Today we look at 5 ridiculous sparring clips and I explain why you should never spar that way. Proper sparring etiquette is something you must learn if you want to have training partners who don't hate you 😂
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Who's ready to watch some ridiculous sparring clips that show you exactly how NOT to spar???
If the "Spar Wars" videos from Siam Boxing don't make it into the video I'll be disappointed!
Gabriel, could you do a breakdown of tyrone spong. He will be fighting again soon for khabibs eagle promotion🙏
Hey Gabriel, could you do another video where you watch your viewers training footage please?
I do. The first kickboxing class I took the instructor was knocked down hard by a guy just waiting to spar. It freaked me out a little but I later found a good gym.
Great video! I would also be interested in a video where you review GOOD sparring footage and manners
People need to realize there are no winners in sparring. There is no belt for sparring. People need to understand this. Communicate with your partner and respect your partners.
This so much, we have a kid that only throws power shots, every shot be puts 100%. The issue is he's never learnt how to set the shot up as a result. So he never catches anyone apart from new people. No matter how many times I've tried to explain, in sparring just flow and have a "goal" he just doesn't listen.
Yup I always ask what kind of sparring they want
Combat sports is full of ego. Those with high egos end up losing long term. They get one loss and they quit or they get extremely depressed etc. sparing should be technical and you should use the opponent as a reference to what you have learned rather then trying to defeat him.
@@SoupraaaaaaI'm a novice fighter How much should I hard spar?
@@lightnang that’s honestly up to you. But I honestly spat once or twice a week.
Tips for proper sparring: -Go all out, full power, hold nothing back -Find a partner who is weaker, less skilled, and smaller than you -Refrain from speaking, only communicate in cro-magnon howls and grunts -Drool profusely -If the opponent wants to quit, that's proof you are superior, and you should fight harder
Yeth
LMFAO!!
Haha
Hahahahaha I know that guy to.
Ah another alpha male beast such as myself. We will be the kings of sparring brother. All shall perish. Especially THE WEAK (14 y/o's with no fight experience)
The problem with Dutch sparring is that it only produces top level fighters for the best of the best like Murthel Groenhart and Badr Hari, but at the same time how many peoples careers and lives get shortened as a result.
@@madmoonrabbit true but it’s only because Saki is a world class kick-boxer, i bet the majority of the fighters through his gym never make it
Yeah, one of my last training sessions in Muay Thai was one of those: Guy agrees to light sparring, then at the last seconds of the round and out of nowhere, he throws a hard combination and finishes with an uppercut that nearly breaks my nose. I was just like: WTF?!! I recently quit Muay Thai classes because there are just too many guys I don't trust. I'm only doing private Muay Thai classes with the coach now.
@TigerFace93 I like what you said
The worst one is when ur about to kick ur partner in the head and pull it back at the end but they catch it and sweep you like you couldn't have just kicked them in the head with a full power roundhouse kick
Facts man the guys who sweep are actually too sped to realize u pulled back or slowed down at the end to not hurt them 🤦
@@maz1702 sweeper who has done this before, when I notice it I let my partner know that the kick definitely would have caved my head in, I just have an itchy trigger finger for those sweeps
@@Cheeseisboss fair enough but I don't think all sweepers have that realization
i dont think any story can beat mine, when my sparring partner kick me in the head in BOXING sparring.
Omg dood forgot his boxing and not kickboxing or Muay Thai. Hope you're ok man
I’m a beginner to intermediate level at Muay Thai. I remember a guy who I thought was a friend levels above me back me up into a corner and then unleash on me and dropped me with to upper cuts to my ribs. Then he was trying to pick me up off the ground saying I was overreacting. It took me 2 months to be able to kick and punch without pain, little alone breathe everyday day. People that do that are such jerks. When they get someone levels above them they would be the first to complain. I saw another guy in a gym in Thailand who had had 200 fights beating up people saying just speed no power. It was beautiful to watch a trainer spar him and beat him up a bit saying to him how do you like it when someone does it to you. It was gold, he wouldn’t let him quit 😂
Yeah I am from the Netherlands, technical sparring is something that should be emphasized more.
every gym said they do technical sparring. unfortunately mostly it will end up some escalation..
