How often should you spar?

[Gerry Seymour]

I have found that drills are more important than sparring. Sparring should be done of course but you can only do it so it so often due to injuries and potential brain damage.

You can spar a lot if you keep it controlled most of the time to reduce injuries.

 

[Ironbear24]

You can spar a lot if you keep it controlled most of the time to reduce injuries.

I was talking about full contact sparring. Controlled sparring is a lot different from full contact but yeah you can do that, you can still get your bell rung though.

 

[Midnight-shadow]

So here is a follow-up question. Do you think it's worthwhile to have students do drills for techniques and then get them to freestyle spar, with the stipulation that they use the technique they have been drilling at some point during that sparring? Or should you keep the sparring completely freestyle and let people add in new techniques when they feel ready for it?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

So here is a follow-up question. Do you think it's worthwhile to have students do drills for techniques and then get them to freestyle spar, with the stipulation that they use the technique they have been drilling at some point during that sparring? Or should you keep the sparring completely freestyle and let people add in new techniques when they feel ready for it?

If you put that restriction in, it's not really freestyle any more. It's now sparring with a specific intent and objective. That's a useful thing, but not quite the same as freestyle sparring, because the student will be consciously looking for the opportunity to do that specific technique, and will operate differently than they would without that restriction, even when they aren't actually doing the technique. The earlier in a student's training, the more true this is.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

But can you do too much sparring? Can do you too little sparring?

Old saying said, "If you don't spar for 3 days, your arms and legs will no longer be yours." I strongly believe in that.

Sometime I will knock on my neighbor's door, ask him if he is willing to spar with me. If he says no, I will then tell him that I'll just play defense and he can attack me anyway he feels like and I will not fight back. Even with that kind of condition, sometime it's still difficult for me to get a sparring partner.

My wife has a black belt in TKD. Sometime I just ask her to attack me anyway she feels like to. I enjoy the arm and leg contact very much.

If you want to learn how to fight, fight.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

So here is a follow-up question. Do you think it's worthwhile to have students do drills for techniques and then get them to freestyle spar, with the stipulation that they use the technique they have been drilling at some point during that sparring? Or should you keep the sparring completely freestyle and let people add in new techniques when they feel ready for it?

Sometime I like my sparring to be very simple.

If you can hit me with the initial 20 punches, you win that round. Otherwise I win that round. Test this for 15 rounds. Whoever wins over 8 rounds will be the winner that day.

 

[JowGaWolf]

So here is a follow-up question. Do you think it's worthwhile to have students do drills for techniques and then get them to freestyle spar, with the stipulation that they use the technique they have been drilling at some point during that sparring? Or should you keep the sparring completely freestyle and let people add in new techniques when they feel ready for it?

They should be using the techniques that they know and have learned. Doing anything less than trying to use learned techniques is a waste of time. If they drill a technique then they should be learning how to apply the technique. It makes no sense to train and drill a technique for 8 years and not once in the 8 years try to use that technique in sparring. The only exception would be for schools that don't train application and focus only on forms.

 

[JowGaWolf]

If you want to learn how to fight, fight.

pretty much

 

[JR 137]

They should be using the techniques that they know and have learned. Doing anything less than trying to use learned techniques is a waste of time. If they drill a technique then they should be learning how to apply the technique. It makes no sense to train and drill a technique for 8 years and not once in the 8 years try to use that technique in sparring. The only exception would be for schools that don't train application and focus only on forms.

I agree for the most part. Or better yet, I agree in principle. Some things you just can't practice in sparring. We do kesentsu geri - joint kick (side kick to the knees); can't do that one in sparring. Elbows to the head, knife hand (or anything else) to the throat and back of the neck, etc. So sparring does sometimes resemble kickboxing more than actual karate. We'll do pre-arranged sparring where stuff like this is incorporated, but doing those things under any other moving conditions is a no-no. I sure don't want someone to throw a side kick at my knees, even if that person's very well controlled and won't make contact; what if I move the wrong way and turn/walk into it? There goes training for quite a while.

 

[kuniggety]

So here is a follow-up question. Do you think it's worthwhile to have students do drills for techniques and then get them to freestyle spar, with the stipulation that they use the technique they have been drilling at some point during that sparring? Or should you keep the sparring completely freestyle and let people add in new techniques when they feel ready for it?

I've seen this done/do it a lot in BJJ rolling/sparring. It's called positional rolling/sparring. How do you do this in striking though? Just insist on some point in the sparring the person has to use an "overhand right" as an example? If it's in their arsenal, I would expect them to be using it. I'm curious as to how this would work.

 

[Midnight-shadow]

I've seen this done/do it a lot in BJJ rolling/sparring. It's called positional rolling/sparring. How do you do this in striking though? Just insist on some point in the sparring the person has to use an "overhand right" as an example? If it's in their arsenal, I would expect them to be using it. I'm curious as to how this would work.

Pretty much yes. On Monday during kickboxing training we were practicing our basic jab-punch-roundhouse combo, and so when we sparred I set myself the goal of using it at least once against every opponent. This wasn't something set by the instructor, but more of a personal goal to use the combo that we had been training previously.

 

[Headhunter]

Old saying said, "If you don't spar for 3 days, your arms and legs will no longer be yours." I strongly believe in that.

Sometime I will knock on my neighbor's door, ask him if he is willing to spar with me. If he says no, I will then tell him that I'll just play defense and he can attack me anyway he feels like and I will not fight back. Even with that kind of condition, sometime it's still difficult for me to get a sparring partner.

