# Muay thai sparring tips



## Rossi (Oct 14, 2006)

I have been training for about 2 months now and had my first experience of contact sparring the other night which I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm ok with the techniques in practise but when sparring......I got punched in the face a few too many times. One chap in particular would wait for me to throw a punch then clipped me every time

Aside from a better defence has anyone got any advice?
Cheers


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## Jade Tigress (Oct 14, 2006)

Mod Note

Thread moved to Muay Thai Forum.

Pamela Piszczek
MT Moderator


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## wee_blondie (Oct 15, 2006)

Rossi said:


> I got punched in the face a few too many times.


 
Getting hit once is too much!

But anyway, sounds like you had a decent training partner.  When he's clipping you as you throw a punch, he's trying to help you keep your guard tight.  Such an easy mistake (I used to do it too!) is to drop your hand before punching; or forget to keep your chin tucked.  Don't know if you were doing that or not, but its very common when a person starts out.

As far as tips go, your instructor will be the best person to talk to as he can watch you and show you correct techniques.  Defence is a must when sparring but you should always follow up with a strike of your own.

Glad to hear that you are enjoying it - good luck and let us know how you get on!


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## Rossi (Oct 15, 2006)

Cheers -  After the first time he did tell me to keep my guard up - I obviously didn't listen and he must have thought one warning was enough!!


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## King (Oct 16, 2006)

He-he that's cute, I think that's one of the perks of being a senior student. They get to pummel the lessons into us. You get one vocal warning and the rest you learn by example lol. 

I agree with wee_blondie, always maintain your guard whenever you punch. If you still get hit then you need your hands higher. I took a solid one to the face just a couple days ago. We were practicing parrying and blocking and I got careless... I did a half block parry and the punch got through. I just started laughing because I felt like an idiot. But learning to take shots is part of the program.


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## DKSMuayThai (Oct 23, 2006)

I don't think it's stressed enough. Technique, technique, technique.. I know that once you've attained the proper jab n cross and perhaps even a decent hook, it is very tempting to want to throw them and spar. To my understanding _most _camps, commercialized or not, tend  to offer their novice students opportunities to spar or engage in relatively advanced drills and conditioning. 

I'm glad to hear you had the pleasure of sparring in something you love to do.  If someone is getting his/her hands past your defense, all I can suggest is that you get back to basics and work work work on your parrying and vigilance (preparedness for the punch or kick).  Please don't take my post as criticism or insult, because that isn't my intention.  I've been there myself and foolishly let it hurt my pride, ultimately hindering weeks of honest training.  You are in there for yourself and the only challenge is letting or pushing yourself to where you're going to be.

Best wishes. Respect your kru.


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## Chained (Oct 23, 2006)

Does anyone have any advice to practicing basic defense by yourself?  I just learned defensive moves for the first time tonight, but everything the kid was throwing was hitting me in the face.  I couldn't really apply anything after having just learnt it.

How can I improve my technique and application?  I think if I just spar a lot I might get sloppy, so I'm not sure how I can prevent that.


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## King (Oct 24, 2006)

Hmm practicing defense solo is hard... I mean because a lot of timing is involved when blocking. You don't want to block to early and expose openings and if you block too late you get hit. Most you can do is practice in front of a mirror to check your form. If you can get a partner to practice blocking drills before sparring or/and after sparring it would help you out a lot. It's just a matter of training your body how react when the punches are coming. Also a common problem of people new to sparring is that they can't keep their eyes open. It takes a while to get used to this too. Glad to see you working hard at it, keep up the good work.


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## wee_blondie (Oct 24, 2006)

I agree, it is tough to practice blocking on your own.  Timing is so crucial when defending although what I could suggest would be to watch some thai fights (there are loads on the web or you can get them on dvd) and see if you can determine when the moves are coming.  Watch in slow-mo too and you might pick it up?

Other than that, just keep practicing the moves on your own so that when the time comes to block you only have to time it right, the body movement will be automatic.

Rock on!


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## Rossi (Oct 28, 2006)

DKSMuaythai - no offence taken at all in fact you hit the nail on the head. So intent was I of throwing my combination that I paid little regard to picking when I threw it and the defence that needs to accompany it.

Sparred a few times since original post - still getting caught but less frequently and its not all one way traffic and still drilling the basics in. Am loving not being stuck in the comfort zone!


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