A lot of the time it's also the coach's fault. If you as a coach don't established the proper gym culture, you just gonna get guys give each other brain damage before they even get to their first fight. Firas Zahabi said in an interview or podcast that he doesn't tolerate malicious intent and guys that try to hurt each other in sparring. Some of these gyms are own and run by people that think you just gotta go hard all the time to produce the best and toughest fighters and that's large part of the problem.
Yeah last time I checked, brain dead and/or concussed does not equal tough.
You are a sparring 'partner'... not an enemy
there`s always that one psycho in the gym, in every gym.
It always seems like that is true.
Ahah, true
The psychos usually get weeded out pretty quickly because no one wants to spar with them. The ones who chafe me are the dudes with big egos who tee off on people with lesser skills instead of working with them. They make class not fun, and not fun means lost students.
Thats why we need to train so hard so when we get good enough they can't touch us and we can cripple them
Exactly... I'm currently looking for a new gym in my area, where people understand that (especially as someone who is not a pro) you spar to learn, to have fun, to be healthy and not to "win" every sparring round and get headaches and ultimately brain damage 🥴👍
I practice boxing, and even though I do spar hard sometimes, I try to pull my punches a little, specially if the other guy is smaller which is almost always the case because I’m a big guy. Sparring is about learning not damaging your opponent.
These clips boil my blood. I've said before how in the boxing world, this type of "sparring" is the still the norm and a lot of gyms brag about doing this on the regular. I spar hard once in a blue moon now. I focus more on how not to get hit, and energy management when I'm in the ring vs taking on unnecessary brain damage. We have a young guy in our gym that doesn't know how to work with people. And less and less people want to spar with him now.
I agree, I'm not sure why when I go to muay thai or bjj gyms the sparring is usually technical and the ppl have common sense but boxing gyms tend to have ppl with huge egos who can throw hands at best, don't know how to check leg kicks and go as hard as they can, cte city
@@maz1702 Yup, just had one of the younger guys in the gym bragging about how he dropped his sparring partner yesterday night. I just walked away shaking my head. AND they are fighting the next day. I'm older and "been there done that, wish I had known better". You can only tell them so much though. They don't want to listen, and I can't force anyone to change. In 10-15+ years they will wish that they had listened when their body and brain starts to show major damage from always sparring like morons non stop.
@@sexybluelady big time, a lot of kids today are stupid but they usually don't tend to work too hard and with time comes experience, best one can do if communication doesn't work is become as good as possible so we can school them without getting cte in the process. Rn I'm going to different gyms doing cheap month trials off groupon and whenever someone tries to go hard with me granted they're not that good and won't ligten up is I give em a taste of their own medicine but they just try to go harder and it becomes an ego battle. Idk there's no cure for stupid
The two things I usually tell new people when I do sparring with them is to remove as much weight in the technique as possible and remove the tension before impact. It also have the benefits of teaching people to relax during fights, and get some speed instead og trying to throw bombs all the time.
Truth is that ego is a part of the business whether we want to admit it or not, but we all should see to keeping our ego in check, particularly in sparring. I can still remember a couple of skilled but very arrogant guys back when I was a kid, they ended up not being able to find anyone wanting to spar with them. They were both brown belt, Shotokan, very skilled but just couldn't help doing at least one power kick during sparring that would send the other guy on his ass. Some ego trip or whatever. Needless to say no one wanted to spar with them after one session. Ego must remain at the door. Have a good one.
Agree with your points, you are a gentleman
🙏🙏🙏
excellent video. Coaches not teaching sparring etiquette is something I really do not understand.
