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Boxing Sparring Training


Sparring practise is a vital part of your Boxing training regime, you can learn as many techniques as you want but they dont really count for much until you get in the ring and practice them in real life.

At Mill Hill Dojo, as many of you will know, Sensei Mark Brown is totally blind, so when we practice our sparring work to even out the situation a little, Robert Polecat Johnson uses a blindfold to level out the advantage of sight. This is actually quite beneficial to Robert as he gets to learn and develope other senses such as touch, hearing and smell to detect the opponent rather than just looking. You would then think that since both parties are sightless that both players wpould be on an even keel, however Sensei Mark Brown has been blind for over a decade and has developed his entire martial arts and self defense system without his sight, while Robert on the otherhand suddenly becomes very vulnerable under the blindfold.

As you can see from the video, both fighters bring a very different style to the ring with no sight. The Blind Sensei, comfortable with no sight, can quickly detect and hunt down his opponent, moving in with fast rapid combinations and then retracting to safety, Robert on the otherhand is forced to use a circular rotation motion of the front guard to both detect and block his opponent and when he feels the time is right, he can bulldoze his way forward with fast blows to the upper quadrant.