Point Sparring techniques?

[Canoe2fish]

Hey folks. I'm hoping for a little advice on sparring techniques. I'm going to be attending a tournament where we will be point sparring (light body contact) We have been practacing in the dojo a bit, and I seem to be having difficulty with this. Sparring isn't my strength usually, but I have a had a few nights where I was On fire. Last night, I was so "OFF" I may as well have been sitting down. I mean it was embarrassing. I felt like the awkward kid I was in grade 9 gym class again (you know, the gangly un-co-ordinated shy kid in the last pick row...)

I'm wondering if I'm being to uptight about losing (in front of others that is - I'm not that competitive by nature), and being the somewhat passive guy, I have a hard time lighting a fire under my keester. Towards the end last night I was getting better at blocking and getting a few points in, but all in all, I walked away scraching my head wondering what business I had being there.

Also with the tall guys, I realize I need to get inside of the kicking zone. Should I try to get in and stay in, or get in and out? I'm average height.

Any ideas? This is one area I really want to improve on.

Thanks in advace,

C2F

[Throwdown0850]

you can practice nothing but defensive moves.. just practice waiting on your opponent to move in for the point, and then strike.. that may help?

[DWx]

We do an exercise in class where we point stop spar and if someone scores against you, you have to go and do 10 situps or 10 pressups or whatever. I wasn't really good at point sparring (still not amazing) but this drill really helped me because the prospect of doing the situps wasn't very appealling. Its also good if you continous spar because it lets you see where you are letting the other person in.

With tall guys you gotta watch their legs (obviously) so you have to be really good at getting in quick and scoring your point. Once in it depends on how good your opponent is at close range. Some people are just as good with their hands so you may want to back out, but don't get caught by their legs. If they are not good then you can stay in and keep racking up the points. However in my experience tournament judges only tend to give you one or two points for a flurry of punches anyway so don't do more than is necessary.

Since this is a tournament senario you have to make sure your techniques look like they score and are clean. You don't want the judges to be undecisive about whether a technique actually scored, you need to make sure they press the clicker (or whatever they're using). Might be worth looking up the rules and seeing how different techniques rank with the scoring.

Good luck.

[bushido_man96]

One mistake that many people make when point sparring is that they assume a technique has landed, and then stop and look for acknowledgement from the judges, only to find that they didn't catch it, and then you get popped with your hands down. Don't do this! Make sure you have a flow of techniques, and don't let up until the judge yells "break" or "point."

If you want to get inside the legs of taller fighters, that is well and good, but be sure they are set up well. Once you are inside, don't just hang out there. Punch away, get them driving backwards, and then try to finish with a kick if you can. By finishing with a kick, you put yourself (hopefully) out of their reach, where they can't just launch something at you while you still hang out in close.

Everyone has a bad day now and then, so don't let that get to you. Just push through it and go on. As far as not being aggressive; you can make this work for you. You may want to try to start counter fighitng, instead of being the offensive fighter. I do believe that over time you can make yourself more aggressive. It just takes time and some confidence in your techniques.

[KarateEd]

Also with the tall guys, I realize I need to get inside of the kicking zone. Should I try to get in and stay in, or get in and out? I'm average height.

Generally, you want to stay out of the zone where the opponent can hit you but you can't hit him. In boxing, for instance, you would want to move in close, stay there, and pound it out. Moving in and out would mean continually passing through the zone where the opponent can hit you but you can't hit him. However, if scoring points close in is inherently difficult with point sparring, as it seems to be, then you will have to move in-and-out. Like Throwdown says, I think you should focus on blocking and counter striking. Let your opponent make the first move. In the process of his attack he will, more than likely, leave an opening that you can exploit.