Sparring tips

[singularity6]

I have a question.

When sparring (in class), do you try to go for the point? Or, do you try to work in kata bunkai?

Groin! Always go for the groin! Or eyes and/or throat... those are acceptable targets, too.

ALWAYS, re-stomp the groin!

Again...again...again...

YES!

[Alan Armstrong]

Sparring tip.

Don't be an idiot, as in stop before rearranging the sparring partners features.

Keep doing this till the opponent has had enough.

One punch or kick doesn't make you a better martial artist than your opponent; but perhaps stopping twenty times to let the opponent regain composure, might be a better indication that you are.

[Drew]

First of all...Welcome to KF, Pineapple Deficiency; glad that you're here!!

*Study your opponent

*Study yourself

*Make a plan

*Carry that plan out

Over and over and over and over...

Solid advice. The tricky part is finding, growing with, and perhaps eventually outgrowing the *right* opponents.

[LastKing]

Play the long game - Go slow, trust your defence, Weather the storm. them gas out, clean up when they're gassed out.

I'm 54, and at my age, it's the only way to play it, esp against younger guys.

[OneKickWonder]

Remember what evolution has done to us. Your average person can move forward faster than you can move backwards.

[LLLEARNER]

I have a question.

When sparring (in class), do you try to go for the point? Or, do you try to work in kata bunkai?

Groin! Always go for the groin! Or eyes and/or throat... those are acceptable targets, too.

ALWAYS, re-stomp the groin!

Again...again...again...

YES!

Maybe I will look into the feasibility of a pogo stick for this step.

[LLLEARNER]

Remember the advice of Prussian Field Marshal Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke...

"The material and moral consequences of every major battle are so far-reaching that they usually bring about a completely altered situation, a new basis for the adoption of new measures. One cannot be at all sure that any operational plan will survive the first encounter with the main body of the enemy. Only a layman could suppose that the development of a campaign represents the strict application of a prior concept that has been worked out in every detail and followed through to the very end." "Certainly the commander in chief will keep his great objective continuously in mind, undisturbed by the vicissitudes of events. But the path on which he hopes to reach it can never be firmly established in advance. Through the campaign, he must make a series of decisions on the basis of situations that cannot be foreseen. The successive acts of war are thus not premeditated designs, but on the contrary are spontaneous acts guided by military measures. Everything depends on penetration the uncertainty of veiled situations to evaluate the facts, to clarify the unknown, to make decisions rapidly, and then to carry them out with strength and consistency."

[Wado Heretic]

Lose any attitudes you have. Keep in mind sparring is for learning; not winning or losing.

Find out which Black-Belts (or equivalent) will help you, and those that will just use you as a punching bag or grappling dummy. Avoid the latter whenever you can.

Find out how not to lose, but don’t neglect learning how to win. It’s all very well throwing yourself at the wall of people you can’t beat to get better at defence, but if you never learn how to win you never will. Take time out to just your techniques out on people your own level, or even people not as good as you. Just remember give and take.

Take any criticism or advice at face value. Even if you felt what was being criticised worked, it could still give insights to improvements.

Have a lesson plan; what are you working on now, and how can sparring give you useful feedback. If you have been working on your leg kick set ups; focus on using leg kick set ups, even if it gets you punished by your sparring partner. Sparring is about learning how to make things work; it’s trial and error.

Precision over speed, and technique over power. The point being; don’t rush yourself, and don’t use power to compensate for mistakes.

Overall; I'd argue "sparring" tips beyond the above are very much contextual. I do not think I could come up with 100 tips without being on the floor, and knowing what type of sparring I am giving tips about.

[Wayofaswede]

Play the long game - Go slow, trust your defence, Weather the storm. them gas out, clean up when they're gassed out.

I'm 54, and at my age, it's the only way to play it, esp against younger guys.

I will try this the next time I spar - actually did the opposite last time (yes, mostly against younger fellow club members)

[bushido_man96]

Remember the advice of Prussian Field Marshal Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke...

"The material and moral consequences of every major battle are so far-reaching that they usually bring about a completely altered situation, a new basis for the adoption of new measures. One cannot be at all sure that any operational plan will survive the first encounter with the main body of the enemy. Only a layman could suppose that the development of a campaign represents the strict application of a prior concept that has been worked out in every detail and followed through to the very end." "Certainly the commander in chief will keep his great objective continuously in mind, undisturbed by the vicissitudes of events. But the path on which he hopes to reach it can never be firmly established in advance. Through the campaign, he must make a series of decisions on the basis of situations that cannot be foreseen. The successive acts of war are thus not premeditated designs, but on the contrary are spontaneous acts guided by military measures. Everything depends on penetration the uncertainty of veiled situations to evaluate the facts, to clarify the unknown, to make decisions rapidly, and then to carry them out with strength and consistency."

So very true, indeed.