Sparring philosophy.

its now 2.45 am (Thurs).

last night, i worked at TNT and decided to stay back and train with our Head Instructor (Khoo) and the rest of his buddies who are seasoned local (and some national level) fighters. it seems that they are training for a local 'muay thai' tournament and were really going at it during training.

Khoo asked me whether i wanted to spar as well. i hesitated for a moment because i am recovering from an injury on my right shin. that takes away one of my main weapons (my Roundhouse kick) but i ended up saying 'yes' anyway. i've developed a real taste for sparring since the beginning of this year. i was careful about it though. i put on a groin guard, head gear and mouth piece as is the practice. and i of course put on 'shin-pads' and put an extra layer on my right shin since it was still bruised.

then i went to the hardest punching bag in the gym and start roundhousing it. when i stopped, my leg felt fine. there was a *little pain but it was endurable. and i was set.

the plan was, the 3 guys who were taking part in the tournament were going to stay in the ring for 5 rounds each. 4 people would be in the ring, as if there are 2 separate fights going on at the same time.

3 main guys: Khoo, Alex and Kumar.
3 punching dummies: Myself, Carl and Leong.

each round lasted 3 mins and the break in between is 30 secs.

1st round: Khoo Vs Alex / Kumar Vs Leong
2nd round: Khoo Vs Me / Alex Vs Carl
3rd round: Khoo Vs Leong / Kumar Vs Alex
4th round: Khoo Vs Alex / Kumar Vs Me
5th round: Khoo Vs Carl / Kumar Vs Leong

something like that lah ... i know for sure that i fought 2 rounds - one against Khoo and another against Kumar.

i thought i was alright - not that good but OK. clearly they were holding back a little on me. i took quite a few shots, kicks and punches to the body, back and head but nothing that knocked me out. so i stood my ground and got in a few nice combinations and some spinning backfists here and there.

i was feeling a little dejected once all the sparring was done. Khoo then said, "Your backfist very strong now...(bla bla) ... you can fight now you know ... but you must learn to get hit - take it then counter ... you're quite good already but you still cannot take hits properly ... (bla bla) ... you must have it in your mind that you want to fight! Then you can take hits and hit back properly!"

in one fell swoop - he pegged one of the flaws of my own character.

the reason i can't take hits properly is because i'm scared. i do so many things in life and people think, 'There goes a guy who's willing to try stuff' - when actually i have to psyche myself so much to do something sometimes, i think its actually rather silly.

and after all the psyching up - i go up and end up not putting on everything i know i *could put into whatever it is i'm doing. i generally walk away satisfied because i know i've achieved something that i wanted to do - but then again, there's always a nagging feeling inside thats telling me, 'Dude, you know you could have done more.'

so the way i approach my opponents in the ring while i spar - is almost akin to the way i approach life.

i'm not too bad. i can hold my own. i know what i should do. and i don't get knocked out anymore. i have the skills.

i just need the balls to go all the way all the time maybe?

so there, 'Sparring philosophy 101'.

then again, maybe its just my mind going on overdrive. *grin.

i'm out.
p/s: come watch FiL!! and read the production blog - (click here to get to FiL production blog) - i just added something about my rehearsal experience.