Contact in Sparring

[hoshin1600]

Full or 90 % body shots and kicks are par for the course in some styles. You get used to it and learn to move quicker. But not somthing for a beginner.
it's been my observation that if a karate guy never trains with contact they don't transition so well when it's needed. It's not like you can just mentally flip a switch and get the correct timing and distancing. YOU Need to practice and in grain that into you system.
My preference has always been hard contact maybe 80% with minimal gear but avoiding the face unless you want to put the gloves on and head gear. But as you get older it's not so much fun to recover for a month.

 

[drop bear]

Allow me, if you will, to be a complete and utter hypocrite.

We only do contact sparring. I don't know anything about no contact, can't even imagine it. How heavy the contact depends on what we're doing and who's doing it. Advanced guys boxing, kickboxing, rolling or just karate slamming are one thing, newbies are another.

But I don't allow hard kicking to the legs in any dojo I teach in. Sweeps, reaps, checks, sure, but if you repeatedly power slam your shin into my thigh, when the night is over I'm going to run you over with my fricken' car. Why? Because I hate getting kicked hard in the legs! Personal weakness. I'm such a dick.

Like I said....hypocrite.

I can't even imagine the amount of leg kicking I would receive if I tried that.

People would find me in their lunch breaks just to leg kick me.

 

[Buka]

That can't be true or I would know a very lot of dead uechi guys, who were killed by a hit and run driver.

Nah, Uechi guys were always nice to me. Besides, they laughed at my chicken legs rather than slammed them.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Full contact doesn't mean full power.

 

[FriedRice]

Different school's have different levels of contact rules during sparring. (ex: no contact, light, moderate, and full) Why is this?

Man, that's 2, shiznit disturbing post.

The people who can really answer this well, are those who've done all of the above, from sparring light (most of the time) and (some of the time) sparring full power for the KO or tap.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

BTW - I find that light-contact sparring is much more productive when I do it with people who have full-contact experience. Even though we're going light, they have a clear understanding of realistic range and body mechanics and which strikes would actually have been effective if we had been going hard. People who have only trained light-contact or (especially) no-contact are much more likely to play tippy-tappy tag games with poor body mechanics from out of range.

 

[FriedRice]

Full contact doesn't mean full power.

One time, I hit this fat dude so hard in the stomach that it sprained my thumb. I was so mad and told him, "look, I'm not sparring with you again, Dad, until you go on a diet".

 

[Azulx]

Full contact doesn't mean full power.

That is a very interesting point. Could you expand on your definition of full contact and full power? I think it's important to understand how to differentiate the two.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

That is a very interesting point. Could you expand on your definition of full contact and full power? I think it's important to understand how to differentiate the two.

Full contact typically means no protective gear. It is a hard style of fighting and power levels are high. Techniques are still not thrown without restrictions or self-restraint.

Not seen that much anymore. Full power is often done with heavy armor protective gear, also not all that common.

People do get hurt, but not intentionally.

 

[Azulx]

Full contact typically means no protective gear. It is a hard style of fighting and power levels are high. Techniques are still not thrown without restrictions or self-restraint.

Could it be possible to do full contact sparring with protective gear?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Full contact typically means no protective gear. It is a hard style of fighting and power levels are high. Techniques are still not thrown without restrictions or self-restraint.

Not seen that much anymore. Full power is often done with heavy armor protective gear, also not all that common.

People do get hurt, but not intentionally.

I have usually used the terms "full-contact" and "light-contact" to mean the amount of power in the strikes. I think your use of the terms is a bit clearer. By this definition, nearly all grappling and throwing is full-contact, and very little is full-power. We do a bit of full-contact strike work with partners (nothing more than moderate power), and nothing at full-power on humans (just on equipment) since we don't own any of the heavy armor needed.

 

[Buka]

When sparring with each other, regardless of the style, school or rule set, a certain parameter is set between people fighting each other within any particular group.

Go have fun with it, keep your hands up and maybe have some ice handy.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Could it be possible to do full contact sparring with protective gear?

You can call things whatever you like. You can call a hand grenade a biscuit, but I wouldn't put one in the oven.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Could it be possible to do full contact sparring with protective gear?

By the definition he used, "full contact" would mean fist-on-flesh (or the equivalent), so protective gear wouldn't meet that definition. You could do something like only use headgear, for "nearly full contact".

 

[MartialMasters]

One of the most important things to learn is how to control your speed and power. Varying levels on contacts, varying speeds...these all help students gain a better understanding of what they are capable of (and help them become capable of more!).

There are so many different ways to train, and so many different things you can be working on. If you want to work on pure power...that's when big pads are great, and as mentioned earlier, when knee caps aren't so good!

I definitely work at different speeds and different contact levels. I find value in each approach...although I'll admit I'm not a huge fan of super slow and soft work (I find it just takes too much time and is usually a bit too artificial by that point). That's just me, though.

 

[Montana]

I no longer teach, but contact during sparring depended on the individuals, their skill/belt level, area of contact and age. BTW, we didn't use hand, foot, mouth or head gear..just groin cups. Kids used no to light contact to body, none to head. Older teens thru adults used light to medium contact to the body, light contact to the head.

We did have Okinawan Bogu gear (kinda like kendo armor, but not quite the same) and then it was all out, full contact to the body and head. No points scored in that fighting unless it was obvious it was hard contact.

