Striking Sparing ?

[crazydiamond]

What does "sparing" mean to you or your school when it is striking? Are there levels and grades to sparing?

 

[Drose427]

We do different kinds of sparring. We do one-step and 3-step sparring, even from white belt we teach the attacker to aim for the nose and if the defender doesnt move it's the defenders fault. More in depth, attacker draws back, ki-haps to signify he's ready to break a face, when the defender is ready he ki-haps to let the defender know hes ready. Us adults and higher ranks have been punched in the face many times over the years. Only time i can think of where it isn't entirely my fault is when we had an ex-boxer who would come across towards the end, so that was a matter of moving quicker while trying to stay along the arm. We stress that the attacker has no obligation to move when the defender kihaps, if we think a student is defending the kihap instead of the attack, we stand still after the defender kihaps. If we were right, they'll move and realize they have a new habit to break. We also tell every student their techs should no more 2 moves, with one being ideal. Anymore and theres too much of a risk them countering I fear I had when I first started was that the techs I did with a stanced opponent who was resisting wouldn't work in a street situation or against folks who didnt use that stance. But working with people from other arts I was proven wrong. Very few changes had to be made.

We also do other Sparring drills. We'll get gloves out and to a boxing type drill, where you're punching and blocking at your partner. Drills where you partner throws a non-stop chain of attacks until you two hit the other side of the dojang then switch off, as well as the usual trading attack drills where partner attacks, I immediately block and counter, and so forth.

We do our free sparring and the traditional no unches to the face, kicks okay. We rarely compete, but when we go to the tournament where punches are allowed we start sparring with them months before the tournament. No kicks to the knee. Level of contact depends on who you spar. Most of the adults like to go hard, so we do! The kids? Usually not so much. The rule of thumb is the low rank sets the pace. If you come at me gunz ablazing looking to bruise, I'm gonna bruise you right back.

First Class (Everyone) we also hit free sparring, One step or 3 step, and usually at least once a week some other sparring or SD drill. Advanced class (4th gup and up) we usually add on to that by doing more.

 

[Transk53]

We do different kinds of sparring. We do one-step and 3-step sparring, even from white belt we teach the attacker to aim for the nose and if the defender doesnt move it's the defenders fault. More in depth, attacker draws back, ki-haps to signify he's ready to break a face, when the defender is ready he ki-haps to let the defender know hes ready. Us adults and higher ranks have been punched in the face many times over the years. Only time i can think of where it isn't entirely my fault is when we had an ex-boxer who would come across towards the end, so that was a matter of moving quicker while trying to stay along the arm. We stress that the attacker has no obligation to move when the defender kihaps, if we think a student is defending the kihap instead of the attack, we stand still after the defender kihaps. If we were right, they'll move and realize they have a new habit to break. We also tell every student their techs should no more 2 moves, with one being ideal. Anymore and theres too much of a risk them countering I fear I had when I first started was that the techs I did with a stanced opponent who was resisting wouldn't work in a street situation or against folks who didnt use that stance. But working with people from other arts I was proven wrong. Very few changes had to be made.

We also do other Sparring drills. We'll get gloves out and to a boxing type drill, where you're punching and blocking at your partner. Drills where you partner throws a non-stop chain of attacks until you two hit the other side of the dojang then switch off, as well as the usual trading attack drills where partner attacks, I immediately block and counter, and so forth.

We do our free sparring and the traditional no unches to the face, kicks okay. We rarely compete, but when we go to the tournament where punches are allowed we start sparring with them months before the tournament. No kicks to the knee. Level of contact depends on who you spar. Most of the adults like to go hard, so we do! The kids? Usually not so much. The rule of thumb is the low rank sets the pace. If you come at me gunz ablazing looking to bruise, I'm gonna bruise you right back.

First Class (Everyone) we also hit free sparring, One step or 3 step, and usually at least once a week some other sparring or SD drill. Advanced class (4th gup and up) we usually add on to that by doing more.

Sounds like a lot of fun for the students.

 

[Touch Of Death]

What does "sparing" mean to you or your school when it is striking? Are there levels and grades to sparing?

Sparring should mean, to everyone, that you are working on something with a partner that is martial arts related.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

What does "sparing" mean to you or your school when it is striking? Are there levels and grades to sparing?

