Sparring stories from the masses

Silver tongue samurai

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What are some stories you guys have. Funny stuff, slick stuff, first times, war stories. Lets hear it.
<{vega}>
 
Alright, I will start with my best one from way back when.

I was sparring a fifteen yr old Rory MacDonald (this is not long at all before he began to destroy me) and out of the corner of my eye are two pro fighters, Gary Wright and Bob Shabaga. It’s heating up so I am trying to pay attention to it in between blocking punches from this fast and determined, but ultimately skinny kid who I’m not too cautious of. (Again, this all changed drastically, and quickly)

Bob is throwing a lot of right roundhouses to the body at the end of combos. Gary is trying to catch the leg. I’m not sure how many times, but I feel I saw two catch attempts, after Bob had landed the kick a couple times. Of course, I was unable to watch completely this whole time.

However, I notice Rory’s eyes drifting that way, too. We both realize we are wanting to watch, agree with a little nod, and turn together, just in time to see the most ninja thing I have seen in person.

Bob throws a punch combo, followed with the roundhouse, which Gary catches while simultaneously throwing a straight right hand. Now, and Rory and I talked about this to see if we could figure it out exactly, we could not figure just what Bob did, but he obviously was countering the counter. He must’ve moved his foot up higher, under the left armpit maybe, as he turned himself totally backwards. As Gary’s right hand whistled by Bobs ear, he clamped it down to his shoulder, maybe with both hands, then drove his head down and I think his kicking foot upwards. This resulted in Gary, who was 30lbs heavier, btw, being essentially hip tossed for a near full somersault, landing on his back.

Quite amazing, and at full speed, because they were going. Bob was an absolutely brilliant fighter who really helped all of us out, eventually and especially Rory.
 
Alright, I will start with my best one from way back when.

I was sparring a fifteen yr old Rory MacDonald (this is not long at all before he began to destroy me) and out of the corner of my eye are two pro fighters, Gary Wright and Bob Shabaga. It’s heating up so I am trying to pay attention to it in between blocking punches from this fast and determined, but ultimately skinny kid who I’m not too cautious of. (Again, this all changed drastically, and quickly)

Bob is throwing a lot of right roundhouses to the body at the end of combos. Gary is trying to catch the leg. I’m not sure how many times, but I feel I saw two catch attempts, after Bob had landed the kick a couple times. Of course, I was unable to watch completely this whole time.

However, I notice Rory’s eyes drifting that way, too. We both realize we are wanting to watch, agree with a little nod, and turn together, just in time to see the most ninja thing I have seen in person.

Bob throws a punch combo, followed with the roundhouse, which Gary catches while simultaneously throwing a straight right hand. Now, and Rory and I talked about this to see if we could figure it out exactly, we could not figure just what Bob did, but he obviously was countering the counter. He must’ve moved his foot up higher, under the left armpit maybe, as he turned himself totally backwards. As Gary’s right hand whistled by Bobs ear, he clamped it down to his shoulder, maybe with both hands, then drove his head down and I think his kicking foot upwards. This resulted in Gary, who was 30lbs heavier, btw, being essentially hip tossed for a near full somersault, landing on his back.

Quite amazing, and at full speed, because they were going. Bob was an absolutely brilliant fighter who really helped all of us out, eventually and especially Rory.

So essentially this guy Bob turned a caught kick counter cross into an uchi mata? That would be a sight to see.

Here I thought I was about to hear a story of a young Rory teaching you to not look past him haha
 
So essentially this guy Bob turned a caught kick counter cross into an uchi mata? That would be a sight to see.

Here I thought I was about to hear a story of a young Rory teaching you to not look past him haha
Rory threw a full on roundhouse at my head the second time I sparred him. He was mean from the get go, lol. But he was a little bit weak at that age (14 when I first met him), and although he soon became better than me, there was a period in there where he could outstrike me without making me worried too much about damage.
 
Rory threw a full on roundhouse at my head the second time I sparred him. He was mean from the get go, lol. But he was a little bit weak at that age (14 when I first met him), and although he soon became better than me, there was a period in there where he could outstrike me without making me worried too much about damage.
This is in an MMA gym? In Canada or...?
 
So essentially this guy Bob turned a caught kick counter cross into an uchi mata? That would be a sight to see.

