Saturday training

Had training like normal on Saturday last weekend, apart from the last ten minutes of class. My instructor is incorporating a bit of sparing into normal training times for those who are interested now. It is only ever the guys who want to spar, and I am one of them. We all had brought mouth guards in preparation; chewing on those we got the gloves and groin guards on too then went toe to toe or fist to face for no more but sometimes less than a minute each.

I sparred three guys, one who is a bit shorter than I, the most senior student in the class who is two meters tall (!) and another guy who is my height but stronger than I am, and more experienced.

The first minute was easy. The guy who was shorter than me had a poor guard which made it easy to hit him and not take too much myself. It went the whole minute and I was clearly on top. He was keen though. I was careful to not hit him too hard and to tried to let him come at me. That's how it seemed to me at least.

I sat down for a minute after that then got back into it with the most senior student who I had sparred previously but that was quite a while ago. That time he had been pretty laid back but this time he didn't waste anytime and bet the crap out me. I had to call an end to it when I got a hook on my chin that made me feel as if my jaw might have been torn off. I timely warning about having a solid guard and staying mobile. My instructor said it was obviously a confidence thing, I had seemed much more proficient when I thought I was at an advantage in the previous minute.

The last minute of sparring that I did after having a sit down for a while started off ok. I felt more comfortable with someone who was my size but more skilled. It wasn't too long before I got a clean jab sqaure in my mouth combined with some poor footing that saw me sitting on the mat. It made all the spectators go 'oooo!'. It was a little embarrasing.

I felt pretty shook up after all that and I had a headache that was persistent for several hours afterward, perhaps a minor concussion from the senior student's punch to my jaw. Reflecting on the experience makes me think it was good to have an ego readjustment that way and realise that I have much to improve upon.