Hi, just wanted to know how long people usually waited before their first fight???

I would think, regardless of what martial art you participate in, that this decision would be pretty much made by your instructor, after all they would have a better idea of what is needed in a competitor just to be able to fight (stamina, skill, technique, ability, mind state not to mention b4lls)and they would also have a better view of YOU as a possible competitor (what you needed to work on, what your strengths and also weaknesses were).
I couldn't possibly say what length of time it would take from starting to train to actually having a fight but I know from personal experience that I was casually training for 6 years before I was asked if I wanted to fight, although I know people that have only trained for 2 years before fighting.

My advice would be to speak to your instructor about you aspirations and see what feedback you get.
Don't rush your training, most fighters will tell you that once you take that step the way you train will change and maybe your enjoyment of that training may change too.

yeah, I will ask him...think he knows I really wanna compete....will have to see if he puts me forward for the next competition I suppose. I really love my training and usually train 3 times a week and also go boxing once a week.

Just out of curiosity clo-bo, how long have you been training?
Do you participate in sparring at all, if so if this open sparring or are there liimitations on how you spar.
Reason I ask is because fighting is not like sparring.

At Wicker Camp sparring (at least when fighters spar) is pretty heavy and is completely open, this means guys hitting you at about 80% strength, punching and kicking to the head and people really going hell for leather, the only thing we hold back on is the elbows as obviously you can't go hitting each other in the face with an elbow - it's just not cricket ;-)
If your wanting to fight I would recommend that you try and get your sparring as close to the level of contact you would experience in a fight otherwise it can be a very rude awakening.

Not long, only about 5 months....I thought I would have to wait well over a year to fight but a friend of mine who competes had her first fight after 2 months and says I should get into it as soon as I feel ready really. I thought it was pretty quick too thats why I thought I'd ask others!!!

I do spar at training and love it. Most of the time I am the only girl in there so I spar with the men.

I am not considering fighting now but there is a comp in June (I think it is) which I would like to have a go at...not scared of getting a beating! : ) but obviously if my trainer said not to I wouldn't.

What sort of fighting are you thinking of doing? Torni's, rounds or mma?

whatever he lets me do!!! I just wanna compete sop badly and with my friend telling me how quickly she fought it makes me wanna do it even more!

I know this might sound a bit strange but, are you a pretty girl clo-bo? Reason I ask is that there is a good chance you will get hit in the face and this can alter your looks slightly, I mean women are no more prone to it than men it's just that I've found men not to care about this as much.

I just figure it's a nose job care of the NHS if it goes wrong! Don't get me wrong, dont wanna messed up face but really wanna fight! ha ha ha

is it just people in your weight class you fight?

You'd think that wouldn't you and yes they'd sort it out to a degree but it's still worth thinking about. I've broken my nose twice (I'm still waiting for it to heal from the second time) and having you nose snapped back into place isn't something I'll ever get used to, ieven though it's better than it was it's still apparent it's been broken and I can't breath correctly through it.
I'm not too familiar with the varying ways in which kick boxing fights can be held (rules, style's etc) and Muay Thai bouts tend to be a tad more brutal so maybe my comparison or advice is a little heavy handed but fore warned and all that...

Yeah in Muay Thai fights are arranged at a certain weight, fighters then meet this weight and the fight takes place, otherwise someone would have an unfair advantage.
When it comes to sparring though it's pretty much who ever you get partnered with.
At our gym you could be sparring with the world champion 1 round (weighing in at about 25kgs more than me) and a first time begineer the next, but it all builds on your own skils.

yeah we spar with whoever at training but I am only 5ft 1 so wouldn't fight a 6 ft beast!

I have been to watch other people I train with fight and it didn't look too bad so will definitely try it.....in the wrong sport if I didn't wanna get hurt really....doesn't bother me! : )

hi clo bo
this friend of yours who ahd ehr first fight after 2 months, was it at ''usport'' in sheffield?
she fought a blonde girl called amy is that right?
the ref was a fat guy with a brummy accent?

my instructor promoted that show

you train at marsdens isnt that right?

my advice is have a novice fight first dont go in at the deep end or it will be a really rude awakening.

some of your guys have fought some of the AFK guys and wayne betts trains at both marsdens and AFK.

yeah we spar with whoever at training but I am only 5ft 1 so wouldn't fight a 6 ft beast!

