Do you believe in open sparring sessions

[jasonbrinn]

Maybe this should be its own thread? - until then;

Sparring as a way of training is bad (at least hugely inefficient). Sparring as an occasional tool to evaluate your training and tweak things is fine. This all comes down to "how" the mind learns. Mostly in sparring you are making mistakes, or at least not doing the best you could do - it is a live event and this is just the reality of such a thing. Your mind anchors things and when you get tagged good for making a mistake the mind is more concerned with not getting tagged then making the conscious note to not do the same item again (maybe some short term memory but nothing truly learned) - at least it doesn't get deep into the subconscious. These are scientific facts supported by data and the life's work of men much greater than I will ever be.

Drilling on the other hand gives a person the ability to correctly train the appropriate response and anchor it in a way that is good. The mind not having to deal with the stress of conflict focuses more on the cues of the event and less on protecting itself. Positive anchoring not fear-based anchoring.

Shamar (shamar is my system) training breakdown:

1. Response learning (learning techniques, concepts, etc.) = 18%
2. controlled Drilling = 50%
3. Fitness = 30%
4. Sparring = 2%

Please don't take my word on it - do your own tests and record you own data (the numbers and facts will speak for themselves). If anyone truly wants to test these and needs some help setting up a training sequence I will be more than happy to help - just email me [email protected] (I have NEVER charged for teaching FYI and I am not charging for this either).

As for some previous inquiries:

- its been awhile but I remember the Dog Brothers doing a lot more drilling than anything, oh and then they fought (they didn't spar to learn they sparred to test what they had been drilling and to tweak the reality of what they were studying).

- Yes I have had a lot of BJJ training and trained a lot of BJJ students, and NO I think rolling is just as bad as sparring. I still used the same method notated above and my past students have had tremendous results from following it (purple belt reached in 1.5 years, multiple naga 1st places, etc.). There are plenty of great BJJ masters that will personally tell you that you should drill more than anything if you get them alone. At least one recent ADCC Absolute Champion even has a book out about the very subject.

- Can sparring make you better? Sure, almost anything can if you do it long enough. The real question to me is, "Is sparring the best?"

- Great golfers study the finer aspects (like their swing and putt) and spent much more time there "drilling" than actually playing the game, guitar players understand the importance of training chords (the good ones), and on and on.

Look, when I started out in my martial arts career I promised myself and my teacher to go after the "truth" in combat. I trained with A LOT of teachers on that search and was absolutely obsessed with training and learning. The one thing that I would bring all that back to was the mat, and unlike a lot of my peers I kept track of the data and treated my training very scientific. In order to find the truth you have to be willing to go ANYWHERE it leads it you, even if it is somewhere no one else has gone or even believes in. This is what I did and this is what I found to be true over and over.

I have a FREE book that I will release this year on my system and my findings, anyone that wants a copy can simply email me and I will send them a PDF version.


Sincerely,


Jason Brinn

 

[Tez3]

I think you are assuming we just spar. I'm not sure if you realise how much drilling techniques we actually do, I'm sure I'm on safe ground by saying that every martial art does the same, sparring is actually a small part of what we do however it's a vital part. You can't train for full contact fights by not sparring, if you don't know what it's like to be hit you are in for a shock when you get on mats/in cage or ring. If you fight you have to spar.
I think you are misunderstanding what we all do, we don't just learn a few techniques then constantly spar, no one does that. You are just saying what everyone already knows but you are making it out to be something you have discovered. This thread was just about whether you should let people outside your club/school/gym spar with you, it isn't about training regimes. You have something to sell but it's to a market that has been drilling techniques for a very long time.

 

[jasonbrinn]

I think you are assuming we just spar. I'm not sure if you realise how much drilling techniques we actually do, I'm sure I'm on safe ground by saying that every martial art does the same, sparring is actually a small part of what we do however it's a vital part. You can't train for full contact fights by not sparring, if you don't know what it's like to be hit you are in for a shock when you get on mats/in cage or ring. If you fight you have to spar.
I think you are misunderstanding what we all do, we don't just learn a few techniques then constantly spar, no one does that. You are just saying what everyone already knows but you are making it out to be something you have discovered. This thread was just about whether you should let people outside your club/school/gym spar with you, it isn't about training regimes. You have something to sell but it's to a market that has been drilling techniques for a very long time.

