Toughening up the "non muscled" parts.

[still kicking]

Last night was a special training, and the fun part was that we got to practice running sparring matches, as in tournament sparring/calling points. That was the fun part. Before that we did a lot of line exercises and sparring drills, and for some reason I got extremely banged up. It seemed like my timing was really off, for one thing. But it was also because I usually use shin and instep pads, but because it was so hot and it was just drills and not free sparring at first, I decided to go without them. First I collided with an elbow with my right ankle on mawashi geri, and it swelled up into a big goose egg. Then the next time through I got bashed on my left ankle, and that side swelled up as well! It made me wonder if there is something I can do to toughen up the non muscular parts, i.e. maybe if I don't use pads at all it will make those parts tougher? Or maybe they will just get bruised all of the time. Anyway, I got through free sparring OK by avoiding mawashi geri, then we did a little kata, then we went home, then I got out the ice packs. Ahhh.

[Ranpu]

I don't really know what you could do to sthrengthen those area's, I'v noticed

I have the same problem, so I would like to see some of the advice you get,

all I can say is try to go without pads but don't hit as hard so you can slowely

get used to it.

Good luck

[isshinryu5toforever]

It's not so much toughening the areas up, it's more of a learning how to avoid getting them hit. A big thing that can help you is proper kicking form. If you're using a round kick, this is currently being discussed here: http://www.karateforums.com/the-bane-of-learning-the-side-kick-is-the-round-kick-vt36826.html you might be bringing the foot up at an angle. If you do this, you're much more likely to connect with the point of an elbow and hurt your foot or ankle. If you can bring the kick straight across the target, as it's intended, you will avoid these clashes. The angled round kick has it's place, but you have to pick your moments wisely. It just takes a lot of fighting experience. The more experienced you get, the less you'll see those nagging injuries.

[still kicking]

Isshinryu5toforever, I am sure you are right about more experience helping, and believe me, avoiding getting those tender parts hit is a big priority. As I think about it, I think part of the problem when doing set drills, where you have to do a particular attack, is that you are forced to do a technique that you would probably not have done in a sparring match. In other words, if the instruction for that particular drill is to do mawashi geri off the back leg, the defender knows it is coming and so I don't really have an opening. Especially when the defender is much taller, with mawashi geri it is hard to get it coming around from the side. In a free sparring match, I am not going to attempt that unless the opponent is open, obviously. I guess I like the drills better where we have a choice of several attacks. Oh well, it's all good training, but next time I will be using the pads!

[isshinryu5toforever]

Ah drills. I should have read that more closely. Drills are meant for actually drilling specific techniques and defenses. In my opinion, you shouldn't be getting hurt during these sessions. The defender may know where the technique is coming, but it's their job to block it using the correct technique. They shouldn't be trying to block just to avoid getting hit. I know that's human nature, but you don't get better at really fighting if you take short cuts. Unfortunately, you can't control whether your partner does that, and your ankles pay the price.

[joesteph]

As I think about it, I think part of the problem when doing set drills, where you have to do a particular attack, is that you are forced to do a technique that you would probably not have done in a sparring match.

I don't know your belt level, Still Kicking, but in Soo Bahk Do, there are eighteen of these one-step sparring drills to be learned on the gup levels, which are probably the equivalent of the "set drills" you've refer to. Certain ones make sense; others raise questions. I've found that if I examine the required ones, I'd make changes to be more realistic--or should I say useable. When I spoke with the assistant instructor, he told me that, by the time he reached dan level, he'd figured out how to customize the drill components.

The idea seems to be to do the official, if not actually traditional, techniques, and while you're gaining experience, to have figured out how to use/alter the requireds to suit the situation, such as in sparring. I wonder if I like the non-required, "fun" drills (as I call them) that my teacher gives us because they're self-evident regarding what you're doing.

f the instruction for that particular drill is to do mawashi geri off the back leg, the defender knows it is coming and so I don't really have an opening. Especially when the defender is much taller . . .

 

Are your kicks required to be above the waist, Still Kicking? The taller the opponent, the more thigh is open for attack. Do you have that freedom when sparring in the dojo? I know that in many tournaments below the waist is not forbidden, but no points will be awarded.

I guess I like the drills better where we have a choice of several attacks.

 

So long as you do the techniques properly, I'd say thinking for yourself is a strength.

[bushido_man96]

Toughening those areas is hard to do. There isn't much to build up there. I have been guilty at times for putting an elbow on a round kicking foot. It is especially good medicine for a hard kicker....

Little injuries like these are some of the reasons that sparring without pads should be done more often. After all, you won't get to fight in pads, and you may take a ding like that. Its good training, in the end.

[still kicking]

bushido_man96 says:

Little injuries like these are some of the reasons that sparring without pads should be done more often. After all, you won't get to fight in pads, and you may take a ding like that. Its good training, in the end.

I'm not sure I agree with this, but I'm not sure I disagree, either. (Nothing like sounding wishy-washy.) Mostly the way I look at it is, I don't generally go around looking for a fight, on the street I mean, and with any luck I will not have to actually fight to defend myself at all, or very infrequently. I'm pretty sure that if I were attacked I would not mind getting bumps and bruises, or even worse on feet and legs, hands and arms, in order to protect vital organs. But this would presumably be a rare occasion, as opposed to several times a week in class! I do see the point of being accustomed to taking a little pain now and then, but somehow that seems to come with no effort, even with pads. Of course one can never know how they will respond to any particular situation until they're in it, but from what I know of myself and basic psychology and physiology, when you are under attack you are very ramped up and somewhat oblivious to pain. At any rate, it's a good topic for discussion, but I am much more to the side of preventing permanent injury that will be a hindrance to my training. Or maybe I'm just chicken. Oh well...

[bushido_man96]

I'm all for preventing permanent injuries, as well. Getting an ankle bumped by an elbow, however, will rarely cause permanent injury; only temporary discomfort.

Pain is not for everyone. However, MAs, for the most part, are a contact activity, and developing a level of toughness is just one of many attributes that partner training, including sparring, help to build.

Also, sparring without pads creates a different kind of sparring. With too much protection on, like a chest protector in TKD, fighters begin to drop their hands and forget about protecting/deflecting from strikes. Take those protectors off, and the guys who are more used to sparring without protectors, but with some contact levels, are suddenly able to make those who aren't very uncomfortable.

[joesteph]

Pain is not for everyone. However, MAs, for the most part, are a contact activity, and developing a level of toughness is just one of many attributes that partner training, including sparring, help to build.

Just today, Thursday, I restarted Soo Bahk Do for myself, then at night I went for my Jeet Kune Do class. I was reviewing the art in SBD class; in JKD, it went right to technique.

In one of the partner drills, the partner with the focus mitt held it next to his own head while firing off a hook punch to my face. (A more advanced student than I am would have a straight punch to the nose coming at him.) In this drill, I had to parry what's incoming and punch the focus mitt. Simple enough.

My partner for that drill, much younger but more advanced than I am, threw a lousy hook punch. I guess he didn't want to take the chance of giving a guy old enough to be his father a shot in the face. Well, I told him he had to throw the punch to hit me (they're going at a controlled speed anyway), and when he hedged, I took his punching arm by the wrist and started tapping the side of my face with his fist. It was the only way to let this (respectful) young man know that I wasn't going to learn anything unless we did it with some degree of reality. It worked fine, so fine that I even got popped a couple of times on the cheek with his fist (no big deal so long as you keep your teeth clenched).

Incidentally, for another drill, with different partners, the strike wasn't to punch a focus mitt but to tap the other guy on top of his head. That means we were "hitting" one another regularly.

Am I going back next Thursday? You bet!