By using different rules, you can have different kind of sparring. When either opponent has achieved certain goal, that round is over, Another round then restart. You can have 1 goal sparring, or you can have multiple goals sparring. The advantage of this kind of sparring is trying to develop certain skill.

Example for single goal sparring can be, If you can

1. punch at your opponent's head,
2. roundhouse kick at your opponent's belly,
3. get your opponent's leading leg,
4. get your opponent into double under hooks clinch,
5. ...

You select just 1 goal from your goal list. If you can achieve your goal within your 20 tries, you win that round. Otherwise you lose that round. Try it for 15 rounds and record the result daily.

Example for multiple goals game can be just select a set of goals (such as 1 and 2, or 2 and 4, or, ...) that you want to train/test.

 

[Drose427]

Sounds like a lot of fun for the students.

We have a blast. Part of me wishes we were still on the hour and a half class schedule so we could accomplish more each class, but I like have a separate hour for advacned students becuase I feel I can get more criticism from my in

By using different rules, you can have different kind of sparring. When either opponent has achieved certain goal, that round is over, Another round then restart. You can have 1 goal sparring, or you can have multiple goals sparring. The advantage of this kind of sparring is trying to develop certain skill.

Example for single goal sparring can be, If you can

1. punch at your opponent's head,
2. roundhouse kick at your opponent's belly,
3. get your opponent's leading leg,
4. get your opponent into double under hooks clinch,
5. ...

You select just 1 goal from your goal list. If you can achieve your goal within your 20 tries, you win that round. Otherwise you lose that round. Try it for 15 rounds and record the result daily.

Example for multiple goals game can be just select a set of goals (such as 1 and 2, or 2 and 4, or, ...) that you want to train/test.

Our instructors have stuff done this to us before. "You cant use kicks" or "No hands, work on movement" or "2 kicks is your whole arsenal", etc. It works wonders.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Our instructors have stuff done this to us before. "You cant use kicks" or "No hands, work on movement" or "2 kicks is your whole arsenal", etc. It works wonders.

One person plays offense while another person plays defense (can't hit back) can be a good sparring game too.

 

[tshadowchaser]

For beginners use all the techniques you have been taught.Remember to block once in a while it will save your face and body. Hit the body ,pull your techniques to the head. Attack and attack again then block and attack, if you do not make contact why bother sparring at all
Advanced students fight a little over the ability of the beginners make them come up to your level do not go all the way down to theirs.
we have many ways to spar and learn but these rule apply to all of them

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

The 3 persons sparring can be fun too. A and B are sparring. The 3rd person C who stays outside of the ring. He can jump in anytime he wants to and attacks either A or B as he wishes. It will force you (general YOU) to be alert "behind your back".

There are many different ways that you can make the sparring "fun". If you get to spar 15 rounds daily, what else do you need in your life? Even money won't be able to buy you that kind of fun.

 

[Buka]

What does "sparing" mean to you or your school when it is striking? Are there levels and grades to sparing?

Probably the same as it means to anyone else. The guy who runs the dojo explains the rules you use, which, of course will vary. Then you try to hit each other without getting hit too much yourself. Every night it sucks for someone and everyone has turns to know what that means, even if they don't want to.

But it's kind of fun as you get better at it. Sure as hell teaches you to keep your hands up.

Levels and grades....in any dojo/gym that fights, everyone knows who's who.

 

[drop bear]

We do an interesting one which is shoot boxing sparring. Where we allow takedowns but fight in 16 ounce gloves. (And shin guards if you want to kick.)

But it does allow you to play around with the bare bones of fighting at a reasonable level without a heap of risk. This also leaves an opening for multi style sparring while giving strikers and grapplers an even go.

 

[drop bear]

We do an interesting one which is shoot boxing sparring. Where we allow takedowns but fight in 16 ounce gloves. (And shin guards if you want to kick.)

But it does allow you to play around with the bare bones of fighting at a reasonable level without a heap of risk. This also leaves an opening for multi style sparring while giving strikers and grapplers an even go.

 

[drop bear]

And interestingly they are grappling to stand back up. So totally streeeeeeeeeeeeeets.

 

[Danny T]

Sparring

What is sparring and how to go about using it as a training tool for beginner to advanced training.