I am not selling anything. I don't assume much. I have been in the martial arts for a long time and I know what is done. What I am talking IS different. I respectfully disagree with you though on the "to fight you have to spar." I trained an MMA fighter and NEVER had him spar one time, a heavyweight, and he never lost while I trained him (he also had NO training before he started working with me).

 

[MJS]

Hopefully, we can get back to the topic and discuss things in a civil fashion.

Maybe this should be its own thread? - until then;

Sparring as a way of training is bad (at least hugely inefficient). Sparring as an occasional tool to evaluate your training and tweak things is fine. This all comes down to "how" the mind learns. Mostly in sparring you are making mistakes, or at least not doing the best you could do - it is a live event and this is just the reality of such a thing. Your mind anchors things and when you get tagged good for making a mistake the mind is more concerned with not getting tagged then making the conscious note to not do the same item again (maybe some short term memory but nothing truly learned) - at least it doesn't get deep into the subconscious. These are scientific facts supported by data and the life's work of men much greater than I will ever be.

Drilling on the other hand gives a person the ability to correctly train the appropriate response and anchor it in a way that is good. The mind not having to deal with the stress of conflict focuses more on the cues of the event and less on protecting itself. Positive anchoring not fear-based anchoring.

Shamar (shamar is my system) training breakdown:

1. Response learning (learning techniques, concepts, etc.) = 18%
2. controlled Drilling = 50%
3. Fitness = 30%
4. Sparring = 2%

Please don't take my word on it - do your own tests and record you own data (the numbers and facts will speak for themselves). If anyone truly wants to test these and needs some help setting up a training sequence I will be more than happy to help - just email me [email protected] (I have NEVER charged for teaching FYI and I am not charging for this either).

As for some previous inquiries:

- its been awhile but I remember the Dog Brothers doing a lot more drilling than anything, oh and then they fought (they didn't spar to learn they sparred to test what they had been drilling and to tweak the reality of what they were studying).

- Yes I have had a lot of BJJ training and trained a lot of BJJ students, and NO I think rolling is just as bad as sparring. I still used the same method notated above and my past students have had tremendous results from following it (purple belt reached in 1.5 years, multiple naga 1st places, etc.). There are plenty of great BJJ masters that will personally tell you that you should drill more than anything if you get them alone. At least one recent ADCC Absolute Champion even has a book out about the very subject.

- Can sparring make you better? Sure, almost anything can if you do it long enough. The real question to me is, "Is sparring the best?"

- Great golfers study the finer aspects (like their swing and putt) and spent much more time there "drilling" than actually playing the game, guitar players understand the importance of training chords (the good ones), and on and on.

Look, when I started out in my martial arts career I promised myself and my teacher to go after the "truth" in combat. I trained with A LOT of teachers on that search and was absolutely obsessed with training and learning. The one thing that I would bring all that back to was the mat, and unlike a lot of my peers I kept track of the data and treated my training very scientific. In order to find the truth you have to be willing to go ANYWHERE it leads it you, even if it is somewhere no one else has gone or even believes in. This is what I did and this is what I found to be true over and over.

I have a FREE book that I will release this year on my system and my findings, anyone that wants a copy can simply email me and I will send them a PDF version.


