Some Wednesday Night Sparring

[JowGaWolf]

Did some sparring at the end of class today. Hope you enjoy.

One more thing about the low block /parry against a front kick. It has to have enough force to disrupt your opponent's balance. You can use a hard enough strikes (Half-Power - Full Power strikes) to do that, or you can use a softer method using the block/parry to push the leg outward a little. If you move your body and your low block / parry together then your body weight help with your efforts so that you don't have to use so much of your arm.

New stuff below

In reference to the low block. This is where you get into trouble. And here is how I would fight / spar with you in real time.

1. After a few kicks I will start to notice that you block round house kicks like this.
2. I would throw a few round house kicks so that you can successfully block them and so you can feel good about your ability to block.
3. Once I think you have a good enough read on my kick, I would change the height of my kick and send a kick to your head.
4. You get kicked in the head. Below you are looking at my opportunity to kick you in the head.

I know this opportunity exists because of #3. #3 means that you will anticipate my kick and not actually see my kick. Anticipating my kick means that you will actually execute your block early vs on time.

"On time" means you are watching. Early means you are anticipating so you do something with the assumption that an attack will head there. A real world example. "On time" would be like catching a glass that suddenly falls off the counter. You don't know the glass was going to fall off the counter, but you either saw it in the corner of your eye, or you felt it about to move in a away that informed that it was going to fall. "Early" would be like watching a cat slowly push a glass off the edge of the counter so you place your hand in position before the glass actually falls. The only thing you know in this situation, is if the cat continues to push then the glass will fall. In terms of sparring you are fighting the "cat".

You know that if the kick continues on the path, that your block will work. However if the kick changes path you will be helpless to defend against it in time.
In the picture below your sparring partner is the cat. You are fully committed to that kick being where you think it will be, so much that it appears that you look down to wait for it.

The picture below show the same thing but this time you are the cat and your sparring partner is just waiting for the kick to land where she thinks it will be which is why her hands don't move.

This picture makes i clear just how dangerous it is to "wait" for a kick to be where you think it will land. Notice that your sparring partner's arms have changed from a fighting guard to a blocking position as if the kick is going go under her block and not over it. In the video she gets kick in the chest. If you had more flexibility then you would have easily kick her in the side of the head.

It appears that you have "stiff hips" as if something isn't moving correctly in your kicking process or that it's flexibility. This is what I'm seeing even when you kick to the body. I'm not sure if you are turning your the heel of your standing leg towards your opponent enough before kicking. Notice in the picture below how the standing legs heel points at an angle towards the opponent. I don't think your foot does this and as a result it's causing you to kick at an angle that isn't efficient for your hip or flexibility. Turning that foot a little more may allow you to open your hips up a little more and get better kicks.

 

[JowGaWolf]

So If a student tells you they don't want to wear gloves they'd be allowed to spar bare knuckle then would they?

When I taught.. Yes, but the student would have had to demonstrate that they had enough control to spar bare knuckle. They would have to also have shown an ability to spar to learn vs sparring to win.

that's naive to think sparring will always stay nice and light to moderate. Also the risk of an accidental punch to the face out of instinct...in my opinion you should change because if someone gets seriously injured in there and you didn't make them wear protective gear you'll be liable for it if they decide to sue.

All of this can happen even with protective gear on. If students or practitioners can't control their sparring intensity, pull a punch, not act on instinct (flinch reactions), and have no ability to pull a punch when necessary then that student should work more on their control. If the student can't control what they do then that's when the accidental slips become dangerous. If they can't control what they do then they shouldn't do it.
Bare knuckl sparring

For example, you don't want this crap. That body shot at the end shouldn't have been that hard. Just because you see an opening doesn't mean you blast a punch in there. The guy in the tank top doesn't have enough control.

Here another example of 2 different skill levels.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I don’t see the problem with no foot pads...if you compete in the Ozawa Cup you don’t even wear footpads.

I laugh at footpads because all of the sparring videos that you guys have seen of me have been with shoes on lol

So to me the entire conversation about footpads and protective gear is strange to me. lol.

Also when you watch my videos, I get punched in the face a lot where there is no padding

 

[pdg]

It appears that you have "stiff hips" as if something isn't moving correctly in your kicking process or that it's flexibility. This is what I'm seeing even when you kick to the body. I'm not sure if you are turning your the heel of your standing leg towards your opponent enough before kicking. Notice in the picture below how the standing legs heel points at an angle towards the opponent. I don't think your foot does this and as a result it's causing you to kick at an angle that isn't efficient for your hip or flexibility. Turning that foot a little more may allow you to open your hips up a little more and get better kicks.

I don't think it's flexibility, I'm pretty sure it's technique - not pivoting the support foot enough nor turning the hips enough.

The same thing is evident in one of the forms/patterns videos, where the turning kick is almost closer to a snap kick.

That support foot really needs to be at least 90 degrees to the target.

I think it's possible this is from starting young and bendy - you can get the attacking foot into the right position with less reliance on the support positioning. If that's not noticed it can slip into programming and become this sort of issue later... Where I started older and stiffer, I really had to work on getting the whole kinetic chain lined up properly to connect anywhere near right.

 

[spidersam]

Great video, thanks for sharing. I'm no expert at my level, but just from watching I would say it appears there's a decent amount of wasteful swinging movement to prepare for kicks/punches. I think cleaning that up could save a lot of energy. Also less wind-ups before attacks and more quick snaps would help improve. Open to discussion!

