Do you spar with your students?

[NPTKD]

I was justing wondering how many of you still spar with your students. or does your instructor spar with you? My GM told me a long time ago that it is bad for business/ the school. I stopped for awhile when I was trying to make the USAT Poomsae team, but I really missed it. I'm back doing it and I was just looking for thoughts on it.

Thanks

 

[Quest]

I always spar with my students. There is no better way to teach someone how to spar than by working with them in real time. Plus, it gives the advanced ranks something to measure themselves by.

 

[d1jinx]

I had a problem sparring with students because once I started, I found myself stuck in that mode of teach-sparring and loosing in competitions. I got to comfortable allowing people to hit me cause i knew they couldn't hurt me (I'm not saying Im superman, just you learn how to move and absorb the kicks and hits so you do not take their full power) I competed alot and kept loosing becasue I let people make contact. I know it sounds like an easy fix for most, but that was always my challenge.

If you want to continue to compete... I wouldn't get into the habit of sparring with opponents lesser in skill than yourself. Now I am getting old and obviously my days of competition are going behind me so it really doesnt matter anymore to me. I enjoy sparring and teaching students how to spar and find openings and timing. I can control the match to let them learn and score/hit.

 

[wade]

Yes, my competition days are now over, other than winning gold at the US Open in an ultra division a few years back, I do still spar with my students. Now understand, I do it on my terms and at my level. Ashley Jobin, the 2008 USAT HW Champion and this years MW silver medalist knows that if she breaks me she will never be promoted again.

 

[ATC]

Oh yes I spar with my students and my Sabunim. It was my Sabunim that broke my arm the first time. The only way to get better or learn to coach better is to fight better than you. So my students spar me and I spar my teacher as well. Fun stuff.

 

[Allen a.k.a. Destroyer]

Yes. I spar with those lower than me to teach them and test them. It's often good practice to try and bring someone up to your level. Learn by teaching and all that. Not to mention that sparring blackbelts makes them spar like blackbelts.

My master also spars with me on occasion. It's still frightening (he is hardcore and lightning quick), but it's helped me improve significantly. We don't do it often enough (which is a good thing considering possible injuries), but I always learn alot from him. I highly reccomend instructors to spar. Just monitor your power and stay off the face please. :lol:

 

[ralphmcpherson]

At my club , instructors cannot spar students. I dont know the exact reasons behind this , but I know years ago it was allowed and occasionally you get a cocky 3rd dan in his mid 20's (prime of their life) sparring a 6th dan instructor who has had several knee operations and are in their 50's and obviously the junior wins and thinks "they are better than the instructor" , even though if they had a real "fight" the instructor would wipe the floor with them. We do have a lot of 3rd , 4th and 5th dans at our club who are not instructors so there are always advanced students to spar without instructors having to spar.

 

[xfighter88]

My instructors in the past have sparred with me maybe 1 or 2 times and it was definitely not a common practice. I am glad to see that this doesn't seem to be the norm. I almost always get 1 or 2 rounds in when I am teaching. It definitely helps my students with timing and the fear factor.

 

[NPTKD]

I had a problem sparring with students because once I started, I found myself stuck in that mode of teach-sparring and loosing in competitions. I got to comfortable allowing people to hit me cause i knew they couldn't hurt me (I'm not saying Im superman, just you learn how to move and absorb the kicks and hits so you do not take their full power) I competed alot and kept loosing becasue I let people make contact. I know it sounds like an easy fix for most, but that was always my challenge.

If you want to continue to compete... I wouldn't get into the habit of sparring with opponents lesser in skill than yourself. Now I am getting old and obviously my days of competition are going behind me so it really doesnt matter anymore to me. I enjoy sparring and teaching students how to spar and find openings and timing. I can control the match to let them learn and score/hit.

I'm too old to compete in sparring. I did the Ultra divion last year at the US open just for kicks and it took a few months for my arm to stop hurting from all the cover punches! No, poomsae is the gentlemens sport! LOL!
I really enjoy sparring and always have. Its good to see that I am not doing the work thing.
Thanks

 

[granfire]

LOL, most of my students are not even 10 yet, that would not be fair. But I had the chief instructor's wife threaten a kid with having to spar her, she is really short, but I think 'dynamite come in small packages' was coined for her.

