Sparring Video

[Azulx]

Here is a video of my 6th and last sparring match for my 1st geup test against our Senior Student. I'm the guy with the blue gear.

 

[Kenpoguy123]

Good fight one thing I'd say is throw more punches mix up your combos your 2 best moments were the head kick you landed and the body kick both times were set up with punches. Majority of the time you threw just one or two kicks which didnt connect then you reset throw more throw 3-5 if you have to now I'm guilty of that myself I end up throwing one shot it's something I'm working to that's why I can see it.

Also with some of your kicks you hands are kind of flailing when you throw them.

But hey good job if you had 6 fights before of course you're not at your best so good job respect for posting it.

 

[Azulx]

Good fight one thing I'd say is throw more punches mix up your combos your 2 best moments were the head kick you landed and the body kick both times were set up with punches. Majority of the time you threw just one or two kicks which didnt connect then you reset throw more throw 3-5 if you have to now I'm guilty of that myself I end up throwing one shot it's something I'm working to that's why I can see it.

Also with some of your kicks you hands are kind of flailing when you throw them.

But hey good job if you had 6 fights before of course you're not at your best so good job respect for posting it.

Thanks for the advice! Control of my arms and punching more is definitely something I need to work on.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

As mentioned, no Muppet flail when kicking. Also you don't keep your center when you kick. Your opponent did. Get off line, don't fight forward and back. Nice work otherwise.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I know this was a test but when you get a chance to, I would recommend that you increase the intensity level of your sparring. You'll need some good control to prevent knocking each others head off, but it's worth it.
I saw a lot of bad strikes that were thrown only because you 2 knew that the punches were coming in light. As a result both of you were doing strikes from the perspective that you weren't going to get hurt. When I watched the video there were tons of strikes that fell short and it looks like both of you were targeting each other's hands and not the body. You don't have to go hard core sparring but increase the intensity just a little if possible.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Overall you did a good job, and were a better 'sparrer' (from what I could tell in this short clip) than your opponent. My comments aren't going to portray that, just because I'm focusing on the negatives, but I thought you did well. With that noted:

What level of contact where you going for? Depending on the answer this advice might not be relevant, but if you committed to your strikes a lot more of them could have landed.

The only other thing that I would focus on (besides keeping your hands controlled which you know) is what Bill said regarding your footwork. Especially when you're going forward, you move very linearly, and when you retreat you only move to the side when he directs you. Try to focus on moving around and circling your opponents when you are attacking (or to switch from defending to attacking), and see what new opportunities you get from that.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I forgot to say. Good job with the sparring. I could tell right away that you felt more comfortable with sparring than your opponent. It's not because of the kick you landed to his head. I could tell he was uneasy by the way he was moving. His movements didn't have the same confidence that your movements had. I could be wrong but you looked like you were more comfortable than he was. Good job

 

[Azulx]

As mentioned, no Muppet flail when kicking. Also you don't keep your center when you kick. Your opponent did. Get off line, don't fight forward and back. Nice work otherwise.

Thanks Bill! I do look off balanced on my kicks, I also am working on round stepping so I can circle around my opponent.

I know this was a test but when you get a chance to, I would recommend that you increase the intensity level of your sparring. You'll need some good control to prevent knocking each others head off, but it's worth it.
I saw a lot of bad strikes that were thrown only because you 2 knew that the punches were coming in light. As a result both of you were doing strikes from the perspective that you weren't going to get hurt. When I watched the video there were tons of strikes that fell short and it looks like both of you were targeting each other's hands and not the body. You don't have to go hard core sparring but increase the intensity just a little if possible.

After watching the video it does look like we were going soft for a bit. We usually do pick up intensity when we both spar, because we are two higher ranks.Our instructor doesn't really like when lower ranks go intense. I guess we were tired and getting lazy, it was our 6th match.

Overall you did a good job, and were a better 'sparrer' (from what I could tell in this short clip) than your opponent. My comments aren't going to portray that, just because I'm focusing on the negatives, but I thought you did well. With that noted:

What level of contact where you going for? Depending on the answer this advice might not be relevant, but if you committed to your strikes a lot more of them could have landed.

The only other thing that I would focus on (besides keeping your hands controlled which you know) is what Bill said regarding your footwork. Especially when you're going forward, you move very linearly, and when you retreat you only move to the side when he directs you. Try to focus on moving around and circling your opponents when you are attacking (or to switch from defending to attacking), and see what new opportunities you get from that.

Thanks Kempo! Honestly I was just sparring to the level of contact of my opponent. I didn't have a level in mind. Things I want to improve on especially after watching this video. Footwork definitely, balance (I think I try to overstretch with the kicks so I'm off balanced make my arms flail even more), hand placement ( I get lazy with my hands and keep them down , not intelligently defending my head), improving control ( I want to better commit my techniques, not stop short, so it doesn't look artificial), and finally intensity.

