Reality Sparring

[Johnlogic121]

I read an article about ten years ago that introduced a concept called "reality sparring." The goal of this form of sparring is to simulate conditions as close as possible to a real life-threatening encounter. To legally engage in reality sparring, you have to prepare by having one thousand hours of class time. This preparation period is to ensure that you have had an opportunity to develop good defensive skills. If you have trained for a thousand hours, then you can do reality sparring for one minute. This is the most intense type of full contact sparring availible, and it is really close to a street fight in everything except duration. Because it is done so infrequently, and with a thousand hours of preparation, people generally defend themselves very well and injuries are not as common as one might expect. No gear is used, so you really have to protect yourself. In the worst case scenario, your instructor can beat you so badly with one or two or three shots that before he has a chance to stop attacking you are headed for a hospital. The people who do this type of exercise say that the rigor is very valuable. What do people think of this practice? Would you be willing to train for a thousand hours just to face your instructor for one minute? What if your dojo friends had a grudge against you, and taught you badly? What if you worked really hard for a thousand hours but didn't do very well? Tanks for your replies, -JL

[tallgeese]

The concept is a good one for sure. However, the route is a bit long and you could probibly get way more out of training by starting ealier with gear. I really think that a combative art should drastically increase your ability to defend yourself within about six months. Now that time shouldn't turn you into Bruce Lee or anything. But it should bring you up to a solid, basic defesive level.

Start with contact sparring almost immediatly. No, not full, but contact. Use protective gear such as caged face gear, kempo or MMA gloves and pads over your bony strking surfaces. Set up specific attacks and teach a few defenses. Then train up to speed.

Slowly, increase the contact and the options you give the defender. Let the drill become more and more spontaneous in its execution.

You can drop gear off as needed, but you're gonna get people hurt. I've lost count of eyes and cheeks I've seen cut open with elbows from training like this when people don't want to wear the headgear. At hre very least, keep elbow and knee pads on with a outh piece. This isn't bad now and then, but you're gonna be sore.

Aslo, you have to get away from teh "sparring" idea. Yeah, I know, sounds odd coming from me. What I mean is you have to have an attacker really attack for this type of training. Sparring is for working on different tools, this type of training is to simulate assult. So no sparring, designate an attacer and have him really attack.

Again, at begining levels, you should specify how the attack comes in. As the students skill incereases, the attacker should get his choice and you need to make sure he's varying it each time. He can "push and punch", talk to the defender and iniate a sucker punch, grab, tackle, jump from behind, anything. again, at an advanced level this is how it should look. By black belt, this shold be completely spontaneous from randomized attack. The defender should work all the way to control. Whether by throw and control, joint position, or beat down.

And you shouldn't be suprised if your black belts lose these rounds from time to time. It will happen. Break down what happend and move on. Remember to encourage them to continue fighting even when in negitive situations. If you're incoproating weapons and someone gets stabbed, make them continue. Train them mentally to finish the fight. And always end on a session where they absoutley trash their opponant. It goes back to mentally training them to defeat their adversary.

[bushido_man96]

That's a great post, tallgeese. You hit all the right spots there.

I would like to know what the "preparation" is for this kind of sparring you mention, JohnLogic. I think that this preparation should involve sparring, like tallgeese mentions early on. If not, then there is no way I want to step in and spar someone who has no idea of distancing and control, which is very different in a dynamic environment, like fighting.

[Johnlogic121]

The article I read on reality sparring didn't indicate what the students do for the thousand hours that lead up to their one-minute sparring confrontation. Some people only get 250 hours of training in per year, if they train one hour a day for five days a week for 50 weeks a year, so you can do a lot in four years to get ready for this sort of thing. In the Bujinkan, they do almost all work with a partner, so you build up good judgement of timing and distance even though the Bujinkan people spar almost never. Doctor Hatsumi had people to spar for one minute during the 1998 Tai Kai in Atlanta but he said the exercise is primarily so that you can feel yourself "freeze" or "flow" with various technique combinations. If you have been training for a while, but you still freeze, not knowing what to do, then you have to work more on flowing with the techniques during the next year or so. In Japan, the high level Bujinkan guys usually spar like this about once a year to just check the feeling they get when defense is called for and they have to either attack or react.

[bushido_man96]

The way I look at it, you need constant sparring so that you can fine tune and work on flowing when it matters, which is in conflict, when things will be active and resistive. Doing this once a year is not a good idea, in my opinion.

[tallgeese]

I agree bushido man, once a year is not a good idea.

For one, you need way more training in this manner to effectively train your responses to actual conflict. Additionally, more training in this manner will let you feel more "flow" during movements that "freeze".

It's the constant repetition of activity that allows us to perform that movement under stress. Only doing this once per year will certainly not give one the simulated conditions you're looking for enough to engrain those responses .

