First fight experiences

[hmmm]

Hi all,

I plan to have my first fight in several months. I've been training hard and doing as much sparring as possible (although we don't use knees much in sparring)
Although its something I really want to do, i must admit, the idea does give me butterflies in my stomach.
Id love to hear about the first fight experiences of more experienced fighters :
- Were you apprehensive (or even scared if you're prepared to admit it !!!) before the fight ?
- Do you forget all your fear when the fight gets under way ?
- How different is a fight from a hard spar ? Is it a rude awakening ?
- Do many people who are good in sparring fold when they get into the ring ?
- How long should one train before getting in the ring (I know everyone is different, but what is a good rule of thumb, if say someone is training on average 4 days a week for an hour or 2 each day ? )

- Any other advice to some one preparing for their first fight ??

Thanks/

[dkm]

this may help:

http://stickgrappler.tripod.com/box/cusstory.html

[Damian Mavis]

Hiya, I have competed in many freestyle point fighting tournaments and recently had my first Muay Thai match in Thailand. The feeling is pretty much the same for both, can't sleep the night before, butterflies, nervousness. I'll just deal with the Muay Thai fight though to answer your questions, but honestly all the freestyle competition really gave me alot of experience that prepared me for the Muay Thai match and I wasn't in as bad shape psychologically as I would have been without it.

-yes I was apprehensive, not as scared as I thought I would be....I wasn't prepared to win, I was fully expecting to take a beating and all I cared about was proving my heart to the Thai's and lasting the 5 rounds without giving up, I think because I was so ready to get hurt that I wasn't as scared as I should have been heh.

-As SOON as the bell went and I approached my opponent for the first strike I lost all sense of fear or nerves

-Ya fighting is pretty different from hard sparring, but you can really help prepare for the fight if you are sparring hard. Going from wearing protective gear to shin on shin is a wake up, but it honestly didn't hurt until the next day. I wouldn't fear the shin on shin at all as I didn't even think about it until later.

-ya you can be good at sparring and then totally freeze up in the ring and do badly, I have a friend that is really good but when nerves and adrenaline kick in he loses all sense of strategy. My personal experience was ok though, I was very focused... don't ask me why.

-one year? hard to say, I waited 2 years before fighting

Hope some of that helps.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD