Has anyone managed to use spears in sparring succesfully?

[Ivan]

I have managed to use them quite a bit in taekwondo, but only because I have been strengthening my fingers for a while now - I can do two finger pushups, which is one of my proudest accomplishments hahaha. But how do you guys use them?
I've been avoiding it, due to posing a greater risk, and it also seems to inflict a great deal of pain if I hit the ribs or stomach.
Note: By spear I mean, straightening the fingers and keeping them close and next to each other, like an outstretched palm.

 

[skribs]

I have managed to use them quite a bit in taekwondo, but only because I have been strengthening my fingers for a while now - I can do two finger pushups, which is one of my proudest accomplishments hahaha. But how do you guys use them?
I've been avoiding it, due to posing a greater risk, and it also seems to inflict a great deal of pain if I hit the ribs or stomach.
Note: By spear I mean, straightening the fingers and keeping them close and next to each other, like an outstretched palm.

The only places I would spear aren't places I want to hit my sparring partner (the soft spot under your throat, or the groin).

 

[Flying Crane]

Ok, you said “spears” but I believe what you meant is “spear-hand”. I was envisioning actual spears and figured HEMA would be the folks to talk to. I train with the spear, but have not engaged in sparring.

 

[Ivan]

Ok, you said “spears” but I believe what you meant is “spear-hand”. I was envisioning actual spears and figured HEMA would be the folks to talk to. I train with the spear, but have not engaged in sparring.

HHahahaha yesss I knew I had it wrong

 

[Dirty Dog]

I have managed to use them quite a bit in taekwondo, but only because I have been strengthening my fingers for a while now - I can do two finger pushups, which is one of my proudest accomplishments hahaha. But how do you guys use them?
I've been avoiding it, due to posing a greater risk, and it also seems to inflict a great deal of pain if I hit the ribs or stomach.
Note: By spear I mean, straightening the fingers and keeping them close and next to each other, like an outstretched palm.

Two finger pushups are pretty much irrelevant. Because you're not pushing. You're striking. I cannot do a two finger pushup. I can do an effective spearhand.
Unless you're doing knockout sparring, using a spearhand rather than a fist is pretty much pointless.
If you're going to use them, however, you need to use them properly. Most people do not form a spearhand properly. For one thing, you don't actually straighten the fingers. The spearhand is done with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th digits. You straighten whichever of these is shortest (usually the 2nd or 4th) but the others are slightly bent so that the three fingers are all the same length.
Once you learn to make a proper spearhand, you'll need to condition it before striking with it. Understand that there is a significant chance you're going to have at least one broken finger during this process.
Start with a 5 gallon bucket filled with flour. Drive your fingers into it. When you can bury the fingers without pain, change to fine sand. Then coarse sand. Then dried peas. Then larger gravel. Then you're ready to start using it.
Is it worth the time and trouble? In hindsight, I'd say no, it's not. Not for the vast majority of practitioners.

 

[Headhunter]

No....I tried to but they took it off me and said it's to dangerous to use

 

[WaterGal]

Ok, you said “spears” but I believe what you meant is “spear-hand”. I was envisioning actual spears and figured HEMA would be the folks to talk to. I train with the spear, but have not engaged in sparring.

Yeah, I was thinking.... I'm pretty sure I saw that at the Renaissance Festival when I was a kid lol

 

[Tez3]

Is it worth the time and trouble? In hindsight, I'd say no, it's not. Not for the vast majority of practitioners.

and that's the whole point.....

 

[Gerry Seymour]

and that's the whole point.....

I see what you did there.

 

[Tez3]

I see what you did there.

You're very sharp!

 

[_Simon_]

Can't say I have... no one has given me any tips yet...

 

[Christopher Adamchek]

Spear hand during sparring - absolutely
Spear sparring - absolutely

 

[geezer]

In my lineage of Wing Chun we do not do a rigid spear-hand (with one curious exception). Instead what appears to be a finger-tip "spearing" strike, the biu sau, is typically executed at targets such as the throat with the tips of the fingers going to one side and missing the target, and instead striking with the side of the hand sawing forwards, like a cutting thrust' and is more accuratley called sat sau.

When a actually using a true finger-tip strike (at a soft target like the eyes) we keep the fingers loose and flexible, and and strike with a whipping snap so that if the opponent ducks, etc. and we accidentally connect with a hard target like the forehead, we don't risk damaging our fingers.

The first type of "spear" (hitting with the side of the hand) can be used in light sparring, and some practitioners may choose to train with neck protection, like a foam neck brace. The second type (the wipping snap or flick) is not used in normal contact sparring, although I suppose it could be trained with the fighters wearing fencing masks, if you really wanted to.

The last type of spear, the rare, rigid one is an upper-cutting scoop to the base of the adam's apple while you clinch the back of your opponent's neck and pull his head foreward, and I cannot see any safe way to use it in sparring.

 

[geezer]

Here's a thought. In hema they use a spear with a round ball on the tip to spar ...like this:

So, if you want to spar using a spear-hand, why not try this!

 

[isshinryuronin]

I have managed to use them quite a bit in taekwondo, but only because I have been strengthening my fingers for a while now - I can do two finger pushups, which is one of my proudest accomplishments hahaha. But how do you guys use them?
I've been avoiding it, due to posing a greater risk, and it also seems to inflict a great deal of pain if I hit the ribs or stomach.
Note: By spear I mean, straightening the fingers and keeping them close and next to each other, like an outstretched palm.

Young Ivan is still filled with fanciful notions about karate and has a ways to go until a good understanding is reached. But then, we were all there early in our study. The spear hand thrust is best used for penetration into soft targets like the eyes, throat, under the ribs or armpit, where severe damage is possible. For this reason, competitions often bar the use of this technique. I do not allow finger thrusts in sparring. Broken fingers are also a risk. Precise accuracy is also required to effectively land it, so rarely will be a good option in an actual fight.

Dirty Dog explained the training required to allow effective spear hand thrusts to harder muscled targets, but that takes years of finger conditioning and usually results in some deformation of the fingers - an important consideration, so not a training regimen for most martial artists these days. A couple of hundred years ago MA professionals were willing to pay the price. In fact, some styles have forms that are still done almost exclusively with open hands, retaining the techniques of that time. And some that used to, have converted some of those moves to punches for modern day practicality. This can be seen in various versions of sanchin kata.