I am currently taking Muay Thai. We recently started sparring, and I have had to start going up against people who are preparing for amateur and semi-pro matches. Even though they’re taking it easy on me, I’m still getting completely overwhelmed.
Every time the bell rings, we start circling in the ring, and I throw out a few push and roundhouse kicks for him to keep distance. As soon as I launch one, however, my opponent will rush in and start delivering a rapid fire combo of jabs, straights, and hooks. I know that you’re just supposed to keep your arms in, and hit back, but it’s all I can do to just cover myself and back away, trying to create distance.
I want to be able to punch back and throw out knees and elbows while getting hit, but my mind just seems to panic and go into “Survival Mode.”
Are there any drills or exercises I can do to improve my sparring skills for my next lesson? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks for the advice guys. I guess that my only options are more basic work on the bag, shadow boxing, and mental conditioning.
Any other drills (such as stationary fighting drills, examples of evasion/blocking/redirecting drills, etc) would be great.
PS: PorkChopExpress- I understand where you’re coming from, but it’s one thing to talk the talk, and quite another to walk the walk. Spar with me anytime :p
I might be shite against those semi-pro muay boran practitioners, but I can definitely hold my own against your average joe on the street.
This is a normal reaction from someone with little or no experience with actual fighting, its just a matter of getting experience with your own mind in that kind of situation. Apart from just keeping at it, mental conditioning can help here. Just take a few minutes every night and visualize yourself in that situation and then visualize yourself executing the response you want. Do this several times in the course of say ten minutes before you sleep.
Its not going to eliminate the flight reflex, but it can help a lot. Especially with your first few sparring sessions.
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you have to get one good hard hit early when they rush you so they stop and think twice about doing it. be more aggressive which means throw more punch. every time they come in you have to punish them. learn to circle rather than back up. don’t paw jabs, hit hard every punch and always follow up so they don’t just wait for you to jab and then rush you, practice that and come back…
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Ultimately its just practice & experimentation.
try rather than backing off to actually close the gap when he comes & fight him, if it doesn’t work well then cross that techniuqe off yer list & try something else.
Ask them for a few tips, after all they are part of your club & everybody is there to help everybody learn.
As for drills etc you need to ”drill” them into you & then learn to apply them into a free-flow fight, that takes few months to do properly, just ask your instructros etc you are paying to learn not to work it out yerself whilst getting beat up
silat praciticoner
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practice your punching with either shadow boxing or a punching bag. for at least 30 minutes when you get home. and also watch how the great fighters punch.its all about watching and learning. once you get more confidence it should come more natural. and also think to yourself that your going to have to punch in order to get better and to defend yourself. its all part of the sport if you dont punch you get beat up. after a while you will get tired of getting beat up everyday.
lifetime fan of mma and boxing and ive had my share of fights in the past.
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Get faster and grow a pair.
lifetime fan of mma and boxing and ive had my share of fights in the past.
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The most important things in Muay Thai is body and mind conditioning so that you can totally focus on defense and counter delivery, set of techniques must be accountable specially on punching, elbow, kicking, knee, foot thrust and clinch. And the important categories of defense are blocking, redirection, avoidance, evasion, disruption and anticipation.
You must improve your defense (blocking) and counter attack techniques for you to be able to recover immediately on any position while being attacked. Improve your footwork’s and do shadow fighting at your home assuming there’s some opponent in front of you. Think all your weakness and try to improve it, ask your instructor about some necessary drills and remove your fear because it will totally put you into panic situation, remember Muay Thai fighter is a warrior.
Consult an instructor personally who has an experience on fighting in the ring, and he will give you important tips regarding your questions.
Good luck
lifetime fan of mma and boxing and ive had my share of fights in the past.
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