Am I right to be worried?

Discussion in 'Thai Boxing' started by Axelator, Jan 31, 2011.

  1. Axelator

    Axelator Not called Alex.

    OK so I'm at uni. atm. I have a fight on the 5th of March under modified Thai rules. Right now I'm training at a Thai boxing gym in the city where my uni. is. It's a great club, everyone is friendly and they have a bunch of fighters but there is one problem, they hardly ever spar. We do large ammounts of padwork, then knees on the bag, skipping, a decent ammount of clinching but only about 20 minutes of actual sparring a week.

    Now I know the owner of the club is not a fighter but he has trained numerous top level guys at a regional and national level and he's legit. Most of his fighters win most of the time. However I can't settle this uneasiness I feel from the lack of sparring in the lead up to my fight. Do you think it's ok to only be sparring 20 mins a week in the lead up to a fight or am I right and should try and find some sparring partners? Even if it was only three times a week for 20 minutes I would be happy.
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2011
  2. Emil

    Emil Valued Member

    I find it quite strange that he has produced top level fighters with such little sparring. if you're going in the ring, and ample amount of sparring time is imperative.

    With regards to whether you should find a sparring partner - IMO yes, but only one who is adequate enough to be able to challenge you. The problem is that you may need to spar against a variety of opponents, with different strengths and weaknesses, and this is what you should be getting at your club.

    On the other hand, have you mentioned anything to your instructor about this. if you tell him that you want to do more sparring, he may be able to accomodate for this.

    Em
     
  3. Axelator

    Axelator Not called Alex.

    Well he is very particular about his way of doing things... to put it lightly. He's one of those old school trainers whos always shouting and swearing and pushing you harder. Since I'm still quite new I'd feel like rude suggesting that he needs to change his system. I might mention it to a few of the guys I train with though who also fight and see if they want to spar outsid eof class times. The pad work is good we do 5-6 4 minute rounds and everyone is decent with the pads so you're working on your defence and offence at the same time, you're not just doing the same combo over and over on the pads with nothing coming back.

    The other options I thought of are that there is a very very good MMA school that I train at on the days I don't do Thai boxing so I could ask when their fighters do stand up sparring and see if I can join in.

    Finally I know there is another THai boxing place that spars all the time (though apparantly it's full of novices) in the city. However I would feel bad going to train at another place when the place I go to now has been so good to me (Going to MMA is different because it's a seperate sport).
     
  4. Emil

    Emil Valued Member

    That's all fair enough, but at the same time, you need to remember that you're going to be in the ring soon fighting for his gym, and if you're not comfortable with you're training at the moment, you have every right to make a suggestion for changes. Im not saying that you should suggest that he change his whole system, but perhaps just ask if you can do some more sparring, and explain your concerns to him.

    The important thing is that YOU are going in that ring, and so you need to feel comfortable. If your instructor cannot make you feel at ease with your training, then I'd suggest leaving. I've seen far too many fighters drop out or dwindle away because of their instructors. It isn't even necessarily because of bad instructors, either. It's a personal thing for fighters. I can't speak for the competence of your instructor, as I don't know who he is, but even top pro fighters leave some of the best coaches in the world, because they simply do not feel comfortable.

    Em
     
  5. Axelator

    Axelator Not called Alex.

    Hmmm I understand what you're saying. I am very happy with every other aspect of training though. Also there is no better in the area. Oh there is another factor here too. I'm not fighting for his gym yet (though we both understand that I will be in the next couple of months). In March I go back to my hometown and will fight for my gym back there.
     
  6. liero

    liero Valued Member

    You need to ask him if you are going to spar more in the lead up to your fight.

    If he says no- ask why.

    Even though he is old school you should be able to voice your concerns with him. I always find that in situations like this people are more accomodating than you might think
     
  7. Doublejab

    Doublejab formally Snoop

    I think it varies from fighter to fighter. Me personally I wouldn't feel at all confident going into a fight having sparred once per week for 20 minutes.

    For my recent kickboxing match I was sparring normally twice a week for 5-8 minute rounds. I also did a 'shark tank' once a week where I did 5 X 2 minute rounds with 30 second rest periods and a fresh opponent coming in every 30 seconds, so I fought 4 people per round. It was horrible and I took some good shots but getting through those sessions gave me a lot of confidence for the fight.
     
  8. Moi

    Moi Warriors live forever x

    There's a lot of guys around here, admittedly usually the older guys, that just flit from club to club sparring and training were ever they can get it. Just a thought
     
  9. Axelator

    Axelator Not called Alex.

    Been thinking about it and I think I'm going to go train over at the other club which apparantly spars alot on the days I'm not training at my original one and see what that is like. I'll let them know I don't have any intention of fighting for them, and just need people to spar with.

    At the end of the day club loyalty is great, but I want to get better as quickly as possible, and most importantly I don't want to loose.

