Sparring Instructors

[rickster]

I was approached by another martial artist that his instructor does not spar his advanced students.
His reasoning is that he does not want them to get "hurt".
His instructor had sparred them in the beginning.
I'm looking for responses

 

[Kacey]

Y'know, it's really hard to say; it could be that the instructor doesn't want to look bad by losing; on the other hand, it's possible that, now that his senior students know enough to be dangerous, the instructor is afraid that they will trigger reflexes that will cause him to injure them. Or I could be totally wrong with both. Just on what you posted, it's really hard to say one way or the other.

 

[Drac]

I for one have NEVER seen or heard of a school where the Sensei,Teacher, Instructor etc...etc...did not spar with his senior students..In my old dojo Sensei sparred with EVERYONE...Sorry I'm no help...

 

[SFC JeffJ]

Sounds weird to me as well. Never came across that one before.

Jeff

 

[MBuzzy]

I am taking Karate on a military base in Korea and my Korean instructor does not spar....nor do his students spar. First off, the classes are generally not big enough and he doesn't feel comfortable sparring the lower belts. It is also a liability issue being here. He can't afford to have a student hurt.

The bad side of that is when I return to the states, no matter what rank I earn here, I will need a GREAT DEAL of practice at sparring. So his decision ends up hurting his students. I personally would love it if the instructor would spar with me - what better practice than against a 3 time Korean Heavyweight champion....

 

[still learning]

Hello, Sparring teaches many things of what works and don't. Next real thing to a actual fight without the killing blows.

One does not need to deliver life ending moves in sparring. Timeing, distance training,movement are part of the sparring moves.

It is liking going to a drive education class...but you cannot drive a car to practice.

Only your own teacher knows why NO sparring allow? ..could be insurance,liability, someone sue before because of injuries...

We are not allow boxing gloves for our training because of Insurance clause do not allow it.

We can use martial gloves and head gear and pad....and sparr!

Each school can make up there own rules.....Aloha

 

[Brandon Fisher]

I have a visual impairment and I spar with everyone from White to my senior ranking black belt who is a 3rd dan. Control is everything.

 

[MJS]

I was approached by another martial artist that his instructor does not spar his advanced students.
His reasoning is that he does not want them to get "hurt".
His instructor had sparred them in the beginning.
I'm looking for responses

Sparring, IMO, is certainly an important thing to do. The matches can be geared towards light, medium and heavy contact. Having and being able to exercise control is also a big part. Nobody says that the instructor has to use the students as a punching bag.

One thing to keep in mind. Minor injuries should be expected. I can't see someone being justified in getting upset with someone, be it the inst. or another sutdent, for a minor bump or bruise. Now, it'd be a different story if there was bad intent behind the injuries. Of course, the person heading up the ring should be in control of whats happening.

Mike

 

[Grenadier]

It can happen, although, for various reasons. Sometimes, the instructor simply gets old. Yes, there are plenty of 70+ year old folks who can still hit with the force of sledge hammers, but in terms of conditioning, they're not exactly on par with a 25 year old who runs 10 miles a day, etc.

Sometimes, it's for an insurance reason. Insurance companies that are ignorant about the martial arts often times put unnecessary burdens on a school that employs free sparring, and may very well prohibit the instructors from sparring with more advanced students. It sounds highly illogical, but when it comes to such comapnies, logic isn't necessarily their primary motivation. Sometimes they'll see the instructors as "deadly" and "dangerous" and not realize that the instructors are actually the safest people to spar.

Sometimes, there may be rules from the locality. As odd as it may seem, some areas may actually place restrictions. For example, the Tae Kwon Do organization where I went to college, has radically changed since I left there. When I was there, we would engage in regular point sparring, as well as full contact sparring (chest protectors and helmets) with the instructors as well. Sure, people would get some bruises, maybe a rare bloody nose, maybe limp around on a bruised leg for a few days, etc., but nobody ever went home crippled, and it was always in good sport.

Shortly after I left, the bleeding heart folks in charge of campus recreation dictated that the instructors were not allowed to do any kind of sparring on campus with the students, since this disrupted an academic environment. They made all of us who were instructors there, attend a seminar on how we had to promote the social environment of an academic institution.

Eventually, after two drunken students (who were NOT part of our organization, or any martial arts organization) got into a brouhaha on campus, the campus rec director took it one step further, and prohibited *all* sparring on campus, even sending a mole into the organization, to rat on us if we did free sparring.

