I think that a majority of people feel intuitively that the closer in they get to an opponent, the more dangerous it becomes. And with good reason. The closer in you get, the more tools your opponent has to hit you with.

Many traditional martial arts instructors like the idea of using the more powerful legs from a distance. But this is one dimensional. It's extremely difficult to maintain this distance in a fight.

Don't get me wrong though, some great counter fighters love to play out in that distance. But committed grapplers with good evasive head movement WILL close that gap and move right into the clinch.

the guy thought i am form another dojo and well experienced. i thought "wow this is harsh, but ok, if this is the way it should be..."

still got the scar above my left eye. damn hooks!

My first sparring experience.....hmmmmmm. I was 11 and had been training for about a month (at the time we went only 1X a week so I had maybe 4 classes under my belt) and sparred my instructor (he does this to judge your aggression and to make sure he doesn't pair a very timid kid with an overly aggressive one). It wasn't a bad experience, wasn't hit hard but was popped a few times (not hard) just to get my reaction. Come to think of it, it was pretty uneventful. Typical timid white belt with all the normal fears and awkwardness sparring her instructor for about a minute (seemed like an hour!)

Casey

After about 3 weeks training they had me and another guy about the same size/age and inexperience go at it. I "beat" him, but he did split my lip (this was in the bare knuckle days) and blood was trickling down my gi.

So I stayed in and they put a brown belt in with me. But he took me too lightly and I knocked him out with a back kick.

So sensei figures I'm due some kind of lesson and matches me up with an even better fighter who's also 6'5". Intuitively I figure being close to him is safer than at a range where he can kick the snot out of me while being out of reach, so I crowd him. Sensei says to my uke "Knock him down - he doesn't respect you". I'm thinking "Are you kidding? This guy scares the %$*& out of me!". But he didn't hurt me...that time.

Mine was boxing. I'd been going to the club for a few months - this was a university club - and they put about 10 of us together for our first sparring session. Headguards on, etc.

Literally the first 2 or 3 seconds into my first round my opponent smacked me with what it still one of the hardest hooks I've ever felt, so I backed off a tad dazed and he did it again. I got belted about 6 times with full power shots before the coach stopped the round. I don't remember it being especially painful [although I did have a bruised nose for a few days afterwards] but what I do remember is completely losing the ability to think and move propely after that first shot, and just repeatedly walking into hits.

Also, in retrospect, having done quite a lot of sparring since, the guy wasn't really sparring in the usual sense. He was trying to knock me out and I don't think I was prepared for it.

That sparring session also left me with a bit of a dislike for headguards.

By contrast, my first karate sparring was fairly full-on -- bare knuckles and lots of bruises -- but because there was no head-contact I didn't find it difficult or intimidating.

Savate sparring under assaut rules varies a lot depending who you are sparring. Some people go super-super-light, others pretty heavy [and not always the ones you'd expect]. I've had bruising that's lasted for three weeks from 'light contact' sparring.

Hello Nasri:

Cannot say, it was too long ago.

Would never have been until I was at least a blue belt (ie beginning-intermediate ranking). Though warm up kicking back and forth certainly felt spooky-scary... (they were all much bigger, far more "worldly", and by far more agressive than I ever became...)

My first session, like I said am certain I got struck cleanly a whole bunch I am sure. Have to think on it maybe I'll remember, but for now guess I've been hit one time too many

My "chin blocks" are P-E-R-F-E-C-T-I-O-N incarnate
Jeff

mine was very similar to matt_mcg's. It was at a university boxing club sparring session with head guards. I was trying to practice good blocking form and footwork with medium counter punches and jabs, but the guy I was up against was clearly out to prove something and was trying to knock me out. He kept smothering me and hitting me with all he had (with little to no form or composure) and I was getting quite battered and bruised, but the hits weren't really bothering me at first. Eventually, though, he punched me hard twice in the nose quite intentionally (since he was trying to hit me anywhere there wasn't the headguard), and I lost my temper and form and pretty much street brawled him into the corner. The coach stopped it pretty quickly. The rest of my times sparring I avoided the kid and boxed against guys I knew were professional and were actually trying to learn something.

I played a lot of defense when I first started sparring. I don't know why but I wasn't too confident in striking. I was a really skinny kid so I didn't really think I had much power. Instead, my first spars were mainly me blocking kicks and punches, dodging and evading. If I was grabbed or brought to the ground, I was slippery enough to often get out of holds, but many times that's when I'd also be forced to strike back. I won some and lost some, but I usually ended up a lot less winded than my opponent...because he would be the one doing all of the attacking.

If I recall from the top of my head, my first sparring in Muay Thai.

Although I'd love to recall it as two world-class champions duking it out much like a Rocky movie with kicks and all but recent conversations with my master has proven me quite wrong. In his own words;

Quote:

---

You sucked. You didn't do ANYTHING, you just stood there and held your hands near your face and took all the blows. It's a wonder how you could last the first round.

---

Then I remember vomitting between round 1 and 2 because of nervosity, and then I got knocked out clean in round 2.

To be honest, it was a disaster. MattJ's two words says pretty much it all..

~Donnie

I did pretty good on my first sparring session. I was a natural kicker so that got me by, that and a lot of nervous energy. I loved sparring. Still do.