Going too hard or easy on a newbie?

**dwkfym** · Posted On: 4/10/2011 11:05pm

Wow, I haven't started a thread in a while. Omega vs Mrs. Coffeefan inspired to ask this question:

What do you guys think? Going too easy? Going too hard? Going too easy and hard in the wrong places? Pace too slow/fast? I basically want to know what I can do better in sparring new guys to help them improve faster.

I tried to keep him pressured every once in a while, because I wanted him to be better able to deal with pressure when sparring others his skill level. To my delight, he mixed it up with me a couple of times. He has pretty good footwork (I credit this to his observation skills; I always shout at everyone to keep moving when mixing it up, even though I suck at doing just that) for someone who has barely sparred before.

I'm an assistant instructor at my club, and I'm more or less in charge of getting guys ready for fights. My legs were burnt out from tabata drills so I'm really slow, but that shouldn't matter since if I turned the throttle up he wouldn't be able to keep up anyways. The kid I'm sparring started late last semester, and gets training twice or thrice a week. He started sparring middle of this semester.

Please ignore the talking guys in the video. They are advanced students but have no coaching experience.

Thanks for the help. Believe it or not Bullshido has been a valuable resource to help me run my university's kickboxing club.

**dwkfym** · Posted On: 4/10/2011 11:12pm

BTW I know my skills are far far far from perfect, but I'd like to keep the thread focused on the topic

***Omega Supreme*** · Posted On: 4/10/2011 11:44pm

No, that was good. I usually try to announce why I pop guys after the fact but that looked just about right.

**Kickapoo** · Posted On: 4/11/2011 2:37am

When I first started boxing, I was clearly going to be the worst person in my gym. Speaking as a student, when I do spar with someone better then me, things like 'too hard' or 'too easy' don't really tend to cross my mind. I can be getting my ass kicked, but as long as the experience is hard and not frustrating there's something I can take away from it. It looks like you found the line between pressuring him and overwhelming him and did a good job walking it.

**korean dragon** · Posted On: 4/11/2011 9:59am

I have to agree with Kickapoo. In my experience the most important thing is to keep them from becoming frustrated or discouraged; but you have to fight hard enough to challenged them, otherwise they're won't recieve the benefits of sparring. I think it's best to keep a back-and-forth pace, like you did in the video, so they can try things out and still get use to being under pressure.

**tao.jonez** · Posted On: 4/11/2011 11:27am

I hope you show the kid this video so he can see what to work on. I watched with no volume, but someone needs to be coaching him through the rounds.

I really like the fact that you were sticking to basics instead of showing off like some guys do with noobs. Your pace and power was right on for a guy with his experience.

**dwkfym** · Posted On: 4/11/2011 12:41pm

I linked it to him. I want him to ask questions but hes a very quiet kid. 3/4ths of the kids at my club either never make it to sparring levels or quit after the first time gloves touches face. I never thought he'd stick to it. Plus, he keeps his hands up. lol.

I don't really have any boxing gimmicks, I just stick to straight punches to open, hooks and uppercuts, and keep scootin. lol. Hands are really not my strong point.

My boxing coach loves surprising me with classic boxing gimmicks though. I seems to be his punch timing practice machine.

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 4/11/2011 2:00pm

I think you need to wear shin guards. You may think you are kicking light but its too easy to hurt newbs without them. Also, once you hurt them with a conditioned shin they can get gun shy about your kicks.

**tao.jonez** · Posted On: 4/11/2011 2:11pm

Originally Posted by WhiteShark

I think you need to wear shin guards. You may think you are kicking light but its too easy to hurt newbs without them. Also, once you hurt them with a conditioned shin they can get gun shy about your kicks.

Ummmm yeah. All those kicks were sure to hurt. How many kicks did you throw at him anyway?

um- edited to note that above post is sarcastic.