Anyone out there who also gets no sparing?

[aznkarateboi]

it depends on why you are in the school.... if you are there for fun and fitness its fine.. but if you want to learn some combative skills some form of freestyle practice is a must...

Interesting, considering that free-sparring has little relation to actual self defence. I think free sparring at an early stage can actually decrease one's ability in a self-defence encounter, due to an over-reliance on high kicks and tournament technique.

 

I don't think the phrase "freestyle practice" implies high kicks and tournaments...

[Sibylla]

Same as me, almost no sparring in Shotokan. I guess some of the reason is that we don't wear gloves etc. But sparring half speed should be possible even for the beginners.

[Gloi]

What grade are you , Whitelion , and how long have you been training? That information would be useful to anyone trying to advise you. A lot of clubs won't let people spar for quite a long time until they are sure techniques and control are good enough to avoid injuries. At clubs where people are allowed to spar before they are ready students often get hurt or frightened and leave.

[WhiteLion]

Well about to get orange so i know im not too experenced in most peoples eyes but there have been people there for 6 years who still have only spared once a very long time ago.

[Tigerspirit]

Well you being only an orange belt i wouldn't worry about it too much but the person there for 6 yrs is a bit of a puzzle. i must of been there for a year before i first fighted but i thought nothing much of it i was just a kid.

[AndrewGreen]

What grade are you , Whitelion , and how long have you been training? That information would be useful to anyone trying to advise you. A lot of clubs won't let people spar for quite a long time until they are sure techniques and control are good enough to avoid injuries. At clubs where people are allowed to spar before they are ready students often get hurt or frightened and leave.

 

Nonsense

 

I start people sparring almost right away, no one gets hurt. No one gets scarred.

 

I have a lot less injuries this way.

 

People get hurt when the person in charge doesn't know how to teach sparring, and just pads them up and says go.

[wado_lee]

sparring comes hand in hand with basics and kata get these right and your sparring will be far easier and more understanding

[AndrewGreen]

Not really,

 

Basics and kata don't help sparring all that much.

 

Sparring helps sparring.

[wado_lee]

sorry i belive they do i feel they introduce timing body movement, stretch, strengh not to mention disapline i think you need them all as they compliment each other

[Knockdown]

This is one of those areas where there is just wide

 

diversity in how it is handled in styles, and in each

 

Dojo. Not to mention individual instructors.

 

Some styles will put a big emphasis on sparring.

 

Some dojo will. and the reality is that some do not.

 

It sounds like your instructor does not. Perhaps he

 

does not value it as a training tool. If there are members

 

who have been there for years, and they seldom have

 

sparred – it sounds highly unlikely that this will change

 

in the immediate future. Past behavior is usually the best

 

predictor of future behavior.

 

In my school we spar 1-2 times a week. As a style, Kyokushin

 

values Kumite. As an instructor, I enjoy drills to enhance

 

sparring as well as actual sparring. So chances are good that

 

2 out of 3 classes will involve Kumite to some extent.

 

But, Some clubs do not do sparring. To over-generalize, some

 

of the really old school Okinawan styles do not use sparring.

 

if your instructor does not value sparring, he will not start

 

using it now. There is nothing wrong with that, it is the

 

way that Sensei views the martial arts.

 

I.E., I have a buddy who trained at a Okinawan Goju club for 2

 

years. The instructor really trained on in-depth Kata bunkai,

 

two person drills, and other self defense applications. They

 

never once did any sparring in the 2 years he was there. It

 

was not even a matter of the students being “ready”. The

 

Sensei just did not see it as an important activity and placed

 

no emphasis on it at all. And for that Dojo, that was just fine.

 

Personally, I agree with some of the previous statements that

 

it takes a while to get people ready to spar. for most people,

 

I wait about 3 months. That is not a hard and fast rule, just

 

a general guideline I use. Some start in a month, others wont

 

be ready after 4 months I have heard of some dojo that

 

really do wait a year or two, but definitely not in Kyokushin.

 

Anyway, If sparring is extremely important to you, then you

 

will need another school to train at. That is just my 2 cents.

 

But if you like what your instructor is teaching, and do not

 

feel the need for Kumite, then there would be no need to

 

go looking for another club to train at. Best of Luck.