Regular Sparring Sessions is a Go

[KangTsai]

Yesterday I had my first 'advanced' standup class with the head coach. Fitness and drills were a breeze (although I had one partner who didn't know the meaning of striking 'drill' and decided to hit my face instead of my gloves used as pads everytime) but sparring for the first proper time intrigued me. Sparring was a majority of the actual class I might add.

Overall, considering I was against larger and considerably more experienced strikers, I don't think I did too bad, although I had some glaring flaws.

Good things I did:

- I swat a front kick out and followed with a spinning back kick which landed
- Overall my leg kick game was working quite well
- I took advantage of cramming my partner with body shot flurries and disengaging kicks
- I weaved some big hooks and followed with side kicks.
- I kept good distance
- I escaped kick catches effectively with minimal damage


Bad Things I did:

- I used angles poorly, I was always open to straight shots and once I got jabbed all the way down to eating a hook.
- I didn't take good advantage of the distance I had
- My guard was too relaxed and body kicks were encouraged against me
- My combo defense was poor: I didn't completely shell nor did I long guard, and I ate a fat overhand right
- I didn't use enough head movement and stood too tall for the attacks coming against me
- I had too much of a must Thai strategy to sparring, too slow and too still for the combos and volume I was up against
- I had a hard time hitting anybody's face
- I fought like a tall person, not the opposite

Things I know I can fix -

- I have to fight like a short person : I was doing very well when I was the up-close aggressor, and somehow I shelled perfectly in clinch range while I was suffering and middle distance.
- in turn, I need to utilise a peek-a-boo in-and-out strategy
- I need to commit to either a proper long guard or shelling up and dodging
- I have to not be afraid of causing some pain to my partner: this caused me to only go 50℅ speed on my leg kicks which I need to get over. I'm more of a softie than you think.
- I have to put in 100℅ effort. I don't even know why I wasn't operating at 100℅ speed when I could.

Other than the critical flaws I have properly identified, I believe I have a solid game and a great bit of athleticism.
The introduction of sparring has changed my training to be more dynamic and lucid, and what's not taking several punches to the face?

 

[drop bear]

the difference between being a martial artist and a fighter.

 

[JowGaWolf]

The introduction of sparring has changed my training to be more dynamic and lucid, and what's not taking several punches to the face?

Welcome to real martial arts. You will never train the same way again.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Good self-analysis. Keep at that, and use those sparring sessions to help you figure out what to work on when you have free time in classes.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Sounds like fun. I don't have great endurance so I just get it over with. I like to hit people and I'm not too bad at it. I can take a lot of battle damage, so I just wade in and clobber em.

 

[Juany118]

Sounds like a good session and it reminds me of Monday at class. We had the visiting Master supervising those of there for a bit and my direct Sifu going over fundamentals with some new students. I honestly don't know if his advice to me was "right" or "wrong", thinking in terms of my practical purposes and I have been thinking about it non-stop. The Master visits us twice a month and is very big on defense being soft so counter attacks can be fired more rapidly.

Once I get into a certain range I tend to "jam" the opponent up because if I am going from striking to "control" at work I find "jamming" up makes it easier to establish control. On the other hand a soft defense, while it creates an opening for for faster counter strike, doesn't permit for as easy a transition for control.

The visiting Master is WC only, and I want to make him happy of course doing what he sees as proper WC. At the same time thinking "will it make things difficult at work since you fight the way your train."

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

[JowGaWolf]

The Master visits us twice a month and is very big on defense being soft so counter attacks can be fired more rapidly.

Once I get into a certain range I tend to "jam" the opponent up because if I am going from striking to "control" at work I find "jamming" up makes it easier to establish control. On the other hand a soft defense, while it creates an opening for for faster counter strike, doesn't permit for as easy a transition for control.

This is where kung fu gets personalized. People will fight according to their areas of strength. Yours is jamming and your Sifu's area of strength is to utilize soft technique more. In this case there is no Right or Wrong.

On the other hand relying too much on either jamming or soft techniques will cause issues on their own. People who like jamming others can be defeated by soft techniques causing you to fall on emptiness every time you try to jam. If all you do is Jam then you won't know what to do when someone figures your strategy out.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

This is where kung fu gets personalized. People will fight according to their areas of strength. Yours is jamming and your Sifu's area of strength is to utilize soft technique more. In this case there is no Right or Wrong.

On the other hand relying too much on either jamming or soft techniques will cause issues on their own. People who like jamming others can be defeated by soft techniques causing you to fall on emptiness every time you try to jam. If all you do is Jam then you won't know what to do when someone figures your strategy out.

For practical purposes, that's not much of an issue in the field. That's more of an issue in competition and sparring.

