How much contact and when

[jkdhit]

i think they go hand in hand. practicing footwork can prep you for sparring but sparring will also help you with your footwork in learning the proper movements. also, learning from our mistakes are also a great way to advance but thats just my 2¢

 

[searcher]

I think something that everyone can learn from and that will help students with going hard is to tell them that we are all there to learn and not get hurt. If the high ranking students start beating down the lower ranks then the school will not last very long with no new students. Tell the higher ranks to help lower ranks, not be a hinderance.

 

[kenpochad]

I think something that everyone can learn from and that will help students with going hard is to tell them that we are all there to learn and not get hurt. If the high ranking students start beating down the lower ranks then the school will not last very long with no new students. Tell the higher ranks to help lower ranks, not be a hinderance.

thats what i do, just fight above there level so they have to really work for it


searcher are you the one that told me about the abs diet ?

 

[silatman]

I think it needs to be done as soon as possible. It's an important skill, and letting it go is asking for trouble.

The issue of how much contact is best answered, IMO, by "What is the student capable of?" It has to be about their comfort level at the beginning levels. I'm one of those people who is now having to rewire my fighting style because of prior bad instruction. You can't just dump a new student into the ring and say "spar", and wonder why they get upset after getting beaten down, and sadly that is how some schools do things. They need to develop thier comfort zone.

However, you have to be careful of the other extreme as well. Students need to understand that we do martial arts, and that part of what we do entails physical contact, sometimes of the rough kind. We're not pillowfighting, and we're not doing ballet. You are going to get hit, and students need to be able to understand that. There is nothing worse than someone who has a rank or two, has sparred, and gripes that "you hit them too hard". My ex does TSD and has brown belts and red belts complaining that they actually have to work when they deal with him. And his control has been noted many times by the instructors, people just get lazy. I'm not advocating brawling, because not every student wants that, but if you have achieved a certain level and still aren't comfortable getting hit, I have some question as to your skill and why you were advanced in the first place.

So, we do lots of live drilling in my school. One of the first techniques people are taught involves a throw. We ask that they actually perform the throw to get them used to actually engaging their opponent. We do a number of different drills with pads, movement, pushing hands, and others to get people used to throwing punches and kicks at each other, as well as defending against them. We also have what we call "touch tag". The goal is to tag your opponent on the knee or shoulder. It works a lot of the same skills as sparring, and is a good way to keep students on their toes in-between sparring sessions.

I would close by stressing that the last sentence above is very important. Drilling is necessary to work the skills needed for sparring if your school doesn't spar regularly. This way students don't get panic attacks when the sparring gear comes out because they've only ever hit a stationary bag.

Great post.

 

[searcher]

searcher are you the one that told me about the abs diet ?

Yes. Are you going to try it? Not to get off-post.

 

[kenpochad]

Yes. Are you going to try it? Not to get off-post.

YES i order both books i got one how to eat right every time yesterday my wife and i sat down and made a shopping list with the book it helps when it tells what you can alot of other books tells you what not to eat

so thanks for the help

 

[BlackCatBonz]

my very first kempo class included a full contact sparring session. we didnt wear any gloves or protective equipment because thats how my teacher did things. i had my clock cleaned by a skinny little green belt.
if you're learning war, the best way to learn it is battle. there are people that go into a martial arts class with the feeling of having some ability to protect themselves. my very first class showed me that i had no defense when it came to stand up fighting, and i didnt leave that class with a false sense of my ability, i knew why i was there.
i think its important to introduce relatively hard contact early on so that people get used to being hit.
in my days as a bouncer i had seen many martial arts guys get into fights with people they thought were far less skilled than they. the eye opener came when the less skilled guy managed to get that one shot in that rang the MA's person's bell. this usually threw their entire game into the garbage, that sting that made it through their previously unbreached defense left them standing there stunned and vulnerable.