# Jow Ga Sparring Intensity Evaluation



## JowGaWolf (Jul 19, 2016)

Just wanted to share this clip of a short sparring session that I did with my fellow student.  We have been training in preparation for competitive sparring and I felt that he reached a skill level where I could let my punches relax a little more without holding back like I do. It was nice to finally come off the brakes a little. My Sifu has been telling me for 3 years to stop pulling punches. He'll be a little happy that I didn't hold back as much as I have in the past.  

I still had to pull couple of punches and glance a couple punches in order to prevent the punch from landing solid.  In the second combo you can see that my sparring partner moved into my hook. Even though I was able to pull that one just enough to prevent it from smashing into his face, I think it still may have stun him a little. I can't tell if his legs shake from the punch or if it was just bad footing. But it was enough for me to stop the sparring at that point and to discuss him leaning into my rear punch and to just make sure he was ok. 

Every 2 weeks we'll go through the same intensity level for one or two 30 second rounds and try to use the techniques from our forms.  Part of me is excited about the new training and the other part of me is less thrilled since I know that it's highly likely I'll apply a technique at the wrong time and end up eating a fist.  This is where I'll either trust 100% in a technique and learn from mistakes until I learn to apply the technique in the right situation at the right time or I'll play it safe and not advance from where I am now.


Click here for the video.


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## Red Sun (Jul 19, 2016)

JowGaWolf said:


> Every 2 weeks we'll go through the same intensity level for one or two 30 second rounds and try to use the techniques from our forms.  Part of me is excited about the new training and the other part of me is less thrilled since I know that it's highly likely I'll apply a technique at the wrong time and end up eating a fist.  This is where I'll either trust 100% in a technique and learn from mistakes until I learn to apply the technique in the right situation at the right time or I'll play it safe and not advance from where I am now.



In the 3rd paragraph, you remind me of a Kendo article i read a few years ago:
集ーーー＞Shugo＜ーーー合: Intention: the difference between kendo and pillow-fighting
It sounds like the same kind of thing, but i might be way off-track


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## drop bear (Jul 20, 2016)

1 or 2. 30 second rounds.

How long is the actual fight or comp or whatever?


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## marques (Jul 20, 2016)

I really like (watch and do) that: Sparring. Even better in slow motion (so I can watch/do better).

The art, when exist, is evident against people. Not against air or bags or pads... or cooperative partners...

Better 'evidence' than sparring, maybe just fighting. But fighting is not so safe and, perhaps, not so fun.


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## JowGaWolf (Jul 20, 2016)

Red Sun said:


> In the 3rd paragraph, you remind me of a Kendo article i read a few years ago:
> 集ーーー＞Shugo＜ーーー合: Intention: the difference between kendo and pillow-fighting
> It sounds like the same kind of thing, but i might be way off-track


 I just read the link and it sounds like the conversation I had with him 2 days before that video, in which we were doing our regular sparring. He was even puzzled because he couldn't figure out if he was overwhelming me or if I was holding back. I told him that I have to hit him harder now because he reached a level where it's clear to both him and me that the sparring we used to do isn't going to be beneficial to both of us. The difference between sparring in the past and the now is that my intent is more serious than before.  Before it was "I'll try to hit you, you try to defend."  Now it's "I'm going to hit you."

You can see the friendly level of sparring on the school website, to have a good idea of how much we bumped up the intensity and the intent. 



drop bear said:


> 1 or 2. 30 second rounds.
> 
> How long is the actual fight or comp or whatever?


  I'm not sure how long the actual competition rounds are.  We don't factor fight time that way. This will sound arrogant but it's the mindset I have the students put themselves in.
The fight will end as soon as I defeat the other person.  If I don't attack like a tiger then the fight will last longer than needed.  If I attack like a tiger then the fight will end in less than a minute.  We do endurance training in the event that reality destroys our ego by giving us an opponent of equal or greater skill.

This is what our endurance training for sparring looks like. Students adjust the intensity level based on their ability to execute the combination.  

