First leg kick match

**Neo Sigma** · Posted On: 8/15/2010 7:27am

Videos will be forthcoming as soon as the guys from my team get them uploaded.

I fought at 155 and weighed in at 154, which made me feel good to know that all the dieting wasn't for nothing, because it fucking sucked. My fight was 4th on the card, so I pretty much got up and moving as soon as I got there. My opponent was a full-contact guy who my coach got to agree to leg kick rules, his first fight also.

I was feeling pretty calm until the bell rang, when I found out everything you get told is true- on your first fight, you forget everything. I could hear my coach, but my mind was going a mile a minute and I could barely process what he was saying. He's yelling "1-2, roundhouse!" at me, and all I can think is "That sounds like a good idea....oh, he means I should do it!" By the time I start to go for it, the other guy's already on me again.

My opponent basically came out of the corner flailing at me freaking immediately, which I wasn't really prepared for. His punches weren't really hurting that much, but through sheer volume they were starting to do some damage. I definitely got some kicks in there that hurt him, but he pretty much just ran me over until the middle of the second round when he hit me in the temple with a right haymaker as I was trying to move away, and I went down. I took the 8 count and tried to stand up, but my brain pretty much told me "No, no, I think we're done now." From what my teammates tell me, the guy ran and jumped and screamed all around the ring like a retarded monkey when the ref called it. It's like, wow, I didn't know beating me was THAT big of a deal.

Definitely need to take a day or two off for my shins and feet to go back down to their normal size. I think I caught an elbow on one of my kicks, my left foot feels like crap. So does my left knee, which he hit a few times. Kind of a dick move if it was on purpose, but he hadn't trained leg kicks up until two weeks before the fight, so I'm kind of willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for just having shitty aim.

Good points from the night-
-Everyone's told me my kicks were really solid and I was blasting through the guy anytime I hit him, even when he checked or blocked.
-Kept my cool and didn't go crazy. In the past I had a bad habit where anytime I'd get hit clean, I'd hulk out(as my friends put it) and charge straight in with my chin sticking out in the air.

Bad-
-I haven't seen the video yet, but apparently my hands kept dropping whenever I kicked. No good.
-Dropped my hands a few times in general. Also no good.
-I got sucked into standing and exchanging, which is always a crapshoot, and something I've been trying to work on not doing.
-Didn't put any combos together, they were pretty much all single shots.

Overall a pretty good experience. There were no last minute fight switches or any of that other shady crap a lot of you guys seem to deal with. Next time I hope to get thai rules instead, I definitely ended up in the clinch a few times and was about to throw some knees when I remembered I couldn't. I feel like I could have controlled the fight a little more if we were allowed to clinch, but what can you do? It was fun, even if I got KO'ed, and I can't wait to get in there again.

**feral00** · Posted On: 8/15/2010 9:23am

You know what maybe its just me but I always feel I did worse than I actually did, watching the videos gives you a little more self confidence in addition to showing your mistakes. I recently went to a large hapkido rules tournement and nerves got to me too, I only remember being really tired, Im not out of shape but that adrenaline dump really takes it out of you.

**Kovacs** · Posted On: 8/15/2010 12:45pm

Congrats Neo Sigma, Im gla you kinda enjoyed it and I hope you try again. It's inspiring.

And feral yeah, adrenaline changes everything.

**Neo Sigma** · Posted On: 8/15/2010 12:57pm

Here's the first round, in all of its agonizing glory. I'm the one in the red with the fabulous shorts. Don't know how to embed the video, unfortunately.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/...6504202&ref=mf

**Sang** · Posted On: 8/15/2010 7:50pm

Nice job getting in there and posting this up even though you lost, its a lot easier to post wins than losses for the forum to see.

I think the best thing you can do before your next match is lots of hard sparring, you need to be really used to people pressuring you with barrages of punches. It was hard to see in that video but you probably closed your eyes after the first two and stopped even seeing the next three.

Something that has really been helping me deal with people putting the pressure on is the line sparring drill i mentioned in another thread, if you do that for 2 rounds every day i guarantee you'l notice improvement within a month.

**dwkfym** · Posted On: 8/15/2010 9:32pm

Good job for stepping it up. Sounds a lot like my match.
The advanced drill thread contains the drill Sang mentioned.

EDIT: I am watching the video now.

Yeah, those punches don't look that hard. Guard improvement alone could have changed that fight IMO.

**alex** · Posted On: 8/15/2010 10:00pm

nice kicks but you were kinda letting him dictate the pace. the only reason he hit you in the back of the head was because you turned away when you got hit. someone hasnt been doing enough hard sparring.

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 8/16/2010 12:16am

I don't want to pile on too much because its your first fight or whatever but you are doing one thing that drives me nuts. I call it stop kicking but its basically just throwing single techniques instead of combinations. However when you do it with kicks it is always a disaster. Several times you just throw your round kick out there and hope for the best. That is one reason he seems to swarm you so much. Throwing a round kick without a combination or commitment just turns you sideways and lowers your guard.

**Neo Sigma** · Posted On: 8/16/2010 7:36pm

Nah, I wouldn't have posted it up if I didn't want the feedback. Anything that helps for next time. A lot of this is stuff I was smacking my head about when I watched it.

t was hard to see in that video but you probably closed your eyes after the first two and stopped even seeing the next three.

Yup. There were a few times in the video where I was wondering at what point I ended up in those positions, because I sure as hell didn't remember getting myself there.

Also, my hands- completely nonexistent.

I feel like I could have changed the way that fight went if I were allowed to clinch, but hey, I lost, no changing it now. All I can do is get back to training full throttle for next time.

Sang- which thread? I didn't see it in the advanced drill thread. I want to pass it on to my coach.

**Sang** · Posted On: 8/17/2010 12:14am

1. Phone Box Boxing / Line Sparring
2. Each partner stands very close to each other in their stances. Lead foot should be only 1 inch away from the opponent's lead foot. Start boxing with light strikes, and work up the pace and power. Do not lean back and keep your foot planted.

Make sure you dont lean forward much either or use too much head movement, its a basic drill to stop people closing their eyes or dropping their hands. When i first started doing this drill i was leaning back out of the punch's range and getting caught on the chin, now not so much.

Drills are no substitute for hard sparring though, i was getting beaten up every weekend for 6 months before my first fight and i think it really made a difference. When you realise that nobody you fight will be able to hurt you as much as your training partners have in the past it makes the whole thing a little easier.