 

[LeftchopFTW]

Hey fellow MT bros and sisters, LCFTW here!

May I begin by commending Azulx on a great thread which has picked up a lot of activity. Well done brother hahah rofl lol.

This is a bit off subject but a genuine true story I have from one of the classes I ran a few years ago, so I hope you do not mind me posting it on here.

Our classes used to be full contact, we figured if people are honest they are there because they want to make sure they could apply Karate it in self defence. We had all the necessary safety equipment etc. We had a young lad named Derek around 19/20 at the time and he was built like Arnold Schwarznegger must have been 20 stone, he looked as if was carved from the gods. At first I naturally wondered what the hell he was firstly doing here half way through and secondly why hes at an under 12s class (I figured he was a parent here early).

So I approach him, hello? How are you? One of these kids yours? He replied no! Now I am thinking he must just want to learn Karate. I ask, you here to learn? He replied, yes!! literally screamed it the kids started to hide, little Jacob looked like he fell out of his skin.

I advise of my time table when the older classes are when the more intermediate/expert classes are I assumed he may have knew a thing or two. He said the only time he was available was in this slot. I figured okay he can train now, plus he was paying 12 months in advanced so I could not argue.

Although it was foreign and weird to the kids training with such a monster looking man it really helped them gain confidence. Kids who were bullied no longer were I mean look who they were sparring with!!! Im sure Derek even turned up to a couple of their schools to meet their bullies. Derek was certainly not the brightest spark, I told him to give me his best round house kick, he ran to the nearest house done a lap then kicked the door and ran.

Anyway Im going off subject, as I said before it was full contact. He was sparring with one of the more advanced lads and this lad must have thought this was David and Goliath. He was trying to hit Derek as hard as he could, although it was not bothering Derek physically.... well mentally was a different story.

Derek must have learnt the round house kick pretty quick because not only did the younger lad in training get an almighty one so did his Dad on arrival. They both ended up in hospital and Derek hasnt been seen since. I always wonder if I should have perhaps made it full contact for the more advanced and gifted instead of the kids.

Thoughts?

LCFTW

 

[drop bear]

Hey fellow MT bros and sisters, LCFTW here!

May I begin by commending Azulx on a great thread which has picked up a lot of activity. Well done brother hahah rofl lol.

This is a bit off subject but a genuine true story I have from one of the classes I ran a few years ago, so I hope you do not mind me posting it on here.

Our classes used to be full contact, we figured if people are honest they are there because they want to make sure they could apply Karate it in self defence. We had all the necessary safety equipment etc. We had a young lad named Derek around 19/20 at the time and he was built like Arnold Schwarznegger must have been 20 stone, he looked as if was carved from the gods. At first I naturally wondered what the hell he was firstly doing here half way through and secondly why hes at an under 12s class (I figured he was a parent here early).

So I approach him, hello? How are you? One of these kids yours? He replied no! Now I am thinking he must just want to learn Karate. I ask, you here to learn? He replied, yes!! literally screamed it the kids started to hide, little Jacob looked like he fell out of his skin.

I advise of my time table when the older classes are when the more intermediate/expert classes are I assumed he may have knew a thing or two. He said the only time he was available was in this slot. I figured okay he can train now, plus he was paying 12 months in advanced so I could not argue.

Although it was foreign and weird to the kids training with such a monster looking man it really helped them gain confidence. Kids who were bullied no longer were I mean look who they were sparring with!!! Im sure Derek even turned up to a couple of their schools to meet their bullies. Derek was certainly not the brightest spark, I told him to give me his best round house kick, he ran to the nearest house done a lap then kicked the door and ran.

Anyway Im going off subject, as I said before it was full contact. He was sparring with one of the more advanced lads and this lad must have thought this was David and Goliath. He was trying to hit Derek as hard as he could, although it was not bothering Derek physically.... well mentally was a different story.

Derek must have learnt the round house kick pretty quick because not only did the younger lad in training get an almighty one so did his Dad on arrival. They both ended up in hospital and Derek hasnt been seen since. I always wonder if I should have perhaps made it full contact for the more advanced and gifted instead of the kids.

Thoughts?

LCFTW

Wait did this dereck guy round kick a 12 year old?

Sort of on the same vein.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Wait did this dereck guy round kick a 12 year old?

I told him to give me his best round house kick, he ran to the nearest house done a lap then kicked the door and ran.

I have the sneaking suspicion that LCFTW may not be completely serious here.

 

[marques]

Different school's have different levels of contact rules during sparring. (ex: no contact, light, moderate, and full) Why is this? Are all contact levels effective? Our school only allows up to moderate level strikes. We had a black belt from Germany come to our program and his school had only no contact sparring. At first he was a bit awkward with the contact, but after a month he was actually pretty good. I don't know if that was just a specific case, of his ability do adapt to our style, or if it isn't an easy transition to be able to go from different levels of contact. So for example if you have never made contact during sparring will you be able to adapt to a situation were you need to use full, or lethal contact on the street, or any dangerous situation?

Different philosophies and objectives.
Sparring without contact I can't imagine!! But the ones who just strike too light, are missing 80% of the effectiveness / art / body mechanics / psychology...
Hard sparring, you don't learn. You're just making (brain) damage and testing yourself.
I also apologize up to moderate, 95% of the time.
It also depends on the style. I guess the more complex the 'art', the slower the sparring. Just guessing. Also, there is people that understands it as fitness training...