I remember the first time I had sparred my instructor. I will never look at a cat playing with a mouse the same way ever again, especially after having the mouse's view...

 

[dancingalone]

Assuming you're not one of those older teachers who just can't move anymore, you must spar with your students if only to get in a little training time yourself. I've never quite understood the need to separate yourself as an instructor from your students. If you have the goods, you have the goods, and if you don't keep improving yourself constantly in terms of fitness and technique, you won't have the goods yourself any longer.

 

[Stac3y]

I'm a brown belt (assistant instructor), and I spar both with the lower belts and my instructors. Brown belts are told to essentially be human punching bags for the color belts--just block what comes in and help them learn timing and distance--but with other brown belts or black belts, we spar normally. Of course, the better the black belt, the more they concentrate on teaching the brown belts instead of just fighting.

 

[Twin Fist]

i beat the hell out of my students.

about evenly split:

1/3 instructional
1/3 point (to work on explosive speed)
1/3 brawling (includes clinching, throws, some limited ground)

 

[NPTKD]

I don't know if my GM thought that if someone got hurt they would leave the school or It looked bad for a instructor to be out on the mat mixing it up with the students. I remenber a few times before testing students ( as an instructor at his school ) he would tell me" Go easy on them, Let them beat you". Well, I sure don't have a problem letting a Jr. belt get a few shots in to look good at a testing. But I would never let them beat me! ( unless they really could). I never really understood it. Why wouldn't you want your Sr. students to be at a level Jr. would look up to.

 

[NPTKD]

i beat the hell out of my students.

about evenly split:

1/3 instructional
1/3 point (to work on explosive speed)
1/3 brawling (includes clinching, throws, some limited ground)

So when you spar its all out? Like street defense? I want to do more training like that. The problem I have is my Adult group are mostly parents and i have very few teenagers. We mainly do Olympic ( not to say you can't get hurt, just more controlled). I think and to a certian point understand they are not wanting to get injured. They have to go to work in the morning kind of thing, but If I had more teens I think it would be different.

 

[rmclain]

I spar with all of my students. Especially the beginners need the help from an experienced person to help them be comfortable during sparring. For beginners, this can be an exciting time but some could find it very stressful without help.

The following is a essay written by one of my former students, who trained elsewhere before becoming my student: http://www.kimsookarate.com/contributions/sparring_122906/sparring.htm

R. McLain

 

[granfire]

I spar with all of my students. Especially the beginners need the help from an experienced person to help them be comfortable during sparring. For beginners, this can be an exciting time but some could find it very stressful without help.

The following is a essay written by one of my former students, who trained elsewhere before becoming my student: http://www.kimsookarate.com/contributions/sparring_122906/sparring.htm

R. McLain

I find that especially our adult female students are very abrehensive sparring the first times. And seeing that we have a relative large group of BB students (compared to the size of the adult class) they have to spar higher ranks. We do take it easy on them and help them out. But that is not really an instructor/student deal, more like high rank/low rank.

 

[Stac3y]

I don't know if my GM thought that if someone got hurt they would leave the school or It looked bad for a instructor to be out on the mat mixing it up with the students. I remenber a few times before testing students ( as an instructor at his school ) he would tell me" Go easy on them, Let them beat you". Well, I sure don't have a problem letting a Jr. belt get a few shots in to look good at a testing. But I would never let them beat me! ( unless they really could). I never really understood it. Why wouldn't you want your Sr. students to be at a level Jr. would look up to.

Well, we focus on blocking everything (just letting one slip in every now and then). I have to admit that I can't resist nailing them once in a while, just so they know I can, and what they may encounter in the ring.

 

[granfire]

Well, we focus on blocking everything (just letting one slip in every now and then). I have to admit that I can't resist nailing them once in a while, just so they know I can, and what they may encounter in the ring.

LOL, when they drop their guard?

 

[Stac3y]

LOL, when they drop their guard?

Or when their guard is inadequate. Or, sometimes, just when I feel like it.