Yes. That is 100% something that should be explained. It helps create a better gym vibe and keeps people safe
Kudos, that's such an important point to make!
Well said!! You must be awesome to spar with! Keep up the great vids!!
Thank you for all the great content 🙏 Gabriel, you have a VERY high fight IQ
Great video. We have never to forget that this is a sport and the education and respect must have the max priority.
The first clip shown is actually of Murthel Groenhart and his brother
Oh brothers sparring. That explains it. Still way too hard.
Are they from a Dutch gym? Would explain why they’re going so hard.
@@bizmonkey007 yeah I think that's Mike's gym in Amsterdam
Thank you! This is so helpful
Great video Gabriel!
I think communication is important with sparring partners. Especially if youve never sparred with them. Always check in if you feel you might be going harder and if they go hard. Let them know. A lot of people out of egos sake don't want to admit that their sparring partner is going too hard. And so they take it and the other guy thinks it's ok.
This is so crucial for people who don't understand sparring or for people starting out
Great video as always!
I hate people that create an unfair sparring round then use that to their advantage. For example, I had a guy say to me once that he had just got braces, but still wants some rounds, so can we do body shots. I said sure. I only hit to the body, whereas about 20 seconds in he started going for my head, which caught me off guard. I stopped it there and he said whats the problem. Like bro why would I limit my targets and be open to more shots, when you can throw what you like. I just went to someone else.
well done, people are afraid to call assholish behaviour, I do it if I need to
This video is spot on.
Yes, more please coach.
Thanks! Gotta help my pal get an interim belt for regional so I’m going to be sparring pretty soon
100% agree with you 🙏
Good advice. Something Fighters and coaches should remember to address
Looking fresh with the sweater
That video of what you assumed was holland was hard to watch. It just makes newcomers scared to even start because theyre afraid of sparring someone like that who has bad etiquette and will take the opportunity to injure or ko you while sparring.
This was a good one.
I am writing a scene about sparring etiquette. This is SUPER helpful research. If you have more, please let me know where to look. Thanks for the breakdown.
I just subscribed to you. Gotta support the Canadian fighters.
Mr.Varga putting out the quality content, bad sparring partners take note. 👀
Hi Gabriel, I appreciate your videos. Especially those on sparring / training etiquette, I see this type of stuff almost nowhere on martial artist pro channels. You're right of course with everything in the video, but what I miss here too when somebody is talking about hard-sparring gym jerks is the REASONS. Many people acknowledge what you say. I have also heard even those gym jerks say this kind of things, "no ego" blabla, but when they're going they're turning. In my experience many people do this type of hard sport as (destructive) therapy, it's their life. How many times have I asked what people do appart from that. Most of the times they have nothing, especially when they''re high level athletes. Their whole self-esteem is bound to the sport, "losing" in the gym means being nothing, so to speak. It's also the kind of people that gives a shit about their own boddy. In psychiatries they call it "self-harming behavior", not so special after all. See Conor McGregor vs Justin Gaetje. Entering a fight / not pulling out when the leg is broken. With those people the relation to their bodies becomes lost, they get numb. This should be talked about a lot more. I can recommend this video, although it's incomplete in terms of coverage IMO. But good: kzhead.info/sun/haqkiMmtoIejqWg/bejne.html
Hey Gabriel you’ve uploaded your video on how you find the body but that’s all technically perfect. I’d like to see how you find it specially in the middle of a firefight like your fight against Palacios.
From what I know of the Greonhart clip is those are bigger gloves and typical dutch style is hard to the body but easy to the head
@1:15 “..these guys are UNLEASHING RIDICULOUS POWER PUNCHES on each other ..” lmao 🤣
Can't agree more. Needs to be playful unless established otherwise first.
More!
