# Sparring one of my green belt students



## Azulx (Apr 11, 2018)

Welcoming feedback for one of my sparring videos, enjoy!


----------



## Headhunter (Apr 11, 2018)

Well firstly what's up with the title? Korean karate? Is that we're calling taekwondo these days? Reminds me of the movie best of the best where a bunch of guys obviously doing taekwondo are competing in a "karate" tournament.

As for the sparring itself move around more you're standing still most of the time. I'd like to see you spar another black belt or even brown belt. Most of your videos are of you fighting lower ranks and tbh going in quite hard on them. You want to improve you need to be sparring with guys better than you


----------



## Martial D (Apr 11, 2018)

I don't know much about that style, so correct me if there is a reason for this, but it seems like you would get hit a lot less if your back hand wasn't down at your hip where it isn't really doing much.

Nice tricky kicks tho!


----------



## Azulx (Apr 11, 2018)

Headhunter said:


> Well firstly what's up with the title? Korean karate? Is that we're calling taekwondo these days? Reminds me of the movie best of the best where a bunch of guys obviously doing taekwondo are competing in a "karate" tournament.
> 
> As for the sparring itself move around more you're standing still most of the time. I'd like to see you spar another black belt or even brown belt. Most of your videos are of you fighting lower ranks and tbh going in quite hard on them. You want to improve you need to be sparring with guys better than you



I spar other black belts when I can . Unfortunately they are not readily available for me. I spar my students when I can , and at least help them improve.


----------



## Headhunter (Apr 12, 2018)

Azulx said:


> I spar other black belts when I can . Unfortunately they are not readily available for me. I spar my students when I can , and at least help them improve.


What about the Korean karate title I'm genuinely curious about that


----------



## JR 137 (Apr 12, 2018)

Headhunter said:


> What about the Korean karate title I'm genuinely curious about that


It’s been called Korean karate for a very long time.  Possibly longer than it’s been called TKD.  I don’t like the name personally, as I think it TKD has become too distinct to be called Korean karate,  it that’s just me.  The OP certainly isn’t starting a trend or giving it a new and creative name he made up by any means.


----------



## JR 137 (Apr 12, 2018)

@Azulx
Great job with the sparring here.  Last time I was saying how you and your students were going back and forth, waiting for each other to finish your combos before countering.  There was pretty much none of that here; you started pretty much every counter while your partner was throwing his combo  (I think he, can’t tell due to the helmet and all).  It’s kind of hard to tell exactly, but it looks like you used some angles during it as well instead of the straight back and forth stuff from last time.  And it looks like you’re far more explosive with going in for the counter.  I’m quite impressed with the difference.

Just one thing, then I’ll defer to the experts here: do you always spar your students this way?  If so, please don’t.  Give them a chance to work on their stuff.  Dominating them like that doesn’t do them much good.  It teaches them a lot of great things as they’re seeing how it’s supposed to be done.  But if that’s all they’re getting during sparring, all they’ll start learning after a while is how to get beat more efficiently.  I don’t think that’s the case; I think you did this specifically for assessing your sparring, but just throwing it out there in case I’m wrong.

Edit: Hands up!  I know it’s hard when you’re out-classing the competition, but it’s not a great habit to form.  You won’t always be sparring green belts, and you don’t want them copying your unintentional example.  You can tell them to keep their hands up until you’re blue in the face, but seeing you not do it is far more powerful.  The whole “do as I say, not as I do” line comes to mind here.


----------



## Gerry Seymour (Apr 12, 2018)

Pretty much what JR says. The hands were my first thought, and hoping you’re letting them have some rank-appropriate sparring was my second. 

More than once it looked like your hand strikes were too far away to hit effectively, but that might just be you backing them out to leg range.


----------



## Buka (Apr 12, 2018)

I think you both did a fine job. I see a great deal of growth in the way you move over the last two years. I mean that sincerely, a great deal of growth and improvement. Keep it up, bro.

I don't see you dominating your student at all. If anything, you were being gentle. Maybe turn the heat up a little bit. The green belt did a good job as well. Good job taking him this far, push him even more [as I'm sure you will] Keep pushing that boy. He needs some mongoose in him.

As teachers, we're always going to yell about hands up. That's part of our job description. But I know where you're coming from in this type of sparring against a student at this part of his journey. Good job, keep it up.

Keep that boy working on his break fall and cover when hitting the ground.


----------



## CB Jones (Apr 12, 2018)

Headhunter said:


> What about the Korean karate title I'm genuinely curious about that



Prior to unification of the kwans and the changing of the name to Tae Soo Do and Taekwondo it was referred to as Korean Karate.