1st round: 1 minute, continuous punch only attack combinations
2nd round: 1 minute continuous kick only attack combinations
3rd round: 1 minute continuous punch only attack combinations
4th round: 1 minute continuous kick only attack combinations
5th round: 1 minute continuous punch only attack combinations
6th round:1 minute continuous kick only attack combinations
7th round: 1 minute continuous kick and punch combinations
8th round: 1 minute continuous kick and punch combinations

At the end of that everyone gets at least 4 rounds of 1 minute sparring.  If time permits we try to spar with everyone at least 4 times. The more people the longer the rounds.  The only thing we know is that in a competitive fight we'll have more rest between our attacks .

Last week we changed it up a little because we had too many students.  We did 22 minutes worth of 30 second rounds (almost non stop) the only rest that they got was to switch partners every 30 seconds. But it was no where near the intensity level of the video.


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## JowGaWolf (Jul 20, 2016)

marques said:


> I really like (watch and do) that: Sparring. Even better in slow motion (so I can watch/do better).
> 
> The art, when exist, is evident against people. Not against air or bags or pads... or cooperative partners...
> 
> Better 'evidence' than sparring, maybe just fighting. But fighting is not so safe and, perhaps, not so fun.


Correct.  I would only recommend sparring at this level when both students are able to reasonably protect themselves, both have excellent control, and both can fight without anger.


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## marques (Jul 20, 2016)

JowGaWolf said:


> Correct.  I would only recommend sparring at this level when both students are able to reasonably protect themselves, both have excellent control, and both can fight without anger.



I recommend sparring as soon as possible. Not at this level, surely. But slow, light sparring. 

Fighting people needs time, so start sparring (that is one of the best methods) as soon as possible. Then work on your weaknesses and come back to sparring. Sparring is more about manipulating reactions of our opponent than punches and kicks. That is my method. 

Most of details are self corrected during controlled sparring (other don't). As clean movement to strike/grab fast and telegraphic to feint, timing, distance...


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## drop bear (Jul 20, 2016)

JowGaWolf said:


> I'm not sure how long the actual competition rounds are. We don't factor fight time that way. This will sound arrogant but it's the mindset I have the students put themselves in.
> The fight will end as soon as I defeat the other person. If I don't attack like a tiger then the fight will last longer than needed. If I attack like a tiger then the fight will end in less than a minute. We do endurance training in the event that reality destroys our ego by giving us an opponent of equal or greater skill.
> 
> This is what our endurance training for sparring looks like. Students adjust the intensity level based on their ability to execute the combination.



So is that sparring,sparring or what we would call Dutch drills. Where you are made to attack with a prearranged combination.

Your mate is dropping his right hand on the jab by the way.


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## JowGaWolf (Jul 20, 2016)

drop bear said:


> So is that sparring,sparring or what we would call Dutch drills. Where you are made to attack with a prearranged combination.
> 
> Your mate is dropping his right hand on the jab by the way.


   The sparring is light sparring where they are working techniques and strategy of their choice.  We do Dutch Drills as well, just not on that particular day.

Thanks for pointing out the hand drop after the jab.  I'll point that out to him tonight when I show him this video.


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## drop bear (Jul 20, 2016)

JowGaWolf said:


> The sparring is light sparring where they are working techniques and strategy of their choice.  We do Dutch Drills as well, just not on that particular day.
> 
> Thanks for pointing out the hand drop after the jab.  I'll point that out to him tonight when I show him this video.



No dramas.  

If you wanted to do frantic high intensity rounds you could also do tabata.  Which is basically 20 seconds on.  10 seconds off.


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## JowGaWolf (Jul 22, 2016)

Got a new video coming up.  I recently took a beating against the same guy. He landed some really good punches to the head and I just couldn't find an answer to it. All I can say is that sometimes I have good days and some days I take a beating.


