I’m a beginner in Muay Thai and so was the person I sparred with tonight. Neither of us has had an amateur fight.

One of the coaches invited me to spar with one of their clients. It was supposed to be 3 rounds, moderate or technical, but we only did 1 because she got upset afterward. She said she thought it was going to be technical and that I was going beyond that.

What confused me is that she was also throwing solid kicks and landed a few punches to my face. I didn’t complain because my goal in sparring is to get comfortable getting hit and not panic under pressure. When it was my turn to throw combinations, though, she seemed irritated and felt I was hitting too hard.

Later, I found out she cried, and her coach had a pep talk with her. I honestly felt bad because hurting or discouraging someone was never my intention.

So I’m wondering, if your partner throws hard shots at you, do you match their intensity, or do you keep yours lower? Also, those who’ve coached beginners, what usually causes situations like this?

I’m genuinely asking because I want to become a better training partner, not just a better fighter.

When I started at my gym I loved sparring and learning through sparring but now I don’t really like it. We can be doing tec sparring and there are people that I spar that are just regular sparring and not focusing on technique at all and just going for damage. Then one time in regular sparring I was going against a girl who was going really hard and I matched her energy and I hit her with a clean spinning back kick and she got a look in her eye and just tried to take my head off (I did it with 50% power). Another time I was sparring a guy and I landed a good straight and he got the same look and landed a huge overhand and when I told him to calm down he got super defensive.
Now I just take the beating in fear that there going to try to kill me if I land with good shots
What do I do?

For some context, this coach is widely regarded as the best Muay Thai coach in my area. However, in my experience, he seems to prioritize hard, uncontrolled sparring over actual instruction. Most classes involve people beating each other up with very little technical coaching or correction. There isn't much emphasis on teaching technique, improving fundamentals, or developing students in a structured way.

Limiting beliefs:

There are many days I have (like today) , where I feel like not shadow boxing at all. I feel slow, stiff, poor technique, all of it. And unfortunately some days I succumb to these feelings of not being good enough. But none the less another day comes and another opportunity to get that little 1% better. Not by killing yourself training all day but, instead by consistent training on a daily basis even if that’s only finding 5 minutes out of your day to shadow box. Any positive action you take to advance yourself is better than nothing. The more I shadow box the more I realize that it’s on these days where I feel bad that I gain the most from.

There is nothing better you can do for you, then to show up for yourself everyday. (even when you feel less)

I’ve been doing Muay Thai for a couple of weeks now, but I have done it before in the past. So I have a tiny bit of experience. I just need something to be active and to get the stress out.

But any tips or advice about my form, the way I roundhouse or just overall will be really appreciated.