The club simply disbanded, and everyone ended up going to one of the local schools. Another club has since formed, and if the participants want to spar, they must go off-campus on Saturdays to one of the local schools as well. Very few of their folks do this, since the sponsoring school is about 30 miles away. It's no surprise that they only have a dozen folks in the club these days, and the training is watered down.

 

[the pitbull]

3 ways to get better 1.spar2.spar3.spar

 

[Andrew Green]

Fear of loosing and a big ego.

If he is not able to spar people close to his level without "hurting them" he shouldn't be teaching.

No, he is trying to retain a certain image that in his mind would not stand up to getting beat by his students. And the longer the problem persists the worse it will get. Because after not sparring advanced people for this long, his fears will increase as he doubts his own abilities more and more and needs to cover up what he perceives as flaws.

I think a "good instructor", not neccessarily someone that is good and a instructor, would want his students to be able to beat him one day. Shows that he is doing a good job as an instructor.

 

[MJS]

Fear of loosing and a big ego.

If he is not able to spar people close to his level without "hurting them" he shouldn't be teaching.

No, he is trying to retain a certain image that in his mind would not stand up to getting beat by his students. And the longer the problem persists the worse it will get. Because after not sparring advanced people for this long, his fears will increase as he doubts his own abilities more and more and needs to cover up what he perceives as flaws.

I think a "good instructor", not neccessarily someone that is good and a instructor, would want his students to be able to beat him one day. Shows that he is doing a good job as an instructor.

I agree with this. I don't look at a sparring match as a win/lose situation, but instead, a learning situation. How can I make myself better? How can I make my students better? Thats what I like to work on during sparring. Everyone is going to have their good days and bad days.

 

[Shotochem]

I don't think its vital that you spar with your instructor as long as you get some good sparring time in with the senior belts.

I used to spar with my former Sensei on a regular basis then after a few years I hardly ever sparred him. I just figured that we tended to bang each other up too much and thought nothing of it.

Then one day after not sparring him for over 2 years he just sat evryone else down and the 2 of us sparred. It was nothing like the way we sparred in the past. His attacks were harder, faster more real than any other time I have sparred him. Any time I would get a good shot in he would just give a big smile and go harder. I never knew what I was capable of until that day. I blocked like I never blocked before, no hesitation, no thinking it just flowed.

20 minutes later we stopped exausted in a full sweat. There was no bow, no handshake this time, just a big smile and a hug. Then I understood. He only sparred me when he though I needed to see how much I had improved or to get out of a rut.

That one session changed me as a MA.

 

[Grenadier]

I think a "good instructor", not neccessarily someone that is good and a instructor, would want his students to be able to beat him one day. Shows that he is doing a good job as an instructor.

If anything, it's supposed to be a great joy (for everyone) with the student surpasses the teacher at something.

 

[Andrew Green]

I don't think its vital that you spar with your instructor as long as you get some good sparring time in with the senior belts.

Absolutely, a coach does not need to be a fighter. Try to picture Micky and Rocky going at it...

Anyways, it's the excuse that sets off the big warning IMO, "I would spar you guys, but geeze... I just don't want to hurt ya"

I call bull.

 

[Drac]

3 ways to get better 1.spar2.spar3.spar

true, true, true...

 

[Cirdan]

His reasoning is that he does not want them to get "hurt".

:bs1: If he can`t spar without hurting his students he lacks the proper level of control.

 

[Grenadier]

:bs1: If he can`t spar without hurting his students he lacks the proper level of control.

If anything, you have *less* to worry about, when your students advance in the ranks, since their control has gotten better over time.

 

[IcemanSK]

If anything, you have *less* to worry about, when your students advance in the ranks, since their control has gotten better over time.

This is very true. I'm more afraid of an unintended groin shot from a white belt (who thinks he can kick like Van Damme, but has the flexibilty of a pencil) than a seasoned student who can kick well.

 

[zDom]

:bs1: If he can`t spar without hurting his students he lacks the proper level of control.

I agree.

In regards to sparring advanced students, in my experience the most "dangerous" students to spar with are white belts as far as accidents go

Low kicks, kicks to the back, full power wild shots.. and then the tendency to lean or turn face into what would have been a controlled technique if not for their spastic reaction

Red belts (last belt before black) are also usually not very fun for lower belts to spar with