First Fight Preparation Plan

Mat Manual companion guide to "Your First Fight Starts Weeks Before the Bell." Print it. The article makes the case. This plan runs the camp: a six-week build week by week, the weight worksheet with its rule at the head, the coach-and-fighter checklists, day-of timeline cards, and a review sheet that separates what the fight taught from what it felt like.

Name: ______________________________ Gym: ______________________________ Coach: ______________________________ Event: ______________________________ Bout date: ______________ Agreed weight: ______________

BEFORE ANYTHING: THE RULES THIS PLAN RUNS ON ☐ A first fighter who cannot make the agreed weight safely does not fight. This is a rule of this plan, not a tip inside it. It is applied by the coach, without negotiation, at any point in the camp, including fight week. ☐ No dehydration cutting at any point. Weight is reached by the camp's ordinary training and eating adjustments across six weeks, tracked on the Part 5 log, or the match is remade or postponed. ☐ The bout is a first sanctioned amateur bout or interclub, matched against a first opponent close in weight and experience. If the match changes materially, the confirmation gate in Part 2 is run again. ☐ Medical clearance and sanctioning paperwork are complete before fight week. No document is hunted on the day. ☐ Sparring in camp runs at named, agreed levels with briefed partners. Either fighter can lower a level or end a round at any moment, without explanation or apology. ☐ Head knocks, in camp or in the bout, are reported the day they happen and are never trained through. Return to contact follows the gym's and a clinician's guidance, not the calendar.

Part 1: The Camp at a Glance

One page, filled in the first camp meeting, pinned where both fighter and coach see it daily. An item left blank on this page is a job nobody owns, and jobs nobody owns are the ones that surface at the venue, in front of officials, at the worst available moment. Fill the page.