Here I thought I was about to hear a story of a young Rory teaching you to not look past him haha
And ya, that’s what Bob did, basically. I’m just not sure where all his limbs were.
He was really special, at least in 2004 era mma. He looked unbeatable, and then came back from Thailand with some stomach issues, that seem to be chronic now, as I’ve run into his wife recently, and it really affected his training consistency. He got beat down pretty one-sidedly by a good Canadian fighter named Ben Greer, I believe, and that was that. He still trained, but he just couldn’t train the same.
 
This one time when i came back to one gym that i use to train at, it became full of new people, so they didn't know me they didn't know how long i had been training (i'm on a lay off right now though so probably not as good), so everytime they would try to teach me "new things" i would say ok, then i came for a sparring night over their, the only people who knew me was 2 of the instructors over their, i sparred with 3 people before i got knocked down by a heavyweight, the first guy he kind of reminds me of a laid back scater dude, we spar and he likes to move at a fast pace, so i moved at a fast pace with him, he was only throwing straight punches so i started slipping all of them then he tried to throw a hook and i blocked it, and hit him with a right hand, little did he know that i had 4 years experience at the time and was hitting him with overhands leg kicks and body kicks, he was pretty good though, as the round was about to end and the 30 secs left mark sounded, i said "turn up" (as in lets go or make it your last), so then we started brawling then the round ended, i then got put with a kid who was around 17 years old, i'm turning 21 this year, i'm sparring with him the first time and i'm moving around him hitting strikes from all over the place, i did really good against him, then the 30 secs left mark hit and i turned it up, then i got put with him again, and i said to him "you need to push the pace more" i then sparred with him he listened to my advice, and mid way through the spar i started using the boxing defensive stance, i covered my head with my fist and moved forward at him, everytime he threw a kick i would kinda shove him and then kick him in the body, then i would get close and shove him and throw a right hand and hook at him, then came a fucking tekken fighter (i'm only calling him that because thats how he was sparring a littlw bit it reminded me of tekken) so i'm sparring with him and he gets strikes out of nowhere but i hit him everytime with a 12 or a 123, and finished with a leg kick, after that i sparred with motherfucking heavyweight, he hit me with a quick jab to the head that snapped my head back, then hit me with a kick to the leg and i tried tk stay in their as much as possible then he hit me with a right hand to my solar plexus and i went to the ground right as the round ended, i then went to drink some water and he gave me some advice, and surprisingly some of the people next to me laughed when i said i had been training for 4 years. I left that gym because they always want you to sign a contract.
 
And ya, that’s what Bob did, basically. I’m just not sure where all his limbs were.
He was really special, at least in 2004 era mma. He looked unbeatable, and then came back from Thailand with some stomach issues, that seem to be chronic now, as I’ve run into his wife recently, and it really affected his training consistency. He got beat down pretty one-sidedly by a good Canadian fighter named Ben Greer, I believe, and that was that. He still trained, but he just couldn’t train the same.

Always sad to see someone with potential stop for reasons other than their own. Sounds to me like you guys had a good time there. Thats what its all about and no doubt Rory has had that mean streak since birth haha im of the same calm cool and collected stock. The quiet ones are the ones you have to watch out for ya know
 
This one time when i came back to one gym that i use to train at, it became full of new people, so they didn't know me they didn't know how long i had been training (i'm on a lay off right now though so probably not as good), so everytime they would try to teach me "new things" i would say ok, then i came for a sparring night over their, the only people who knew me was 2 of the instructors over their, i sparred with 3 people before i got knocked down by a heavyweight, the first guy he kind of reminds me of a laid back scater dude, we spar and he likes to move at a fast pace, so i moved at a fast pace with him, he was only throwing straight punches so i started slipping all of them then he tried to throw a hook and i blocked it, and hit him with a right hand, little did he know that i had 4 years experience at the time and was hitting him with overhands leg kicks and body kicks, he was pretty good though, as the round was about to end and the 30 secs left mark sounded, i said "turn up" (as in lets go or make it your last), so then we started brawling then the round ended, i then got put with a kid who was around 17 years old, i'm turning 21 this year, i'm sparring with him the first time and i'm moving around him hitting strikes from all over the place, i did really good against him, then the 30 secs left mark hit and i turned it up, then i got put with him again, and i said to him "you need to push the pace more" i then sparred with him he listened to my advice, and mid way through the spar i started using the boxing defensive stance, i covered my head with my fist and moved forward at him, everytime he threw a kick i would kinda shove him and then kick him in the body, then i would get close and shove him and throw a right hand and hook at him, then came a fucking tekken fighter (i'm only calling him that because thats how he was sparring a littlw bit it reminded me of tekken) so i'm sparring with him and he gets strikes out of nowhere but i hit him everytime with a 12 or a 123, and finished with a leg kick, after that i sparred with motherfucking heavyweight, he hit me with a quick jab to the head that snapped my head back, then hit me with a kick to the leg and i tried tk stay in their as much as possible then he hit me with a right hand to my solar plexus and i went to the ground right as the round ended, i then went to drink some water and he gave me some advice, and surprisingly some of the people next to me laughed when i said i had been training for 4 years. I left that gym because they always want you to sign a contract.
Should have just been one sentence. It was a mistake making it four. Lol.
Good story.
 