You are so right, I sparred with a bud of mine and swung a kick, I lost balance and as a result ended up accidentally putting a bit too much power behind it, it's always so important to communicate with your partner, to recognise the mistakes you make and apologise for them, most importantly doing your best to avoid that mistake again, after all you get no points for being a dick
Looking forward to this, probably gonna be like watching planet of the apes🥊
Hey gabriel can you break down your fight against Tie Yinghua we really need to know why you lost that fight. Big fan of yours and I wish you all the best.
Why? That’s a weird question
Weird for sure 😂
Its not weird its important to highlight your losses. What happened, what you were thinking in the moment, and what you should have done.
I think he already did a breakdown or at least mentioned it before in some of his other videos
@@raygarcia2540 is right ^ this...he already did it. Why are you all dredging up losses to make a some wierdo point or implication.
I pass some test 1 month ago and i got brain damage from boxing in the amateur rank and i can say that my sparring was more damaging from my fight. I always have partner that need to show they are bigger and better then me. I try my best to be cool but is not always easy with some guys! Boxing have help me a lot in my life and i dont have regrets, but the only one thing that i can say is that i would like to have better training partner to know that was not a figth but just some training.
these tips remind me of a sign i saw "please use only one parking spot per car". seems obvious, but if someone took the time to make the point, it's probably necessary.
The people who go light then all of a sudden go hard are the worst types by far. Doesnt even give you a chance to say hey lets chill because its so random. I completely avoid those types
I had a guy at Tiger Muay Thai that did that to me twice in a light sparring session, second time I saw red & chased him across the mat like a bar fight. It still pisses me off when I think about it! ☺️
damn, the guy beating up the smaller kid reminds me so much of when I started training here in Brazil. hurts to watch
It's truly sad to see these examples.... but great tips provided
I remember my worst sparring experience is one of the first sparring sessions I was going super light (cuz we are asked to go super light) just tapping then WACK back of the head and I hurt my neck… luckily its just pulled muscle I know my opponent is also just a beginner but still… the thing is when i can land a clean straight to his face i tapped only but when i was slipping he just hook o the back of my head cause my head to violently jerk forward.
The worst is when you know you have the skill and size advantage so you pull your techniques back to protect them. you throw a kick which they fail to guard, but they don’t acknowledge the kick and keep pressing you. How would you handle that? This frustrated me as a black belt teaching sparring technique.
Your actually a beast! Even though you dont look like it. I think Mike Tysons style is the way to win fights :)
Murthel & Fernando Groenhart are brothers. They are both amazing fighters. They are also both great guys.
Those who just enjoy sparring will have short carrer, they will get concussion faster and eventually getting K.Oed faster. Learn with the thais, they spar light and they have 200+ fights. As always Gariel makeing great analysis. Keep it up with the great videos and content man.
The simple reason is that they are fighting as often as many people have sparring sessions 😅 you just can't compare Thai fighting culture to western. It's a completely different thing in so many terms and it's much more of an actual culture.
The first Muay Thai I went to would always have three trainers on hand. two would actually teach the class and one would be there just to "set anyone straight" that wasn't sparring properly lol
Fact is many of these gyms are about owners ego and owners top fighters ego's, and of course profit. Profit is all well and good, but a paying member is a paying member whether he is the top stud in the gym or a guy who will never take a competitive fight in his life. For as much as these owners/kru's like to talk about "respect" and "gym" culture, many are only too happy to look the other way and feed their top amature prospects/semi pro/full on pros egos like they are some God's. It's a joke.
Its the trainers job to keep order. There are many bad trainers. Usually when you are taken to spar to different gyms. You let the other guy pick up the pace. Even so called exhibitions get out of hand. Why? Bad trainers instructions. The most important thing in a combat sport in the beginning, is to find a descent trainer. The loud mouths are usually all hype. Thanks for the video.
dutch sparring is brutal, reminds me of that one clip of wanderlei silva sparring in fact wasn't chute box notorious for having concussions and knockouts all the time since they sparred stupidly hard?
Could we see some more of your sparring footage?
