I suck at kumite.

[barefoot-kohai]

Of course, there is not any universal rule appliable to each kumite encounter (if it would exist it would be the philosopher's stone)

I also agree with DWx (sorry, still don't know how to quote messages properly): When circling towards your opponent's back you may enter in the line of circular or spinning attacks. How could this question be solved?

First thing I would take into account is distance. If my opponent is really good at reverse techniques (ushiro mawashi geri or ushiro geri) I would move towards his back and would adjust the distance, maybe making it shorter in order to make his kicks "too long" (he/she wouldn'h hit me with a completed geri, it would be "half way" at the interception point), or longer in order to making his kicks "too short" (he/she would kick in the air): this is yours to decide.

Anyway, reverse keri techniques (ushiro mawashi, ushiro geri) are not very common in karate kumite: they leave your back unprotected, ready to receive any tsuki attack, so the only real menace is yodan mawashi geri with the front leg (a very common technique). Again the way to avoid this is adjusting the distance: again, make it too long in order to "make him slow" or keep it too short in order to not letting him spread his leg and reach the objective. If your reaction capacity is really good, the starting of a "kizami" mawashi geri (mawashi with the front leg) is the perfect moment for a sweep.

As I said, there is no universal rule. Even more, every martial arts practitioner is normally biased and conditioned by the (competition) rules in his discipline.

For example: In some places (I don't know if anywhere), Tae Kwon Do competition rules prohibited foot sweeping. That meant that (as I was told), normally, the Tae Kwon Do-ka positioned his body offering the "less open space" possible. That meant that both feet remained all the time "perpendicular" to the attack line. To a karate-ka (whose combat rules allow sweeping) that meant an open invitation to sweeping (like an arrow shaped sign with red little bulbs saying "Sweep here !! " - Rule: always sweep in the direction where toes point to)

In certain styles of karate kumite, punching in your opponent's chest does not score point (it doesn't count), so Why protecting it ?, maybe you will receive some good ones there, but they do not score (so your opponent is not going to hit there) and with proper training it won't hurt (more than necessary).

What's the meaning of all that ? is a bit like the well known "be water my friend". Each opponent is different, there are not two equal ones. Sometimes he/she will have a really good gyaku tsuki or a fantastic mae geri, or being all his/her techiques mediocre, his/her control of the distance and timing is perfect. Then what ?

The answer as I said: "be water my friend". Try to explode your opponent's weakness in your favour and try to avoid the situations where he is comfortable: make yourself an uncomfortable opponent, just adapting your combat to the circumstances. If your opponent has a very good gyaku tsuki, fast and precise, get out of his way or keep a long distance. If His/her front leg mawashi geri is good, be ready to change the distance: if you are confident and brave going forward and anticipating (sen no sen, at least you get an ai-uchi) or if you are more conservative, going backwards in the right moment and retire yourself or prepare your counter attack (gono sen).

In short (as my teacher said) : Make the combat, your combat.

Adjusting the distace or choosing a straight / circular movement are just starting rules. Rules are just guides, they are not not matter of worshipment. You have to work on them, consider if they are good for you, and if so, adapt them and make them yours.

Best regards

Barefoot-kohai

Edited June 25, 2009 by barefoot-kohai

[bushido_man96]

Good advice barefoot-kohai.

If he is faster than you then "Search his back": move in circles, always towards his back (if you move to the other side -his front- he will hit you easily with gyaku tsuki). If he is slower (for example, you are agile and he is big and clumsy, but powerful), move in straight line, forward or backwards.

I am a bit doubtful of this though. It is a strategy we also tell beginners but if you are fighting a competent fighter then circling to the back puts you at risk of any spinning type techniques off the the back leg, back kick, hook kick etc. You'd be moving into the line of power of those kicks as well as moving yourself away from the open side and the majority of targets. It is something to try but I'd be wary of how your opponent reacts to this because you could end up in a worse off position.

I think that if you move towards the back, you can cut off some of the momentum of these techniques, and if you cut close, not allowing too much distance, then it will be tough to execute those techniques. I do think that it is worth exploring both sides of this; defending those attacks, and trying them out to a side-stepper.

[mudansha]

Ignore this post if you're not interested in listening to me whine. I suck at kumite. I'm still in the lower grades and we only do actual free sparring every so often, so in my own defense I haven't had all that much opportunity to practice it, and sensei is always saying how it takes years of training to really develop the skills. So I know I shouldn't be too hard on myself, but it's just in my bones to be hard on myself, so I feel like I should be light years ahead of where I am in terms of skill. My big problem is that I just don't see opportunitities when they present themselves...like if my opponent leaves himself wide open, I'll totally miss it and miss the shot.

Any advice on how not to miss these golden opportunitities?

I'm testing for rank advancement this weekend! I'm very confident in all my other abilities except for kumite. Hopefully it won't be too big a factor on the test.

I think you are worrying too much about winning. Don't think of kumite as wins and losses. I learn twice as much from the matches I lose than the ones I win. Think of it as training. You did not start off doing kata either, you had to work at it. When you do kata, do you watch the brown belts and think "crap, I suck because they do it so much better"? If you do, then you have the wrong mindset.

Even if your worst fears are true and you are the worst at kumite at your dojo, that is actually a good thing. Imagine for a moment you are at the top and there is no one better than you in the dojo. Who do you have to challenge you? How can you grow if everyone you train with is not as good?

Kumite is 50% mental, 40% skill and 10% luck. You are wasting valuable mental power worrying about wins and losses. Take a different mental approach. Take for granted in the beginning that you will lose so you might as well use the time to train.

Before long you will begin to tell who YOU are better than. You will begin to back off of the people you know you are better than to help them train. It will come full circle... trust me..

[joesteph]

Just last night we had what is simply called free sparring. I wore gear on my shins and forearms as, even though it's non-contact, I block close to my opponent instead of darting away, so my shins get hit (no pain to me, but some feel it in their own foot) and my forearms block heavily enough that there's some bruising for my opponent, even though I didn't intend it (although, w/o gear, I don't get those bruises).

We went through sparring drills beforehand, as we've done before, in which there's diagonal motion to get out of the way, even to the point of not needing to block, and with the opponent in motion, there's a lot of circling one another. My way of sparring is linear, not darting this way and that, and not circling at all. When I sparred years ago, I was an infighter and just naturally linear. There's a posting I'd made on web page 5 in this thread, thanking another member for posting about moving in-and-out. It really fits my style, and I wanted to try it last night.

I was directed by my teacher not to use my shins, but to rely on the arms and darting/circling my opponent, with my forearms to block kicks as we'd just practiced. Naturally, I complied to give it a shot, as she wanted me to, but I simply can't spar--let alone fight--like this and not get slaughtered, even though it's a bloodless one b/c it's non-contact. The problem is that I get dizzy with those rapid, non-linear motions. It's a reaction to medications I take, each of them cautioning that they "may" cause dizziness, and I find they do not do so unless I perform contributory movements.

I can slug it out and move in-and-out w/o a problem, even quickly turn a quarter-turn if my opponent is trying to break away to my side for his attack, with no dizziness while maintaining respectable defense and offense. As a lower belt (I just received a promotion to 5th Gup two days ago), this is likely part of the training program, with more leeway given to dan members, but the subject title, "I Suck at Kumite," really fit me last night.

I spoke with my teacher last night after class, explained what had happened, and she was accepting, with me permitted to continue to wear sparring gear on my shins and forearms. I'm hoping for sparring tonight, so that I can "redeem" myself by using what is natural to me, i.e., linear movement, the suggestion of concentrating on in-and-out, and having shins and forearms in rapid protective motion.