My son sparring

Getting ready for nationals this month. We have been busy playing basketball and haven't focused as much on sparring...so he is a little off.

Any critiques or advice is welcome.

Already addressed that he is over blitzing and not giving himself room to throw combinations.

 

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but your son is pretty darn talented.

 

Thanks.

My oldest son (17) does the video editing. They have a lot of fun putting them together.

 

Groin kick was classic. lol. People kick high and forget what is exposed. Lucky for the other guy it was just point sparring. lol. Thanks for posting. Unfortunately I don't have any suggestions for point sparring.

I did like that he wasn't doing that TKD bouncing and that he was working the angles. He seems to be really comfortable with his feet and body movement compared to his opponents.

 

Yeah couple years ago I noticed so many competitors tend to bounce and fight in straight lines....I boxed in high school so I started working with him in the driveway on movement and footwork and his sparring really took off.

 

Keep up the good work with training with him.

 

I'm kicking around with working on a little more head movement. When he pulls out of exchanges and creates distance he usually does good to keep his head back and exit at an angle.

But he always exits standing kinda leaning back and tall. Thinking about working on changing levels and exiting with a lower head level sometimes.

What do you think? Lower head position or his normal leaning back position as he exits.

 

Good point sparring and for what it is meant to be its good but Im just not a fan of that fight style of hands down, bringing both feet off the floor throwing arm punches running imto your opponent.

I respect it in competition but I just don't enjoy it as it breaks all the rules of the actual marial art to get points in a competition and makes bad habits.

 

You need to find a way to throw a shot of that backward cross step. The movements good. but a little wasted.

 

I'm from another style; so, it may or may not apply, but, I believe in my heart, he would be better off keeping his guard up, at all times.

 

He could get punted in the head on the way out if he comes out low.

 

I have a student who trained Shotokan for many years, and he has that habit. I'm going to show him your son's video so he can see how much of a timing advantage there is to not constantly bouncing.

 

Pull the chin back on the egress. Level change on egress is good in boxing but kick defense is not a concern. Lowering the level is a good way to get head punted.

He also tends to keep the head back (chin high) when engaging. Not so much a concern in point fighting with no punches to the front of the head but terrible for full contact with the chin open to strikes.

 

I agree about the crashing into his opponent and feet coming off the ground.

That's what seemed off. He is supposed to be blitzing in to get into range but giving himself space to throw clean crisp combos and then getting out at an angle.

Also working on when he comes in moving a little to the left or right to create a better angle.

 

His Sensei agrees....but my son his hard headed and we are just waiting for him to learn the hard way.

 

lol. I like his Sensei already. All that matters is that his Sensei understands the problems with point sparring, because he's the one that will be correcting the bad habits lol. Things will change if your son does any type of continuous sparring in school.

 

At the Dojo, the bulk of the sparring is continuous but he is quick enough that most of the time he can duck, dodge, or slip most stuff.

But in the organization we compete in at the adult division, face contact is allowed, so his Sensei keeps telling him he needs to fix that or get good dental insurance but again he is a little hard headed.

I blame his mom for the stubbornness Lol.

 

Well then maybe he should be training at a different school. I'm not saying to discredit the current one as I have no knowledge either way but if he's the best in the club then he's not truly getting pushed or tested as well as he could somewhere else so he won't improve as much fighting people lower than him.
And it seems to be already happening as he's over confident thinking he's better than everyone so he can just dodge and ignore the basics. Over confidence in martial arts is a very dangerous thing especially at a young age.

 

I was trying to figure out a way to say that talent will get you killed, but I wouldn't pull him out of the school, for God's sake... unless, of course, you find a nice kenpo school down the road.

 

I have no idea what that's supposed to mean but if he truly Is better than everyone else in the club he's not getting as much out of it as he could and if he's as serious about competing as his dad makes out it'd do him good to spar people way better. Even if he just trains at a different place on different nights and still goes to his school but at least he'd get more experience