This is type of light sparring that you actually benefit from. Flow-sparring, bettering your reaction/reflexes and just putting in reps for muscle memory.
I think it comes down to developing good relationships with your sparring buddy's.. Hey what's your name, touch gloves. Good shot.. smile, touch gloves. Return shots. Thank them for the session. Have a laugh.. I've only had one person where I won't waste my time with as I've seen no change in them. Have a nice day
This is key. It's actually weird how many people won't even introduce themselves or smile. It's such low effort and yet so crucial. To me it's always just been the obvious thing to do. Not even just for sparring but partnering up with someone for any kind of drill and/or pad work.
I been sparring a lot myself and always found the question funny , ''did i hit you too hard ?'' Not ever me (even if cracked good :D) or someone else i''ve sparred have said '' yes , don't hit that hard'' , only children would give that honest answer without pride and fear of looking vulnerable ....much love ♥
Coaches will say it's not realistic fighters will say your not tough enough while they brawl with 50% technique and zero strategy makes gyms safe again
Isn’t like this in every boxing gym ? In my gym we spar light Except that autistic boy I found out after I fought him outside the gym it’s his parents fault
Autism is a hard one, in some cases you can just be that clouded by emotion. Hard sparring is also far too common btw, I've gone from boxing to mma and I'm only realising now they you aren't meant to go so hard and I've been doing it for 6 years.
This mindset of playful/technical/light sparring has a bunch toxic posivity because even though it's about sparring "safely", it has the dichotomy of "This individual is sparring hard->Therefore->I must teach him a lesson". This new doctrine of sparring seeks to put every sparring partner on the same rhyme and reason when that's wrong to do. Just because someone might be more intense or more aggressive doesn't mean you have to rewire them, only if they're putting people to the hospitals constantly. You need diversity, you need adversity, especially when you're starting out, I might even say hard sparring is necessary when you're a beginner
You need to leave your current gym immediately, if this is the mentality they're teaching. Not a singular person who knows anything about sparring will think that hard sparring is necessarry as a beginner. If this is your serious take you've been hit too hard, too many times. Even if you have many years of experience in martial arts, have sparred hard and a lot, you can still learn from flow sparring with beginners. Both parties don't have to get the same out of a spar. I hope you never spar with anyone as long as you have this attitude towards it.