    Not going to announce it to the other coach but if he or anyone else asks I'll be open about it, and about how I just go there to spar a different group of people. I should be able to train over there tommorow, I need to give thier coach a ring tommorow. I'll let you guys knwos how it goes. Thanks!

    I think some of the worry is that in my hometown gym we basically sparred all the time. I would be sparring every day for 30 minutes easily quite hard. Going from that to this pad centred training is very different.
     
  10. Emil

    Emil Valued Member

    Sounds like a good idea. Good luck for the fight!

    Em
     
  11. Amber

    Amber Valued Member

    Might be a good idea to check this place out anyway. It's not necessary, and even slightly counter-productive, to only stay at one gym. This second gym is likely to train differently, focus on slightly different things, and challenge you in different ways. By changing gyms, you will develop as a better fighter, faster than you would by only training at one gym.

    Check the MMA gym out too if you want, but you'll probably find alot of them won't kick as often (or well), and will not be as adept in the Thai-style clinch.
     
  12. ChangNam

    ChangNam Valued Member

    In Thailand there is no sparing,, i miss it sometimes, but the goal is to be ready for the fight, with out any injury's !!

    A old champion and friend of me named Poo. Say to me shadow,shadow and more shadow boxing,,.

    I just want to say one thing, if u want or feel u need to change gym, do it with pride and honor my friend, don't get stuck in the same gym for to long, each gym and trainer's have something different to learn u,,..
     
  13. Master Betty

    Master Betty Banned Banned

    well man - you said you weren't fighting for HIS gym - does he know you're fighting at all? A lot of places only give plenty of sparring to those who have fights up and coming.
     
  14. slipthejab

    slipthejab Hark, a vagrant! Supporter

    Gyms and trainers will all very in how much sparring they allow. Many people have come to think of sparring as the only way to train for a fight. But there are many gyms that don't spar at all. Some pro boxing coaches have so little sparring in their camps you'd wonder if they were pro at all. Yet it works. As ChangNam pointed out many of the gyms in Thailand don't spar at all. That is often a shocker for westerners who go their to train expecting sparring.

    Much of it comes down to the relationship you have with your coach and how long you have trained together. Do you have confidence in him and his methods. Asking too many questions at times can get in the way of the overall plan. Many fighters are crap at understanding the overall plan.

    Sparring has the chance for lots of little niggling injuries and that over time adds up. Even something as simple as clash of knees can then become a long standing pain that never really mends - toes can easily take a beating in sparring as well. I've seen it so many times over the last 15 years that sometimes I wonder if sparring isn't better kept a serious low prior to a fight. I've never quite made up my mind on the issue though.
     
  15. slipthejab

    slipthejab Hark, a vagrant! Supporter

    I don't agree with this. The relationship between a fighter and a trainer is a very close one. For people who train but don't fight and largely treat it as a hobby then yes your thoughts might work out and for that case they make a lot of sense. But when you're fighter is out there putting it on the line then you want to make sure you have someone in his corner who understands the overall picture and what motivates him. You need someone who's got the hours in observing the fighter and knows his reactions to various situations and pressures. You can only gain that from a serious amount of time observing the fighter and training him. 99% of fighters can't self correct their own errors in technique or form. They need someone outside of themselves who is keen and switched on and constantly watching every movement.

    Bouncing around to different gyms is not going to develop the relationship you need when you're in the thick of it. This is probably the single most underrated part of the fight game. Unless someone has fought and coached fighters they are largely unaware of it. It's a MASSIVE influence on the fighter, his abilities and his confidence.

    Some food for thought.
     
  16. RatchadaNinja

    RatchadaNinja Valued Member

    I have to fight soon. Not sparred in about a year and a half. Don't care.
     
  17. RatchadaNinja

    RatchadaNinja Valued Member

    No it isn't.
     
  18. Moi

    Moi Warriors live forever x

    It is if yore not fighting regularly
     
  19. RatchadaNinja

    RatchadaNinja Valued Member

    Then fight more.

    But you're right. It's also necessary for beginners - most Thai don't need sparring because of two reasons:

    1. They are fighting next week
    2. They never needed it to begin with because they started fighting when they were a child, and thus have a vast amount of experience from the kiddy fights - Westerners, however, often adult beginners, don't have the same luxury and thus need to spar more before their first fight or in the long 3 month gaps between fights

    The point is, the blanket statement the guy issued was wrong. I don't really like sparring, anyway - it's unrealistic because you can't use power, meaning you might think you're doing well, but if the guy was hitting harder you'd just be on the ground unconcious and thus you're deluding yourself.

    How many fights has the OP had?
     
  20. liero

    liero Valued Member

    I think he is 6-1 in kickboxing.

    With a decent record under other rules. How often do you fight that you dont spar?
    Just seems silly to me
     

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