With these tips for your first kickboxing match, you'll have an immediate advantage. You’re sure to be a little nervous. Don’t panic—with our tips, you’ll be ready and confident.
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 properly 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 step into 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 full throttle from the beginning to the end, often takes the victory.
Being well trained also helps you absorb punches better. So training hard, running regularly, and getting plenty of rest is extremely important!
2. Spar a lot
Sparring is the ultimate form of match preparation because you can’t fool yourself when sparring. During sparring, you learn how to really block punches, how to evade them, and how to counter effectively.
My golden tip for sparring is: don’t spar with people who want to prove themselves. These people will spar with you too hard.
Instead, spar with experienced guys and/or girls 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 can 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! Your trainer may want you to fight at, for example, 70 kg, while you normally weigh around 73 kg. Naturally, this means 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 lose. Make sure you’re reasonably close to your target weight a week in advance. The more kilos overweight you are, the more you’ll have to make up for 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 fighting too far below your natural weight can become dangerous.
4. Proper equipment
It’s important to have the right kickboxing gear. Naturally, it starts with a large sports bag where you can put all your kickboxing gear and personal-care items.
From sports tape to Thai Oil, from cooling spray to an extra mouthguard, you need to bring everything with you. You can’t expect your trainer to carry everything around; you’re responsible for your own kickboxing gear.
5. Sleep well
Make sure you’re well rested and ready the next day. This means going to bed early. Try to sleep 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 plenty of 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 then take a punch or kick to the body, the food may come back up.
7. Relax
You should 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 something to drink, and get changed at your leisure. A mistake I see many people make is looking at the schedule on the door too often. So 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 and during the match! The way you breathe is an important factor in your performance. 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 exhale only as much air as you need for that specific punch or kick. This allows you to retain 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 or kick you throw feels different from when you’re 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, but you also feel your opponent’s punches less than you normally would during sparring. But don’t be mistaken—your opponent feels the same way.
The most important thing is to focus on your guard and keep fighting technically. The more you try to add power, 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 shouted from behind you, you’ll automatically turn around. Try not to do this. Practice it during sparring!
Make sure your trainer or someone else gives you instructions, and you must not 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 are caused by quick punches or 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, above all, focus on your breathing.
Make sure you take a sip of water. Don’t drink too much water, as you may later feel it coming back up if you’re hit in the stomach during the bout.
I hope these tips for your first kickboxing match help you during your very first bout. I wish you lots of fun—try to enjoy it a little, of course. You never forget your first match. It gives you an indescribable feeling.
The tension will disappear on its own once the match gets underway. And the best thing about a kickboxing match is the sense of fulfillment you get after fighting 3 full rounds and being able to stand there. And if you win as well, your day really can’t get any better. Good luck and give it your all!
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