Sincerely,


Jason Brinn

I like to use Matt Thorntons method of "I" training.
http://www.straightblastgym.com/aliveness101.html

This is what I do: I'll use Kenpo as an example. I'll teach a new technique, slowly at first, of course. I have them drill it repeatedly. This is the introduce phase. Next, I'll have them Isolate it, which is the 2nd phase. Gradually, more pressure, resistance, etc is added. The attack is coming faster and harder. Its forcing the student to get out of their comfort zone. Incorporate is next. We'll move on to random, spontaneous attacks, where they dont have any idea what is coming...it could be a punch, multiple punches, grabs, chokes, kicks, weapons, etc. I'm not expecting them to recall the exact preset technique, but instead to use the ideas, concepts, and principles found in what I teach, to build upon, and come up with their own response. In a sense, this could be sparring, though I dont like to call it that, because its often confused with the typical sparring that we see.

The same is done with BJJ. We learn a new tech, do it slow, then spar with it, and try to pull it off, against someone whos resisting. I do the same thing in Arnis. We'll pad up, and spar. Its amazing....once you get out there, and that stick is swinging at you fast, what you can/can't pull off. THIS, IMHO, is the way to test your stuff. As I said, and I'll say it a million more times....sparring is just 1 part of the puzzle. Its not the end all be all, but it is important. It will show what works, and does not work, when the poop hits the fan. Sure, mistakes will happen, but anyone who thinks they're mistake free is living in fantasy land. I've made mistakes when doing spontaneous techs, with my instructors, and have simply had to adapt to whats going on. That is the goal of training.

Jason, I think for the most part, we're on the same page, odd as that may seem...lol. I think we're just going about things differently. Also, I think that many times, as usual with the net, its often hard to fully grasp what people are saying, because we're not hearing, we're reading. Things are often lost in translation, thus the fighting, arguments, etc.

Anyways, there are a bunch of variations of training. I dont have the market cornered on mine, and I dont think anyone else does. Of course people are going to say theirs is the best. Maybe it is, maybe not. Either way, whatever works for that person, IMHO, is what matters most.

 

[Steve]

Jasonbrinn,

It sounds like you're making a couple of assumptions that are incorrect.

First, you are presuming that anyone here believes that isolated drills are detrimental. No one here (I'm pretty sure) would agree with this. We would all agree that drills are very important and beneficial to training.

And second, you are presuming that people here only spar. This is also not true.

Regarding your comments on golfers and guitar players, I presume in response to me, you're right. You have to play scales and put in time on the range in order to progress. But you also have to play. You can claim to be a golfer, but if you don't go out and play 18 holes on at least a semi regular basis, you will never progress past a certain point. You have to play the entire game. On a driving range, you can work on your swings, but until you shank the ball into the deep rough on a 20 degree incline behind some trees with a breeze blowing back on you and a coyote sleeping next to the green, you aren't actually playing the game.

Simply put, dealing with the random chaos of uncontrolled circumstances is part of the training. Without this key ingredient, you're limited.

You can't learn to cook without cooking. You can't learn math without adding or subtracting. You can't learn anything without moving past concepts and into application. I'm a firm believer in Bloom's Taxonomy of learning and recommend you take a look if you're unfamiliar. It's a very simple way to understand the development of expertise. You have to move past an academic comprehension to a practical level of application in order to develop expertise.

 

[jasonbrinn]

Thanks for the last two responses. I too hope that we can come to understand one another. I know that I am not the easiest person to "get along" with. I am very passionate, confident and outspoken. I don't mean to rub anyone the wrong way but if I didn't believe totally in what I was saying I would not be saying it. I am NOT a fraud and that website is a lie.

I don't disagree with what either of you are saying, for the most part and as to how people currently train. However, to be perfectly clear;

I don't believe in "free sparring" as a method of training!

When I say sparring is 2% of Shamar training regimen it is controlled sparring and nothing more. I don't believe in putting on gear and "getting loose" as I believe most people here are referring to based on their descriptions of what sparring is.

I do believe in fighting.

I do believe that only in fighting can the training be tested and future tweaks made.

I DO NOT believe in free sparring.

 

[Steve]

As a follow up, I've posted on this subject before. I'm very interested in how people learn, both professionally and personally.

The biggest challenge in training is facilitating the transfer of theoretical knowledge into practical, applicable skill. For example, I can tell you how to change the oil in a car and you might understand the process at a theoretical level.


