Though that was contact sparring, it certainly wasn’t FULL contact - full contact is a lot harder!
Keep in mind Tank is not one of those guys who thinks they are a boxer - he really is a boxer, he gets in the ring and boxes regularly. And he is a heavyweight.
You and Ren did well to put the gear on and give it a go. You were fighting against an expert in a range that is natural to him, while you were unable to use any of your other skills.
When I first took up boxing, as a karate black belt, on paper you would think I would do well from day one. But having all my techniques taken away, having been left with just the punch, and with my hands bound in foam, I was very much the fish out of water. Boxing is designed for the glove to the headgear to deliver blunt force trauma and that takes some getting used to.
Tank himself said he never had to adapt to being hit - because he is a natural boxer.
Tank also said if you go to the boxing gym, get in the ring and touch gloves, you can expect a pounding. This would be shocking if you are not used to it. But then if you went to Judo with Paul you would find being slammed to the mat just as shocking.
The secret is to immerse yourself in the training until you get used to it.
That’s what I did in both boxing and Judo. And you can do it too.
Chip hit on the right note here about working on his boxing.
Consider the amount of work you have put in on your stix to learn the drills and get good?
How much time have you spent on your chi sao, the learning curve?
Now how much time have you actually spent on your boxing?
Exactly.
You are all good kick boxers, all skilled at general kb. You just haven’t specialised in the isolations yet. A KB blue belt or green belt who isn’t allowed to kick is working under a severe handicap. That’s all it is.
So, as of next week, bring your boxing gloves and headgear if you want to do boxing - we’ll start developing it in parallel with the chi sao and get good at both forms of sparring.
NOTE: Boxing sparring is OPTIONAL - nobody has to do boxing, there is plenty of other forms of sparring to work on - boxing is hands only full contact, a very specific isolation.
NOTE: The two men sparring agree the level of contact before the bout - if you are not comfortable with harder contact, stick to Touch - this is perfectly acceptable. You don’t know if you have an embolism or detached retina waiting to be set off. NOBODY boxes or does any contact sparring at STMA without the proper PPE. You wouldn’t do throws off the mat, so don’t box without your headgear.
