Twin Fist
Grandmaster
No tto mention, i dont have any choice, i just opened a few months back, and growth over the summer was very slow, i dont have a lot of students so they gotta fight who we have to fight.
Resisting strikes
- Thread starter rabbit
- Start date
BrandonLucas
3rd Black Belt
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2007
- Messages
- 902
- Reaction score
- 41
Like I was saying about how things are at our dojang...I weigh around 300 lbs myself, and I've sparred young kids that were around 10 years old or so, and maybe weighed 90 lbs soaking wet. But I did it on my knees...or else with light contact on my part, but the kids are allowed to unload on me.
If you have a small class, that you certainly have to work with what you have. But I'm willing to bet you're not having the adults kick the kids in the head, either. That's on a whole other level.
- Thread Starter
- #23
Thats part of the reason. Not enough students so you end up sappring the younger students. Can i get sued for hurting someone while sparring? We are supposed to be following orders from the instructor. If he says "kick him in the head" can I get sued for kicking them? It does seem like the instructors fault. I don't want to kick ten year olds.
BrandonLucas
3rd Black Belt
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2007
- Messages
- 902
- Reaction score
- 41
How much force are you sparring these kids with?
igillman
Purple Belt
At our do-jang we have done what I call "partial contact sparring". I had to spar a kid one time and the rules were that I had to do non-contact (not allowed to touch him) but he could do full contact on me. That worked out quite well, he got used to seeing kicks come at hime, when they would come and what direction they would come from without getting injured and he also got to feel what it was like to kick someone else.
- Thread Starter
- #26
very little but even thats too much in my opinion
I thought I was the only one who used "bad juju"
We sometimes allow adults to spar with kids. But, the adults job is to coach them on combos.(the adult usually just blocks) Since our school is like an extended family, our adults know to take it light. Sparring can be a very usefull tool for building cinfidence and it can be very detrimental to the students confidence- if done w/o control. In 18 years of teaching, I have yet to see an adult "smoke' a child with a kick.
It's been my observation when done correctly the kids really enjoy working with the adults.
It is best to seperate youth and adults.
There is a greater chance of kids getting hurt playing other sports like football or having a bicycle crash trying to jump something.
BrandonLucas
3rd Black Belt
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2007
- Messages
- 902
- Reaction score
- 41
I agree 100%. As long as the contact from adult to child is minimal, I don't see a problem in sparring with them. It's great practice for them, and it makes it interesting when the adults have to limit what they are able to do.
BrandonLucas
3rd Black Belt
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2007
- Messages
- 902
- Reaction score
- 41
Sorry to get off topic there.
Yes, extra bodyweight does help resist strikes...but I think alot of it has to do with conditioning. Someone who does no physical activity and has a lot of body mass is not going to be able to resist punishment the same as someone who is regularly physically active and has a lot of body mass.
Brad Dunne
Brown Belt
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2005
- Messages
- 472
- Reaction score
- 25
As Kwanjang has pointed out, sparring against kids has value both ways. If you want to really have some fun in your training/sparring, put on the pads and chest guard. Then let the kid your matched against go full out and try to get in a clean good point. All i'm allowed to do is soft block and evade. I always would offer a free soft drink if they got a good scoring point. You'll be surprised at just how intense they can get for a free coke and you'll also surprise yourself at how quickly you advance in your evasive tactics and movements. The only time you have to be careful is when they gang up on you and make you run for cover and their laughing all the while their doing it. 
- Thread Starter
- #32
In no way am I trying to blame my instructor for my lack of control but, if he says to kick a person in the head and I say "No, i don't want to" he should be able to deal with it. Right? I dont want to get sued for giving a kid a concussion.
BrandonLucas
3rd Black Belt
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2007
- Messages
- 902
- Reaction score
- 41
You should be able to explain to your instructor that you do not feel comfortable being put in the situation to kick someone smaller than you in the head out of fear of injuring the other person.
If your instructor is a good instructor, he/she will understand your reservation, and more than likely commend you on making a good judgement call.
Just a comment regarding the Susan Bateman case, she was found not guilty on all counts in the case. I don't have firsthand familiarity with the case, but there is a very long thread on it over on Martial Arts Forum, and in the grand scheme, her schools are not that far from me (one state over).
After reading about that case from beginning to end, I doubt that she did anything really wrong, but the case shows just how careful we as instructors need to be. Which ties this in with the OP...
...with ten year olds, it isn't a case of mass. The issue with children is that their bodies are still developing and their bones and joints are more susceptible to serious damage than a teens or adults. Parents also tend to 'wig out' a lot more when they see their kid bruised or injured after any activity, and justified or not, there are those who will sue, regardless of circumstances.
Which brings me to my pet peeve of ten year old blackbelts. Others here have stated that a blackbelt should be able to handle themselves with anyone regardless of size. No ten year old can realistically do that.
Regarding mass itself, mass, be it muscle, fat, or a combination of the two, does insulate bones and innards from shock to a degree. Your instructor's thing with kicks to the head, however, is independent of mass. There isn't enough fat or muscle around a head to protect against brain damage and kids don't have the muscle developement to protect against damage to their necks.
Daniel
Twin Fist
Grandmaster
I make sure they are ALL using control, since they are all beginners. I tell them, get harder as your control gets better.
Student: when will I know if my control is better?
Me: your belt will be darker than it is now...........
BrandonLucas
3rd Black Belt
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2007
- Messages
- 902
- Reaction score
- 41
Control should be the name of the game, especially when sparring children. Usually, by the time their control is better, and they're higher in rank, they're at the age where you don't have to worry too much about being easy with them.
