How much sparring do you do?

[snoack]

Do you spar regularly?

At our school, we divide into 2 month cycles-

Month 1- sparring

Month 2- forms

just curious as to whether or not anybody else does anything like that.

 

[Big Don]

We spar every Monday night. In addition, we do a lot of attacking back and forth, long lines, short lines, ring of fire, etc.

 

[terryl965]

We have some sort of sparring every night maybe just one step or hogus drill but still it help and we always do soem sort of SD tech. in every adult class, that is the fun stuff.

 

[Dave Leverich]

Every night, usually 45-60 minutes.

 

[chinto]

we very rarely spar in the adult class.. when we do we have more targets then the standard tournament rules .. for instance the groin is a legitimate target..
I think part of the reason is that we train more for self defense then a lot of schools do and sparring has to for the safety of the other person have a lot of control and rules. but distance and timing and things like that are taught by it. I think a lot of people have a lot of over emphasis sparring over kata. that is I think a real mistake. I know that my sparring improves a lot more from say a week of intensive kata work then the same amount of sparring would or does.

 

[snoack]

We have some sort of sparring every night maybe just one step or hogus drill but still it help and we always do soem sort of SD tech. in every adult class, that is the fun stuff.

Yeah, we do a lot of drills as well (blocks and counters, double blocks and counters, 3, 2, and 1 step sparring). We do a significant amount of rythym sparring as well, which is good because it keeps you right inside of your opponent.

 

[YoungMan]

None, though it's not by choice. I'm not currently teaching (that will change soon), and I don't usually have time to visit other dojangs. When I do, my instructor colleagues are not keen on a 5th Dan sparring their students. I am welcome to help and give advice and pointers, but they don't really like senior black belts sparring the lower ranks. They reserve that for lower Dan students. We will work on sparring drills and whatnot.

 

[harlan]

None. I think it's partly due to my level, and partly due to the focus of the style.

 

[Grenadier]

Depends on what people consider sparring...

We do several types of sparring, including ippon kumite (one point sparring), kogo kumite (alternating technique sparring), and of course, jiyu kumite (free sparring), using USA-NKF guidelines.

Free sparring, though, is going to be kept under a watchful eye, so that people aren't bashing shins and knees together by accident, or that someone's not going to get overzealous with a throw or sweep. While we're in the dojo, free sparring is still a partnered drill, designed to help each of the participants. Nobody is out to bash the other guy into submission.

Make no mistake about it, though; you're still going to get hit, and there are plenty of folks who can deliver a clean, solid shot (yet controlled) that you'll feel the next morning. You especially have to watch out for the older folks, who have developed some pretty nice timing and accuracy.

If a competition is coming up, then we'll back off on the free sparring, so that people aren't going to be entering the competition with all sorts of bumps and bruises.

Some people have asked me why we don't let people get used to hard contact on a regular basis, and I tell them this:

You want your guys to be in a healthy condition before the competition. Having them go in there limping or not at peak condition, is a handicap, and one that should be avoided.

Besides, when you're fighting in a match, you're going to have adrenaline running through you, which is going to dull a lot of your other senses. While you're going to wake up the next morning wondering what the size of that truck that ran into your body was, you're probably not going to feel the effects at that particular moment.

 

[Langenschwert]

At the AES, the last half hour of every class is slotted for freeplay/sparring. Basically the students can work on whatever the hell they want to, and usually use it for sparring with their choice of wooden, padded or steel weapons. Alternatively, they may spend time working on preparing for their gradings, or even on their academic papers. But since sparring is so much fun, pretty much everyone spars!

Best regards,

-Mark

 

[KenpoTex]

we never spar...We do however beat the daylights out of each other on a regular basis

 

[still learning]

Hello, Sparring does two really good things...ONE it builds cardio.

Two helps build timing, distancing, find your weakness, and it is the next closest thing to a real fight. (real fights are fast, furious, anything goes and non-stop action) Builds some confidence.

If you school does NO sparring or very little? ....one day you will find out....YOU MISS TRAINING THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT!

"Free for all" type of light to medium contact is the BEST way to train.

To learn to fight...is to fight to learn. Boxers know this well...also builds observance in the other person poster...when to attack and defend against an attack.

Judo does this type of training every day...so do wrestlers and Boxers

That is why JUDO is good to learn...actully training and self-defense...JUDO is more than you think...one must experince it for your self...Aloha

 

[K31]

How much sparring do we do? Not enough. We used to spar once a week but since changing instructors there has been only one of what I would call a true sparring class since.