Sparring is scary! A Public Service Anouncement

[ShotokanGage]

Top post!

There are three guy in our dojo who are just this kind of person. (I'm tempted to ask, when did you visit the dojo?)

2 our high grade (Not Dan grades, but high grade) one of them was screamed at a few night back to allow the new guy, with all his 5 lessons under his 'belt' out of the corner!

Not bad for a session where clear instruction was given to work back and forth with each other to explore attacks and blocks.

Same guy different night, screamed at again to go lighter on the other person, also not bad action on his part considering they were a lower grade and again we were to work with each other on a set sequence!

The other senior grade in a 'light' sparring session was stopped cold for catching his opponent hard in the head, both were told off, one for lack of control and to much power the other for lowering his guard.

The third guy is interesting, he is lower grade, and has on more than one occasion used his lower rank to excuse his actions......I say interesting because he clearly thinks we see low grade so 'must see low ability', he must think we are blind and not see an off duty heavy weight prison guard!

New guys do catch you hard on occasion, new guys do love it when they get the upper hand, or the win in that sparring session.

We were all a new guy once, its a great feeling and a massive boost to us and our ego come the next session.

(maybe this is unique to a Kyokushin dojo)

About 4kyu, 'the gloves' come off senior grades exchange 'views' equally, unless told to keep it light.

as a 4 kyu you are the lowest senior grade !

Humility, Patience, should be observed and shown.

Good post! We had a new fella join us fairly recently (last few months or so). He has a very unusual style of fighting, certainly for Shotokan anyway. He prances around waving his guard up in the air, moving way back and way forth and telegraphing every move. He also fought far too hard. He's a green belt (6th Kyu), so you can expect his control to be off. But he throws himself into every attack, and gets right in range, so whilst he may tag his opponent in the side with some sort of a boxer's blow, he's left himself completely open and often walks head on to a kizami-zuki, or even a mawashi-geri.

He doesn't come especially often, so he won't learn quickly, but he's definitely a difficult one to fight against, because of his unorthodox methods.

[Hawkmoon]

One of the Dan grades waves his arms around, and even doubles his strikes off the back of the waving!

Think along the lines of a boxer messing with his opponents view as he moves in with a double jab... no matter what the strike.

He doesn't jump about to much hes a bit older and clearly a heavy weight!

Many of us are adopting a fluid motion to deal with him and his double tap taps and waving.

Another Dan grade is all jump in and out, but he has a massive tell when he comes in....he grimaces!

...and we evade!

In both cases we were so focused on trying to deal with a single point of this or that we overlooked the bigger picture.

If it helps, study him for a while, see if he has tells, and if he does act upon them and get into him and spoil his game plan!

good luck!

[Archimoto]

Solid original post and solid thread. Good to hear what everyone goes through with sparring.

[Archimoto]

I remember being terrified the first time I sparred. Now, I find it relaxing no matter who I'm sparring with. Nothing helps you tune out the complexities of life like going to battle - in a strange way it's quite meditative.

[jaypo]

I have a couple of thoughts on the subject. First, I agree that it is the higher belt that dictates the flow and contact of the session. If they're like me, they see it as a learning and teaching tool, not a competition. I love sparring with the lower belts because I know when to "allow" them an opening. It makes me feel good to see their eyes light up when they "tagged a black belt!" Thankfully, there's only 1 student with an ego. He's the only one that has to be put in his place while sparring.

We have a few new female students that are deathly afraid of even doing bunkais because they are worried about me tagging them. However, after a few sessions, they've seen my control, and it's a little easier on them.

A senior belt should have great control over HIS/HER techniques. But a lot of times, they won't have control over the lower belt's. I was sparring with a girl (my Sensei's daughter) when she tested for brown belt. She is very agressive and throws a lot of hard kicks. My strategy was to avoid her kicks and counter quickly when she committed to her strikes. I am able to control my counters with no problem, but I could not control her constant advancing, so one time, I blocked a front kick and threw a reverse punch to her stomach. My technique went where it was supposed to with the correct "light" contact, but when I threw, she was still advancing, and she ran right into my punch. After the session, she said that I put her stomach thru he spine!

[Canadian77]

I have a couple of thoughts on the subject. First, I agree that it is the higher belt that dictates the flow and contact of the session. If they're like me, they see it as a learning and teaching tool, not a competition. I love sparring with the lower belts because I know when to "allow" them an opening. It makes me feel good to see their eyes light up when they "tagged a black belt!" Thankfully, there's only 1 student with an ego. He's the only one that has to be put in his place while sparring.

