Opinions on 1step sparring?

[FlamingJulian]

My opinion is that it is okay but in a real fight or sparring match no one would leave their hand out for you to block and counter attack. Maybe I'm wrong tho. Any other opinions on it?

 

[Paul_D]

My opinion is that it is okay but in a real fight or sparring match no one would leave their hand out for you to block and counter attack. Maybe I'm wrong tho. Any other opinions on it?

No they wouldn’t, but as one step sparring isn’t supposed to be a simulation of a real fight then I don’t see an issue.

 

[FlamingJulian]

No they wouldn’t, but as one step sparring isn’t supposed to be a simulation of a real fight then I don’t see an issue.

That's basically my problem with it. I want it to be realistic to fighting.


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[Touch Of Death]

My opinion is that it is okay but in a real fight or sparring match no one would leave their hand out for you to block and counter attack. Maybe I'm wrong tho. Any other opinions on it?

They want to see you can do this simple task, before turning it up. Just go with it.

 

[FlamingJulian]

They want to see you can do this simple task, before turning it up. Just go with it.

True


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[Gerry Seymour]

My opinion is that it is okay but in a real fight or sparring match no one would leave their hand out for you to block and counter attack. Maybe I'm wrong tho. Any other opinions on it?

If I'm understanding you, what you're calling "one step sparring" is just practicing a technique. When you first get a technique, you aren't able to do it at speed, or with any accuracy, so your partner leaves the hand/arm/leg/head/whatever hanging out there for you to work with. That should eventually transition to you doing something (breaking balance, striking, pulling/grabbing, etc.) to keep it available for the bit of a second it takes to do the technique.

Unfortunately, this sort of practice is what the YouTube warriors love to point at and show how bad an art is. It doesn't help that some schools' students develop a habit of hanging that arm out there, and do it even when working with techniques "at speed".

 

[Gerry Seymour]

That's basically my problem with it. I want it to be realistic to fighting.


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You have to do something unrealistic to make time for your response while you learn the technique. One option is to slow both attack and response down to 50% of speed. Unfortunately, most students suck at keeping realistic momentum, timing, and structure at that speed. So, the most common alternative is to go at higher speed (maybe 75%), and fail to retract quickly, so the defender can work on the technique. It's just a drilling method for getting good enough to put it into a more realistic context.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

1. One step "sparring" is a valid training tool, although I don't really consider it sparring.
2. Having the attacker leave their punch hanging out doesn't have to be a component of one-step sparring, although that seems to be traditional in many karate and TKD schools.
3. I personally don't like the practice of having the attacker leaving their punch out in these drills. Not because it doesn't accurately simulate a fight (it's only a drill, not a simulation), but because it can lead to a variety of bad habits and misunderstandings about how the technique can be applied.
4. The practice of leaving the punch extended often goes hand in hand with the practice of having the "attacker" throw the punch from out of range so that it couldn't even connect with the defender. This makes the problem much worse. Students can learn very bad habits concerning timing, distancing, and angling.
5. If you are training in a school which does mandate practicing this way, then you have to go along with the program as presented by your instructor. Nevertheless, you can maximize your benefit from the drill by imagining that your partner is not going to keep his hand extended and working your timing accordingly.

 

[FlamingJulian]

If I'm understanding you, what you're calling "one step sparring" is just practicing a technique. When you first get a technique, you aren't able to do it at speed, or with any accuracy, so your partner leaves the hand/arm/leg/head/whatever hanging out there for you to work with. That should eventually transition to you doing something (breaking balance, striking, pulling/grabbing, etc.) to keep it available for the bit of a second it takes to do the technique.

Unfortunately, this sort of practice is what the YouTube warriors love to point at and show how bad an art is. It doesn't help that some schools' students develop a habit of hanging that arm out there, and do it even when working with techniques "at speed".

Yeah IK what I mean


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[FlamingJulian]

You have to do something unrealistic to make time for your response while you learn the technique. One option is to slow both attack and response down to 50% of speed. Unfortunately, most students suck at keeping realistic momentum, timing, and structure at that speed. So, the most common alternative is to go at higher speed (maybe 75%), and fail to retract quickly, so the defender can work on the technique. It's just a drilling method for getting good enough to put it into a more realistic context.

