Another Sparring Video (Probably more later)

[BudoMonkey]

I'm thinking more from a beginners point of view - just not the safest punches to lead with. All rules are meant to be broken at some point.

Ah, okay. That makes more sense.

[gallantknight]

Do you always take it easy like this, or do you ever spar with more power? You'll need to, if you wanna work on proper distancing and get ready for the pace of a real fight.

I definitely do spar with more power -- but like I said, this is with my friend who is fairly new to the Full Contact sparring game. He practiced Karate with point-sparring before, and has only just recently been making the move towards Full-Contact.

I'll try to upload videos where I'm fighting with more experienced people, like my teachers or my more trained friends so that you can get a more accurate video. I still have to find a better camera for recording, though.

Thanks for the concern, of course.

Ok – Some thoughts:


Footwork:

Sometimes you were crossing your feet and sometimes you were changing up your lead (for no apparent reason and when you were in punching range).

It also looked like you weren’t pushing off the opposite foot when you wanted to move but just stepping with the foot and dragging the other foot.

Hard to stay in balance when doing any of the above.


Defense:

A couple of times you reached out to stop the punches with your gloves – could be dangerous.

Sometimes when you were throwing strikes you were dropping the other hand that was against your face.


Strikes:

When you threw your cross you kept your jaw protected with your shoulder but sometimes on your jab your shoulder was down and your jaw was open.

On your cross you need to square up your hips. A few times you would throw the jab but then leave the back hip back as you would throw the cross (which makes it so it won’t reach the target or have power).

For the cross I would not make it a habit of throwing it by itself but if you do step off first (almost like you were throwing a jab) and then throw the cross. The same for the uppercut.

I also wouldn't make it a habit of starting a combination with a cross, jab or hook (in general).

Try not to end your combinations with a hook (or an uppercut) – I would always try and follow up with a straight shot.


Your training partner:

Needs a lot of work – no offense but he is way to upright, his shoulders are way to low, his gloves hang out in front of his face, he doesn’t stay squared to you, his stance is often changing, etc…. <edit - I see now this guy is a complete beginner - sorry>


Camera Work:

What’s up with the sideways camera angle? :) <edit - I see now this was done on a camera phone - still not sure why he turned it sideways for part of the match>

Jesus, this is good stuff. Thank you so much! I noticed I was overreaching too with my blocks. I was just trying to pat them slightly but I usually end up overextending when I get into the heat of things. I've really gotta correct that...

I've always had a problem with my rigidness. I'll work on making myself more fluid!

[BudoMonkey]

Yea, for me its hard to properly critique you if you aren't really trying to fight. I can't say for instance 'lean into your punches more' if you aren't trying to hurt him.

I'll look forward to the next video. Just post it in this same thread.

[gallantknight]

Yea, for me its hard to properly critique you if you aren't really trying to fight. I can't say for instance 'lean into your punches more' if you aren't trying to hurt him.

I'll look forward to the next video. Just post it in this same thread.

Yeah, no worries man. Even I noticed some things I was doing only because he was a beginner. For example, I'd freeze for a moment after delivering punches, or hold out my hand extra to let him hit something.

In any case, the next video will be up sometime this week.

[BudoMonkey]

Yah yah, I know bro. That's why I didn't even bother to comment.

Keep em comin!

[gallantknight]

I couldn't find an opponent to go hard with this week, so instead I decided to upload a video of me shadowboxing. Unfortunately, the sparring videos me and my friend tried to make didn't turn out so well because of the bad camera. Oh well! On the bright side, I could go harder and I could also use kicks.

As always, all constructive criticism is appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

PS: I know I get sloppy at the end XD

YouTube - Shadowboxing

[Student]

Sorry so late (didn’t see when you put this up) but here is some feedback:

First off, go back and read my first post since the bulk of that still applies (I will repeat a little of it below though – Also keep in mind that a lot of this is not geared towards a great striker who can break a lot of the ideas I mention):

Footwork:

You often have both your feet in a line as you are circling so someone standing in front you wouldn’t be able to see your back foot. This will make staying in balance extremely difficult and without good balance your power will decrease, your movement will be worse and your defense will be lacking.

It still looks like when you circle you are stepping off the foot in the direction you want to move rather than driving from the opposite foot (this is often hard to see in video so I am just saying how it looks) – this will lead to an improper stance after a few steps and then the balance starts to go.

When circling an opponent and moving towards their power hand you either want to be creating a little space or firing strikes as you move in this direction. You would often circle in both directions and not be striking so at least one of those directions you were moving towards their power hand and doing nothing.

Strikes:

Many times when you hook I don’t see any weight transfer from foot to foot and it looks like more of an arm punch. The hook should be one of your strongest punches hitting with all your body weight.

I think it’s a bad idea in the beginning to work on starting combinations with hooks, uppercuts and crosses (in my first post I accidentally typed jabs but went back and edited today). This is a general rule but for someone starting out I think it’s important.

I think it’s a bad idea to end your combinations with anything but a straight strike – this will protect you from them countering hard and easily nailing you when you are done with a combination. You end a lot of your combinations with the rear hook which I think is pretty dangerous – just add a straight jab to that and I think you would be much safer.

I didn’t see many straight shots to the body (or any). This might just be a preference of mine but I love changing levels and hitting the body with a straight shot – works great as they are striking at you.

When you double jab I think it is good idea to step twice (once for each jab) – I don’t always do this myself but I think it is a good skill to have.

Kicks:

When kicking off the rear leg I think it makes sense to step across a little with the lead leg to generate more power. When kicking with the lead I generally do the same, I will take a step off with my back leg to set it up.

Make sure you set all your kicks up with strikes so when doing the above, as you step off you will be striking and then go right into the kick.

Defense:

Where is the defense. This looked like you were on the offense the whole time. I would make it look more like a real sparring match where you are defending also so you are working offense, defense, counter strikes, etc.


Let me also add that overall I thought you looked pretty good. I liked how you used the whole space and circled all the way around your imaginary partner and also how you generally bring your hands staight back to your head.

[WhiteShark]

RE: Your Shadowboxing

You are doing drills in the air. Stop that.

Shadowboxing should be as much a mental exercise as physical. Imagine an opponent and then imagine attacking that opponent and responding to their attacks. Defense should be part of your shadowboxing. It is a time to perfect your fighting in ways that you can't when people are actually hitting you. As such your movements should be as close to perfect as you can make them. Sacrificing form for speed makes no sense when you are shadowboxing.