I forgot to say. Good job with the sparring. I could tell right away that you felt more comfortable with sparring than your opponent. It's not because of the kick you landed to his head. I could tell he was uneasy by the way he was moving. His movements didn't have the same confidence that your movements had. I could be wrong but you looked like you were more comfortable than he was. Good job

I really enjoy sparring and I am really glad I had to opportunity to get it filmed. I also am fortunate to have a very insightful MA community to give me pointers. These two aspects combined can really help me improve my sparring. Thanks for the comments JowGaWolf!

 

[Azulx]

Here is an additional sparring video. The first match is me and the senior student of the beginner ranks, and at 3:47 it's me and my Head Instructor.

 

[Jaeimseu]

From a Taekwondo sparring perspective, I'd say you should apply more pressure on your opponent. You guys both move in for like one kick and then basically allow each other to back out. If you pressure your opponent, you can force him to move in predictable ways which you can then counter.


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[Jaeimseu]

After watching your second video, I'll add that all of you (even your instructor) seem to be reaching out to block techniques that don't need to be blocked because they have zero chance of hitting anything. As an attacker, this makes it really easy to move your hands away from the intended target for subsequent strikes or kicks.


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[Touch Of Death]

After watching your second video, I'll add that all of you (even your instructor) seem to be reaching out to block techniques that don't need to be blocked because they have zero chance of hitting anything. As an attacker, this makes it really easy to move your hands away from the intended target for subsequent strikes or kicks.


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Not to mention, a hard kick can break your arm. Get closer to your opponent with well timed shuffles, and if you block a kick, I suggest you use both hands.

 

[Jaeimseu]

Not to mention, a hard kick can break your arm. Get closer to your opponent with well timed shuffles, and if you block a kick, I suggest you use both hands.

That's another issue with light contact sparring. When the kicks are coming hard, most of those blocks should be avoided.


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[Azulx]

From a Taekwondo sparring perspective, I'd say you should apply more pressure on your opponent. You guys both move in for like one kick and then basically allow each other to back out. If you pressure your opponent, you can force him to move in predictable ways which you can then counter.

I will try to apply more pressure to my opponents. I do think we allow each other to reset too much, we used to allow even more. Slowly trying to reduce the ability for each to back out.

Not to mention, a hard kick can break your arm. Get closer to your opponent with well timed shuffles, and if you block a kick, I suggest you use both hands.

That's another issue with light contact sparring. When the kicks are coming hard, most of those blocks should be avoided.

Our instructor preaches control, but from watching these videos I feel that it is too much. Like we are just kind of touching each other with techniques. His philosophy is that if the hard strikes ever come to us we will just adapt to them, but bad habits are created with light contacting sparring. As you said if I tried to stretch out my arm to block out a full powered kick my arm would break. That would be because I'm used to just blocking kicks that I know are coming at minimal force. Thank you both for your input, I have a lot to work on!

 

[JowGaWolf]

I will try to apply more pressure to my opponents. I do think we allow each other to reset too much, we used to allow even more. Slowly trying to reduce the ability for each to back out.

Allowing your opponent to reset is usually a habit that comes from drilling and it bleed into sparring. If you make the rule that you have to throw a minimum of 2 strikes before you reset then you'll quickly get out of the habit of throwing one strike. Then once 2 strikes becomes a habit then make it a role that you have to throw a minimum of 3 strikes before you reset.

The faster your combinations are, the less time your opponent has to come up with an action to defend. If your intensity looks like the punch will land hard then your opponent will naturally worry more about how hard the punch will land vs trying to counter or attack. If they are thinking about how hard a punch will land then the less they are thinking about attacking. Remember your increase in intensity doesn't mean strike harder, but that punch or kick definitely has to look like it's going to cause some damage.

 

[Jaeimseu]

Allowing your opponent to reset is usually a habit that comes from drilling and it bleed into sparring. If you make the rule that you have to throw a minimum of 2 strikes before you reset then you'll quickly get out of the habit of throwing one strike. Then once 2 strikes becomes a habit then make it a role that you have to throw a minimum of 3 strikes before you reset.

The faster your combinations are, the less time your opponent has to come up with an action to defend. If your intensity looks like the punch will land hard then your opponent will naturally worry more about how hard the punch will land vs trying to counter or attack. If they are thinking about how hard a punch will land then the less they are thinking about attacking. Remember your increase in intensity doesn't mean strike harder, but that punch or kick definitely has to look like it's going to cause some damage.

This. Control doesn't mean no power. It means controlling the level of power at the end. The strikes should be full speed.


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