Sparring

[Azulx]

Haven't posted a sparring video in months thought I should post one of a recent practice. All feedback is welcome.

 

[lansao]

Great video and looked like a great workout. I'm new and didn't realize we could submit video footage of our work for peer review. Very cool!

I unfortunately have not studied Taekwondo and so I will refrain from offering feedback that isn't in line with your teaching. Still very good to see this and look forward to seeing future training videos.

~ Alan, Wing Chun Student

 

[Azulx]

Great video and looked like a great workout. I'm new and didn't realize we could submit video footage of our work for peer review. Very cool!

I unfortunately have not studied Taekwondo and so I will refrain from offering feedback that isn't in line with your teaching. Still very good to see this and look forward to seeing future training videos.

~ Alan, Wing Chun Student

Thank you !

 

[JR 137]

Get some gloves that stay strapped

It's hard to critique because you're sparring a person a good bit below your rank/ability. Seems like you were taking it easy on him.

Were the punches meant to land or were they more used as jabs, so to speak, to create openings for kicks?

If they were meant to land with some intent, get closer. I'm not saying blast your partner, but there's pretty much zero chance of making them count at your range.

I'm not a TKD guy, so take this as you will... I'm not a fan of the long range back and forth stuff. "Street" fights are far more up close and personal. Yes, you had a reach advantage and kept him outside and made him play your game, but someone is most likely get passed that range in a real situation. Practice punching and kicking from a closer range. Kicking someone in the head from pretty close range is possible (because you TKD guys love it ) if you're fast and flexible enough. You seem to be fast and flexible.

Make the punches count. Get in closer. If getting closer makes you uncomfortable, then get even closer. Practice it until it's not uncomfortable.

Last thing - instead of blocking his kicks, try jamming him. How? Wait for it... Move in closer when his leg starts to come up. Jam him and punch. Rather than block and countering, make it jamming and punching. If you get in at the right time, he'll be pretty much defenseless. Especially against a guy who's only throwing one or two techniques at a time like he was doing. It just seems like too much taking turns attacking and defending rather than defense flowing right into offense. Moving into the attack will make your counter significantly quicker.

Just my 2 cents. It's pretty easy being an armchair quarterback

 

[Ironbear24]

I liked it, the only thing I can say is try to get in a bit closer to use more hands, you got long arms, don't let them go to waste.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Which one are you? I enjoyed the video. Way outside my style so I can't comment on what's good or bad about it. All I can say is speaking 100% for myself, I'd be jamming those kicks or locking into them and going for that support leg. Perhaps that's not a facet of your style, so take that as what I would want to do, not what anyone else should do. From my point of view, all those techniques were ippon style sparring; no flow drills, no turning one technique into another. Certainly very clean though. Looked like good balance, flexibility, speed, and the techniques looked very smooth.

 

[JR 137]

Which one are you? I enjoyed the video. Way outside my style so I can't comment on what's good or bad about it. All I can say is speaking 100% for myself, I'd be jamming those kicks or locking into them and going for that support leg. Perhaps that's not a facet of your style, so take that as what I would want to do, not what anyone else should do. From my point of view, all those techniques were ippon style sparring; no flow drills, no turning one technique into another. Certainly very clean though. Looked like good balance, flexibility, speed, and the techniques looked very smooth.

This. Being a different art (TKD vs Karate), it could very well be inherent differences that are supposed to be there. Sometimes we (in our dojo) get caught up in sparring this way. When we do, my CI most often tells us (it's easy to quote as I've heard it said quite a few times )...

"Don't go tit for tat by waiting for your partner to finish his/her attack. Disrupt their attack with your own attack. If you wait for them to finish attacking before you attack, it'll most likely be too late."

I don't think that's necessarily stylistic advice, just realistic advice, but that's just me.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

(As with others here, take my comments with a grain of salt, because I also am not trained in TKD.)

Like others have commented, it looked like some of the strikes (particularly the punches) were outside of actual striking range. You may have been using those to keep him back, but I'd suggest thinking about his training even when you're sparring. Let him get used to what "striking distance" looks like, so he can start learning to judge when he should hold his ground (opponent too far away for the strike to matter). From your own standpoint, those distant strikes were useful because he was reacting to all of them as if they could land, which might lead you into some bad habits when you spar with someone who recognizes the distances.

Or you might be doing fine, if there's something going on there that's appropriate for TKD strategies and tactics.

 

[marques]

You spar with contact and control, which is good.

I noticed that during the second half the yellow belt becomes more stressed and hesitating more. For training purposes (given he is starting), I would go slower, letting him relaxed, confident to strike and defending properly all the time (as far as he can). Perhaps giving "a taste of speed" in the last seconds of sparring, at maximum.

Also, as an instructor, I would play the active persona (as you did), the passive persona, the counter... And be competitive when they really become competitive.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

What's the purpose of sparring?

IMO, you should try to develop both "entering strategy" and "finish strategy". So the question is what kind of "entering strategy" and "finish strategy" do you intend to develop in your clip?