----------



## Azulx (Apr 12, 2018)

JR 137 said:


> @Azulx
> Great job with the sparring here.  Last time I was saying how you and your students were going back and forth, waiting for each other to finish your combos before countering.  There was pretty much none of that here; you started pretty much every counter while your partner was throwing his combo  (I think he, can’t tell due to the helmet and all).  It’s kind of hard to tell exactly, but it looks like you used some angles during it as well instead of the straight back and forth stuff from last time.  And it looks like you’re far more explosive with going in for the counter.  I’m quite impressed with the difference.
> 
> Just one thing, then I’ll defer to the experts here: do you always spar your students this way?  If so, please don’t.  Give them a chance to work on their stuff.  Dominating them like that doesn’t do them much good.  It teaches them a lot of great things as they’re seeing how it’s supposed to be done.  But if that’s all they’re getting during sparring, all they’ll start learning after a while is how to get beat more efficiently.  I don’t think that’s the case; I think you did this specifically for assessing your sparring, but just throwing it out there in case I’m wrong.
> ...



I will spar my two highest ranks with this or more intensity once to twice a month. My students spar each other every class I have about 7. I usually don't spar my student until they are yellow belts which takes about 3-6 months of training, But I keep that level of intensity for my two senior students, not for anyone else. This will change when my white belts eventually become green belts and so fourth.


----------



## Azulx (Apr 12, 2018)

Headhunter said:


> What about the Korean karate title I'm genuinely curious about that



Many schools in my area call Taekwondo Korean Karate, I personally try not get to hung up on names. Why the name change? I wanted to see what videos would produce more interaction, one with Karate Sparring or Taekwondo Sparring as their titles.


----------



## Azulx (Apr 12, 2018)

JR 137 said:


> Just one thing, then I’ll defer to the experts here: do you always spar your students this way? If so, please don’t. Give them a chance to work on their stuff. Dominating them like that doesn’t do them much good. It teaches them a lot of great things as they’re seeing how it’s supposed to be done. But if that’s all they’re getting during sparring, all they’ll start learning after a while is how to get beat more efficiently. I don’t think that’s the case; I think you did this specifically for assessing your sparring, but just throwing it out there in case I’m wrong.



I would have to respectfully disagree, I did not think I was dominating my student. He was doing just fine, dealing with a higher dose of pressure than he is used to. I didn't feel that he was scared, overwhelmed, or not getting anything out of the session.


----------



## Azulx (Apr 12, 2018)

Headhunter said:


> Well firstly what's up with the title? Korean karate? Is that we're calling taekwondo these days? Reminds me of the movie best of the best where a bunch of guys obviously doing taekwondo are competing in a "karate" tournament.
> 
> As for the sparring itself move around more you're standing still most of the time. I'd like to see you spar another black belt or even brown belt. Most of your videos are of you fighting lower ranks and tbh going in quite hard on them. You want to improve you need to be sparring with guys better than you



I'd also have to respectfully disagree, there are examples of me sparring black belts on my channel, as well as several examples posted here over the years. I would not say that I was sparring my student hard by any means. My strikes were controlled, with absolutely no intent to do any damage besides maybe a scratch or a small bruise.


----------



## Azulx (Apr 12, 2018)

Buka said:


> I think you both did a fine job. I see a great deal of growth in the way you move over the last two years. I mean that sincerely, a great deal of growth and improvement. Keep it up, bro.
> 
> I don't see you dominating your student at all. If anything, you were being gentle. Maybe turn the heat up a little bit. The green belt did a good job as well. Good job taking him this far, push him even more [as I'm sure you will] Keep pushing that boy. He needs some mongoose in him.
> 
> ...


I really appreciate and respect this Buka , as always thank you for your input.


----------



## Headhunter (Apr 12, 2018)

Azulx said:


> I'd also have to respectfully disagree, there are examples of me sparring black belts on my channel, as well as several examples posted here over the years. I would not say that I was sparring my student hard by any means. My strikes were controlled, with absolutely no intent to do any damage besides maybe a scratch or a small bruise.


Or knocking your sparring partner to the floor


----------



## DanT (Apr 12, 2018)

Some constructive criticism:

- Keep your hands higher and protect your face / jaw, if you're going to get knocked out, there's a 75% chance it's going to be your jaw that will get hit, 20% your liver, 5% anything else.

- Keep your chin down, sometimes you're trying to "look over" your opponents arms to see what you want to hit. This is a mistake. Try instead to keep your chin slightly down and look through your opponents guard.

