similar and it was actual boxing and not fighting in a phonebooth(he told each group to stay within a corner of the ring) I wouldn't care. But all I learned here was basically "fighting on the inside for 9 rounds straight is rough" and "this is why boxing has weight classes". I wasn't the only one who thought this was rather rough. One of the boxers was so bruised the coach joked "man it looks like you changed race on us"!(It was only his 2nd or 3rd time sparring) I had never seen so many bloody noses, bruised faces, black eyes, etc.

    Anyways I'm not sure this club is for me. This didn't feel like a valuable exercise it felt like something out of fight club... Or maybe I'm just overreacting? Wanted to know what you guys think.
     
    ben1990, Aug 15, 2013
    ben1990, Aug 15, 2013
    #1
  2. jasper2005

    jasper2005 Active Member Full Member

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    Jun 8, 2012
    Bad gym bad trainer... doesnt have ur best interests at heart... if you are paying someone to train you they need to be doing more than just unsupervised sparring
     
    jasper2005, Aug 15, 2013
    jasper2005, Aug 15, 2013
    #2
  3. ben1990

    ben1990 Member Full Member

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    May 19, 2007
    Yeah thats what I thought too... Like I've never been to a gym where they didn't have a trainer to watch people sparring... Ive been to many other gyms as a guest to spar and many other gyms had come to my gym. But I never saw anything like this... No supervision, no matching up of weights... It felt pretty disorganized and counter productive. I was kind of amazed really.
     
    ben1990, Aug 15, 2013
    ben1990, Aug 15, 2013
    #3
  4. greynotsoold

    greynotsoold Boxing Addict

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    Why didn't you, right up front, ask why you were being paired up with a guy 100 pounds heavier than yourself? To fight inside? And to stay within a corner of the ring? Why didn't you step outside that corner and say 'hey, what the ****?'
    I'm calling bull**** here. Or, you are an idiot.
     
    greynotsoold, Aug 15, 2013
    greynotsoold, Aug 15, 2013
    #4
  5. ben1990

    ben1990 Member Full Member

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    May 19, 2007

    Well other people were being paired up with him, fighters not much heavier than me. I also had more experience than him. And it was sort of a round robin, we would do 2 rounds with a guy and switch... A lot of people were kind of like "holy ****" after that sparring session. I heard at least one other person saying they weren't going to be able to chew tonight. The coach even was talking to someone and was saying that if you can handle this you can handle any fight!(to his credit I don't think any amauter fight could be that brutal...)

    And yes I'll admit I did start instinctively backing up at some points, even when I was sparring with the coach and he just said stuff like "cmon working on the inside game right now". I guess I just didn't realize how ****ed up my jaw was at the time, I just said **** it and I'd deal with injuries later... I did kind of kick myself for not backing up more during the rounds but I guess I trusted my coach, who I don't trust anymore.
     
    ben1990, Aug 16, 2013
    ben1990, Aug 16, 2013
    #5
  6. Son of Gaul

    Son of Gaul Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    You may be shocked to hear this, but many fighters have greatly benefited from sparring with bigger guys regularly...assuming that the trainer is actually giving instruction. After a while, you'll be relieved when you're up against someone with only a slight height/weigh advantage.
    Unfortunately, that doesn't appear to be the case here. If I were you, I'd approach the man directly and ask if he would observe your sparring sessions from now on. If the answer is unsatisfactory, change gyms ASAP.
     
    Son of Gaul, Aug 16, 2013
    Son of Gaul, Aug 16, 2013
    #6
  7. ben1990

    ben1990 Member Full Member

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    May 19, 2007
    Yeah, I agree sparring with bigger opponents is good. I have done it in the past. But not this much bigger, and doing this "inside only" bull****. I see no benefit from it... I guess I have answered my own question, I'm going to find a new gym.
     
    ben1990, Aug 16, 2013
    ben1990, Aug 16, 2013
    #7
  8. Ipay4leavingNot

    Ipay4leavingNot Active Member Full Member

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    Jun 30, 2013
    In boxing there are lots, in fact 90% of trainers in boxing do not know **** about boxing, couldn't find their ******* if it fell into their ass.

