sparring problem, starting to get fustrated.

[the tkder]

My greatest fear is sparring against male adult green belts. They have enough power and knowledge to really hurt someone, but not enough training and restraint to hold back.

 

Amen! I hate sparring people who know enough to hurt somebody but not enough to control themselves. It makes me just want to...axe kick the top of their head repeatedly, which is generally what I do. My instructor always tells me, as sort of an ironic twist to the other comment made, is that I am allowed to hit back as hard as I am hit. If I am trying to play nice with a lower rank, and they insist on attempting to prove themselves, I have the right to kick their sorry little butt.

 

In regards to beating the kick...which I believe is what this whole thing is about...

 

As a Kenpo artist, I do not find many high kickers in the studio where I train/teach. However, the majority of tournaments I go to are TKD, because that's what's around here. As a 6' 5" skinny guy with legs that are longer than most people's entire body, I love kicking. But, in the case that I come up against a TKD BB that can hold their own with kicking (and there are many) I have one word for you...hands.

 

If TKD has a weakness (and don't get me wrong, I love the style), it's their hand strikes. Get inside those kicks with a fake, a circle, or a good block, and just open up with your hands. The hardest part: staying in. Once you get in range for hands, stay there! Don't back off an inch, or you'll take a 'boot to the head' (I LOVE MONTY PYTHON, DON'T YOU?).

 

dude, a good tae kwon doer wont even let you get close to him/her if you try to use your hands

[Ottman]

Just dont ever make the first move. Im a 2nd degree black belt and when people attack I just do a spinning bak kick to the face and ive won the mach

 

tkder, Have you just been sparring white belts?

 

don't let anyone fool you into thinking that attacking is bad. Just don't attack directly. Use feints and try to bait them. Move in as if you're going to attack, and draw a counter attack out of your opponent, then counter-attack yourself.

 

Using the example from tkders strategy: If you realize that everytime you move in, your opponent throws, say, a spinning back kick to the head, then fake an attack, wait for the kick to come, and duck under it. Once the kick has gone past you can stand up into a front kick or a side kick or whatever and take advantage of the lack of balance your opponent has after executing their own kick.

 

It isn't about who can counter better, it's about who can fight smarter. Work on deception, fakes, and cunning, and use every advantage. If you know that an opponent is prone to throwing a certain technique in a certain circumstance, try to lure him into that circumstance and then you'll know what he's going to do.

 

Especially if you know that someone is just going to wait for you to attack first, this gives you control over the match. You can decide when you're ready to start swapping blows, and then position yourself, and set yourself up correctly to use your own strengths.

 

Sure countering works if an opponent is unskilled or unexperienced enough to attack directly and obviously, but sparring with skilled opponents is more like a chess match. It's all about set up and preperation, and if you've ever played chess, you'll know that nothing but defense and countering does not win against a skilled player who knows how to use fakes, distractions and decoys.