My wife has a black belt in TKD. Sometime I just ask her to attack me anyway she feels like to. I enjoy the arm and leg contact very much.

If you want to learn how to fight, fight.

Why don't you just go to a gym instead of bothering your neighbours

 

[Midnight-shadow]

They should be using the techniques that they know and have learned. Doing anything less than trying to use learned techniques is a waste of time. If they drill a technique then they should be learning how to apply the technique. It makes no sense to train and drill a technique for 8 years and not once in the 8 years try to use that technique in sparring. The only exception would be for schools that don't train application and focus only on forms.

I agree, however it's very tempting when it comes to sparring to only use techniques you are very familiar and comfortable with, especially if you are in the mindset of always wanting to "win" the sparring match. If I want to win the match, I will only use techniques I know 100% that work, and won't try experimenting with other unfamiliar techniques that I've just learned.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

They should be using the techniques that they know and have learned. Doing anything less than trying to use learned techniques is a waste of time. If they drill a technique then they should be learning how to apply the technique. It makes no sense to train and drill a technique for 8 years and not once in the 8 years try to use that technique in sparring. The only exception would be for schools that don't train application and focus only on forms.

I think his question was about using a specific technique, when newly learned, rather than just flowing to whatever technique feels right in the moment.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I think his question was about using a specific technique, when newly learned, rather than just flowing to whatever technique feels right in the moment.

Both are the same to me. A (non-lethal) technique that I have drilled for 8 years that I don't know how to apply in a sparring situation is the same as a technique that I just learn and am trying to apply to sparring. The "New" is new to applying it in sparring.

The applying of a technique that feels right in the moment is hard for me to explain. It's not the same as applying a technique that I feel comfortable with. All I know is that it requires the knowledge of multiple techniques. It won't happen if I only know or have drilled a couple of techniques. For example, this is not enough to get to the point of where I'm talking about. It's something to build upon but it doesn't have enough techniques to pull from. The techniques in this video are limited to certain attacks and defenses. Because of this it should be a faster learning experience.

This is similar to our beginner form. There's enough technique in this form that if practiced during sparring a student should be able to use 80% of what is here. At any point in time during sparring one of these techniques should feel like the attack or defense that should come next. The problem is that it's a lot of techniques to choose from and as a result students trying to think of what comes next instead of feeling what comes next. Not sure if that makes sense but it's the best way I can describe. "Applying a technique that feels right in the moment."

 

[Flying Crane]

Well, I will say that there is something to be said about keeping it simple. Developing one punch and one block and simple stepping and having some real power and authority with those couple of things, can be tremendously useful. I think a lot of people fall into the trap of believing they need a whole lot of stuff, a big curriculum, before they can possibly use the stuff or defend themselves. In fact, good skill with a very small number of things will get you through probably 99% of what is likely to come your way, in terms of self defense.

Kung fu forms tend to be long and contain a whole lot in them. One such form can be plenty to study for a long time, and in my opinion is far more than anyone strictly needs. I am not trying to discourage anyone from learning more, I have certainly learned a lot of them and I enjoy them. But the reality check is that in truth, they are far more than what is really needed.

 

[Tez3]

I enjoy the arm and leg contact very much.

Probably too much information.

Sparring people is good, sparing people is also good but they aren't the same thing...just saying.

 

[Sami Ibrahim]

There is no doubt that sparring helps you train, regardless of whether you are training for competition or self defence. But can you do too much sparring? Can do you too little sparring?

One should spar as much as possible at every opportunity and they should keep doing this even after they reach a high rank or a prestigious title or get old because it fights off the daily decrease and decay of skills over time from not doing it.

That being said... if you want to get skilled at a martial art, you should actually use sparring to practice the techniques of your art, If your art has chop to the side of the neck you should try to land that chop in sparring, (with control) if your art has a sweep or a certain joint lock, you should use sparring to get good at applying it, it may sound like common sense but many people seem to forget everything their martial art teaches when it comes to free sparring they don't even make an attempt at training any of their arts methods in freestyle, that kind of sparring is not good IMO.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Well, I will say that there is something to be said about keeping it simple. Developing one punch and one block and simple stepping and having some real power and authority with those couple of things, can be tremendously useful. I think a lot of people fall into the trap of believing they need a whole lot of stuff, a big curriculum, before they can possibly use the stuff or defend themselves. In fact, good skill with a very small number of things will get you through probably 99% of what is likely to come your way, in terms of self defense.

Kung fu forms tend to be long and contain a whole lot in them. One such form can be plenty to study for a long time, and in my opinion is far more than anyone strictly needs. I am not trying to discourage anyone from learning more, I have certainly learned a lot of them and I enjoy them. But the reality check is that in truth, they are far more than what is really needed.

As much as I like my kung fu forms, I have to agree completely with this. In my case. Basic kick, Basic Punch (for the style that is being trained) and basic block will go a long way. In terms of attacking and counter a person can pick one technique from each and that in itself is more than enough, provided that these simple things are trained in honest and explored. Just taking a basic heel kick, one can learn to target different areas of the body, which would open up different types of options and opportunities.

With kung fu, the numerous techniques available can overwhelm a person and a student may think that they have to use all of the techniques. In reality the steps to learning is simple; pick 1 technique to focus on, when you learn that pick another technique to focus on. Eventually it's possible to learn how to use all of them, but on by training and exploring 1 technique at a time. If a technique is just too difficult to understand or work, then drop that technique and pick another. Sometimes learning one technique will help with the understanding of another technique.