- Keep moving rather than standing in the same spot, Circle your opponent especially towards their back and stay away from their power arm (rear arm).

- Turn your shoulders and hips more when punching to generate more power.

- Try to block low kicks with your legs and not your arms, if you're going to use your arms, catch the kick and flip the person over.

Respect for having the courage to post and looking for tips.


----------



## Azulx (Apr 12, 2018)

Headhunter said:


> Or knocking your sparring partner to the floor



Could you really not tell that he slipped?......


----------



## CB Jones (Apr 12, 2018)

Headhunter said:


> Or knocking your sparring partner to the floor



Go back and look, the kick wasn’t hard.

He went down because his feet weren’t underneath him and his weight was too far back


----------



## Azulx (Apr 12, 2018)

Headhunter said:


> Or knocking your sparring partner to the floor


I was just doing some Head Hunting. You know what I mean?


----------



## JR 137 (Apr 12, 2018)

Azulx said:


> I would have to respectfully disagree, I did not think I was dominating my student. He was doing just fine, dealing with a higher dose of pressure than he is used to. I didn't feel that he was scared, overwhelmed, or not getting anything out of the session.


I see why you say what you’re saying.  I didn’t mean you were dominating HIM.  I meant IF you constantly dominate students, they won’t progress.  It was a generalization rather than a “you dominated him, and he won’t get anything out of it” kind of thing.  Some things get lost when communicating in this medium.

The above combined with the other post saying you increase the intensity as rank increases and it’s not an everyday thing is a great thing.  You’ve got to go at them regularly, but not every time; keep at that.  The only way people get better is by pushing them further than they’re comfortable with.  But like you said, there’s a balance.  Sometimes you’ve got to be technical and let them work their stuff, other times you’ve got to you’ve got to not “give” them much or anything and make them get it.


----------



## JR 137 (Apr 12, 2018)

Azulx said:


> Could you really not tell that he slipped?......


You clearly blasted him.  My only criticism of it was you violated the golden rule - you didn’t re-stomp the groin.  ALWAYS RE-STOMP THE GROIN!!!!


For the record, he slipped and kinda tripped himself up.  But there’s no fun in saying that.


----------



## Gerry Seymour (Apr 12, 2018)

Headhunter said:


> Or knocking your sparring partner to the floor


That’s gonna happen with sparring at any intensity.


----------



## marques (Apr 12, 2018)

Some things that I think are issues I already mentioned here on previous discussions, as well as other people in this thread, are still there. BUT...

Great improvement on both sides since the last time!


----------



## JowGaWolf (Apr 12, 2018)

Azulx said:


> Welcoming feedback for one of my sparring videos, enjoy!


Looks like your rooting has greatly improved.  I don't have much to say about your sparring because it looks like you are training your student.

Your student is having difficulty with distance.  He's punching out of range. He had the problem that you had in the old videos of you sparring against your teacher, where you were punching and kicking at the gloves instead of targeting your opponents body.  I'm sure that will vanish in time, and your green belt student will get better with measuring the distance.



Headhunter said:


> As for the sparring itself move around more you're standing still most of the time.


Compared to his last videos he's taking it easy on his student.  To be honest he has that same look that I get when I spar with students.  Part of my attention is on sparring and half of my attention is to watch what the student is doing.  I'm not sure if that's what he's doing but it looks that way to me.  It just looks as if he's doing a lot of "watching."



JR 137 said:


> Edit: Hands up! I know it’s hard when you’re out-classing the competition,


This is actually an easy issue to solve.  You simply allow the students to hit you harder, than you are trying to hit them.  It's difficult to keep your hands up when the punches aren't a threat..  Allow the students to put a little heat on their punches and you'll keep those hands up with no problem.

A general rule of hitting hard enough to want to move out of the way is a good way to determine how much power you and your partner should put into the sparring.


----------



## _Simon_ (Apr 14, 2018)

Awesome, enjoying watching that Azulx, I really like your style of sparring. You didn't look agitated, you were really calm and attentive, you countered when appropriate (and some of those counters were perfectly timed and placed), very rooted and grounded.

Thanks for sharing bro, and much respect for putting up vids too!


----------



## DaveB (Apr 14, 2018)

Hello,

I would encourage both of you (obviously more your student) to try to stay close rather than running from strikes. 

Doing so encourages the skill of counter attacking and forces the use of a greater range of strikes.

Also your student looks like he needs to be more rooted, especially when he kicks.

Great work though to both of you.


----------