This one time when i came back to one gym that i use to train at, it became full of new people, so they didn't know me they didn't know how long i had been training (i'm on a lay off right now though so probably not as good), so everytime they would try to teach me "new things" i would say ok, then i came for a sparring night over their, the only people who knew me was 2 of the instructors over their, i sparred with 3 people before i got knocked down by a heavyweight, the first guy he kind of reminds me of a laid back scater dude, we spar and he likes to move at a fast pace, so i moved at a fast pace with him, he was only throwing straight punches so i started slipping all of them then he tried to throw a hook and i blocked it, and hit him with a right hand, little did he know that i had 4 years experience at the time and was hitting him with overhands leg kicks and body kicks, he was pretty good though, as the round was about to end and the 30 secs left mark sounded, i said "turn up" (as in lets go or make it your last), so then we started brawling then the round ended, i then got put with a kid who was around 17 years old, i'm turning 21 this year, i'm sparring with him the first time and i'm moving around him hitting strikes from all over the place, i did really good against him, then the 30 secs left mark hit and i turned it up, then i got put with him again, and i said to him "you need to push the pace more" i then sparred with him he listened to my advice, and mid way through the spar i started using the boxing defensive stance, i covered my head with my fist and moved forward at him, everytime he threw a kick i would kinda shove him and then kick him in the body, then i would get close and shove him and throw a right hand and hook at him, then came a fucking tekken fighter (i'm only calling him that because thats how he was sparring a littlw bit it reminded me of tekken) so i'm sparring with him and he gets strikes out of nowhere but i hit him everytime with a 12 or a 123, and finished with a leg kick, after that i sparred with motherfucking heavyweight, he hit me with a quick jab to the head that snapped my head back, then hit me with a kick to the leg and i tried tk stay in their as much as possible then he hit me with a right hand to my solar plexus and i went to the ground right as the round ended, i then went to drink some water and he gave me some advice, and surprisingly some of the people next to me laughed when i said i had been training for 4 years. I left that gym because they always want you to sign a contract.

What weight class would you fall under if that guy was a heavy weight? Im like 6'0 215 easy if im not watching it but 180 when im in shape. This guy was no lie 6'4 and 305 (i asked) looking like god damn Gronk out there. Felt like my brother should have came into my dressing room and told me not to fight him(JCVD reference anyone?)
 
Was part of a gym/fight team back in the day that had the old school "Gym wars every night to prepare you for your fight" mentality for years and years. And by "gym wars," I mean full fledged MMA rounds. The only difference between a real fight and our "sparring sessions" where that you would wouldn't finish off your sparring partner if you had him in trouble. We would spar almost 100% then if you rocked your partner or had him in a bad spot on the ground, then you would lighten up or let off and let them recover--- then straight back to sparring.

Sustained lots of damage from those days, I definitely took more damage from sparring then from most of my fights. The other thing that sucked about it was that we lost countless potential training partners by pulling the whole "you're just getting started, we'll have you sit out and just watch tonight" then proceed to put on a bloody gladiator spectacle to almost ensure that the new guy didn't even think about coming back.

We spent so much time/energy trying to be tough... but really doing what we thought we needed to do, to get ready for our fights that we never thought about the side effects. The main one being that we pushed away so many people that could have been great for our gym/team. It could have been far larger than it ever was if we had used a more modern approach and baby stepped people into the harder parts of this sport.

