"Sports Class" (sparring) do you guys do it too??

[TKDguy]

We have something called a sports class which it is nothing but fighting and sparring thats it.. but I want to join it its free which is great and. Do you guys have to fight the same rank or belt when you fight. come on an orange belt ant just come to the sports class and fight a red belt...!!

thanks, Andrew

[Aodhan]

We have something called a sports class which it is nothing but fighting and sparring thats it.. but I want to join it its free which is great and. Do you guys have to fight the same rank or belt when you fight. come on an orange belt ant just come to the sports class and fight a red belt...!!

thanks, Andrew

We have two classes a week that are devoted to sparring specifically. In the ATA, you can't do full sparring until the 4th belt rank. There will be partner specific drills and we do pair according to belt level, but we also have free sparring where ranks get mixed. Most of the time the high ranks fight at a level the lower rank can handle, although you do get the occasional machismo/machisma idiocy that has to be addressed.

Aodhan

[Slydermv]

Well when we spar at our school, differnet belt levels spar all the time. I'm a 4th gup, and I've sparred 10th gup to black belts.

With sparring, at least in our school, there are some rules that aren't spoken but there.

1. When faced with someone we out class we don;t kill them. We move around, make em work, and try out techniques we may be perfecting. We don't let them win by any means, but we try to challange them without discouraging them.

2. Some people in our school want to fight hard, some want to jump around and point spar a bit, no head shots etc. You'll get to know who's who after a while. For example when me and a pre black belt friend of mine spar, we go all out (within reason), cause we like the experiance and don't mind taking a shot , and won't get mad if one smokes the other. Other people aren't like this, so we kinda just go at a level they are comfortable with.

I would assume these common sence rules are in place in most sparring environs.... however, you do get on occasion a cowboy who has to prove he's hot ish against lower belts... (the machismo Ahodan is talking about)

[Kicks]

I have the same situation as some have already mentioned, but since you asked...

We have a black belt's only class on Wednesday night where we learn our forms, hapkido and sparring techniques. Then we free spar (WTF Olympic style) the last 30 minutes of class.

On Friday nights I teach a junior's sparring class that is open to all ranks. We do footwork and pad drills. Then they put their pads on and we do partner drills based on what footwork and pad drills we just did. Then I let them free spar. I try to make sure that everyone gets to spar everyone else in class no matter what rank. My son and daughter assist me and help keep an eye on things. I do not tolerate any higher skilled person taking advantage of a lesser skilled person.

Right after my class is another sparring class that is open to all students no matter what age or rank. This is led by our head instructor. The higher ranks are not supposed to beat up on the lower ranks, but it does happen at times. We do have several 'hot dogs' in the class. I try not to play politics and instead help the lower ranks. They like to spar me because they get to hit me. What they don't know is that I'm allowing them to hit me so they can get used to distancing, not pulling their kicks and punches, and gain confidence.

Now, when I fight the hot dogs, well let's just say I make hamburgers out of them.

[Rateh]

we have three sparring classes a week now

1 for all adults

1 for all kids who are more advanced (and at least 8 years old)

1 for all less advanced students, and all students under 8

ppl are paired up based on a combination of skill, size, age, and rank

if a student is sparring in a tournament soon, then often the sensei pairs them up with someone who is slightly harder then the hardest competition the person is going to face for contintuous fighting

the person always gets beat around a bit, but the generally idea is that no one in their devision will be harder on them, and if they can stand up to that person, they can stand up to anyone at the tournament

[Mr. Mike]

we have open sparring class twice a week. Open to all students regardless of rank. If a white belt spars a black belt, so be it. We also have the rule that low belt sets the pace. We higher belts should have the control to not pummel the low belts. It hasn't happened yet because we have a good team, but if a high belt gets too rough, they will be told not to repeat it.

[italian_guy]

Yes we do have sparring class (after the regular class) and I attend it regularly. We spar regardless of the ranks although the more skilled use more control on the unskilled and sometimes they even defend only.

[ninjanurse]

I am presently trying to get a class such as this going at my school. We need to have a full class devoted to this.