the open mat.

[drop bear]

What are peoples thoughts on the concept of clubs holding an open mat session once a week or so?

I am all for it. It is a great idea for different clubs and different styles to get together spar and share ideas. The best way to progress is to collaborate. And these opportunities to do so should not be missed.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Always a good idea to work out with other people and see what they do!

 

[Kong Soo Do]

What are peoples thoughts on the concept of clubs holding an open mat session once a week or so?

I am all for it. It is a great idea for different clubs and different styles to get together spar and share ideas. The best way to progress is to collaborate. And these opportunities to do so should not be missed.

I enjoy these types of training sessions. In years past we would often train after work. Some had extensive grappling experience, some boxing or stand up and others weapons, locking or pressure point experience. It worked very well to share techniques, principles, tactics and strategy. I should note that each could be considered experts in their particular areas of interest. This makes a difference.

 

[Mark Lynn]

First off I'm all for cross training with other schools and clubs; I've reached out to other schools and we have had cross training sparring events with our students, last week we had students from another TKD school and train with my arnis class, I've had an open invitation to another local school who's students train in our association's Kobudo program to come train with my class etc. etc. In fact today while promoting a FMA seminar to another school I floated the idea of our schools setting up a cross training event between our TKD or Arnis students. I've brought in other instructors of different styles/schools to teach my students and I've taught in other schools as well. So I believe firmly in the concept of cross training.

However I don't necessarily believe in the "Open Mat" concept, I mean I did before but now as the chief instructor of my school I have a responsibility towards my students that I didn't have as a student. What I mean is with an "open mat" anyone can come in and spar and train etc. etc. Is this fair to the student? I mean the guy could be a bully, get off on hurting others, might be use to fighting under different rules, the guy might not be able to control himself and lose his temper and hurt your student. Other concerns could be liability issues if your student gets hurt, liability if your student hurts another, what happens if a sexual assault to a child occurs on your premises during this time.

Cross training with other schools you get a feel for their students, feed back from the instructor, etc. etc. so you can put students against other students than can help them grow in some way, this guys good at sparring he works well with younger kids etc. etc. The students get to spar with other unknown students but it is still in a semi controlled environment. Like wise we have reached out to other FMA schools so my FMA students get to train with other FMA players, but I don't want to have an "open mat" with people swinging sticks around either.

To be honest it would be easier to have an "open mat" policy since I've worked hard to promote cross training opportunities for my students to not only my students but to other schools and instructors as well. It is a lot of work, a lot of emails, phone calls, etc. etc. trying to set up stuff for my students. But I teach in a Rec. center and I wouldn't be allowed to have an "open mat" policy even if I wanted to.

 

[drop bear]

If a bully comes in and wants to bash people the instructor or a senior students will beat the crap out of the guy. And that is generally explained before hand.

To a certain degree we have to look out for each other. This is an issue in a school regardless of open mat or not. We have had guys who are regulars that have a tendency to pick easy students.

I don't know with weapons. We don't use them. But otherwise we can play in most skill sets and so are pretty flexible that way.

But I have found it is a pretty friendly affair. It is more of a sparring session than some sort of inter club. More like a bush dance generally. Find a partner chose a skill set decide on a pace and have a play.

And it gives a chance for people to spar outside there comfort zones a bit.

 

[Dirty Dog]

The term "open mat" implies that anyone can walk in and get on the mats. I disagree with this, since everybody involved needs to have at least a solid grounding in the ruleset that will be followed. And, frankly, I don't really want to spar random people off the street without knowing something of their training and experience.

I do think training with people from other schools can be a very useful tool. In the past, we had a kickboxing school (run out of a guys garage) that would come by once a month so the students could do some sparring with ours. It worked out well and was a good thing for everybody involved. Sadly, the Y asked us to stop because of liability issues, but we are working on that...

 

[Carol]

I thought Open Mat was a tine when a schools students could come in to work independently on what they wanted, without the structure of a class in place? Kind of like going to the gym to practice what your trainer taught you?

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[MJS]

What are peoples thoughts on the concept of clubs holding an open mat session once a week or so?

I am all for it. It is a great idea for different clubs and different styles to get together spar and share ideas. The best way to progress is to collaborate. And these opportunities to do so should not be missed.

I like them and think they're very good to do. It gives everyone a chance to train, share and learn from each other, while checking the ego at the door.

 

[Xue Sheng]

My first shifu did something similar to an open mat....but there was no mat, just a hard floor, and it was a great learning experience. It is a great way to get out of your comfort zone and be forced to approach things differently. If you always spar within your chosen style you can potentially get thrown for a loop if you come up against a diffenent (trained) approach.

However his "open mat" was not advertised. there was such a diversity of backgrounds training at his school, TKD, Judo, Aikido, Kenpo, Mantis, etc. that it was mainly his students given time on Saturdays to beat the crap out of each other. But on occasion someone from outside would show up, generally a person known by one of his students who was invited and then there was the occasional walk in and the rare "most awesome ninja of all time". The selfprofessed Ninja types did not last long and generally left before they ever got a chance to spare.