We have a few new female students that are deathly afraid of even doing bunkais because they are worried about me tagging them. However, after a few sessions, they've seen my control, and it's a little easier on them.

A senior belt should have great control over HIS/HER techniques. But a lot of times, they won't have control over the lower belt's. I was sparring with a girl (my Sensei's daughter) when she tested for brown belt. She is very agressive and throws a lot of hard kicks. My strategy was to avoid her kicks and counter quickly when she committed to her strikes. I am able to control my counters with no problem, but I could not control her constant advancing, so one time, I blocked a front kick and threw a reverse punch to her stomach. My technique went where it was supposed to with the correct "light" contact, but when I threw, she was still advancing, and she ran right into my punch. After the session, she said that I put her stomach thru he spine!

Jaypo, it's funny to read your post, as I am that lower belt who feels great having tagged a black belt, even though I know they're letting me in. I'm finding exactly as you say, that I always feel a little nervous when I bow to a black belt, but I always find it a lot more fun than sparring another lower belt or slightly higher than myself. I also learn a lot more with the black belts. Your attitude toward sparring the lower belts seems to be just like the other black belts I've sparred with, especially the older guys. A couple of the younger teens are a little tougher...lol. As a woman who really has never done any kind of fighting besides the occasional minor squirmish with my brother as a kid, this is a whole new world. But I think it is challenging me in a good way, pushing me past my fears. And the black belts with your attitude are a huge help. So even though I'll likely not spar with you personally, I still thank you on behalf of us newbies!

[kinetickick]

Communication is the best weapon in beginner sparring. Ask questions, and communicate with your partner. Most people like to train safely.

[jaypo]

I have a couple of thoughts on the subject. First, I agree that it is the higher belt that dictates the flow and contact of the session. If they're like me, they see it as a learning and teaching tool, not a competition. I love sparring with the lower belts because I know when to "allow" them an opening. It makes me feel good to see their eyes light up when they "tagged a black belt!" Thankfully, there's only 1 student with an ego. He's the only one that has to be put in his place while sparring.

We have a few new female students that are deathly afraid of even doing bunkais because they are worried about me tagging them. However, after a few sessions, they've seen my control, and it's a little easier on them.

A senior belt should have great control over HIS/HER techniques. But a lot of times, they won't have control over the lower belt's. I was sparring with a girl (my Sensei's daughter) when she tested for brown belt. She is very agressive and throws a lot of hard kicks. My strategy was to avoid her kicks and counter quickly when she committed to her strikes. I am able to control my counters with no problem, but I could not control her constant advancing, so one time, I blocked a front kick and threw a reverse punch to her stomach. My technique went where it was supposed to with the correct "light" contact, but when I threw, she was still advancing, and she ran right into my punch. After the session, she said that I put her stomach thru he spine!

Jaypo, it's funny to read your post, as I am that lower belt who feels great having tagged a black belt, even though I know they're letting me in. I'm finding exactly as you say, that I always feel a little nervous when I bow to a black belt, but I always find it a lot more fun than sparring another lower belt or slightly higher than myself. I also learn a lot more with the black belts. Your attitude toward sparring the lower belts seems to be just like the other black belts I've sparred with, especially the older guys. A couple of the younger teens are a little tougher...lol. As a woman who really has never done any kind of fighting besides the occasional minor squirmish with my brother as a kid, this is a whole new world. But I think it is challenging me in a good way, pushing me past my fears. And the black belts with your attitude are a huge help. So even though I'll likely not spar with you personally, I still thank you on behalf of us newbies!

One of the red belt ladies that train with me was observing me sparring with a 16 year old guy (who is getting very good!) this weekend. She told me that I have a devious smile the whole time I'm sparring, and it is scary! I told her that it is because I am having fun! As I mentioned in an earlier post, I used to hate sparring because it's not a true representation of how I'd fight in a real situation. But it allows me to help the lower belts to gain confidence and to see how to apply what they know. The devious smile is because I'm having fun, and I'm also learning while teaching.

Most people fear the contact or the potential to get hit. But pain goes away! And once the lower ranks realize that the black belts have a good bit of control, they feel a little more confident.

Canadian77- sorry it toook so long to reply, but you're quite welcome!