Sparring is and should be an integral part of your martial art training. It’s also an injury waiting to happen when not carried out in the correct manner. Students will get little out of sparring if they don’t have the right mentality or knowledge to take into it and often will stop training all together because of the lack of any real grow because they are just getting beat up.

Sparring should used as a platform to learn to apply the things they have learned in training and to learn how to respond in different situations.

There are different types of sparring that should be implemented in your training sessions. The type of sparring used depends on the desired learning outcomes and the stage of the skills that the student is at. Any injuries the student may have must also be taken into consideration.

Here are a few different sparring programs I like to use. (there others but I use these often)

Beginners

Combination Sparring
Technical★★★★
Tactical ★ ★
Conditioning ★

Note the higher technical aspects vs tactical and conditioning. This is very technical in that the beginner will be with a much higher level student who has good sense of range, speed, and power. We start this sparring with a single punch being presented by the advanced student. For instance, the ‘Jab’, only is used. The beginner knows he/she needs to only be concerned with the Jab and that is will be presented at a speed and power they can handle and respond to (this why we use a higher level trained student). The beginner learns how to respond using head movement, body movement, footwork, hand and arm parries, and covers to defend vs the jab. We then move on to other punches and weapons as a single attack as the beginner learns to respond to the complete array of punches, kicks, knees, and elbows. As the beginner becomes comfortable to the single attacks as just the jab or just the left kick, etc. they are allowed to return the punch at will. We then move on to using 2 punch combinations limiting to just two specific punches or punch/kick combination. Then 3, 4, & 5 count combos.

The next level here is combination sparring where two students take turns to throw combinations at each other. The combos are not planned in advance; they are random, and the student must think them up on the spot. This creates a more controlled environment for the beginner and gives them time to think about their combos before they throw them.

This type of sparing allows the student to invent his/her combos without worrying about getting hit as the deliver them, so there is less panic. To progress this drill, the student should simply lessen the time taken in between combos.

Pre-requisites - Combination punching and kicking practice on focus mitts/Thai pads/bag.


Intermediate Drills

Technical Sparring
Technical★★★★★
Tactical★ ★ ★
Conditioning★★

This type of sparring is popular among more advanced practitioners. With this sparring we work good technical fundamentals at about 50% speed and power with no protective gear. The absence of protective gear encourages the person to use less power and to control their techniques to a greater extent than if gear was worn.

Technical sparring builds on the use of correct technique in a more realistic setting than when hitting pads and bags, and also minimizes the risk of injury to the practitioner as the shots are less powerful.

Pre-requisites - Good basic technique, combination sparring.

Deliberate Sparring
Technical★★★
Tactical ★★★★★
Conditioning★★★

Deliberate sparring entails imposing restrictions and/or commands on the boxers to create a more focused learning environment centered around one particular area which needs to be improved. This type of sparring can be used to remove bad habits, work around an injury, and to train for a specific style or opponent.

The student needs to be fully prepared for the chosen restrictions or commands; It would be unfair to expect a student to be able to just pull something off in sparring without having previously trained and practiced.

The possibilities of this type of sparring are endless and are specific to the student’s needs. Here are a few scenarios.

Scenario 1 - Student ‘A’ doesn’t use his jab as effectively as he could. He’s a tall fighter but gets caught with curved punches by shorter students.

The rules are punching only. I’ll ask student ‘B’ to try his best to get on the inside by using appropriate footwork and head movement and throw combinations. Student ‘A’ will need to rely on his jab and footwork to keep his opponent at a safe distance.

Scenario 2 - Student ‘A’ needs to work on avoiding being clinched. I want him to use his punching and foot movement to avoid engaging in the clinch with his opponent.

In this instance, I’ll ask ‘B’ to really pressure and try his best to engage in the clinch with ‘A’. ‘A’ will then try to stop his opponent from closing the distance by using techniques such as foot jabs, straight punches, parries, side-steps, and perhaps placing knees and elbows between them.

Scenario 3 - ‘A’ is aggressive in sparring and relies too much on his size and strength to overwhelm opponents, and therefore lacks defensive competence.

