Well I just got back from first tournament…

[GeoGiant]

Last night was my first night back at class since the “tournament incident”. I’m happy to report that my Sensi was not mad at me. We talked about the situation for a while and he pretty much mirrored everything you guys said. He did seem very irritated by the way the judges publicly reprimanded me.

[JohnASE]

Point sparring is a sport, and like any other, knowing the rules is important for success. One problem is that it's hard to put in written rules how much contact is too much or what a good scoring technique looks like. Often, that's something you have to see in action or be taught. Now that you have a little more experience, if you do this again, I'm sure you'll do better. I guess you can't do much worse!

Like you and others have discussed, you fought the way you were trained. If you want to succeed in point sparring, you need to practice point sparring. Of course, if you decide to do this, your other training might suffer, if for no other reason than you'd have less time. It sounds like you put in a fair amount of time overall, so diverting a little might not slow you down too much. Only you can decide if it's worth it to you.

[GeoGiant]

Like you and others have discussed, you fought the way you were trained. If you want to succeed in point sparring, you need to practice point sparring. Of course, if you decide to do this, your other training might suffer, if for no other reason than you'd have less time. It sounds like you put in a fair amount of time overall, so diverting a little might not slow you down too much. Only you can decide if it's worth it to you.

I've thought about this quite a bit. I don't think that this type of point sparing is my thing but I love the idea of competing. I may try continuous point sparing or something else that will provide a little bit contact and require a good level of endurance. I hope I never have to engage someone on the street but if I do I want my reaction to be instantaneous. I don't feel like training for stop n' start point sparring provides me with anything useful... but that is just my opinion

[Toptomcat]

Like you and others have discussed, you fought the way you were trained. If you want to succeed in point sparring, you need to practice point sparring. Of course, if you decide to do this, your other training might suffer, if for no other reason than you'd have less time. It sounds like you put in a fair amount of time overall, so diverting a little might not slow you down too much. Only you can decide if it's worth it to you.

I've thought about this quite a bit. I don't think that this type of point sparing is my thing but I love the idea of competing. I may try continuous point sparing or something else that will provide a little bit contact and require a good level of endurance. I hope I never have to engage someone on the street but if I do I want my reaction to be instantaneous. I don't feel like training for stop n' start point sparring provides me with anything useful... but that is just my opinion

Training for stop-and-start point competition is pointless, yes. But if a decent threshold of contact is required and it is used in moderation and as part of a larger training program, stop-and-start kumite can teach valuable lessons in distancing, openings, movement, and getting the first strike. It makes an interesting 'training game.'

[Jeffrey]

I feel for you Geo.

You pretty much explained my first tournament as well. But you left out the part about messing up your kata so bad you were not sure to start over or just stand there with a look of epic failure on your face. Another member in my rank also did the very same thing. Sees the front kick coming turns and hook to the side of the head. Thank you for playing Point Sparring game over.

It’s all good and only point sparring like Sokusen said. In real life you would have won.

[KarateGeorge]

Training for stop-and-start point competition is pointless, yes. But if a decent threshold of contact is required and it is used in moderation and as part of a larger training program, stop-and-start kumite can teach valuable lessons in distancing, openings, movement, and getting the first strike. It makes an interesting 'training game.'

Agreed. When kept in context, stop-and-start point sparring can teach valuable concepts. If used, it definitely needs to be only a piece of the training, rather than the focus of the training, but it can serve a purpose.

[GeoGiant]

Training for stop-and-start point competition is pointless, yes. But if a decent threshold of contact is required and it is used in moderation and as part of a larger training program, stop-and-start kumite can teach valuable lessons in distancing, openings, movement, and getting the first strike. It makes an interesting 'training game.'

Agreed. When kept in context, stop-and-start point sparring can teach valuable concepts. If used, it definitely needs to be only a piece of the training, rather than the focus of the training, but it can serve a purpose.

I think you guys make great points and maybe I've jumped the gun by saying that point sparing is not for me. If I can rephrase my initial statement - I don't see myself spending a great deal of time training to point spar. One thing that this tournament taught me was that my diagnosis & reaction time is becoming better & faster.

Based on some of the suggestions I've been given here I think I may try continuous point sparing or maybe "something" that offers more contact.

[GeoGiant]

I feel for you Geo.

You pretty much explained my first tournament as well. But you left out the part about messing up your kata so bad you were not sure to start over or just stand there with a look of epic failure on your face. Another member in my rank also did the very same thing. Sees the front kick coming turns and hook to the side of the head. Thank you for playing Point Sparring game over.

It’s all good and only point sparring like Sokusen said. In real life you would have won.

Thanks Jeffrey! I think what freaked me out was the tongue-lashing I got from the judges. After speaking with my instructor & several BBs in my class I feel a lot better about what happened. Needless to say I'm taking a lot of good natured ribbing from most in my class