I can show you how to change the oil in a car, and you might understand how to change oil at a level where you could actually describe it to someone else.


But can you actually do it? Hard to say. You don't know until you actually try it yourself. Have to do it, and that's where a lot of martial artists fall short, having never actually applied their art (IMO). Martial Arts stands alone as the one physical activity where it's okay to allege training experts in something they don't actually ever do. To become a golf pro, you have to get off the driving range and play a lot of golf. Most martial artists never leave the driving range.


Also, it's common to mistake competence with expertise. To continue the analogy, just because you can change the oil on your car doesn't make you an expert on changing oil. The guys at Jiffy Lube, who do it all day every day are experts. Those guys have seen not only your car, but every make and model on the road, in every condition. They can not only foresee and address unexpected problems, but they can also teach others.

 

[Steve]

Thanks for the last two responses. I too hope that we can come to understand one another. I know that I am not the easiest person to "get along" with. I am very passionate, confident and outspoken. I don't mean to rub anyone the wrong way but if I didn't believe totally in what I was saying I would not be saying it. I am NOT a fraud and that website is a lie.

I don't disagree with what either of you are saying, for the most part and as to how people currently train. However, to be perfectly clear;

I don't believe in "free sparring" as a method of training!

When I say sparring is 2% of Shamar training regimen it is controlled sparring and nothing more. I don't believe in putting on gear and "getting loose" as I believe most people here are referring to based on their descriptions of what sparring is.

I do believe in fighting.

I do believe that only in fighting can the training be tested and future tweaks made.

I DO NOT believe in free sparring.

Just so I'm understanding here... are you suggesting that people should get into fights? While I agree that this would definitely give practical experience, it also sounds dangerous and irresponsible. Surely you're not suggesting that your students get into real fights in lieu of open sparring or "getting loose."

 

[Chris Parker]

Hi Jason,

Maybe this should be its own thread? - until then;

Yeah, it should be, I'd say. There's a few reasons for that, chief amongst which is the small detail that what you're talking about is completely irrelevant to the point of the OP.

I'll see if I can explain.

Your contention is that sparring isn't a good learning tool to teach a martial art. That's not what's being proposed, though. Having members of other martial arts come in and spar isn't about them learning your art, or your students learning theirs, it's about having the option and ability to test, in an unrehearsed and unfamiliar format, the skills and abilities, at various levels, of both the guest students and the "local" ones. Not learn, not train in the art, just a method of testing that is different to the usual methods that the school may employ. Now, with that said....

Sparring as a way of training is bad (at least hugely inefficient). Sparring as an occasional tool to evaluate your training and tweak things is fine. This all comes down to "how" the mind learns. Mostly in sparring you are making mistakes, or at least not doing the best you could do - it is a live event and this is just the reality of such a thing. Your mind anchors things and when you get tagged good for making a mistake the mind is more concerned with not getting tagged then making the conscious note to not do the same item again (maybe some short term memory but nothing truly learned) - at least it doesn't get deep into the subconscious. These are scientific facts supported by data and the life's work of men much greater than I will ever be.

I'm pretty well known as being rather anti-sparring myself, for a range of reasons, but primarily because it doesn't suit my systems tactics or needs. We have other methods of testing skills, which can be very sparring-like, but aren't actually sparring, for the record. With that in mind, I'd seriously question the above statement. Mainly as that really isn't the way the brain and mind works, and for that type of connection (I note you're using the NLP term "anchor" there, which isn't entirely appropriate or accurate) would require quite a particular mind in the first place, with a particularly specific type of previous experiences. Additionally, there are very little "scientific facts" when it comes to the way the brain works, especially in regards to psychology, which is why it is considered a "soft" science... what there are are a range of theories and concepts that can help gain some understanding of such development, but nothing as solid as "scientific facts".

I'd also completely argue the central premise that mistakes in sparring aren't learned from on a deeper (subconscious) level, as that goes against, well, all evidence. Including my own personal experience.