I would instruct ‘A’ that he is not to use any attacking tools, only defensive maneuvers. Fighter ‘B’ can use any weapons he likes. This will train fighter ‘A’s defense game i.e. head movement, footwork, range, and blocks or parries. This could be progressed to allow fighter ‘A’ to use counter-strikes too.

Fighter ‘B’ also benefits from this drill as he will be using his footwork to cut off his partner.

Pre-requisites - Deliberate sparring, technical sparring, good basics


Heavy sparring
Technical★★
Tactical★ ★ ★
Conditioning★★★★

Heavy sparring can be used to simulate the intensity of a fight more closely. This type of sparring should be implemented after the student has shown good progress in the other sparring areas

The selection of heavy sparring really depends on how experienced the practitioner is. Heavy sparring should be done every now and be aware of the injury possibilities.

Pre-requisites – Deliberate sparring, technical sparring, conditioned sparring, excellent basics, good temperament.


Advanced Drills

Multiple Opponents Piggy in the Middle.
Technical★
Tactical★ ★
Conditioning★★★★★

This method of sparring is an advanced drill normally used exclusively for fight preparation. The fighter will spar with several partners one after another with no rest in between.

It is designed not only to exhaust the participant, but to make them accustomed to getting hit and fighting while tired. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best fighter in the world, you’re going to get hit!

One person will stand in the ring and spar a fresh boxer every minute (or another pre-determined time frame) without rest. To carry out this type of training on a regular basis would be totally counter-productive as the technique of the “fighter” will become sloppy and they may develop bad habits.

Obviously, another reason this training method shouldn’t be used too often is for the safety of the fighter. Piggy in the middle sparring should be used sparingly and strategically. Oh, and I’d recommend using 16-18oz gloves for this one, as well as the usual mouth guard and shinguards.

Pre-requisites - Combination sparring, technical sparring, deliberate sparring, excellent basics, good conditioning, a fighter’s mentality, spew bucket at the ready.

Always have a good reason to do a particular type of sparring and have a specific learning outcome in mind. And most importantly, stay safe.

 

[crazydiamond]

Thanks for all the replies. Was interesting to hear when (or if) headgear and mouth guards should be worn for sparing.

 

[Touch Of Death]

Thanks for all the replies. Was interesting to hear when (or if) headgear and mouth guards should be worn for sparing.

And, maybe, lose that cup.

 

[crazydiamond]

And, maybe, lose that cup.

Always remember the cup - never know what sparing class will be.

 

[Mephisto]

Sparring as we've seen can have a wider range of emphasis and definition. At the end of the day IMO, sparring is training free from pattern or drills with intent to make contact with the opponent. Injury is a risk but shouldn't be inevitable.

In the FMA world sparring gets even more confusing. Lots of people consider non padded free flow drills sparring, without intent to hit the head FMA is a completely different animal. IMO FMA sparring should require at least head gear, I'd almost hesitate to consider it sparring other wise but I'm biased. You can body spar and do all kinds of variations but "sparring" without any kind of specification is what I'm getting at. I've seen quite a bit of non padded FMA sparring where no one seems to take a head shot yet the fighters claim to be going all out. But what seems to happen is a game of trying to show "I got you" without actually hitting and there are often tough calls where one wonders if the hit really would have landed.

 

[Mephisto]

Thanks for all the replies. Was interesting to hear when (or if) headgear and mouth guards should be worn for sparing.

I train boxing, I don't know that I'd spar anyone without headgear or a mouth guard (for myself and the opponent). I say that because I'm used to being hit full power and striking back full power. As hard as the hits are with the gear I'd be afraid to unload on a guy not wearing head for a daily friendly match.

Almost the same with FMA sparring. If they're not wearing head protection id hesitate to spar them in a friendly match. Only because I know I will tear that head up.

 

[drop bear]

I train boxing, I don't know that I'd spar anyone without headgear or a mouth guard (for myself and the opponent). I say that because I'm used to being hit full power and striking back full power. As hard as the hits are with the gear I'd be afraid to unload on a guy not wearing head for a daily friendly match.

Almost the same with FMA sparring. If they're not wearing head protection id hesitate to spar them in a friendly match. Only because I know I will tear that head up.

we use headgear to prevent cuts more than anything. So often with 5ounce gloves but for me not very often with 16s

I use a bit of Vaseline though