You see your opponent do something unexpected and weird. You don't quite understand it, but you know something is going to happen. The next thing you know — you are on the canvas/mat. You have been knocked down. All that — happened in less than a second.
You got caught with a heavy overhand right. He hurt you. You got back up. But now you see him charge towards you, bringing in the heat, and unloading the bombs. But you are not ready yet. Your ears are still buzzing, your head is spinning, and your knees are buckling. Your coach is yelling something but you can't figure out what language he is speaking in. You are trying your best to not fall down while your opponent is hitting you with a barrage of combos.
What do you do to recover quickly after getting knocked down? How do you get rid of the dizziness as fast as possible? How do you prepare for a knockdown (e.g., if I get knocked down, the first thing I need to do is ... )?
I would like answerers to consider both cases. You get knocked down after
- getting hit in the head/face (e.g., with an overhand right that lands flush or a roundhouse kick)
- getting hit in the liver (e.g., with a strong left hook to the body, a left roundhouse kick, or a spinning side kick)
If you are sparring hard and you get hit, you don't have the time to pause and call your family doctor. I want to know how experts (i.e., those who have serious sparring experience) deal with this.
Are there techniques that can speed up the recovery (e.g., fall back to the corner, shell up, stay tight, defend the face and the body, and brace against incoming strikes — this should give you some time to get back to equilibrium)? Does focusing on anything particular help the recovery?
Is moving around and throwing jabs better? Will it stop the opponent from coming in hot? After getting knocked down, some fighters get back up and go hard to keep their opponent from getting into that offensive momentum (e.g., Joshua vs. Ruiz I). This can often hide the fact that you are actually hurt and give you time to recover while your jabs and other less powerful strikes keep your opponent at bay.