Recap: 25 Rounds, Zero Egos at Spyda Muay Thai — Our Second Women+ Sparring Event
- Women's Sparring NJ
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Our second monthly women+ Muay Thai sparring event went down at Spyda Muay Thai in Garwood, NJ — and it was everything we hoped this community would become.
Twenty-five rounds. Fighters from 15 years of age and up. Women+ who walked in nervous, unsure of who they'd be paired with or how the day would feel — and walked out with new training partners, new friends, and a few more rounds of real sparring under their belt.
The Room - Inside Our Second Women's Sparring Recap at Spyda Muay Thai
The energy at Spyda was something else. We had women+ from across the tri-state — different gyms, different martial arts backgrounds, wildly different experience levels. Some had only sparred a handful of times. Others were active competitors stepping in for extra mat time. And without anyone directing it, every single fighter found her own partners.
That's the part we keep coming back to. No one was assigned a partner. No one was told who to work with. The room organized itself — fighters approaching fighters, asking each other to spar, rotating naturally between rounds. The comfort level was high enough that everyone felt safe going with anyone, and that's something you can't manufacture. It either happens or it doesn't.
It happened.
NO EGOS, JUST WORK
There's a kind of sparring you only get in spaces like this. Power controlled. Partners checking in between rounds. People asking questions. The rounds themselves were technical, deliberate, real — but never reckless.
What stood out most was watching experienced fighters share what they know, in the moment, with anyone who wanted it. A few of our high-level amateurs (some of whom coach in their gyms) gave feedback between rounds — adjusting a stance here, sharing a setup there, helping a newer sparrer read distance better. It wasn't formal. It was peer to peer, the way real combat sports communities pass knowledge.
And on the other side, we watched newer fighters find their range against partners willing to slow down without dialing back the technical work. We watched experienced fighters give exactly what their partners asked for — no more, no less.
That's not luck. That's culture. And it's the thing we're most proud of.
CAMARADERIE OVER COMPETITION
The space between rounds is where the community actually gets built. Wrapping up. Sharing a drink between rounds. Comparing gear. Talking about which gyms train women+ well and which ones still have work to do. Trading Instagram handles and group chat invites.
Several women+ came from gyms across NJ, NY, and PA where they're often the only woman on the mat for sparring. Watching them connect with other fighters going through the same thing — that's the part that's hard to put into words. It's why this exists.
WHAT'S NEXT
We hope this women's sparring recap gives you a sense of what these events feel like — and we're already planning the next one. New venue, same format, same community.
If you missed this one, here's how to be part of the next:
- Follow us on Instagram @womens.sparring.nj for venue announcements
- Sign up on Eventbrite when registration opens (link from our homepage)
- Bring a friend who's been thinking about getting into sparring — there'll be someone there at her level
Thank you to Spyda Muay Thai (@spydamuaythai) in Garwood, NJ for hosting us, to Coach Jay for the safety briefing, refreshments, and closing remarks that set the tone, to Sabrina Carrier (@shot.by.sab) for capturing the day, and most of all to every fighter who showed up.
You made it what it was. We'll see you at the next one.
Photo by Sabrina Carrier (@shot.by.sab)
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