sparring

[street]

hello i have a question, i spar with my friend, he is 160-lbs and im 140 lbs, he is stronger, and when we spar i hit him we just start hitting each other brutally. my question is how can i beat him when i hit him he doesnt retrieve he stays there punching, any advice from well train boxer on how to work on bigger people. i train with him for street situations. should i 123 him and go back then 123 him again. he is also conditioned so he doesnt get tired easily. thanyou

[ryanhall]

This is a little blunt, but if your friend is only 20 lbs bigger than you are and you still can't make him react to you hitting him, then you really need to learn how to hit harder. Much harder. Learn proper mechanics and put on some muscle. Get some quality instruction, as just slugging it out with a friend builds bad habits and is counterproductive. Good luck.

[street]

well sometimes i make him react yesterday i hit him and he got stunned. he says that he felt it but when i throw punches when he is throwing he supposibly says he doesnt feel it. should i do weights for what part of the arm. my forearm? im kinda weak from there, i was weaker before i started ma 1 year ago

[Guest]

How old are you? I was 140 lbs when I was in my late teens. I hit the weights and went up to 170, and I was muscular with it.

Beef it up a bit. Mind you, Bruce Lee was only about your weight, but I rather think he was a special case................

[Thadiius]

If he's stronger than you, dont sit there and try to trade blows with him..use ya head. Move, try to make him miss, and counter if you can. And another thing go to the body, take some steam from his punches...

[street]

we are 14 almost 15.do pecs count for power?or is it the hole upper body?im week from my pecs i can do pushups about 17 only, ill keep worcking on those and get some 20lbs dumbells and include it to my routine.

[eXcessiveForce]

Punching power come from the entire body.

It starts in the ankles, moves up the legs to the turn of the hips to the twist of the shoulder to the extension of the arms. It is the whole body moving in harmony for punching power.

It sounds like you need to get some real training otherwise you may learn the hard way about some of the problems and injuries that unskilled people can end up with.

[street]

hey thanks for your replies but i got confused with something along rthe way and it seemed you said i didnt know how to punch, that was whyt i asked but when i do a straight right i move my ankle my hips i dont over do it because then it will come out wron, im going to get rit of my 25lb punching bag and get a50 lb one thats the most expensive i can afford. thanks

[eXcessiveForce]

Another thing you may want to look at is targeting. Make sure you are hitting the right targets and stringing your combinations correctly.

I hit a boxer once when I was 14 or so with a punch that was timed right and dead on the solar plexus. and he dropped. Maybe a one in a lifetime hit, But I also like throwing hooks to the inside of the bicep and side of the neck. Straight punches to the solar plexus, hooks to the floating ribs.

Avoid getting hit by working on movement.


And if your friend doesn't think you can hurt him you will have to change that mindset if you want him to acknowledge your hits.


It aways hurts less when you get hit by someone you know than someone you don't.

I've laughed off punches that would have pissed me off had it been someone on the street.

If you are having trouble with generating enough power to back him off then you need to get a trainer and find out what the problem is because you must be losing power somewhere or you are not targetting or timing right.

[street]

thanks. perhaps is the timing, sometimes im down to his ribs i see an opening and it ges by. any drills for that. i love dong combos on the bag but i dont know why i cant on my friend. only the jab and cross almost all i do no upper cuts, sometimes hooks.

[haumana2000]

First off, it is your method of sparring. You are going into "Toughman Contest" mode, where they stand and slug without any movement, strategy, or else. Everytime you spar, you should be working a specific technique or attribute that you want to build on. It's about CQI Continuous Quality Improvment. Set a goal, ie. to either work specific combinations, or tools, explosion, evasion, movement, or whatever. Then concentrate on doing it repetetively so it emeds itself to your neuromuscular memory. Anybody can stand there and get hit, but how about working on entering off, your jab into a combination, then weaving out or circling? For power you can hit the bag, but for some great training tips on boxing go to Ringside's website, and get their videos. Great stuff on attribute development, and if you dont know, it's a treasure chest for pennies! I think tapes are about 10.00 a piece! if there is a trainer locally go to the boxing gym, and work there, it's is hard without a coach to critique you.

[haumana2000]

Oh, almost forgot, about Power, the best knockouts arent hard arm punches, they are developed through understanding the concept of "Sitting Down on your punches" and relaxed movement. Torque begiining at the toes, onto the ankle, waist shoulder elbow, and tense at the wrist on impact. Straight punches generally work the best "Right Down the Middle" as they say, or a cross to the chin or "On the bean" in the boxing community. learning to time him as he comes in will go a long way as well.

[rapture]

i had a spar similar to the one u described the other day.. i was sparring a larger opponent and i just tried to trade punches... I didn't do to bad but then again i didn't do to well... What you need to work on is using your brain and using footwork.... out box him instead of trying to out punch him.... jab jab jab and always move and you will hopefully not brawl quite as much as you have previously...

[darrianation]

Power comes from technique and speed. Doing a lot of power punches on the heavy bag will helps too.

As for weights something that many boxers neglect is the back (lats). Building these muscles will help also. I had a boxing coach tell me that the punch comes from the back. What he’d say is punch from the lats. What he meant was the body turning, turning your shoulder towards your opponent like looking down a barrel of a rifle with a whipping action. Power does not come from the arms, the arm/ fist is just the part that hits the target.

Technique comes in play because in reality the punch comes from the ground up. Making all your body parts work synchronous with one another. Relaxing the body until impact helps speed. Putting it all together = power.

[NuffSpeed]

I used to like to hit them in the shoulder muscle the odd time(right cross if your both right hands), this can wear down their jab and hook, leavin you with more openings to attack. Try fighting on the "outside" if he is the same height or shorter,and work on countering. Do sparring sessions where you work on countering in infighting---ie he throws a left hook, you put your glove on your ear tight-roll a little away from the punch, and counter with a left hook. If he just stays where he is, move in and out on him, mix it up use your jab for distance, and your weight disadvantage as an advantage by outwinding him, make him throw and miss. Work on your footwork alot, every time he moves forward, keep your range and move back , everytime he moves back, keep your range and move forward, get into your groove with him, and when you see how he moves, sidestep when you anticipating. Make him fight his game harder then he normally would, making it your game. 17 pushups aint a whole lot, work on getting in better shape, because boxing is all about your stamina , technique, and strength.