[BLueDevil]

The concept is a good one for sure. However, the route is a bit long and you could probibly get way more out of training by starting ealier with gear. I really think that a combative art should drastically increase your ability to defend yourself within about six months. Now that time shouldn't turn you into Bruce Lee or anything. But it should bring you up to a solid, basic defesive level.

Start with contact sparring almost immediatly. No, not full, but contact. Use protective gear such as caged face gear, kempo or MMA gloves and pads over your bony strking surfaces. Set up specific attacks and teach a few defenses. Then train up to speed.

Slowly, increase the contact and the options you give the defender. Let the drill become more and more spontaneous in its execution.

You can drop gear off as needed, but you're gonna get people hurt. I've lost count of eyes and cheeks I've seen cut open with elbows from training like this when people don't want to wear the headgear. At hre very least, keep elbow and knee pads on with a outh piece. This isn't bad now and then, but you're gonna be sore.

Aslo, you have to get away from teh "sparring" idea. Yeah, I know, sounds odd coming from me. What I mean is you have to have an attacker really attack for this type of training. Sparring is for working on different tools, this type of training is to simulate assult. So no sparring, designate an attacer and have him really attack.

Again, at begining levels, you should specify how the attack comes in. As the students skill incereases, the attacker should get his choice and you need to make sure he's varying it each time. He can "push and punch", talk to the defender and iniate a sucker punch, grab, tackle, jump from behind, anything. again, at an advanced level this is how it should look. By black belt, this shold be completely spontaneous from randomized attack. The defender should work all the way to control. Whether by throw and control, joint position, or beat down.

And you shouldn't be suprised if your black belts lose these rounds from time to time. It will happen. Break down what happend and move on. Remember to encourage them to continue fighting even when in negitive situations. If you're incoproating weapons and someone gets stabbed, make them continue. Train them mentally to finish the fight. And always end on a session where they absoutley trash their opponant. It goes back to mentally training them to defeat their adversary.

I'd do this over this reality sparring anyday.

Also, what kind of simulation are we talking about here? Is one of the people going to start throwing haymakers? Are they going to use their training? Are they going to attempt to sucker punch you? Are there going to be simulated weapons, knives, chairs, beer bottles etc? Ive been in a few scuffles and I havent personally run into a highly trained adversary walking down the street, not that it couldnt happen and of course you prepare for that as well but majority of people in fights on the street are going to be untrained, adrenaline fueled guys swinging to take your head off.

A common occurance on the street is so unpredictable, I think it would be more logical to practice and train in a realistic manner everyday.

[Kajukenbopr]

I think that training drills with a partner every time you practice, will give you a good feel of how to move(IF YOU CHANGE PARTNERS EVERY TIME)- so you don't have the same types of attackers and attacks every time. Even soft drills that escalate with time to full on spontaneous drills are a great way to see how you are moving, even if its not really sparring.

No, i would not like to fight just 1 time for 1 minute every 1000 hours of practice.

[hertao]

These are great ideas that many people struggle with. In my experience, teaching full time for nearly 10 years, starting with limited sparring from the first day forward works best. On the first day you can spar with one attack and one defense with little intensity, adding a single technique and defense to the mix and increasing intensity as the practitioners get more comfortable.

I've had little difficulty getting people effectively sparring stand up all the way to ground in 6 months with a basic boxing, kickboxing, clinch, ground progression. I've got a short video and sparring progression here:

http://www.hertao.com/selfdefense/training.html

The problem with the sport style sparring above is that it doesn't work well for people with a significant size or strength difference. The larger and/or stronger practitioner will need to hold back. For self defense, the important thing is to add eye jabs, groin kicks and slaps, etc., to the mix. BUT, I find that people are much better able to apply the "dirty tactics" once they're no longer scared of basic punches, clinch, throws, and basic ground fighting. The good thing about the above progression is that people get comfortable being punched and kicked, and actually punching and kicking another person.

I totally agree with you guys, that after someone can practice the above, they can then move on to "reality sparring", or whatever you want to call it. There's no doubt that a sport style sparring match is significantly different from a quick, give it all you got engagement.

David

[joesteph]

I think that training drills with a partner every time you practice, will give you a good feel of how to move (IF YOU CHANGE PARTNERS EVERY TIME) - so you don't have the same types of attackers and attacks every time.

In looking over postings from earlier this year, I found these postings about training. This one by Kajukenbopr is one I have a question about.

Would it actually be better to change partners every time, or would it be better to work with a particular partner for a number of times, in a sense "figuring out" his fighting personal style, and then move on to a different partner, who will have a new personal style, and sparring with him for a number times, etc.?

I wonder if changing partners every time is something that only a seasoned fighter would profit by, as those of us who are of lower belt ranks/not seasoned need more background, more experience, before getting hit with something different each time.

BTW, this training link posted by hertao is still functioning:

http://www.hertao.com/selfdefense/training.html