Drilling on the other hand gives a person the ability to correctly train the appropriate response and anchor it in a way that is good. The mind not having to deal with the stress of conflict focuses more on the cues of the event and less on protecting itself. Positive anchoring not fear-based anchoring.

Shamar (shamar is my system) training breakdown:

1. Response learning (learning techniques, concepts, etc.) = 18%
2. controlled Drilling = 50%
3. Fitness = 30%
4. Sparring = 2%

If the mind isn't dealing with the stress of conflict, at least on some level, when drilling the techniques (drilling here, not learning initially), then there is no chance of it being anchored properly... mainly because you want it anchored (really, not the right term here) to that emotional state of stress, as that's where you're going to need the skill to come out.

You may want to rethink the way people learn, cause you're going about it backwards in a number of ways. Negative reinforcement can be just as powerful, if not more so, than positive. Especially the way you're describing the positive form.



Right, to the OP.

Not something we'd do. Mainly because sparring isn't a part of the way we train, though. In terms of whether or not it's a good idea, that's going to come down to the values of the system itself. If the students are training for self defence, I'm going to see little real advantage other than some possibly increased confidence, and fun. If they are training for tournaments within a specific rule set, or only against their own system, same thing. If they're training for more open competition, it's highly valuable, and I'd recommend it. But really, other than that, fun and socialization is the main gain out of such a day

 

[jasonbrinn]

lol - I see how I left that gap there and thank you for pointing it out.

No, I don't encourage fighting. When I stated fighting I was really just thinking about the sport aspects (like MMA). I teach self defense so there is not any "fighting" to train only the techniques and drilling (like learning to use a firearm for self defense - firing the gun on the range isn't the same as being in a situation where you have to use the techniques you trained on the range).

If you are willing Steve I would love to work some training sequences with you and have you test them out in your own training. I KNOW that you will find them very surprising. I have quite a few BJJ specific ones.

 

[jasonbrinn]

Hi Jason,



Yeah, it should be, I'd say. There's a few reasons for that, chief amongst which is the small detail that what you're talking about is completely irrelevant to the point of the OP.

I'll see if I can explain.

Your contention is that sparring isn't a good learning tool to teach a martial art. That's not what's being proposed, though. Having members of other martial arts come in and spar isn't about them learning your art, or your students learning theirs, it's about having the option and ability to test, in an unrehearsed and unfamiliar format, the skills and abilities, at various levels, of both the guest students and the "local" ones. Not learn, not train in the art, just a method of testing that is different to the usual methods that the school may employ. Now, with that said....



I'm pretty well known as being rather anti-sparring myself, for a range of reasons, but primarily because it doesn't suit my systems tactics or needs. We have other methods of testing skills, which can be very sparring-like, but aren't actually sparring, for the record. With that in mind, I'd seriously question the above statement. Mainly as that really isn't the way the brain and mind works, and for that type of connection (I note you're using the NLP term "anchor" there, which isn't entirely appropriate or accurate) would require quite a particular mind in the first place, with a particularly specific type of previous experiences. Additionally, there are very little "scientific facts" when it comes to the way the brain works, especially in regards to psychology, which is why it is considered a "soft" science... what there are are a range of theories and concepts that can help gain some understanding of such development, but nothing as solid as "scientific facts".

I'd also completely argue the central premise that mistakes in sparring aren't learned from on a deeper (subconscious) level, as that goes against, well, all evidence. Including my own personal experience.



If the mind isn't dealing with the stress of conflict, at least on some level, when drilling the techniques (drilling here, not learning initially), then there is no chance of it being anchored properly... mainly because you want it anchored (really, not the right term here) to that emotional state of stress, as that's where you're going to need the skill to come out.

You may want to rethink the way people learn, cause you're going about it backwards in a number of ways. Negative reinforcement can be just as powerful, if not more so, than positive. Especially the way you're describing the positive form.



Right, to the OP.

