Sparring

[Steinhauers]

Hello,

 

I had been taking Shotokan karate classes at my college and it was stickly 3 atk sparring and 1 atk sparring and sometimes I'd get to do some semi-free sparring. But recently i've started to go to a dojo outside of school and they only do free sparring. In the two times that I have free sparred I don't think I did all that bad for never doing it. I must say it's alot funner . But in at the college we wasn't allowed to make contact at all, just try to hit their gi. But as you would think there was accidents and if a person didn't block right they would get hit but now i'm getting off topic. My question is what are some of the things I can do to get myself to accually start striking another person? I don't want to hurt anyone. I know it's all controled but what if I start to throw a backkick when they start to come in and I hit them hard. I don't think it will be that difficult for me to start striking them it's just that I'm only a blue belt and I'm the highest ranked person above 18 in my dojo, that isn't a black belt, and all I fight are balckbelts. I'm preparring to go to a competition and if I don't strike them I wont get the point. So basically my question was how can I make myself strike somebody and feel that I'm not going to hurt them?

 

Thanks Seth

[SevenStar]

Just do it. Tell them to let you know if you are hitting them too hard. A black belt *should* be conditioned enough to take a few strikes. And even if you bruise someone, so what? bruises go away.

[Dijita]

Do you know the rules of your tournements? Do you get penalized for excessive force? Or is it a full contact tournement.

 

I don't think there is one real way to learn how to do a controlled strike without hurting the person. It's just a matter of practice and pulling back on your kicks and punches. Sometimes accidents happen though, and you may end up hurting the other person, just like you may accidently get hit harder than what was intended. The good thing is that most people understand this and they won't hold it against you. Just be sure to show good sportsmanship about it, and make sure the other person is going to be ok if you do accidently strike them hard, oh and apologize of course.

 

One way of practicing is partnering up with someone where theres a good trust between the two of you. Practice doing certain kicks or punches making contact, lightly at first... and have the other person let you know if you should go a bit stronger or soften up. Eventually you'll get a feel for whats the correct amount of power.

 

If you're in a full contact tourement, than you are going to want to train for power. Just try to minimize how hard you hit to the head.

 

Anyways, thats my two cents... I hope it helps!

[Reklats]

Get pads.

[The Saint]

Learning the hard way is something we all go through. Stepping into a back kick for the second time is a lesson not learned. If you control your shots and use good technic there shouldn't be an issue when it comes to contact. You don't have to go hard on your training partner when it comes to contact. Save that for the competition ! Your are going to deal with some contact yourself too, just so getting hit in the competition isn't a shocker. Find a training partner that wants to have light contact when training.

[blitzcraig]

Im with seven star, just do it. You should be able to tell if your hitting to hard, and they will let you know. Dont go hog wild and kick some one as hard as you can, focus on speed not strength.

[TheDevilAside]

There's always people at a dojo (well, there should be) that like to get hit. Make friends with them. This is what I do, I usually partner up with people who don't mind taking hits and actually invite you to have some contact with them. I absolutely can't stand no contact sparring, it feels awkward.