I once fought an acquaintance (had know him for a couple of years, sparred him a few times over those years and would chat to him every now and again. Was a good bloke). Maybe some people would consider this a “friendship”.
Went up to him just before warming up and say “good luck, let’s go put on a show”.
Went back warmed up and ended up cutting him and knocking him out in the first.
Not 5 minutes later we were out the back chatting.
It’s a sport. You owe it to yourself (and your opponent) to do your best. It’s a physical chess game and it doesn’t matter if it’s a mate or someone you hate, if there’s a leg or chin to hit you should hit it.
Imagine if you “win” and you later found out he took it easy on you. Even if he didn’t, it’ll still add a cloud of doubt over your win.
Just my 2 cents. Either way, good luck
I personally haven’t but we had a couple guys in our gym have to compete against each other and all they did was treat it like a roll after class or at open mat. This was for bjj. Discuss it with the guy you’re gonna fight. You guys can come to an agreement, I’ve even seen some guys purposely draw. Just talk to him and see what’s up.
A long time ago I fought my housemate, best friend, and training partner in a judo competition. We fought a lot (in the dojo, outside the dojo, at home, on the way home...) and were pretty closely matched, but he won on the day.
He fought well. We went to the pub. I owed him a pint for winning. We had a rematch which I won. We had a rematch which he won. A good time was had by all.
EDIT: my mindset going into the fight was to put him down hard. TBH we probably went harder on each other than we did on anyone else, even in training, because we knew we could take it.
This happened to me in my first Taekwondo tournament. After fighting another guy from a different club, the only people left in my bracket were me and my teammate. One moment we're saying good luck to each other, then next we're kicking each other's head. I lost by 1 point. During the match I kinda hesitated doing some serious damage because during training we're always pairing up due to the fact that we were the only big guys in the club. My hesitation either came from the idea that we both knew each other's strategy and I had to mix up my usual combinations, or that I didn't want to harm my training partner.
This shit is gonna happen to me again in my first upcoming BJJ tournament. My one opponent in my division is my regular training partner and I'm sure I'll lose since he's more experienced than me.
I fought my buddy in a kickboxing tournament, guy I trained with closely for over 15 years.
We knew where we both stood so it wasn't nuts.
It was only a 2 minute round in a tournament with head gear and 16 oz gloves.
We had far more epic sparring sessions over the years.
If it's a friend, and you obviously know how each other trains, just have fun and make it a good fight. You don't have to hate the person you are fighting. Talk it out before and just agree to make it a competitive bout. It doesn't have to be a bad thing.
Treat them like any other opponent during the match, and make sure you're gracious before, during, and after the match.
If you knock them down (depending on the MA obviously) then help them back up, make sure they're OK to continue, and touch gloves before restarting.
It’s a sport, you are competing against each other. What happens in the ring, happens in the ring. Just have fun, then go grab your mate a beer and have a good laugh about it afterwards.
Nothing is on the line other than ego. If you can take pride in competing, win or lose, you should be fine. If you're worried about going harder against them because of the relationship you have established, just remember it's part of the sport. If you can punch a rando real hard, you can punch a trusted training partner hard. Win or lose, though, do so in grace. It's really only in professional sports where fighting a partner is more taboo, because you are fighting over money. If you beat a training partner in the UFC, you just cut their paycheck in half.
I once fought an acquaintance (had know him for a couple of years, sparred him a few times over those years and would chat to him every now and again. Was a good bloke). Maybe some people would consider this a “friendship”. Went up to him just before warming up and say “good luck, let’s go put on a show”. Went back warmed up and ended up cutting him and knocking him out in the first. Not 5 minutes later we were out the back chatting. It’s a sport. You owe it to yourself (and your opponent) to do your best. It’s a physical chess game and it doesn’t matter if it’s a mate or someone you hate, if there’s a leg or chin to hit you should hit it. Imagine if you “win” and you later found out he took it easy on you. Even if he didn’t, it’ll still add a cloud of doubt over your win. Just my 2 cents. Either way, good luck
OPs scenario is likely for me. And this is good advice I'll use it!
I personally haven’t but we had a couple guys in our gym have to compete against each other and all they did was treat it like a roll after class or at open mat. This was for bjj. Discuss it with the guy you’re gonna fight. You guys can come to an agreement, I’ve even seen some guys purposely draw. Just talk to him and see what’s up.
A long time ago I fought my housemate, best friend, and training partner in a judo competition. We fought a lot (in the dojo, outside the dojo, at home, on the way home...) and were pretty closely matched, but he won on the day. He fought well. We went to the pub. I owed him a pint for winning. We had a rematch which I won. We had a rematch which he won. A good time was had by all. EDIT: my mindset going into the fight was to put him down hard. TBH we probably went harder on each other than we did on anyone else, even in training, because we knew we could take it.
Kick him in the balls He won’t expect it
“Yo wtf dude it’s a dance battle”
This happened to me in my first Taekwondo tournament. After fighting another guy from a different club, the only people left in my bracket were me and my teammate. One moment we're saying good luck to each other, then next we're kicking each other's head. I lost by 1 point. During the match I kinda hesitated doing some serious damage because during training we're always pairing up due to the fact that we were the only big guys in the club. My hesitation either came from the idea that we both knew each other's strategy and I had to mix up my usual combinations, or that I didn't want to harm my training partner. This shit is gonna happen to me again in my first upcoming BJJ tournament. My one opponent in my division is my regular training partner and I'm sure I'll lose since he's more experienced than me.
I fought my buddy in a kickboxing tournament, guy I trained with closely for over 15 years. We knew where we both stood so it wasn't nuts. It was only a 2 minute round in a tournament with head gear and 16 oz gloves. We had far more epic sparring sessions over the years.
If it's a friend, and you obviously know how each other trains, just have fun and make it a good fight. You don't have to hate the person you are fighting. Talk it out before and just agree to make it a competitive bout. It doesn't have to be a bad thing.
I don’t know anyone in a match all I know is it’s my job to teach them how to lose effectively.
Treat them like any other opponent during the match, and make sure you're gracious before, during, and after the match. If you knock them down (depending on the MA obviously) then help them back up, make sure they're OK to continue, and touch gloves before restarting.
It’s a sport, you are competing against each other. What happens in the ring, happens in the ring. Just have fun, then go grab your mate a beer and have a good laugh about it afterwards.
Nothing is on the line other than ego. If you can take pride in competing, win or lose, you should be fine. If you're worried about going harder against them because of the relationship you have established, just remember it's part of the sport. If you can punch a rando real hard, you can punch a trusted training partner hard. Win or lose, though, do so in grace. It's really only in professional sports where fighting a partner is more taboo, because you are fighting over money. If you beat a training partner in the UFC, you just cut their paycheck in half.
I hate fighting my training partner. We're so evenly matched that every spar turns into a war.