But that was about 20 years ago and things are a little different these days. There is a guy in my area who is a very good MAist (MMA, BJJ, Muay Thai, Krav Maga) and he is super protective of his students in his school and would never allow an "open mat" situation. He does not even allow people to watch a class and this is because he does not want people walking in off the street and causing trouble of challenging his students. You can get a few free classes to check out his school but it is all by appointment only.

It was a great experience 20 years ago but I think you have to be real careful with it these days.

 

[Danny T]

We have what we call Warrior Wed.
Warrior Wed is open to any and all to come in and train.
Each class is held as normal and anyone within that particular classes age group and rank levels are welcome to train. A wavier must be filled out by either the proper aged person, parent, or guardian.


We end Warrior Wed with an age 18 & up open sparring hour. Open to anyone from any of the area gyms, schools, or groups. They also must sign a waiver and we discuss prior to every session that this is about respect and learning. We only go as hard as the person you are working with wants to go. If you are better than the other then it is your responsibility to keep the action at the other persons level. If you cannot or will not do this you will be thrown out. If you are here to prove something or to show how tough you are you will be thrown out. A sign of respect will be shown prior to and at the end of every round. If you cannot or will not do this then you will not be allowed on the mats.


This is open sparring but it is about; No Ego, Respect, and Discipline.


We have people from karate, tae kwon do, muay thai, bjj, judo, wrestling, boxing, mma, hapkido, and other schools come in. Have had to stop the action only a few times to address issues and have never as yet had to ask anyone to leave. Not once and we've been doing Warrior Wed every Wed. for the past 5 years.


It is all about respect; displaying it, requiring it, and assuring it is maintained.


We have had many remove themselves from the floor but we have never had to ask someone to leave.
Overall it is a great experience for my students and from the comments and the many who continue to come in on Warrior Wed. it is a great experience for everyone who attends.

 

[WaterGal]

We have a secondary classroom, and when we're not using it for classes, students can come and practice in it if they want. But we don't let random people off the street come in and spar with our students. I get why you might want to bring your friends or others to come practice with you. But I don't know that person or what their mental state or experience is, and I need to make sure the students are safe to the best of my ability. Also, it just seems like a huge liability issue.

 

[Mark Lynn]

I thought Open Mat was a tine when a schools students could come in to work independently on what they wanted, without the structure of a class in place? Kind of like going to the gym to practice what your trainer taught you?

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Watergal

I've seen where some schools have an "Open mat" worked into their weekly schedules like Friday from 5-7 where there is no class scheduled but people can come in from that school and work out on what ever.

Also there are schools that have an "Open mat" that is more like an open sparring session where people outside of the school can come in and spar (or work on their ground game etc. etc.) They are two different things entirely. Totally different things for a business to or a school to do.

On one hand the "Open mat" is an extra hour for training and working on your skills, the other type of "Open mat" is meant for cross training and testing yourself against others.

 

[Mark Lynn]

If a bully comes in and wants to bash people the instructor or a senior students will beat the crap out of the guy. And that is generally explained before hand.

As an instructor mostly teaching kids I've had a few that have mean streaks erupt when they are hit, feel they didn't get a point called etc. etc. I've been sparring adults many years ago when we went around to different schools who came loose at some time or another. Some times it happens and the person isn't just trying to be mean they just don't know how to behave. Other times you do get "bullies" or people that just want to pummel others. Maybe the instructor or senior student gets to beat the crap out of them after they hurt one of your students but that is really small consolation to the student that has been hurt.

As an instructor I have a different responsibility now than I had when I was a student, and after 30+ years in the martial arts I see the open mat differently than I did 20 years ago, even 10 years ago. I just over time gained a different perspective.

To a certain degree we have to look out for each other. This is an issue in a school regardless of open mat or not. We have had guys who are regulars that have a tendency to pick easy students.

Totally agree.

I don't know with weapons. We don't use them. But otherwise we can play in most skill sets and so are pretty flexible that way.

Because I do teach the FMAs and some traditional weapons (bo, tonfa, sai, etc. etc.) I have to look for different ways for my students to get a chance to cross train. So I try and set things up with different schools with other like minded instructors, to hopefully lessen any injury to any of my students.

But I have found it is a pretty friendly affair. It is more of a sparring session than some sort of inter club. More like a bush dance generally. Find a partner chose a skill set decide on a pace and have a play.

And it gives a chance for people to spar outside there comfort zones a bit.

I try and do the same thing by setting up sparring events with other schools, no regular matches as in ref'd; just I want you to spar with this student and you to spar with this guy and so on. Generally you might have 10-15 pairs of students on the mats of all different levels going at it. Sometimes we have had 3-4 schools coming together to spar for 2 hours. The instructors all picking students from different schools and different levels and ages to spar with. In the FMA and Kobudo realm I also try and get other clubs or people to work out in class with my students.

I'm just not posting on Craig's list saying "Open Mat from 5-7pm at McDojo Martial Arts Club, come spar and fight with my students. Come on Come all all comers, all ages, all ranks"

 

[hussaf]

Our dojo is always open to anyone who wants to come in and train. Technically we have a $15 mat fee, but you kind of have to make our teacher take the money. We often invite instructors from outside our dojo for mini-seminars as well. I've always felt it fun to train with new people with different backgrounds. It really helps test your fundamental skill levels.