sparring tips

[cfr]

I sparred for my first time last weekend and it was awesome. A quick rundown of my limited training:

1. 6 months MMA school. Instructor moved out of state.
2. 6 months Hapkido. I realized it was a McDojo.
3. 3 months Kenpo. Forms just arent for me.
4. 14 months combination of Muay Thai, JKD, and FMA. I moved to Az.

I did roll a bit in # 1, but not really stand up sparring. As you can see Ive bounced around quite a bit and really dont like it. As a result, Ive never been anywhere long enough to spar. Since I moved to Az., I found a cool JKD instructor and figured with my limited JKD background in #4, it was a safe bet.(plus Im now used to "strong side forward", and didnt want to change back.) Score, I sparred my third class! It was fun. I probably did about as good as could be expected. Anyways, beside the famous "dont get hit" or "move faster" tips, what else is there? I certainly like it. It was a real eye opener for someone like me who has been training a while but never done it. Any advice?

 

[Loki]

You did over a year of Muay Thai and never sparred?! Isn't that somewhat paradoxical?

Anyway, some sparring tips for ya that I find to be useful:

1) Chain up combos: One hit attacks aren't effective, as they allow your opponent to block and reorient himself. If you chain up combos, you don't give your opponent time to see what's going on, you're chances of getting a shot in are better. Combos that use both hands and feet are usually better.

2) Learn feigns: They're one of the most effective ways of breaching your opponent's defense. Feigns usually fall into one of two categories: height and direction.

3) Practice absorption: You'll get hit in fights, and it's important to be able to take a beating and keep going. Practice with a partner who hits you with gloves with light to medium force, mainly hitting large muscles and lighter impact with unprotected areas (head, ribs) and later throw in a combo after every few blows.

4) Maintain eye contact: One of the most common mistakes I see when instructing is students who, fearing incoming kicks, focus their attention on their opponent's feet. This is inviting shots at the head.

5) Keep your hands up all the time: This can't be stressed enough. It's natural to lower your hands when sparring, but they're your primary defense. Make sure that you keep them at the right distance from you, and I find open hand better than fisted.

6) Stop your opponent's barrage: You're opponent's goal is to penetrate your defenses and hit you, and if he's worth his mouthpiece he'll be chaining up his combos as well. Don't wait for him to finish before countering. Look for a hole in his attack and expoit it to counter as early as possible.

7) Show initiative: Even if your opponent is more experienced, outranks you or is bigger, don't wait for him to attack. Initiate attacks against him. Statistically speaking, the more attacks you launch, the more likely it is you'll get some in.

8) Change strategies according to the situation: Your general strategy should depend on your situation. For instance, if you're tired, go defensive. If you notice your opponent tiring, go offensive.

9) Tactics based on opponent and abilities: If you have a heavy-set muscle bound opponent who's good with his arms, it's a better idea to keep a distance and throw kicks at him. Your opponents build isn't all that matters, yours is just as important. Use your body type to your advantage. For instance, I'm tall and thin, so since I don't have much muscle mass in my torso, my punches aren't too powerful. What I've become notorious for is keeping my opponents at a distance with my feet. Steel-hard shins aren't a disadvantage either ;-)

10) Don't be afraid to get hit: Like I said before, you WILL get hit. Know this when sparring and don't let it stop you. Not only is this effective, I'd find it somewhat intimidating to unleash a barrage of whoop-*** on someone only to see him stand firm and continue as if nothing happened.

11) Speed and force: The most important rule of sparring in my opinion is to regulate your speed and force based on your opponent. If you feel you've got an edge, let him set the pace. You wouldn't spar with a white belt like you would with a black belt. Watch over your opponent and keep him safe. This also works the other way around. If you feel your opponent is going too rough, let him know.

12) Always wear protective gear(!!!!): This should have been first, but I didn't feel like renumbering them all. Different styles require different gear, but a mouthpiece and cup are just about universal.

Hope you find this useful.

 

[jkdhit]

4) Maintain eye contact: One of the most common mistakes I see when instructing is students who, fearing incoming kicks, focus their attention on their opponent's feet. This is inviting shots at the head.

i pretty much agreed with everything you said except this one. it also goes against keeping your hands up. if you're in a proper fighting stance and have your hands up, you won't have to look at your opponents face. you shouldn't be looking at your opponents feet either.

in my opinion, the best thing to do would be to watch your opponent's waist. if you watch the waist, you can see every punch and kick coming through your peripheral vision.

 

[Loki]

i pretty much agreed with everything you said except this one. it also goes against keeping your hands up. if you're in a proper fighting stance and have your hands up, you won't have to look at your opponents face. you shouldn't be looking at your opponents feet either.

in my opinion, the best thing to do would be to watch your opponent's waist. if you watch the waist, you can see every punch and kick coming through your peripheral vision.

It's possible to keep your hands up without blocking your vision. Check out my avatar for my stance. My head should be a bit lower, so that I see my opponent between my hands and a bit above them. They don't actually block my vision.

Watching the waist? Dunno, I'll have to try it out, though it seems to me that it wouldn't allow you to see punches coming in as well. It's better to maintain eye contact, IMO. Punches are usually quicker than kicks, and a person kicking you has to move more of his body to execute the kick, making kicks more easily noticeable. I'll try looking at the waist though, I'll tell you how that went.

Another advantage to eye contact is you can see where your opponent is looking and use that as an advantage. Only thing left is to watch out for feigns.

 

[Shane Smith]

Train your mind to fight.A strong mind will give you maximum effectiveness if all else is in order.

 

[jkdhit]

It's possible to keep your hands up without blocking your vision. Check out my avatar for my stance. My head should be a bit lower, so that I see my opponent between my hands and a bit above them. They don't actually block my vision.

Watching the waist? Dunno, I'll have to try it out, though it seems to me that it wouldn't allow you to see punches coming in as well. It's better to maintain eye contact, IMO. Punches are usually quicker than kicks, and a person kicking you has to move more of his body to execute the kick, making kicks more easily noticeable. I'll try looking at the waist though, I'll tell you how that went.

Another advantage to eye contact is you can see where your opponent is looking and use that as an advantage. Only thing left is to watch out for feigns.

i didnt mean for it to sound like keeping your hands up blocks your vision. what i meant for it to sound like is that keeping your hands up protects your face so it's not really an inviting shot to the head. from what i've seen in sparring, not many people aim for the head either because its a fast moving target compared to the body.

i agree, punches are quicker than kicks, there's no real argument with that.

as for not being able to see punches? if you watch the opponents waist, you'll see it turn or lead when they punch. in sparring most people use kicks because of the range so it's a bit easier to nab points with kicks rather than punches with less risk in getting hit. so looking down at your opponents waist actually benefits you a lot in this area too.

watching their waist also lets gives you more time to react when the opponent tries to lead, retreat, and execute any moves since speed and power comes from the hips


when you try it out, let me know what you think