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## JP3 (Jul 23, 2016)

Joe, the training regimen is structured as my old thai-boxing gym, but the rounds are much shorter. Just a comment, not a criticism, probably going for different things. The Thai-boxing thing is the conditioning of the person to be able to keep going and going and going etc., different mindset I think. We had 2, 3 and 5 minute rounds, the 5-minute ones when the instructor was trying to deliberately gas people to see how they'd handle being exhausted. Worked in that regard. Lots of dropping hands and people getting schizzllammeed.

At the end of the round, the round timer (a green-yellow-red thing) would switch to yellow from green for the final 30 seconds and it was the signal to blitz, literally hit the nitrous boost on the body ( a mental key thing, trying to mind over matter the tiredness) and attempt to come from behind to get a knockout if you had to. THAT was rough.

   As to the intensity, looked good. It is hard to maintain a balance between safety and realism. Press too hard, and you lose a training partner for a few days or maybe a few months. But, don't press hard enough and you really don't learn much.


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## Bill Mattocks (Jul 24, 2016)

Nice!  Good intensity!

I can't comment on the overhand pawing punches - maybe that's how you guys do it.  

I also am curious about how the bigger guy keeps leaning back and losing his center while being attacked.  And the guy attacking in the last bit (the smaller guy) threw a combination and opened to the bigger guy his face, but the bigger guy didn't take it.  I don't know which one you are?


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## JowGaWolf (Jul 24, 2016)

Bill Mattocks said:


> I can't comment on the overhand pawing punches - maybe that's how you guys do it.


I'm the guy in the red head gear.  The overhand pawing punches are bad habits.  It's a combination of trying to punch and remove the guard at the same time. It's frown upon.



Bill Mattocks said:


> I also am curious about how the bigger guy keeps leaning back and losing his center while being attacked.


It's my bad habit from me launching front heel kicks at the ribs under a punch and from playing wounded or giving the illusion that I'm in trouble.  Some days I do it and some days I don't. I have videos where you don't see it at all and then some videos where it looks like its my favorite move.   Hopefully in 2 weeks I won't have that habit anymore.



Bill Mattocks said:


> And the guy attacking in the last bit (the smaller guy) threw a combination and opened to the bigger guy his face, but the bigger guy didn't take it. I don't know which one you are?


If I'm looking at the same part you are looking at then I actually pulled the punch here. We have a rule that if the other person is totally unaware of the punch then we can't blast the punch through. It's just a safety rule.  I try to get them to understand "what could have happened" as a way to train awareness.  This way there's no need to blast punches in and a small tap is all that's needed to understand that it could have been worse.  Having this type of awareness allows us to practice elbows knees and other dangerous techniques without causing serious injury.


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## Bill Mattocks (Jul 24, 2016)

JowGaWolf said:


> If I'm looking at the same part you are looking at then I actually pulled the punch here. We have a rule that if the other person is totally unaware of the punch then we can't blast the punch through. It's just a safety rule.  I try to get them to understand "what could have happened" as a way to train awareness.  This way there's no need to blast punches in and a small tap is all that's needed to understand that it could have been worse.  Having this type of awareness allows us to practice elbows knees and other dangerous techniques without causing serious injury.



Yeah, I did see that when I looked again.  Looks like you glanced one off his headgear.  Sorry I missed it!

I know hindsight is 20/20 and everyone talks a good game, so I am not claiming any expertise here, but it seems like that would have been a good time to pull him off-balance towards you and to your right.  He was leaning in, head-first, off-balanced already.  Step offline left, pull him in to your right, and plant that kick in his midsection.


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## JowGaWolf (Jul 24, 2016)

Bill Mattocks said:


> I know hindsight is 20/20 and everyone talks a good game, so I am not claiming any expertise here, but it seems like that would have been a good time to pull him off-balance towards you and to your right. He was leaning in, head-first, off-balanced already. Step offline left, pull him in to your right, and plant that kick in his midsection


 I like hindsight you mentioned something that I never even thought of doing.  I think I spot the punch soon enough where I can actually pull it off so I'll keep that in mind.  Great recommendation


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