In my class they don't like when we perform a technique at full speed


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[Touch Of Death]

In my class they don't like when we perform a technique at full speed


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You aren't ready yet.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

1. One step "sparring" is a valid training tool, although I don't really consider it sparring.
2. Having the attacker leave their punch hanging out doesn't have to be a component of one-step sparring, although that seems to be traditional in many karate and TKD schools.
3. I personally don't like the practice of having the attacker leaving their punch out in these drills. Not because it doesn't accurately simulate a fight (it's only a drill, not a simulation), but because it can lead to a variety of bad habits and misunderstandings about how the technique can be applied.
4. The practice of leaving the punch extended often goes hand in hand with the practice of having the "attacker" throw the punch from out of range so that it couldn't even connect with the defender. This makes the problem much worse. Students can learn very bad habits concerning timing, distancing, and angling.
5. If you are training in a school which does mandate practicing this way, then you have to go along with the program as presented by your instructor. Nevertheless, you can maximize your benefit from the drill by imagining that your partner is not going to keep his hand extended and working your timing accordingly.

#4 is a common result of this type of practice. It's something I've experienced, and something I have to watch for in my own students. It even makes people do the techniques wrong (pulling where they shouldn't have to, for instance). I think it often comes from students picking the wrong point at which to stop and figure out how to finish the technique. If they go just past where they blocked the punch, they don't have to have the attacker hang it out there, and the attacker doesn't learn the bad habits so easily.

 

[FlamingJulian]

You aren't ready yet.

Well you'd have to see me perform them. Lol. I would say I'm ready because I do it at home anyway. Plus I'm getting my black belt very soon and know some techniques from other fighting styles.


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[Gerry Seymour]

In my class they don't like when we perform a technique at full speed


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I highly discourage students below a certain skill level from practicing at anything approaching full speed, for safety reasons. A student recently injured another student by going too fast on a shoulder lock. They want to go at the speed I sometimes show them (so they can see what the technique looks like at speed), but they don't yet have the sensitivity to keep their partner safe.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Well you'd have to see me perform them. Lol. I would say I'm ready because I do it at home anyway. Plus I'm getting my black belt very soon and know some techniques from other fighting styles.


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If your black belt level is close to ours, then you probably are ready to do them faster. There's still merit in also doing them slower and in 1-step format - it lets you examine what makes the technique available, workable, or a failure.

 

[Headhunter]

At the end of the day are you going to use that exact patterns in a fight no of course not but to be honest that's the same with any combination or technique in a real fight or even sparring you're not going to throw the perfect combination you've been drilling all the drills are for to give you muscle memory and the tools and the thought pattern to put everything together and adapt to anything. It's all useful in it's own way. Anything Is better than nothing.

 

[FlamingJulian]

I highly discourage students below a certain skill level from practicing at anything approaching full speed, for safety reasons. A student recently injured another student by going too fast on a shoulder lock. They want to go at the speed I sometimes show them (so they can see what the technique looks like at speed), but they don't yet have the sensitivity to keep their partner safe.

I understand the whole safety thing but I broke my pinky toe going slow. But I understand it and my master told me that I'm ready for my black belt test and that he thinks I'll pass so at black belt level you should be able to go fast


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[FlamingJulian]

At the end of the day are you going to use that exact patterns in a fight no of course not but to be honest that's the same with any combination or technique in a real fight or even sparring you're not going to throw the perfect combination you've been drilling all the drills are for to give you muscle memory and the tools and the thought pattern to put everything together and adapt to anything. It's all useful in it's own way. Anything Is better than nothing.

Yeah that is true


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[FlamingJulian]

If your black belt level is close to ours, then you probably are ready to do them faster. There's still merit in also doing them slower and in 1-step format - it lets you examine what makes the technique available, workable, or a failure.

Yeah I agree. I just think that we focus too much on safety and not enough on realism


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[Gerry Seymour]

I understand the whole safety thing but I broke my pinky toe going slow. But I understand it and my master told me that I'm ready for my black belt test and that he thinks I'll pass so at black belt level you should be able to go fast


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Hmm...I'd be interested to hear how you broke your toe going slowly. Of course, there's always risks, and they are fewer at lower speeds.

If one of my students wasn't capable of going a near-speed, I wouldn't consider them for black belt. I do know an instructor who doesn't consider anything faster than 75% speed to be safe (and he has plenty of real-world experience, so it's not a lack of skill on his part).