Male VS Female sparring matches-PLEASE advise

[Toptomcat]

A better answer is that it's nobody's 'fault'- hitting people in the context of a karate class isn't a mistake that someone has to be blamed for, but a natural byproduct of the training.

[GeoGiant]

We spar light to moderate in my school & sometimes heavy depending on the participants. We have a policy that the sparing partners set the tone. There are 3 women at my school. 2 of the 3 women are there for fitness and they attack & defend according to the level of contact they desire. I don't mind sparing either of these women. If I feel I've gone too hard I immediately recoil and apologize. What I found is that I tend to go at a speed that is less than what they desire and they are constantly tell me to turn it up. I don’t intend to go too light but that is the way it happens. The third woman in my class will knock your head off if you don’t bring it. Trust me, after a one minute round with her, you bring it!

[RW]

Further to that, when a woman is punched in the breast, the pain is probably just as intense as when a guy is kicked or punched in the groin. So its wise to wear those chest protectors.

I've seen many women accidentally hit in the breast and I've been hit in the breast many times myself (once by a punch, but many times by speeding tennis balls) and I've never seen a woman drop to the ground in pain like men do. I've seen men vomit from a realitively light hit to the groin. I can't see how getting hit in the breast even comes close.

You're right, even thought it doen't feel nice, it doen't hurt as much as men.

No one drops from that!

Exactly. Women couldn't even function in society if breasts were as sensitive. Imagine guys if your testicles were much bigger and in your chest. And then you had to do stuff such as wearing a seatbelt in your car or even worse, a theme park rollercoaster. It'd be a world of pain.

[joesteph]

Now that I'm happily doing contact sparring, I ran right into the problem referred to in the OP. The teenager I sparred with first today was a girl who I'd heard was good, and I liked that she was about 5'9" to my 5'6". But she wasn't wearing a chest protector. (I was. )

Shihon wants no face strikes, and that's okay; body shots keep everybody busy, and he'll permit below the belt if it's the legs. I got stuck thinking about where not to punch and so used legs only, especially roundhouses to her legs or diagonal roundhouses to her midsection. She kept me very busy defending myself, but when we ended what would have been the first round between us, I quietly told Shihon that I wished she were wearing a chest protector. He changed us to spar with others, and she did spar with boys no taller than I am who threw punches as well as kicks to her midsection.

I did tell Shihon afterwards that I'd love to spar with her again, and he used the term "safety" when he referred to the chest protector.

[Soheir]

I did tell Shihon afterwards that I'd love to spar with her again, and he used the term "safety" when he referred to the chest protector.

Sounds odd to me. Chest protector is not a nessesity, why would it be?

In Kyokushin tournaments, women are allowed to use only soft types of chest protectors.

[joesteph]

I did tell Shihon afterwards that I'd love to spar with her again, and he used the term "safety" when he referred to the chest protector.

Sounds odd to me. Chest protector is not a nessesity, why would it be?

In Kyokushin tournaments, women are allowed to use only soft types of chest protectors.

I took Shihon's term "safety" as a polite way of saying that while men can be bruised in the chest, women can suffer greater bruising (and pain) if the breasts are struck. Unnecessary bruising falls under injury and safety to me; when I fenced, I learned that the women's outfits differed from the men's by including two small metal disks within inside pockets. I found that to be perfectly sensible.

I'm a man who's not embarrassed to wear a chest protector so that I can enjoy sparring without being banged up. I can take care of my children, go to work, and continue contact sparring sessions. I also wear a groin protector, and I'm sure female students realize that we males wear them, but they just accept it as appropriate protection. Why should a woman have greater damage to her body than a man when sparring? Shihon is thinking of the welfare of his students.

There are threads containing info about kyokushin in the forums. It's wicked enough that I believe most men wouldn't go that far, let alone do it regularly. If an adult woman wants to enter kyokushin, just as men do, then that's her business, but it isn't done in Shihon's dojo, and the person I referred to is a teenage girl, about age sixteen.

[bushido_man96]

I say, if its a target, then hit it. If she doesn't want to wear the chest protector, then that's her decision.

You can still punch to the stomach, and to the top of the chest, above the breasts, and still get good contact. For good targets, though, look to the stomach and the kidney area. Don't shortchange yourself on targets because she won't wear a chest protector. Go after it!

[Liver Punch]

My first reaction to your post was "hit her in the face".

I guess I wasn't joking though. If you're training for sport, then most women appreciate a guy who won't hold back. I trained with a 135 pound girl at a major MMA gym who would touch gloves, and then immediately kick people in the head and run them around the mat for 3 minutes like she was king kong. I watched her do this lots of times before I went with her. We touched gloves and I swept her onto her head when she tried it. I didn't pull any punches, and she really appreciated the fact that I'd give her enough respect as a fighter to spar like that.

If it's a self defense situation, she's much more likely than you to need to defend herself, so...it's good for her. If she doens't like being treated like everyone else, she can blame Susan B. Anthony, not you.

[MasterPain]

My first reaction to your post was "hit her in the face".

I guess I wasn't joking though. If you're training for sport, then most women appreciate a guy who won't hold back. I trained with a 135 pound girl at a major MMA gym who would touch gloves, and then immediately kick people in the head and run them around the mat for 3 minutes like she was king kong. I watched her do this lots of times before I went with her. We touched gloves and I swept her onto her head when she tried it. I didn't pull any punches, and she really appreciated the fact that I'd give her enough respect as a fighter to spar like that.

If it's a self defense situation, she's much more likely than you to need to defend herself, so...it's good for her. If she doens't like being treated like everyone else, she can blame Susan B. Anthony, not you.

I read this before going back to see the original post and my jaw dropped. But now I agree.

[sensei8]

My first reaction to your post was "hit her in the face".

I guess I wasn't joking though. If you're training for sport, then most women appreciate a guy who won't hold back. I trained with a 135 pound girl at a major MMA gym who would touch gloves, and then immediately kick people in the head and run them around the mat for 3 minutes like she was king kong. I watched her do this lots of times before I went with her. We touched gloves and I swept her onto her head when she tried it. I didn't pull any punches, and she really appreciated the fact that I'd give her enough respect as a fighter to spar like that.

If it's a self defense situation, she's much more likely than you to need to defend herself, so...it's good for her. If she doens't like being treated like everyone else, she can blame Susan B. Anthony, not you.

Solid post!!