Boxing "High" and Crashing

[Lance C]

All,

For your comments, last night we had a close match between two students, a 2 minute no-contact fight. The margin came down to decision by 1 point. The one student was in such a high from the match he curled up in the corner hyperventillating (first aid was called) it took him 30 minutes to regain full composure. This was the student who lost (it was both their first matches)

I think it may have been stage fright a bit, since there was a crowd of about 80 people watching. Plus such a close match, it was more of a judging call to see who actually was called the winner, both participants did very well.

If anyone has some knowledge or advice they would want to share...

-Lance C

[warrior-scholar]

WOW.
I wish I could help. I have noticed students exhibiting more erratic and intense behavior while under the scrutiny of an audience, but hyperventilation! Must have been intense. Tell me your secret!

[Lance C]

WOW.
I wish I could help. I have noticed students exhibiting more erratic and intense behavior while under the scrutiny of an audience, but hyperventilation! Must have been intense. Tell me your secret!


The matches were video taped and apparently it looks like all out war, lots of attacks and few defenses, resulted in lots of exchanges with little scoring. Many of the hits were to the arms protecting on both sides.

I am anxiously awaiting to see the tapes one of the isntructors took. The reigning class champion held the title (actually kicked some butt too) due to the fact of using feints (11 year old girl) and body positioning.

We use the tapes to see where the training is at, and it looks like we need more partner drills in class, especially with ones on defensive or counter techniques. You could see Great Basics in the fights, but poor targetting. I really like video, you can really make improvements that way.

I would say the hyperventillation was due partly due to excessive exercise mixed with a nervousness. When your cardiovascular system tenses up due to excessive nervousness, you get all kinds of problems. I am hoping that it does not discourage the student, and from personal experience the first time in front of an audience is by far the worst. Personally, I still get nervous, until I get hit hard the first time. Then I forget about the nervousness.

-Lance

[warrior-scholar]

Just a quick note on targets:
It seems students are so used to compliant partners in controlled sparring drills (static and dynamic) that free sparring does lead to many missed targets. Finding that right combination of drills takes some time and constant adjustment. We work very hard on slowly increasing the chaotic nature of our more directed drills. It may take a bit longer than some people like, but seems to generate positive results. Lately our focus has been TIMING. The significance of timing for hitting your target is huge.

Several of my students decided to jump into the full-contact arena WAAAAYYY before they were prepared, but learned some very valuable lessons. They don't seem to fear an aggressive sparring partner anymore. Also, they have a better idea of how to handle maniac sluggers. A broken nose and cracked jaw later they definitely realize the importance of proper training. As you mentioned Lance, that first heavy strike can be an eye-opener!!!

Ryan