I went up to my gym on a Saturday to KB spar with the new guy at the gym I was probably 140-150 and he was easily 220+. I was moving around him, kinda picking him apart and he sarted throwing HUGE hooks and knees lol. Never went another round with that guy
That Jordan jersey gym bully is the reason why gyms need enforcers. After that round the coach should have put him with their heavyweight enforcer and "potty trained" him. Truly shameful.
Footage from Mike‘s gym in Holland Badar Hari Old gym
A lot of times when sparring and one person is throwing with too much power they don't realize they are doing that, especially if they are a less experienced fighter.
at 4:37 is murthel groenhart also in Mikes gym
My Gym is occasionally making a 5 hours Drive during weekend time from northern Germany to mike's gym Amsterdam for sparring sessions. The fighters from my gym have that saying: You do not have to worrie a fight after you have had a couple of sparrings in the Netherlands. They say sparring in the Netherlands feels much harder than the actual fight. Then there is this funny other thing they mostly consider fighters from other countries as fresh meat. They know how hard they spar. Here in Europe the dutch are famous for their hard sparring.
That big dude trying to take the head off of the small due man.... Fckn unbelievable. Would've loved to spar with him and see if he could run that shit with me. But then again like Varga said, we don't get paid for it.
Man some of this footage is ridiculous. Come on man. Seems very bullish. We're here to learn. The ego is crazy in these videos. I would love some more examples on bad sparring. Excellent video.
I think that was Murthel Groenhart in the third clip
I will watch it Even it It's not as useful to me as it is I'm learn from my mistakes 🦍
totaly agree, I come a cross some idiots going hard on new comers. I absolutley hate that. I always ask if they wanna sparr me hard? I am a heavy wight. I can go hard. Then they are not so hard anymore. hahaha. Bet on someone u r own size and do it respectful. Its a sport ffs. Enjoy. Hahaha often the same guys not fdoing 100% when we do physical excersises.
I remember sparring a fellow team mate and we were going say 50% I wasn’t tryna beat him up or anything he was a regular an I respected him however during the session who throws a front kick it landed flush on my chin Ithought to myself you woke up the lion buddy so I blitz him will a hellish combo then finished it with a powerful liver kick and dropped him I told you him you should never front kick a teammate in the face there’s 0 protection on the ball of your foot he learned his lesson
I believe in the thai way of sparring super gentle just a tap.
That adult is one of the Mertell twins... and jeezzz that was almost borderline abuse🤣😂
It strange to see Dutch sparring described that way as the gyms and people I've trained with have described Dutch Sparring as light back and forths to practice combos safely. I have never seen Dutch Sparring go that hard.
Ethics of the question mark kick in sparring? Its designed to get the opponent to drop their hands so you land a clean head kick, but landing a clean headkick in sparring can cause too much damage.
I got a thumb in the eye from a basketball varsity player trying to cross train and never went back to that gym.
I'm a beginner to sparring and I get put in with more experienced people and there just shining I have no chance to land punches
Some gyms have a rule that in sparring you can go 50-90% on body/leg hits, while 20-30% power at the maximum on the head. What's your opinion on it? On their way of thinking, you can "harden" your body against shots, but your head is way too important for getting hit hard in sparring. I kind agree with that (much rather take a body shot that takes me down than a KO to the head).
I think is really stupid, without legs you can fight and 90% at the legs is just to much.
Also strong hits to any part of the body can cause brain damage, if the hit is strong enough to cause a sudden deceleration in the head.
