Importance of Tournament Sparring

[KickChick]

I personally am not a competitive individual and am not involved in the ma for competition .... winning or losing. Seems whenever I consider competing ... there is not many in my division (slim pickings to say the least) Several of the women in my school just have to "show up" to get a trophy (that is for the local area comps).... now Atlantic City --- that's the place to compete around here!

 

But I have to say it is great experience.... start small (local area school / organization comps).

[Kyle-san]

If nothing else, tournaments are a great place to observe other martial artists in action and see what the art is doing for them. I'm not a huge fan of tournaments, but I do enjoy seeing how others fight using the same tools as me. Although, I wouldn't discount the value of a tournament just because of the limited number of moves, it's still a good experience.

 

TKD tournaments gave me some of my worst injuries.

[Punchdrunk]

I am tired of the "it is not a real fight" argument against competition.

 

Of course it's a real fight. There's a person opposite you and they are trying to hurt you. Every "real" fight is different. In a bar you might not be able to kick at all. You might be on a slick street, so you slip and immediately grapple. You might break your hands and only be able to kick. You will have limitations of some sort no matter where you fight. Competition just sets the parameters of those limitations at the outset.

 

Unless you are planning on getting arrested for assault competition is the best way to see how your skills hold up during stress. You find out what you need to work on. Most importantly-win or lose- the kind of intense training you do for competition will make you a better MA.

[Ironberg]

I'm tired too of "it's not a real fight" as well. One of the many reasons I go to tournaments is because I also consider myself a sportsman as well as a martial artist. Being a highschool student, I actually perfer MA over other sports that people say I "should" be involved in.

 

I go because it just plain fun. More and more, every time I wake up knowing I'm going to a tournament I have the strongest desire to get in that ring and duke it out. These days I live for sparring.

 

If you want to learn how to defend yourself, study self-defense, not WTF rules.

 

Still, just as there is no feeling quite like throwing the perfect pitch, or basket, there is no feeling quite like nailing your opponent in the head with a spinning kick in a sparring match.

[Naspirated]

Think of tournaments as a entension of your martial arts training. Yes, some may say it is or is not a so called "real fight", but when individuals compete in martial arts tournaments, it places you in a situation were you must use your training and knowledge to defeat your opponent. No matter what type of tournament you enter: Muay Thai, TKD, Karate, submission, etc....The feeling is much different then regular training. In the dojo you train to better yourself, and if you mess up you learn from your mistakes and you correct yourself as your training progesses. A tournament on the other hand consist of you, judges, your opponent, and probably a whole bunch of people looking at you. The feeling in both situations are different. Your physical abilities may be above and beyond others, however if you cannot be relaxed, focused, and aware of your surroundings in a controlled stressed enviorment (tournament), is it possible for you to handle a real combative situation? You must be able to combine both atheletic ability, and strategy in tournaments. If you can perform well in a tournament, you have experienced something that someone else has not. Is it possible that you have an advantage now because you have learned and seen something that others have not? This is why it may be compelling for you to enter tournaments to gain the experience, and see for yourself how difficult it is for any individual to compete. It's pretty easy to watch the game on the sidelines, but put your self in the shoes of any competitive athelete(martial artist), you'll see a whole new world. My 2 cents.....sorry for the rant

[ramymensa]

About "it's not a real fight" ... hmmm well I guess it's kind of a fight though. Yesterday I've received a punch in the face and it hurted when I tried to eat. Also I had the wind out of my stomach, or how you call it I've deliverred some serious attacks though. The person sparring with me is my instructor (sensei's assistant). She received a similar treatment We used "reasonable" force. We were using gloves and the techniques weren't performed full power. We got hit more serious because we were attacking at the same time BUT we are also friends and decided we won't kill each other. In tournament it's kinda different. They don't kill you, but everybody wants to win, so their tecniques won't be as light as when it comes to sparr with a friend. They want to hurt you, guest it's a fight then

 

Just a thought ...

[IAMA_chick]

Personally i think tourney's are awesome. You learn how well you are against people the same rank as you and you just get so pumped up when you get a point esp. when it is the 5th one b/c that means you have won. either way if you win or lose you have still won b/c many people won't get out there and see what they have learned.

[Withers M.A.A.]

You should enter a torn. because you want to have fun. that is the main reason behind competing. It is a good tool to test your skills in a "sport" environment against other opponents. Just go and have fun. It is a great motivational tool because you'll see people from various styles (if it's an open torn) and different skill levels. Seeing the higher ranks compete can be a great way to keep yourself motivated to train harder and give yourself some goals to attain.

 

Pete