    There is no use in being a punching bag. There is use in boxing a man way bigger, even on the inside, but only if someone is closely supervising you, giving you tips. Why are you paying hundreds of dollars to have unsupervised beatings. Its not sparring, you are not learning a thing. You can get beat up anywhere by a bigger guy for free, just go spit in some big guys face?

    Go and ask for your money back
     
    Ipay4leavingNot, Aug 16, 2013
    Ipay4leavingNot, Aug 16, 2013
    #8
  9. Speechless

    Speechless Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Yeah i'd leave too. It's perfectly reasonable for a trainer to ask you to spar someone bigger, but to let them go full blast like that - unacceptable. The coach is there to make sure things don't get out of hand, and look after the athletes' safety, and clearly he is not fulfilling a BASIC fundamental part of his role. Getting banged up a little is fine - but black eyes and bruised faces and bloody noses should only happen once in a while, not multiple guys in a single day.

    I wouldn't even give it a second chance. This is bound to happen repeatedly.
     
    Speechless, Aug 16, 2013
    Speechless, Aug 16, 2013
    #9
  10. jasper2005

    jasper2005 Active Member Full Member

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    Jun 8, 2012
    Again leave
     
    jasper2005, Aug 16, 2013
    jasper2005, Aug 16, 2013
    #10
  11. pecho26

    pecho26 ESB Lurker Full Member

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    Leave dude,the guy knows jack **** about boxing if he does that.
    Had a similar situation in my last club where i was for 3 years almost,different weight classes,absolutely no supervision,no sparing gloves,no ****ing vaseline,no headgear.NOTHING
    Everything sucked,still sucks.Every ****ing guy has a losing record,and i mean like 3-18 type losing.
    No advice in the fight,he didnt hold the mits for us b4 our fights.
    Everybody who sees 3 fights and 5 youtube video wants to be a trainer.****ing hacks.
     
    pecho26, Aug 16, 2013
    pecho26, Aug 16, 2013
    #11
  12. MrFoFody

    MrFoFody Boxing Addict Full Member

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    :rofl Your paying to get beat down by someone 100lbs heavier than you!? :lol:
    At least go into a bar and buy yourself some drinks with that cash and slap some ogre in the face! It will numb the pain!:!:
     
    MrFoFody, Aug 16, 2013
    MrFoFody, Aug 16, 2013
    #12
  13. The Predator

    The Predator Active Member Full Member

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    Jun 22, 2008
    Leave that gym. That trainer must be an idiot. Find a gym with a trainer that knows how boxing should be trained. A trainer that train him self at the same time is no trainer, he´s there for his own sake, probably to try to show "how good he is". He sounds like a joke.
     
    The Predator, Aug 16, 2013
    The Predator, Aug 16, 2013
    #13
  14. JDK

    JDK Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Sep 29, 2010
    Do you have other gyms in your area?
    You could simply use your current facility for their equipment and only jump for a sparring session with whomever you feel is more your weight class and, more importantly, your level of experience. Don't be a ***** and pick on inexperienced kids.
    Too many times people make the excuse of sparring partners being "too heavy" when in reality they're just being bested. Hope that's not the case with you. Just saying the 100 lbs. difference seems exagerated...
     
    JDK, Aug 17, 2013
    JDK, Aug 17, 2013
    #14
  15. freddieMaize

    freddieMaize Active Member Full Member

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    Jun 13, 2011
    Was it just for one day or that is how it is always? Is he around during other non sparring sessions?

    Spar with bigger guys - thats good for you, like you already know it.

    >>Why didn't you, right up front, ask why you were being paired up with a guy 100 pounds heavier than yourself?

    Then people would call him a girl. Thats is the last thing he should do.
     
    freddieMaize, Aug 17, 2013
    freddieMaize, Aug 17, 2013
    #15
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