Photo Essay: Rest between Rounds.

What happens away from the action.

The typical picture of sparring captures moments of intensity; two fighters, whether professional or amateur, exchanging controlled blows back and forth, often with protective equipment such as gloves, shin pads, or helmets, depending on the sport. These are typically posted by fighters to generate hype for their fight. What is rarely caught, however, are the breaths taken between the carnage.

Peter McLeod-Warrick (left) and Lionel Young (right) rest between rounds.

Every Friday night, a handful of fighters gather at Citadel Martial Arts in downtown Boston to spar from 6- 8pm. Fighters began with boxing gloves and shinpads, fighting Muay Thai-style for 3 minute rounds, with 1 minute of rest between each.

Trevor Gudde (left) and Xavier Ramos (right) keep moving after the round.

These moments are typically a good opportunity to gauge everyone’s pacing and tempo- someone sitting down may still be getting ready, or be exhausted from the previous match. Those standing up and walking are still fresh, and will already be looking for their next sparring partner- which changes every round.

Eric Grossman, Head Coach of Citadel (Front Center) instructs Jideofor Ojukwu (Rear Center)

During rest periods, coaches may also step in to offer advice based on what they’ve seen from their fighters’ rounds.

Steve Foley gets up after finishing the round on the ground.

After 5-6 rounds of Muay Thai, the fighters will split off into two camps- MMA and Muay Thai. Those who make the jump to MMA will have a chance to work on their grappling as well as their striking, switching out their boxing gloves for 7-10 oz open-fingered gloves. Those who stick with Muay Thai will continue to spar with it.

Xavier Ramos, Head Coach of Rajasi Muay Thai, gives advice to one of his fighters following a clinch fighting round.

The Muay Thai fighters will eventually strip the gloves altogether and begin to clinch spar- grappling on the feet by grasping the neck, arms, and torso, in order to restrict movement and land knees and elbows. Some fighters will wear elbow pads in order to elbow at full strength.

Steven Drayton examines Alvin Johnson’s injured arm.

With even light contact sparring, injury is still a risk. Fighters may come in with pre-existing damage or develop it during rounds. Depending on the severity of the injury, fighters may continue sparring or sit out the rest of the night.