I have been to watch other people I train with fight and it didn't look too bad so will definitely try it.....in the wrong sport if I didn't wanna get hurt really....doesn't bother me! : )


if you do find yourself sparring with some monster in training, if he is any good he'll use the opportunity to practise his control and timing - if anyone gets stuck in too hard for you, don't be afraid to tell them to watch it

hi clo bo
this friend of yours who ahd ehr first fight after 2 months, was it at ''usport'' in sheffield?
she fought a blonde girl called amy is that right?
the ref was a fat guy with a brummy accent?

my instructor promoted that show

you train at marsdens isnt that right?

my advice is have a novice fight first dont go in at the deep end or it will be a really rude awakening.

some of your guys have fought some of the AFK guys and wayne betts trains at both marsdens and AFK.

I'm not sure...was few years ago though I think! she trains down at 393 and somewhere else I think.

yeah I train at Marsden's. knew Wayne trained somewhere else, only seen Wayne fight once...at S10 in February....won it though. :D

hey just thought id say that clo bo if you feel really i dont see why u should fight maybe a light continous fight or semi contact. i dont think u need wait just make sure your instructor gets you in the ring with someone with similar experience. And some of the hardest fights Ive had is with people who have only been doing kickboxing 8 months.

when you fight in tournments you usually have to fight people similar weight usually within 5kg per weight group. so dont worry i dont think you would fight someone 6ft tall unless they really really skinny :hihi:

I tell you something though from the last few tournments ive fought at the women have been soo much more vicious then the guys:o

hey just thought id say that clo bo if you feel really i dont see why u should fight maybe a light continous fight or semi contact. i dont think u need wait just make sure your instructor gets you in the ring with someone with similar experience. And some of the hardest fights Ive had is with people who have only been doing kickboxing 8 months.

when you fight in tournments you usually have to fight people similar weight usually within 5kg per weight group. so dont worry i dont think you would fight someone 6ft tall unless they really really skinny :hihi:

I tell you something though from the last few tournments ive fought at the women have been soo much more vicious then the guys:o

Thanks sunnysingh.....there is one coming up at end of May I think it is at S10 which my friend says would be a good one if I did wanna have my first fight there.

yeah, i have seen some vicious women fighters....luckily all a lot bigger than me! come to think of it....saw about one person my size!

Another stepping stone between sparing and fighting is interclub sparring.

Hi Clo_bo.
Wayne trains at my club. He entered the tournament at S10 which I promoted and won his whole division convincingly. Waynes first fight was actually against your instructor Simon Marsden who is incidentally a good friend of mine. With an open minded instructor like Simon and with good management (entering the right tournaments early on) you will progress well.

As for you entering the next one in May, Im the one who will referee your contest.
Regards:
The REF!
P.S send Simon and Daz my regards

I didn't know Wayne's first fight was against Si! I will just have to see how I go on at training to whether they think I should or not...no harm in trying!

will tell them!

It was an interesting tournament. That is how i met Simon and Daz in the first place.
Simon beat Wayne and Daz beat this Kurdish lad.
Daz fought Stephen Hawker (from AFK), Stephen dropped him with a kick to the back of the head and Simon got revenge by beating Stephen.
It was a great day out I remember the whole event like it was yesterday.
The start of a few friendships too.
Now why cant all the kickboxing clubs get on like this?

Martial arts is all about respect and comradeship.
Looks like somebody forgot to tell a lot of the people who keep arguing and badmouthing on the net.
I promised to keep off this forum as I had officially given up foruming (as i considered it to be unprofessional being an official).
The constant prompts and all the bugging I have had to put up from everyone have lead to me joining in the fun.

I have noticed a bit of arguing about who's club is best.......cant be bothered with all that, v childish!!! *waits for backlash from that comment*

I haven't seen Daz fight yet, the guy he was fighting at S10 didn't turn up I dont think last time.

GULP!!!
Daz, oh dear that was my fault. Some mix up with the matching up. The younger Daz was matched up against David Slater from Newcastle.
David slater won that match and will be fighting Scott Sykes from Self Defense UK (trained by the illustrious Paul Powers) on cagewarriors this weekend under 3 rounds of 3 minutes of kickboxing in the cage.
Will you be there?
Come and say hello at the judges table. I will be there with one of the other AFK instructors.
I cant be bothered with "my dad is bigger than your dad" either :)
Life is too short for all that.
Jealousy and Envy , both bad things.
Fear leads to Anger, Anger leads to hate, Hate leads to suffering.

that was your fault? eek! oh well, no harm done!

I know Scott...is he fighting in Sheffield this weekend then? missed his last one as I was away. would like to watch him though!
I have been to see Paul Powers, good lil place he has got....just costs a bit!

...very deep!

