Sparring: Boxing is mentally technical and technically mental.

Over the past few months, I have been lucky to have Adrianne looking for occasions where I can spar with other females. Two weeks ago, I went to the Sussex Squad sparring session and then last week to Eastbourne Boxing Club where a few clubs were invited.

I discovered lot about myself.

By The Rookie Camille

Sparring with other people in an unfamiliar competitive environment is interesting because you discover yourself as a boxer. I have discovered that I was a “frantic” boxer. What does this mean? I unconsciously value quantity over quality; I will be punching frantically, not being very effective, tire myself. It’s not nice to watch too, as all the technicalities are evaporated in a lost world. It’s not nice for me because I know I can do better… (and at training, I usually do!).

This frantic mode translates to an interesting fact to what is going on in my mind as a boxer: I am probably scared to get hit so I hit without quality. I forget that I can defend myself and counter.

It is interesting to be aware of your vulnerabilities because you can only improve; in my case I need to learn to control myself before sparring and remember to value quality.

For the first time last Sunday, I also happened to have a roller coaster of thoughts in my head. Starting happy, I was sparring – frantically of course because this is what I do- then I faced women with more experience and one that was particularly strong…

When it was then my turn to rest, and to look at the others, I started to put myself down “I can’t do it” “I am not sure I can, they are so strong, I can never do this” (remember that was an internal conversation with myself) but then I slapped myself in the face (in my head of course) and told myself “No Camille, you can do it, you have been training, you just need to remain calm, to focus on quality, to remember that you can defend yourself”.

Adrianne purposely put me and my comrade Emma in these conditions because, after all, this is as close to a real bout as we can get. Boxing is about effective techniques but also about mental toughness. That girl was hitting hard, it was hurting, and of course, I am a human and it is not a really nice experience. Whilst you feel that you can’t find solutions, this is the best time to remind yourself that you can actually defend yourself! This is YOUR TIME to put into actions what you have been learning, this is YOUR TIME to bring techniques.

As I was frantic I was not effective, but my mental was there. Boxing is a weird sport. It is a strange sensation to get hit. At times, you are buzzing, and then at other times you are frustrated because you know that you are not doing it right, and when it takes too long to find simple solutions such as stepping away, rolling your head… well you feel like you are having a brain freeze – and that’s not acceptable because during 2 minutes of your life you need to be there… you can’t let things happen to you, otherwise you lose.

I am not quite ready to compete yet because I need to be able to control my franticness and to value quality over quantity, mentally and technically. That’s what I love about this sport: it is much more than “hitting on each other” (quoting people here). It is lots of training, lots of fitness, lots of thinking, lots of mental toughness, lots of techniques, lots of endurance… Boxing is mentally technical and technically mental.

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Picture by Stuart Mack

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