Critique my sparring

[Azatdawn]

Alright, this is a video of me sparring. I'm the taller guy. The other dude's been doing this for two years longer than me, but I obviously have the reach advantage. I'd also like to mention that I wasn't always happy with the instruction at that place which is one of the reasons why today was actually the last time I've trained there. This has also been the first time I've filmed myself sparring and damn, was it necessary.

Here's the video:



Notes:

- goddammit, keep your hands up, idiot
- the way I punch looks really weird sometimes... I guess this is because I wanted to keep this rather light. Could have used better technique anyway.
- my main focus was headmovement and my guard, which absolutely sucks. I used to run away a lot in sparring when being on the receiving end of punches, which led to a very shitty guard. I tried to keep standing here more often.

Now, although I had a certain focus here, feel free to critique absolutely everything (maybe except how dumb I look with this headgear - it was also only the second time I used it so I need to get used to it more).

Oh yeah, that backhand at about 0:40 hit me pretty good and by surprise... since the other guy said he wanted to start rather slowly I wasn't expecting anything like this.

[The Question]

Wow. Your sparring partner has the worst right cross/right hook I have seen in a long time. It's not a cross or a hook, it just hangs out there waiting to be met with a bob and hook.

1. Yes, motherfucking hands up. Hands up like they robbin the place. Hands up like Q-dot is rocking the mic and you vibing to that ****.
2. Move like you're not afraid of the motherfucking ground. Step decisively and throw after you step.
3. Try to throw combinations like you practice on the bag and pads. This **** is motherfucking hard for me too. I saw you turn from orthodox to southpaw and then throw a right jab instead of a right cross. That's a waste of time, effort and it telegraphs that ****. Clean combinations.

Thanks for posting videos and ****. I look forward to your harsh criticisms when I post my awesome solo training vids.

[Azatdawn]

Wow. Your sparring partner has the worst right cross/right hook I have seen in a long time. It's not a cross or a hook, it just hangs out there waiting to be met with a bob and hook.

1. Yes, motherfucking hands up. Hands up like they robbin the place. Hands up like Q-dot is rocking the mic and you vibing to that ****.
2. Move like you're not afraid of the motherfucking ground. Step decisively and throw after you step.
3. Try to throw combinations like you practice on the bag and pads. This **** is motherfucking hard for me too. I saw you turn from orthodox to southpaw and then throw a right jab instead of a right cross. That's a waste of time, effort and it telegraphs that ****. Clean combinations.

I basically agree with everything you wrote.

Thanks for posting videos and ****. I look forward to your harsh criticisms when I post my awesome solo training vids.

Sure thing, will do, thanks for replying.

[Neo Sigma]

1- Fix that guard, man. Even when your hands are "up", they're still only barely at your chin. Speaking of which, CHIN DOWN.

2- Don't paw so much. I caught more than a few "jabs" which looked lie you were just sticking an open hand out. There's nothing wrong with that if you're finding distance, but you did it a bit too much.

3- You tend to lean back a lot when you throw on the retreat, and that's going to remove pretty much any power you might have on those shots.

4- That thing where you bring your front hand down and up. For the sake of your teeth and nose, please stop. It's hard not to sound harsh here, but your head movement isn't good enough to make that work as bait. You're just going to get socked.

5- Watch your distance. Around 3:00, you're WAY too close for the height advantage you have on the other guy. The only time someone of your size should be that close is if they're clinching.

How long have you been training for? You move and react to incoming shots like you're either not used to getting hit, or like you've been getting hit way too hard from day one, neither of which is your fault. If that sloppy **** your partner was throwing is what passes for decent technique there, then run like your hair's on fire and find some legit training. I don't mean to sound like a dick. If my read on your place is right, I actually completely know where you're coming from, and the best thing for you to do is go someplace else.

[Azatdawn]

1- Fix that guard, man. Even when your hands are "up", they're still only barely at your chin. Speaking of which, CHIN DOWN.

2- Don't paw so much. I caught more than a few "jabs" which looked lie you were just sticking an open hand out. There's nothing wrong with that if you're finding distance, but you did it a bit too much.

3- You tend to lean back a lot when you throw on the retreat, and that's going to remove pretty much any power you might have on those shots.

4- That thing where you bring your front hand down and up. For the sake of your teeth and nose, please stop. It's hard not to sound harsh here, but your head movement isn't good enough to make that work as bait. You're just going to get socked.

