Sparring as therapy

[evergrey]

Hi folks,

Things are a little rough in the land of Ev right now, and I've been having a difficult time coping.

Well, my sensei came over today and fed me, took me out for coffee, then we watched that "300" movie together. Totally historically inaccurate, but a lot of fun. It got my blood up a bit.

Now, sensei and I are constantly surprising one another with strikes. He lands way more than I do, but sometimes I manage too. I's just how we interact. But sometimes we go into sparring mode.

In a year or two we'll go full contact, but for now because I am so new, it's only part contact. Not full powered blows. Strong enough to leave some pretty good lumps and bruises though.

My Aikido horsemanship mentor says my arms make me look like a victim of domestic violence, but he shakes his head and grins when he says it. I think he understands, at least a bit.

Sensei and I, we duke it out. We will duke it out for hours. He's way out of my league but he gives me a lot of opportunities to learn... and every time one of us lands a really painful blow, the kind that maybe makes you pause for a moment? We both just grin more. Start laughing. Sometimes one of us gets a shot in good enough that the other goes on an aggressive retaliation spree. Well, that's pretty Kyokushin- crashing on your opponent like relentless waves.

It hurts a lot but... it's FUN. And it is so therapeutic. I walk around with all this stress and tension all the time. I'm so hyper-vigilant, waiting for an attack. It's a huge relief to have something to fight. To get that adrenaline out of my system in a relatively safe and controlled environment, as sensei works hard and making sure that neither of us gets injured.

After we spar, I'm so much happier. I feel more balanced. I feel at ease. The endorphins are great. The release of tension is a godsend.

Anyone else spar as a form of therapy?

[CTTKDKing]

Recently I got back into Taekwondo after about 3 years not practicing. My school holds sparring in regular class sometimes (light contact) and a separate full contact class. Sparring was always my favorite part of studying and last week I got to attend my first full contact sparring class in about 3-3.5 years. It might seem weird but I felt giddy after word. So pumped up it was ridiculous. I felt so much more relaxed over the rest of the weekend too, so I guess you could say that sparring is a therapeutic time for me as well. I have to say after my first round I started to shake off the rust and actually landed a few good hits, although the second guy I fought was WAY out of my league I still had a blast and can't wait till this Friday evening when sparring comes back around.

[evergrey]

Aren't endorphins great? They're nature's little morphine shot.

[bushido_man96]

I don't know...I guess different things are therapeutic for different people. I do enjoy a good sparring session, and there is always a lot left for me to think about afterwards.

[quinteros1963]

Yes I find it as a huge stress reliever. We don't spar enough in my opinion. We used to go full contact all the time at my old school and now that we dont do it my bp has gone up a few points. So I have some proof that it reduces stress!!!

[Jeffrey]

I don’t think it is so much a stress reliever but a way to forget what we were stressed out about. Think about it. When you spar you only focus on a couple of things. Striking and not getting hit. Doesn’t leave a lot of room for other things.

[sperki]

Of course sparring is a stress reliever....it's exercise! A good run or weightlifting may produce similar results if you don't have a partner.

[sensei8]

For me, I find nothing more therapeutic than sparring!

[evergrey]

I bet you'd be fun to spar!

[sensei8]

I'd like to think so! In sparring, I will get a turn too!