Sparring is scary! A Public Service Anouncement

[sensei8]

Very good topic. I have just turned 7th kyu in wado and started sparrimg this week and i was very nervy. Flinching at every attack and backing off. It was anoying because as you said it made me look weak. My question is. Will i grow out of flinching etc and how long could it take, thanks for ur time. Great forum

Oh yeah!! You'll grow out of it faster than you can ever imagine. However, that will mean that you'll have to engage in sparring more often than not...so...spar until the wheels fall off and then some. in other words, the less you spar the longer it will take to overcome!!

[steviewaddy82]

Do you think i will always flinch during sparring or is it possible to overcome this?

[sensei8]

Do you think i will always flinch during sparring or is it possible to overcome this?

No...I don't think you'll always flinch and it is something you will overcome.

Having said that, I believe that there's a big difference from flinching and acknowledging any said attack. I don't flinch, as in being surprised, but I'll acknowledge any said attack, and then properly, yet calmly, respond effectively with said attack.

[steviewaddy82]

Brilliant thankyou very much. Appreciate all your help. I feel better about it now

[sensei8]

You're more than welcome...anytime you need help...just post the question and I'll be more than happy to help you.

[jrharbar]

Awsome Post

Sparring isn't really the problem, getting hit for real for the first time and in any style getting used to the hits.

I wold recommend some tatami work (landing techniques) then go on to some Makiwara (Post punch training) get some one to start kicking u a bit or wet bamboo strikes to get a feel for getting hit.

then sparing will just feel like Chess, on how to hit and not to get hit.

hope u have fun, and don't hurt your self

[Canadian77]

I'm thankful to read this post. I'm still very very new at karate (still white belt, woman, just started in my late 30s and loving it) and I haven't done any sparring yet, but it's the only thing I'm really nervous about. We had a cardio class the other day where we did an exercise a little bit similar to sparring - - the idea was simply light contact so not dangerous, it was just another way to get us moving - - and that was the first I've had of anything at all similar to sparring. We had to switch partners, and a few of the yellow belts were kind of scary to me even in that. I honestly have felt relief in the fact that white belts don't spar. But I am loving karate and want to do this for the long haul, so I know I'll have to face my fear eventually. This thread has helped ease my fears a lot. The people at my dojo are great, so the encouraging comments here do ring true. It really hit home to hear that I can develop bad habits if I don't speak up. Also, I can see how partnering with someone higher up could be beneficial due to their experience and control. So far I generally try to partner up with white belts when we do self-defense techniques and pad drills. That works out fine for the most part (usually it's easiest if they are also female). But I've also partnered up with higher-level belts (blue and purple, which in our system are before brown - - blue, blue advanced, purple, purple advanced, brown, brown advanced, black) and it has been a good (not scary) experience. The most challenging partnerships for me so far have been yellow belts - - all of them have been men which doesn't help lol - - and it makes sense that the lack of experience and control would make that difference.

Anyway, thank you for this thread, very helpful! I will try to keep it in mind when I reach the level of training where sparring begins.

[AusRonin]

Also, I can see how partnering with someone higher up could be beneficial due to their experience and control.

This is generally the case. I'm not talking about a belt or two above you but maybe a black belt with a lower grade. The black belt will generally fight at the level of his or her opponent. A good black belt will push the beginner to a point just above comfort level while giving them the opportunity to feel comfortable in attacking. Lower ranks some times need to realise this. Some see it as weakness on the behalf of the black belt rather than what it is...a learning opportunity. I have seen lower grades (particularly individuals that have trained in other MA or related styles that rate themselves) that will come in pretty strong and hard at a black belt then wonder why they then got a good shot in the stomach that pulls them up....

Keep up the hard work!!

[Safroot]

great topic and great posts as usual

my question is when your instructor allows you to start sparring ? at which level ? is it different from one style to another??!!!

[Hawkmoon]

Really!? Isn't that sort of an assumed thing when you start with a martial art? I mean I expect the person that is teaching me to fight to be better at fighting than me....right? Maybe I'm just an optimist and more people are dumber than I expect.

Stick with it a while, you'll see it.

Sperki,

Just wait. You will eventually run into the guy (it's always a guy and usually under 30) who thinks, and I quote, "That karate crap don't work in a fight". And when they come in to train, whether they say it up front or just harbor the thought, they are waiting for a chance to jump in with the instructor and "fight" when sparring. And, if the instructor doesn't lay a beating on them, with all the attached bumps and bruises, then they can't really fight and have nothing to teach them. I'm in a small town in the Appalachian Mountain region and it's common enough. Most guys get into a few scraps as teenagers and think that makes them a pretty good fighter. Most won't train. Those that do, about half start with the idea above and of that half most think after 6 weeks of training they've learned it all. As an instructor you have to keep your head on a swivel and be on the look out for that sort.

It's always on the lower belt to ask for lighter contact. Unless they are blasting away at the higher belt and have to be told to calm down and ease up. You get what you give, and many times when you're really into things you don't realize how hard you really are hitting. That's more likely for lower belts. Since you don't want to blast them, sometimes the upper belt needs to remind them to ease up. We usually follow the second or third warning to back down the contact with, "If you don't, you're going to get hit as hard as you're hitting." If you want to hit someone hard, expect to get hit just as hard. I've met more than a few lower belts that thought sparring with uppers meant they could go all out and it was cool and they wouldn't get hit back with the same force.

Sparring can be a fun and exciting training experience. However, everyone has to be on the same page as far as contact, have respect for one another and know that it's just sparring. It isn't a fight, you don't have to win and you aren't going to die from the experience.

A very solid post!!

It's also the lower belts that will tag the upper belts...stop...go wide eyed...then say something like..."Ohhh, I got 'cha"...then they prance about as though they did something unbelievable...when in reality...the upper belt is controlling the sparring intensity instead of thumping and dumping the lower belt, and that's because that type of attitude from an instructor just doesn't teach the lower belt very much, if anything at all.

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.