Not something we'd do. Mainly because sparring isn't a part of the way we train, though. In terms of whether or not it's a good idea, that's going to come down to the values of the system itself. If the students are training for self defence, I'm going to see little real advantage other than some possibly increased confidence, and fun. If they are training for tournaments within a specific rule set, or only against their own system, same thing. If they're training for more open competition, it's highly valuable, and I'd recommend it. But really, other than that, fun and socialization is the main gain out of such a day

Understood Chris and thank you, just show me to the new thread and I'm there.

I would love to point you to the works and data supplied by pioneers such as Fairbairn, Applegate and others. Maybe a good start would be "Sharpening the Warriors Edge: The Psychology & Science of Training" by Bruce Siddle if you have not read it already. I have followed in their footsteps and found my own truth which I have been able to consistently replicate.

Yes I used the term "anchor" and it probably came from my long ongoing studies with NLP from my military days but it was just a word I was using. Maybe you would prefer association? The mind will either "associate" with an action, emotion or belief and sometimes a combination of the three. By limiting the dynamics of a training environment we can control these to the best of our ability and choose the "best" things to associate responses to. Knowing how the body works in stress and fight/flight we can start to build a pretty impressive training regimen that very acutely prepares someone, whether they know it or not, for the event we anticipate.

Your thoughts?

 

[Tez3]

I am not selling anything. I don't assume much. I have been in the martial arts for a long time and I know what is done. What I am talking IS different. I respectfully disagree with you though on the "to fight you have to spar." I trained an MMA fighter and NEVER had him spar one time, a heavyweight, and he never lost while I trained him (he also had NO training before he started working with me).

I've trained a lot more than one MMA fighter, still do we have a team of about 18 at the moment, I've also trained with two UFC veterans. To be honest saying he never lost doesn't mean a lot unless you post up him and his record and against who. He could have been fighting useless fighters to be honest. If he's fought someone we all have heard of and has beaten them it would mean something. I know that sounds cynical but matching fighters can be a very cynical process I'm afraid.

Others such as Steve has already posted what I think and also what I know works. When you say you do controlled sparring that is exactly what we do, we don't go at it hammer and tongs that would be fighting, we don't fight in training, we spar. I wonder if an explanation of what we each think sparring is would be useful. I don't think anyone here is suggesting sparring is all out 100% strikes, we never go over about 60% at most. it's always controlled and it's a learning experience not a fight. I think you may have mistaken about what we mean when we say we spar.

 

[Tez3]

I think perhaps I should start a new thread? about sparring and what we think it is because while there's good info here it is off the subject of whether we'd allow an open mat.

 

[Chris Parker]

Understood Chris and thank you, just show me to the new thread and I'm there.

I would love to point you to the works and data supplied by pioneers such as Fairbairn, Applegate and others. Maybe a good start would be "Sharpening the Warriors Edge: The Psychology & Science of Training" by Bruce Siddle if you have not read it already. I have followed in their footsteps and found my own truth which I have been able to consistently replicate.

Yes I used the term "anchor" and it probably came from my long ongoing studies with NLP from my military days but it was just a word I was using. Maybe you would prefer association? The mind will either "associate" with an action, emotion or belief and sometimes a combination of the three. By limiting the dynamics of a training environment we can control these to the best of our ability and choose the "best" things to associate responses to. Knowing how the body works in stress and fight/flight we can start to build a pretty impressive training regimen that very acutely prepares someone, whether they know it or not, for the event we anticipate.

Your thoughts?

As to a new thread, I'd say go ahead and start one. It'd be your topic, after all (Is sparring useful?.. or however you want to word it).

With regards to Fairbairn, Applegate et al, they're not going to lend any weight to your psychological argument, I'm afraid. Firstly, they weren't psychologists, and didn't study learning methods. Next, a lot of what they are well known for (army combatives primarily) was fine, but unrefined based on what's known now (still affording them a lot of respect, it must be said!), and things such as Fairbairns "Timetable of Death" was, like a lot of things, his best guess, rather than anything based in real observation or evidence. That was taken to pieces by Michael Jannich and others who showed that pretty much the entire thing was inaccurate, to the point that relying on it for your safety and your continued life was a dangerous gamble at best!