Scott Sykes , Lovely young lad isnt he? Wayne apparently knows him from school days. He is fighting Saturday night at the Octagon if you are there? If so please introduce yourself.
Paul Powers has extended his kind invitation to myself to see his place which I will do when i have a spare moment.
As for yourself, just like Simon and Daz are more than welcome to pay us a visit at either one of our clubs either at Wellington street or at Hallam University.
At the moment the ladies Featherweight Interuniversity Champion(fights for cambridge university) is training with us as she is home for the holidays so you will have someone to spar with if you ever choose to pop in.

yeah he is, I know him as his brother was in my year at school. still cant imagine little scott fighting though! ha ha ha

where's wellington street and what nights do you train there? may have to pop in one day then.

All I dont get is when I fight is there a chance I would be fighting people bigger or will they definitely be my weight?

Not entirely sure how the weight matching is managed in Kick Boxing (Freddy Lee or Farhad???) but I wouldn't think a bout would be allowed with more than a few kg's difference as this may prove a disadvantage to the lighter fighter.
As for same size, well just because someone is the same weight doesn't mean they will be the same size - muscle, fat and height will dictate this I suppose.

yeah, I meant weight....cuz surely they cant match it exactly so was wondering how far out it went if you get me?!!! : )

Ahh well I guess I'd have to let someone that knows how kick boxing fights are arranged answer that, like Sunny, Freddy or Farhad.
Muay Thai fights are set at a exact weight and both fighters have to make that weight, which means training to lose weight or in most cases deiting to make sure your not too heavy, the fight weight is decided before hand so that both fighters have time to prepare.

Hi Clobo and Stu
Yes the bouts are matched up on weight.
There are some promoters who do open tournaments and sometimes the weight divisions are very very suspect.

Example of the different kind of tournaments.
The WAKO Amateurs for Full contact
Dont forget that the WAKO's for full contact are a decent level even though some divisions (like -51 or 54) will have like 2 or 3 in a division while the 67/71/75 divisions have loads of competitors.
MENS:-51/54/57/60/63.5/67/71/75/81/86/91/91+ (same as the old amateur boxing weight divisions)
WOMENS : -51/54/60/67/67+ (I cant remember but it is something like that)

AFK Promotions (same as the ones used by the university tournaments)
MENS : -64/71/79/86/86+
LADIES : -57/63/63+

Other open tournaments:
MENS : -65/75/85/85+
LADIES: OPENWEIGHT ( yes stupid i know)

Now prearranged bouts are always matched give or take a few kilos.
" Only a complete fool breaks the 3kg rule" Really though a bout is not a fair match unless there is only a give or take of say 2kg.
If its a 4kg difference then I call that either bad management or a stitch up on the promoters part.

Yeah, think that a weight difference of 4kg would give somebody a decent advantage, especially if the weigh in for the fight is on the day of the fight, I know people that can put on 3 or 4 kgs between the weigh in and the fight.

see I must be dumb I dunno how much I weigh in kg!

How much do you weigh in stones?

Stussonicos
Is it True that Richard Cadden from Bad company walks around at something like 75kg and Andy Howson walks around at say 68kg?
Richard fights at 63.5kg and Andy at 55kg I believe.

Clobo
If you havent even worked out what weight division youre going to be in then perhaps youre rushing to fight? Just a thought. Every trainer should know their fighters weights in KG. None of this "oh i think hes about 12 stone" that simply will not do from a management and promoters point of view. Any decent promoter will want to be specific with weight and experience.

ah, cant believe im gonna put it on the net!....8st 2.....*red faced*

I haven't spoke to Si much about fighting as I was figuring out whether to or not....hence this thread.

clo_bo - Saying that I'd take a stab at about 51 Kgs, sorry forgot it was rude to ask a ladies age.

Farhad - I don't think that's true to be honest, Rich Cadden walks around at about 67-68 at the most, believe he's in Thailand at the minute, apparently he's fighting Michael Showers soon. Would love to see him fight Imran Kahn.
Think Howson is about 62ish??

thanks, are there many my weight?

all the ones I have seen were a lot bigger!

Clobo i would say its 51kg , Stu is correct (i think)
Stu , Yes Cadden is at Jittis Gym . It seems that I have been misinformed. It was Liam Robinson from Tony Myers Pra Cha Sau (i think thats the gym name but I may be incorrect) who told me those stats , you probably know them better than I do.
I will be at Pain and Glory. Who will win Showers or Cadden? I personally think Imran would be able to have Cadden.
Nice lad Imran, I see him at the mosque a lot.

Not sure to be honest, haven't really seen enough of Showers personally to make a call but heard very good things about him.
Favouritism aside, I think Imran would destroy Cadden, Imran's by far my favourite Wicker fighter, could watch him all day.