Makes sense on paper but the problem is everyone has a different understanding of what their percentages are. I might think I’m going 30% on my partner but that might be their 70%. You just don’t know but communication is key
Going 50 to 90% to the body is also stupid
“Don’t break your partner” -- Coach on my first day of sparring
Coach said 20% while my sparring partners killed my thigh 75-90% and now I can’t walk for a couple of days lol.
in the third clip that adult is murthel groenhart... crazy shit
This is why I train in an MMA gym, in all the striking gyms in my town I see dudes trying to kill each other in sparring, my gym offers 3 MT classes per week and private classes, the same amount of training than in the striking gyms without the concussions, the MT trainers are skilled with solid records, that's all that matters
I am new to sparring and I spar with beginners (just like me) but how do you deal with learning how to measure how much power to put in your strikes? I myself held everything back, I throw with literally maybe 30% of my little power or just touch people with zero power but in response I get clipped badly sometimes lol. I am not the kind of person who answers back, I just keep throwing soft because I know the other person is also a beginner and because even if I am a skinny 31 year old beginner, I know I can kick rather hard, but would never try and see how a person responds to my kicks.... I just find it hard to find the appropriate power and don't want to do what some sparring partners do to me. Any advice would be much appreciated :)
Relaxation of the muscles. The more relaxed the quicker. So you could have a soft hand and just before your hand connects you make a fist which will tense it in the moment like a normal punch should. I used to be a beginner as well and apparently I went too hard without knowing it. I just kept practicing and learning how to relax the muscles themselves
@@kingades1013 thanks for the great tip. Last night I had my second session and again, I kept going too soft, I almost feel like there is a barrier for me to break, not to be afraid to actually try to hit others. Obviously several of my partners understand there is no danger coming from my striking and make me pay when I open. This second session was a bit more frustrating because I felt like something in me was simply not willing to take it seriously and rather get hurt than try and hurt others…. Will follow your advice and try a bit harder next Friday
Very annoying when sparring partners take a liberty and go in hard. All you can do is take take a few cheap shots and wade in even harder 👍
6:45 the agreed level should be the level of the hardest punches, not of the softest ones o the mean power
Mikes gym known to have gym fights lol
Yes. I've heard that over and over. Definitely not a gym I'm planning on visiting. No one pays me for gym fights
Gab, you've trained at House of Champions, do you think they spar too hard there?
Good question though.
alright I guess my gym doesn't spar THAT hard, seeing this
3rd clip mike paseneer is in the background. So yeah thats in Holland. But you are wrong if you think all the gyms in Holland spar hard. I would have quit the sport if that was the case.
I’m pretty strong and not so skilled so I think my technique is not that good because I’m afraid that I would pop someone by accident. I don’t know what to do. I haven’t popped or dropped anyone yet but I’m afraid I will one day. But at the same time I don’t feel that the sparring is sort of real. Do you have tips? My coach keeps saying that I should trust the other one, but I know several instances where I could have dropped the person by accident. The other way around, some people see me as big and strong so they keep hitting me hard, but I still try to back off as much as I can which impacts my performance.
get more skilled, take those sessions with the lil guys on defence/evasion footwork reading visualizing openings and keep looking for a guy your size for when you can attack without fear of uncontrolled hits
I will also throw this out there… if you are sparring a female of equal size and skill, don’t go “easy” on them just cuz they are a girl. You are doing her and yourself a disservice and neither of you are getting better.
I practice Boxing and this Young guy always comes Hard at me and of course I get out of the way but I get hit sometimes hard but What happens is O feel the punch and then I star giving back hard punches as well, I have told him to take it easy that I am not there to go hard because He or me can get hurt but it seems that He wants to take it into that direction and also He looks at You like if He is a Bad ass, just by looking at the way He looks at You You already Know that is going to be serious I already told him to chill and He got mad serious but I will Never spar with him again because so far is being a Bad sparring becomes a brawl and I am older but I am bigger if I give him a really good one He might get hurt I don't want to go into that is better just not to spar with people like that but I advise him ask some one if They want to hard me is not that guy and also once He proposed let's go Hard, And I say NO! But it seems that is already a Mind Set.
I hate those who throw spinning back fists and kicks on light sparring. It doesn't make any sense.
In the sparring with the much shorter guy, the taller guy looks like Murtel Groenhart... Not your average dude!!