As to the wording, no, I'd pick connection, personally. Association is probably worse, frankly. As far as building a training regimen based on separating out the different aspects, only as an initial part of the training at best, really. What you want to do is to train in the responce based on the circumstances and situation, and have the circumstances and situation as closely resemble the ones found in usage as possible. And if it's being done without the student realizing it, it's more likely to fail. Karate Kid was a fine movie, but Miyagi's training method was fundamentally flawed for actual results, especially considering the timeframe in which they worked.

 

[Tez3]

Done, put link to here so conversation here can be followed.

 

[MJS]

Thanks for the last two responses. I too hope that we can come to understand one another. I know that I am not the easiest person to "get along" with. I am very passionate, confident and outspoken. I don't mean to rub anyone the wrong way but if I didn't believe totally in what I was saying I would not be saying it. I am NOT a fraud and that website is a lie.

I don't disagree with what either of you are saying, for the most part and as to how people currently train. However, to be perfectly clear;

I don't believe in "free sparring" as a method of training!

When I say sparring is 2% of Shamar training regimen it is controlled sparring and nothing more. I don't believe in putting on gear and "getting loose" as I believe most people here are referring to based on their descriptions of what sparring is.

I do believe in fighting.

I do believe that only in fighting can the training be tested and future tweaks made.

I DO NOT believe in free sparring.

Jason,

For clarification purposes, what is your definition of "Free Sparring"? I've done alot of sparring. My interpretation of 'free sparring' is there are still rules, ie: no groin shots, etc. but we're not limited to just punching or just kicking. I've done sparring with just hands, to isolate a specific punch combo/tech, etc, that I'm working on. The sparring isn't always full out either. Many times, its 1/4 or 1/2 speed, again, to allow me or the student, to work on something specific.

The free sparring, IMO, could be viewed the same as when I mentioned spontaneous drilling of techniques. In free sparring you dont know whats coming, in the spontaneous tech. drills, you dont know whats coming. As I said above in my other post, I dont like to call that sparring, though it could be, to a point.

One last question for you...could you explain what type of sparring you do with your students? You said you spend 2% of the time on that. I'm interested to hear a) what you call sparring and b) how you conduct it.

 

[Chris Parker]

Done, put link to here so conversation here can be followed.

Uh, Irene? Do you mean this link?

http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?100638-Sparring-what-is-it-and-is-it-worth-doing

Just checkin' you understand....

EDIT: Hmm, just re-read your words in the order you put them in... sorry. Still, here's the link from here, so the conversation can happen there!

 

[Tez3]

Uh, Irene? Do you mean this link?

http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?100638-Sparring-what-is-it-and-is-it-worth-doing

Just checkin' you understand....

EDIT: Hmm, just re-read your words in the order you put them in... sorry. Still, here's the link from here, so the conversation can happen there!

Now I'm confused lol.

No not really, I think an explanation of what sparring is to everyone would be helpful, which is why I've started the other thread. I think there's a misunderstanding about what it is. I think Jason thinks we mean full on fighting when we say sparring, from what he says, I see what he does as sparring.

 

[jks9199]

Folks, a new thread exists to discuss whether or not sparring is beneficial. Please take that discussion to that thread, and bring this one back to whether or not an open mat session is good for those who do spar.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I've never seen this happen at our Moo Duk Kwan school. However, there is a semi-regular (every few months) get together amoung instructors and black belts from local schools during which both lecture/demonstration and free sparring are used to increase knowledge of other arts. I've been invited to the last few, but I've been in the hospital (once) or out of the country (twice). I hope to attend the next one.
There is also a small boxing/MMA club here. I don't know details, but I have the impression it's a garage based club with just a few kids. They will drop by periodically with a couple kids to do some sparring.
I do not think Sabumnim would object to a dropin sparring, so long as they signed waivers. And I suspect he'd match someone with unknown training and unknown control against one of the more advanced students, for safety.