That said, I think there's also room for using soft techniques to set up body control, which creates a nice bridge between the two areas.

 

[drop bear]

Sounds like a good session and it reminds me of Monday at class. We had the visiting Master supervising those of there for a bit and my direct Sifu going over fundamentals with some new students. I honestly don't know if his advice to me was "right" or "wrong", thinking in terms of my practical purposes and I have been thinking about it non-stop. The Master visits us twice a month and is very big on defense being soft so counter attacks can be fired more rapidly.

Once I get into a certain range I tend to "jam" the opponent up because if I am going from striking to "control" at work I find "jamming" up makes it easier to establish control. On the other hand a soft defense, while it creates an opening for for faster counter strike, doesn't permit for as easy a transition for control.

The visiting Master is WC only, and I want to make him happy of course doing what he sees as proper WC. At the same time thinking "will it make things difficult at work since you fight the way your train."

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

You need to work different elements to have a more deeply layered approach to the mechanics of fignting. This will mean at some point you have to use these elements that you would not ordinarily use.

It doesn't diminish your skill set. Just like training with a gi doesnt diminish my no gi. Or training with gloves doesnt diminish my glove free fighting.

It just gives more options.

 

[drop bear]

For practical purposes, that's not much of an issue in the field. That's more of an issue in competition and sparring.

That said, I think there's also room for using soft techniques to set up body control, which creates a nice bridge between the two areas.

It depends if you are training to bash some gumby. Then you dont need to over engineer your skill set. If they have half a clue then you will need more options.

 

[Juany118]

This is where kung fu gets personalized. People will fight according to their areas of strength. Yours is jamming and your Sifu's area of strength is to utilize soft technique more. In this case there is no Right or Wrong.

On the other hand relying too much on either jamming or soft techniques will cause issues on their own. People who like jamming others can be defeated by soft techniques causing you to fall on emptiness every time you try to jam. If all you do is Jam then you won't know what to do when someone figures your strategy out.

Oh understood, I would take advantage of that a WHOLE LOT in my Aikido training days. With my training today though I tend to try and make sure a lot of what I do in sparring is what will work "quick and dirty" during your typical street encounter. For the purposes of sparring though I should likely mix it up a little bit more. At some point one of my sparring partners is probably going to catch on and I take an elbow to the head or end up on my back for my trouble lol.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

It depends if you are training to bash some gumby. Then you dont need to over engineer your skill set. If they have half a clue then you will need more options.

I'm not sure where the over-engineering was in my statement.

 

[Juany118]

It depends if you are training to bash some gumby. Then you dont need to over engineer your skill set. If they have half a clue then you will need more options.

Oh I agree another issue I have to deal with though is figure out what "soft" defenses are actually physically practical. In my "standard" class attire they are no problem, but add the Kevlar vest, the weight (and inflexibility) of a fully ladened duty belt around the waist, etc and some of the soft defenses become more problematic to execute properly. We have suggested going to a more expensive (but lighter and more flexible vest, lighter weight (and more flexible) nylon duty belt or even a load bearing best to get some of that off the waist and got denied with a combination of "it's what we wear" and "costs too much".

So it will take a lot of experimentation and that will require my PD's and then Instructors permission to wear my duty gear at class.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Oh I agree another issue I have to deal with though is figure out what "soft" defenses are actually physically practical. In my "standard" class attire they are no problem, but add the Kevlar vest, the weight (and inflexibility) of a fully ladened duty belt around the waist, etc and some of the soft defenses become more problematic to execute properly. We have suggested going to a more expensive (but lighter and more flexible vest, lighter weight (and more flexible) nylon duty belt or even a load bearing best to get some of that off the waist and got denied with a combination of "it's what we wear" and "costs too much".

So it will take a lot of experimentation and that will require my PD's and then Instructors permission to wear my duty gear at class.

See, that's something that never occurred to me. You guys carry a LOT of weight around the middle (and on that belt, too! LOL).

 

[JowGaWolf]

"soft" defenses are actually physically practical

Example of Soft Techniques
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Example of Hard Technique: force vs force example

 

[Juany118]

Example of Soft Techniques
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Example of Hard Technique: force vs force example

Oh I am not talking about the actual takedown, I always prefer "soft" there and there are more than a few I can use, when I refer to "jamming" I mean on entry. An example of how to "jam them up" is here.

While this is from one of Sifu Keith's seminars I have used the concept successfully not only in sparring but in "real world" practice. With the right footwork you can also, instead of just covering the next "hit" jam it up as well. Regardless from that jammed position I then proceed to the control technique, especially ones that involve controlling the limb I have jammed up (cutting arm bars, controlled single leg sweeps, goose necks etc.) Now the take downs are something Sifu Keith usually only focuses on in LEO seminars, this is a straight up WC seminar, but the entry principles are very similar.