In the following clip, within 15 seconds, he had used the same entering strategy to achieve the same finish strategy twice back to back. It proves that he had plan for it and not just happened.

So what's your "plan"?

 

[JowGaWolf]

Wow. Big improvement from your past videos. You seem to be more relaxed. You had great control but I think it was still too much for your sparring partner (I guess now student). When you out-skill your opponent then work on fine tuning some of your skill sets and focus less on trying to pound your partner with punches and kicks. Work on things like creating openings, counters, and defenses. Especially work on some of the more difficult blocking and striking techniques from your system.

 

[Touch Of Death]

Haven't posted a sparring video in months thought I should post one of a recent practice. All feedback is welcome.

If you learn not to throw your hand back, when you kick, it will be there to use as a punch, just after, you create an opening with the kick.

 

[Buka]

Keep it up, bro. You'll get there.

Then there's this - remember when you posted one of your early vids, and I commented that you were actually better than the instructor you were sparring with? (at least at sparring) You need to find some folks to spar with. I realize your immediate goal is to keep the club going and help everyone else, and I salute you for that, seriously. The Arts needs guys like you, they really do. But you're only going to progress to the level of those you're sparring with and all I care about is you. And, yes, I know you were sparring with that yellow belt to help him, but, again, I'm only concerned with you.

You probably don't have a lot of free time and resources, but you should figure out a plan to find folks to rock and roll with. From what I've seen of you on tape, you'll probably progress fairly quickly. You're doing good work for the Arts. The Arts should do good work for you, too.

Something to think about, anyway.

 

[Kickboxer101]

Same thing as I've always said. Combos and punches and get closer with the kicks. Also your hands are basically at your waist so there's not much point even having at a guard position but I understand the guy was a lot smaller so that does happen.

I don't know if that's your whole class you that guy and the guy filming but its a shame because it'd be better for you to spar with better people I mean no offence but that's a yellow belt if you weren't easily handling him there'd be something wrong.

I just think you should be focusing on your own training instead of running a school you're still fairly new to martial arts and I think you'd be better off using your time finding places to train for a few years get yourself some new skils martial art wise get experience then after that then if you want start focusing more on runnin a school by doing things like first aid courses, business management etc. then start your own thing up so then you won't be bogged down by your old instructors poor reputation.

 

[Azulx]

Thank you everyone for the feedback. So I kept everything taht was said into consideration and I worked more on trying to get closer to punch. I did have some success with this. i also tried using more combinations and not so much the point sparring strategy. Although still mostly doing that, because that's what I have done the last 2 years. In regards to what I'm going to do about the club. Right now I have 5 student only 2-3 have been showing up regularly. I'm fine with that because all we are doing is just practicing. I'm going to keep it that way and not take on any new students. I will also use whatever resources I have to get guest instructors and find ways to train outside of the club. I have also recommended for my students to do the same. Her's a short clip of one of today's sparring matches with the same student.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

You can also try the following sparring game.

If you can

- kick on my body for your initial 20 kicks, you win that round. Otherwise, I win that round.
- punch on my head for your initial 20 punches, you win that round. Otherwise, I win that round.

Try it for 15 rounds. record the result. Switch attacker and defender, and repeat for another 15 rounds.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I'm going to keep it that way and not take on any new students

Take on new student just to keep the air fresh. New students give you an opportunity to revisit the basics and actually focus on your foundations and not just go through the motions.

You can still learn from them and they can still learn from you, talk with them and have meaningful discussion about techniques and how to set them up. For example, learn to analyze your videos to spot risks and missed opportunities. Offer suggestions and recommendations to your partner about their sparring and encourage them to do the same to you. Work on some mobility drills to improve footwork. Do one sided sparring where one person has to block while the other attacks. Then work on sparring where one person has to use their feet and body movement to get out of the way instead of depending only on their hands for defense.

Don't make sparring a one sided learning experience.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I worked more on trying to get closer to punch. I did have some success with this. i also tried using more combinations.

If you always use the same "entering strategy - set up" to move in, you will repeat that strategy over 10,000 times through your life time. You will be more familiar with it than everybody else on this planet, that will be your advantage.

An "entering strategy" can be as simple as to use your leading leg to touch on your opponent's leading leg. A low inside round house kick can achieve that. It can be your 1st kick, 2nd kick, or ... When you have that "leg contact" established, your opponent's kicking intention can be sensed through your leg contact. At that particular moment, you only have to worry about his hands and you don't have to worry about his legs. After that, the kicking game is over and the punching game will start.

So every time you throw your punch, try to check whether your "leg contact" has been established or not.

 

[marques]

Take on new student just to keep the air fresh.

Yep. Perhaps you may fix a maximum. But 2-3 per class is close to extinction. Better to accept new students now while it is going quite well...

 

[JowGaWolf]

Yep. Perhaps you may fix a maximum. But 2-3 per class is close to extinction. Better to accept new students now while it is going quite well...

Exactly. For me 10 students enrolled is near extinction. It means that 4 or 5 would show up regularly.