5- Watch your distance. Around 3:00, you're WAY too close for the height advantage you have on the other guy. The only time someone of your size should be that close is if they're clinching.

Agreed.

How long have you been training for? You move and react to incoming shots like you're either not used to getting hit, or like you've been getting hit way too hard from day one, neither of which is your fault. If that sloppy **** your partner was throwing is what passes for decent technique there, then run like your hair's on fire and find some legit training. I don't mean to sound like a dick. If my read on your place is right, I actually completely know where you're coming from, and the best thing for you to do is go someplace else.

Well, that's the fun part. Yes, I hardly ever get hit in sparring. When I get hit, it's usually by the trainer who's actually hitting pretty hard. As I mentioned, this lead to me getting into a habit of stepping back a lot when being attacked, which is something I want to fix. That's why I decided to try and improve my guard and not stepping back as much.

See, my opponent has actually already improved his technique a lot over the last year due to another guy who's not officially a trainer but still trains a few people. The guy who's actually the trainer doesn't really explain proper technique a lot. Which means that when I wanted to improve, I tried out stuff that I read about etc.

In November it would have been two years (with a month of not being able to go here and there, but still).

Yeah, I actually quit this place and will start to train at a different place where I'll be able to train boxing, thaiboxing and MMA.

Thanks a lot for your reply.

[dwkfym]

You guys are both kitty-pawing. But thats been said.
I think both of you guys can learn a lot from going back to the basics and working on punching technique. 2 years is a long time to get good and that guy apparently wasted it, or didn't get the right instruction.

Open up with jabs.
Get off of your heels. You are stomping around a lot.

I got an headache from watching your opponent. Why is he so spazztastic? Some conservation of movement would be nice.

Both of you guys really need to work on footwork. Footwork is like 80% of striking.
Experiment with moving laterally.
Also, here, I made a really crappy video on how to practice shootin' and scootin' a long time ago. At my favorite gym ever (American Combat Club of the Mike Bell fame) this is one of the first things you learn:
Sorry I'm left handed and that you have to flip everything. Also, this was before I realized I've been throwing my hook wrong the whole time so I apologize for that, and the general sloppiness of form.

You really rarely get hit? I don't think I'm all that good but I regularly hit my star student (remember, I trained out of a college club for a long time so its nothing like me being a real master or kru or anything) who is pretty good, 6 inches taller than me, and has a huge reach advantage over me. Lots of other guys at my club hit him too. You need to find a place with better sparring partners.

[Hiro Protagonist]

What dwkfym has said. Also, balance. Start working on that simply by getting your feet closer together, and by trying to make smaller steps. That will likely affect your whole posture, and cure the backleaning.

[Azatdawn]

A lot of useful stuff

Thanks. That's a pretty good footwork drill, I was actually looking for something like that the other day. I only want to mention that usually I jab a lot more than in this video, but, as I said, going into that sparring I wanted to get hit a lot.

You really rarely get hit? I don't think I'm all that good but I regularly hit my star student (remember, I trained out of a college club for a long time so its nothing like me being a real master or kru or anything) who is pretty good, 6 inches taller than me, and has a huge reach advantage over me. Lots of other guys at my club hit him too. You need to find a place with better sparring partners.

Yes, I rarely get hit. However, I don't think that this is because I'm so awesome. I think it's because the average level of ability is kinda low there, for which there are a lot of reasons. Some guys don't come very regularly, very few have the determination to really get better. Also, things like working the distance, footwork etc is hardly ever really taught at that place.

By the way, reading all those replies makes me very glad that I posted this video and also that I've left that place. I don't want to bash it too much, the trainer's a nice enough dude and since it's been my first, I'm sure it will always have a very special place in my heart. However, I just don't think that I'm getting what I want there.

[Azatdawn]

What dwkfym has said. Also, balance. Start working on that simply by getting your feet closer together, and by trying to make smaller steps. That will likely affect your whole posture, and cure the backleaning.

Yeah, definitely. Lately I was actually feeling that something was very wrong with my posture and seeing this has made it pretty clear. I thought I had managed to correct it a bit in drills but obviously it went out of the window in sparring. Thanks.

[Grab my fist]

I'm just saying you need to get comfortable with getting hit dude .