You can do it with a bong sau, wu sau, chun sau, lan sau and many other arm structures. At the same time you can can use some of these structure to essentially redirect the limb to "pass" vs "jamming" it. Sorry if I wasn't clear that it was about entry and not the take down itself.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Oh I am not talking about the actual takedown, I always prefer "soft" there and there are more than a few I can use, when I refer to "jamming" I mean on entry. An example of how to "jam them up" is here.

While this is from one of Sifu Keith's seminars I have used the concept successfully not only in sparring but in "real world" practice. With the right footwork you can also, instead of just covering the next "hit" jam it up as well. Regardless from that jammed position I then proceed to the control technique, especially ones that involve controlling the limb I have jammed up (cutting arm bars, controlled single leg sweeps, goose necks etc.) Now the take downs are something Sifu Keith usually only focuses on in LEO seminars, this is a straight up WC seminar, but the entry principles are very similar.

You can do it with a bong sau, wu sau, chun sau, lan sau and many other arm structures. At the same time you can can use some of these structure to essentially redirect the limb to "pass" vs "jamming" it. Sorry if I wasn't clear that it was about entry and not the take down itself.

Some day you and I need to get together and compare some thoughts. I keep seeing things that are right next to what we do in NGA, and can't help thinking we'd find some interesting new tools for each other.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Oh I am not talking about the actual takedown, I always prefer "soft" there and there are more than a few I can use, when I refer to "jamming" I mean on entry. An example of how to "jam them up" is here.

While this is from one of Sifu Keith's seminars I have used the concept successfully not only in sparring but in "real world" practice. With the right footwork you can also, instead of just covering the next "hit" jam it up as well. Regardless from that jammed position I then proceed to the control technique, especially ones that involve controlling the limb I have jammed up (cutting arm bars, controlled single leg sweeps, goose necks etc.) Now the take downs are something Sifu Keith usually only focuses on in LEO seminars, this is a straight up WC seminar, but the entry principles are very similar.

You can do it with a bong sau, wu sau, chun sau, lan sau and many other arm structures. At the same time you can can use some of these structure to essentially redirect the limb to "pass" vs "jamming" it. Sorry if I wasn't clear that it was about entry and not the take down itself.

To me that would be a soft technique because the technique isn't trying to go force against force. If you look closely you can see that the punch still comes out. You can also see the Sifu there step off center. The step off center is insurance because getting the timing down is always questionable. So if you mess up then it's better to be out of the way than to get by the punch. If this is what you already doing then you are using a "Soft technique"

In Jow Ga and I've seen in WC with Bong Sau, there is a jamming that goes force against force where the punch gets stuck. For me the jam works better on those who hesitate and the soft technique version works better on those who overcommit.

 

[drop bear]

Example of Soft Techniques
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0:55
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Example of Hard Technique: force vs force example

dont go head outside single. learn what a crossface is.

That cop example by the way was kind of tragic. There is nothing stopping you learning a decent sprawl and potentually not being very good at it. It has to be better than learning a poor sprawl. And then not being very good at that.

Decent spawl.

Now if you are not athletic you can still apply all of those principles. You will just have less of a chance of pulling them off against a decent takedown. There are not really any lazy man principles in this case that will help you out.

If you wanted to honk on about weapon retention you may need to sacrifice the crossface or overhook for a wrist grab. But then you would need extra classy hip movement.

Learning a half baked method is pretty unhelpful.

 

[drop bear]

Oh I am not talking about the actual takedown, I always prefer "soft" there and there are more than a few I can use, when I refer to "jamming" I mean on entry. An example of how to "jam them up" is here.

While this is from one of Sifu Keith's seminars I have used the concept successfully not only in sparring but in "real world" practice. With the right footwork you can also, instead of just covering the next "hit" jam it up as well. Regardless from that jammed position I then proceed to the control technique, especially ones that involve controlling the limb I have jammed up (cutting arm bars, controlled single leg sweeps, goose necks etc.) Now the take downs are something Sifu Keith usually only focuses on in LEO seminars, this is a straight up WC seminar, but the entry principles are very similar.

You can do it with a bong sau, wu sau, chun sau, lan sau and many other arm structures. At the same time you can can use some of these structure to essentially redirect the limb to "pass" vs "jamming" it. Sorry if I wasn't clear that it was about entry and not the take down itself.

The issue you get. And you get it in boxing as well. If you chase a guy to desperately close distance. You can get your face smashed into hamburger. So you need alternate strategies so that when you do chase and jam he is not waiting for it.

This guy exploited the hell out of that particular problem.