With these tips for your first kickboxing match, you'll immediately have an advantage. You’ll definitely be a little nervous. Don’t panic—with our tips, you’ll be standing strong.
Your very first match can be an overwhelming experience. It’s a feeling you won’t experience anywhere else. With our tips, you can prepare well for your very first kickboxing match.
The 11 best tips for your first kickboxing match:
1. Train hard
This goes without saying, but many people still don’t take this step seriously enough. You may be the biggest talent at the gym, but if you don’t enter the ring well prepared, you won’t win the match.
In youth and novice matches, the best fighter doesn’t always win. The fighter with the best conditioning, who can go all-out from the beginning to the end, often comes away with the victory.
It also matters that when you’re well trained, you can handle punches better. So training a lot, running regularly and getting plenty of rest is extremely important!
2. sparren
sparren is the ultimate form of match preparation because you can’t fool yourself when sparren. During sparren, you learn how to really block punches, how to evade them and how to counter effectively.
My golden tip for sparren is: don’t spar with people who want to prove themselves. These people will spar with you too hard.
Instead, spar with experienced men and/or women who want to help you grow. These people know how to spar with you. Let them exploit your weaker points, but don’t spar too hard with each other, because you’ll quickly pick up injuries. Of course, you don’t want to enter the ring injured.
3. Make sure you’re at the right weight
This is one of the most important tips for your first kickboxing match! Perhaps your trainer wants you to fight at, for example, 70 kg, while you normally weigh around 73 kg. This means, of course, that you need to make sure you don’t gain too much weight.
Try to fight at your own body weight, or no more than 5 kilos below it. The more weight you want to lose, the more strength you’ll lose. Make sure you’re already reasonably close to your target weight a week in advance. The more kilos overweight you are, the more you’ll have to make up on the evening of the weigh-in.
Many fighters compete well below their natural weight because it gives them an advantage in height and strength. This isn’t necessarily a problem, but if you fight too far below your natural weight, it can become dangerous.
4. Good equipment
It’s important to have the right kickboxing equipment. Naturally, it starts with a large gym bag where you can put all your kickboxing equipment and care products.
From sports tape to Thai Oil, from cooling spray to an extra mouthguard, you need to have everything with you. You can’t expect the trainer to carry everything around; you’re responsible for your own kickboxing equipment.
5. Sleep well
Make sure you’re well rested and ready the next day. This means you need to go to bed early. Try to sleep for about an hour longer than you normally do. You need to give your body time to recover!
The more time you give your body, the better your result will be on match day. So if you normally go to sleep at 11:00 p.m., go to sleep at 10:00 p.m. the night before the match.
6. Eat well
Try to get enough carbohydrates before the match. Carbohydrates provide you with sufficient energy. Pasta is the most common meal in the changing room.
Pasta is also easy to take with you. Fill a plastic container with pasta and bring cutlery. Eat your pasta in the changing room well before your match so you can digest it properly and don’t enter the ring with a full stomach. If you take a punch or kick to the body, the food could come back up.
7. Relax
Try to get as much rest as possible before your match. Make sure you arrive at the venue early. This allows you to do everything at your own pace.
Go to your changing room and find a good spot. Sit and/or lie down comfortably on a bench, put in your earbuds and listen to music. Eat something calmly, have a drink and change at your own pace. A mistake I see many people make is looking at the schedule on the door too often. So just stay relaxed, and everything will be fine!
8. Stay calm
When you’re standing in that ring, it’s essential to stay calm. Pay attention to your breathing, both before the match and during it! The way you breathe is an important factor in your match. Before the match, when you’re sitting in the changing room and feel the tension building, try to keep breathing calmly.
Breathe in through your nose and then breathe out through your mouth. This will help you calm down. You also need to pay attention to your breathing during the match. Try to exhale as little air as possible while punching. This will make you tired more quickly.
Do what many boxers do: make that strange hissing sound while punching. What you’re actually doing is creating a kind of filter that ensures you only exhale as much air as you need for that specific punch or kick. This leaves more oxygen in your lungs. This is one of the most important tips for your first kickboxing match!
9. Don’t focus too much on power
Once the match has started, you’ll probably notice that every punch/kick you throw feels different from during training. This is completely normal and is caused by the adrenaline rushing through your body.
Adrenaline makes you feel less in the ring. Not only do your punches feel weaker, you also feel your opponent’s punches less than you normally would during sparring. But don’t be mistaken—your opponent feels the same.
The most important thing is to focus on your guard and keep fighting technically. The more power you try to put into your strikes, the more energy you waste, making you tired more quickly.
10. Listen to your trainer
This is one of the most important tips for your first kickboxing match! The match has started, the bell has rung, and you and your opponent are fighting. Try to stay calm and listen to the instructions your trainer gives you throughout the match.
Just don’t look at your trainer during the match. Many beginners make this mistake. If you constantly hear your name being called from behind you, you’ll automatically turn around. Try not to do this. Practice it during sparren!
Make sure your trainer or someone else gives you instructions while you’re not allowed to look back. The reason you shouldn’t look at your trainer during the match is that you won’t see what’s happening in front of you.
If your opponent notices that you’re constantly looking back at your trainer, they’ll take advantage of it by hitting you when you turn around. This can be very dangerous, because most knockouts in kickboxing come from quick punches/kicks that you don’t see coming.
11. Recover
You get very little recovery time in a kickboxing match, so you need to make good use of the rest periods you’re given. As soon as the bell rings, try to get to your corner as quickly as possible.
Keep your head up and your chest forward. Rest your arms on the ropes; this gives your arms a break and helps you breathe in and out more easily. Listen to what your trainer says to you and focus especially on your breathing.
Make sure you take a sip of water. Don’t drink too much water, as this can make you feel it coming back up later in the match when you get hit in the stomach.
I hope these tips for your first kickboxing match will help you in your very first bout. I wish you lots of fun—of course, try to enjoy it a little. You never forget your first match. It gives you an incredible feeling.
The tension will disappear naturally as the match progresses. And the best thing about a kickboxing match is the sense of accomplishment you get after fighting 3 full rounds and being able to stand there. And if you win as well, your day truly can’t get any better. Good luck and give it your all!