The other horrible side effect of this old school training was shortened careers and plateaued skill sets. In our gym at the time were future UFC, Bellator, and WSOF vets that could have spent years working and developing skills, instead just fought each other night after night, year after year.

Not really a sparring story I guess, just remembering my time in the "Dark Ages of MMA."
 
What weight class would you fall under if that guy was a heavy weight? Im like 6'0 215 easy if im not watching it but 180 when im in shape. This guy was no lie 6'4 and 305 (i asked) looking like god damn Gronk out there. Felt like my brother should have came into my dressing room and told me not to fight him(JCVD reference anyone?)

I probably would've been bantamweight or flyweight. No lie i have made a football player who was 270 lbs limp while it was his 3rd day of muay thai in one gym.
 
Was part of a gym/fight team back in the day that had the old school "Gym wars every night to prepare you for your fight" mentality for years and years. And by "gym wars," I mean full fledged MMA rounds. The only difference between a real fight and our "sparring sessions" where that you would wouldn't finish off your sparring partner if you had him in trouble. We would spar almost 100% then if you rocked your partner or had him in a bad spot on the ground, then you would lighten up or let off and let them recover--- then straight back to sparring.

Sustained lots of damage from those days, I definitely took more damage from sparring then from most of my fights. The other thing that sucked about it was that we lost countless potential training partners by pulling the whole "you're just getting started, we'll have you sit out and just watch tonight" then proceed to put on a bloody gladiator spectacle to almost ensure that the new guy didn't even think about coming back.

We spent so much time/energy trying to be tough... but really doing what we thought we needed to do, to get ready for our fights that we never thought about the side effects. The main one being that we pushed away so many people that could have been great for our gym/team. It could have been far larger than it ever was if we had used a more modern approach and baby stepped people into the harder parts of this sport.

The other horrible side effect of this old school training was shortened careers and plateaued skill sets. In our gym at the time were future UFC, Bellator, and WSOF vets that could have spent years working and developing skills, instead just fought each other night after night, year after year.

Not really a sparring story I guess, just remembering my time in the "Dark Ages of MMA."

My current coach was apart of the OG team tompkins and wouls share stories exactly like that. They actually had weekly "tournaments" for tin foil belts just for fun. Now he inderstands that there is a time and place to go hard. Super happy i have a coach that cares about his team. Before Scarborough and keswick i was training in Brampton and they had that old school mentality. One really tall guy maybe even 6'9 would always try to rock me as much as he could. He mainly boxed so i ate those legs up. Problem was every time id finish with him his 6'11 brother would ask me to spar while getting coached from the sidelines. Loved it though, i had to adjust and build my own fight iq as opposed to just "listening" to what to do
 
I probably would've been bantamweight or flyweight. No lie i have made a football player who was 270 lbs limp while it was his 3rd day of muay thai in one gym.

Sparring guys who were okay really opened my eyes to how much a trained fighter would do agains a gym bro
 
One was really early in my training, I met this cool guy he was a chubby indian kid about 20 and we were doing a bit of sparring on the outside, and then in the ring there was a regular training partner of mine who did not look like the sorta guy you'd fuck with. He was a big six foot tall black guy, i believe a middleweight.

So we were chatting after our round and he asked if we wanted to spar. I was up for it because i trusted the dude, and we did a few rounds and he obviously got the better of me. Then the chubby indian kid gets in, and despite never training before in his life, had a hell of a go of it.

He got kicked back and instead of panicking, he went into some kung fu stance, just for the show, before reverting back to his muay thai stance and began fighting out and even through a fucking HEAD KICK.

Missed by a mile, but he still went for it. After me and the big black dude were talking in the changing room, and we were pretty impressed, thought he was a natural.

Had never trained before, but was looking pretty mighty.

As far as i'm aware he never went on to fight but still - had promise.
 
I probably would've been bantamweight or flyweight. No lie i have made a football player who was 270 lbs limp while it was his 3rd day of muay thai in one gym.
Manlet insecurity - check
Meathead in sparring - check
Checks out. This guy is CoGar.
 
Manlet insecurity - check
Meathead in sparring - check
Checks out. This guy is CoGar.

If your calling me a meathead, i am not, i was just surviving in their and it was his 3rd day he was throwing 50% power hands at me so i chose to beat him up a little because he is a big guy and can handle it, my boy made him limp even more once he healed, hes got better kicks then me because he has 12 years of taekwondo.
 
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