 

[JowGaWolf]

Low blocking technique against around house. The technique being used is different that the one I discussed above but it works off the same concept of disrupting the kick. Screenshots only. I was sparring against a TKD guy here (I think can't remember anyone). He liked to do round house kicks and I started to pick up the pattern

Phase one. Invite the kick: High guard invites low round house. Notice the stance position of my opponent. He's ready to kick and I'm looking for the kick that I want.

Phase two. Timing: (sorry about the blur, I don't have a highspeed camera) There are 2 things that I know about all round house kicks to the body. The power is on the end of the kick. Going forward makes the kick impact weaker, Going backwards makes the kick impact stronger. I understand that I need to move when he's in the process of launching the kick. What you are seeing below is me lifting my lead leg so I can advance forward and "step into my technique" which will redirect that kick. If I stay where I am then it will be force vs force and I will loose. Forward is the only option

Phase three. Strike the leg: The technique that I'm using is actually a punching technique from my system. At this point I'm intentionally attacking his leg, above the knee. This has multiple functions.
1. Makes that leg tender
2. Stops the rotation of that kick in the event he decides to rise it higher. You may be able to tell that I'm not waiting for the kick to land on my technique. I'm applying the technique to his kick and by doing so I'm able to land my technique before he lands his, which in turn disrupts his kick. You can verify this by looking at the angle of my opponents standing leg. Look at the direction of his heel.

Phase three causes redirect. Here is a clearer picture fo the redirection caused by the technique. You can also see me bail out of the technique, which I should have. You can see me turn my hand into a hooking hand to catch kicking leg. On reflection I think this happened because I didn't use enough force on the technique to redirect, or because the time was running out on the sparring clock, so instead of blasting through with the technique I decided to be prepared to stop. It looks like he's kicking my arm but he's not. Impact started long before his leg got to this height, much of the power from this kick would have been zapped at this point. At this point I'm lifting his leg, which is what I should be doing. I should be advancing at this point to land the reverse punch or my long arm technique, which is like a long upper cut.

Phase 4. Unplanned hook of kick. Because I bailed out of my technique, I'm no longer able to complete the technique that I originally was going for. As you can see, his leg is hooked, and I don't want to drop my hand. I want him to struggle to lift his leg over my hook.

Phase 5 Improvise. What's available? Sometimes this happens. It's normal. Sometimes your original plan changes so you have to do the next best thing. Bailing out of my original technique only left me the option to reverse punch. Had I intentionally planned to hook his like, I would hooked it different way which would have allowed me to get a better and more secure lift of his leg, and an opportunity to sweep. But I didn't so I have to take the opportunity that I see at the time. You can see me well into the process of what could have been a decent reverse punch. At this point the round ends so we both just disengage.

Very important. Do not try to make your technique look like mine. it should take the shape of what it looks like in the form. When I get time, I'll do a short video showing the application of that technique as I understand it.

 

[JR 137]

@Azulx
Great videos. You’ve improved quite a bit, and your students are far better for it. I commend your coachability; people have pointed out things in the past, and you’ve really taken them to heart and did it. Just look at the earlier videos and see the comments, and look at this one and re-read the old comments. You addressed them.

A lot of great comments here. Some are beyond my level, so I won’t get into it.

The thing I saw most was you and your students dropping your hands during attacking and defending.

The yellow belt needs to get quicker with his spinning kicks, as he’s exposing his back for too long before and after the leg kicks. But that’s to be expected at his rank.

He drops his head and turns away slightly at times when he’s getting pressured, but far less than a lot of people I’ve seen at that rank (6-10 months of experience or so?).

They look great, as do you. Nothing jumps out at me like it did before. Keep refining!

 

[JR 137]

As to sparring gear...

IMO it’s a necessary evil. If anyone’s going to wear anything, wear head gear. My current organization didn’t wear it until our founder (Tadashi Nakamura) was at another organization’s tournament. A competitor was swept and landed on the back of his head on the hardwood floor. His skull was fractured. The guy needed several surgeries and had significant brain trauma. It was a routine sweep; nothing fancy, the guy didn’t pick him up and drop him, he didn’t go airborne, etc. From that moment on, headgear that covers the back of the head was made mandatory in all dojos in our organization.

A local dojo owner was sued for practically the same thing. Students were sparring in class and one was swept, landing on the back of his head onto the hardwood floor. Significant trauma. Putting on headgear would’ve helped. The teacher making them wear it would’ve been his due diligence and saved him quite a bit in paying out damages. Had the student still had the injuries while wearing sufficient headgear, the liability would’ve been far more on the helmet manufacturer than the teacher. That lawsuit closed his dojo.

But forget liability. Do you want your students sustaining easily avoidable head trauma? The head gear may not eliminate it completely, but at least it helps and shows you’re doing your part to protect them.

And I’m out of the protective gear conversation.

 

[dvcochran]

Did some sparring at the end of class today. Hope you enjoy.

IMHO, your upper body technique looks ok but your kicks are weak. You are swinging them up, using little or no knee, quad, hip. The body posture for hand strikes is too tilted back, I assume to prep for a kick. It makes the hands slow. The sparring is totally linear in motion. That is the sparring dance. "I'll advance then you advance". Side to side and circular is most effective.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Regarding head gear first: I would advocate for headgear, I never really used it, and have suffered concussions in the double digits, and am only 24...not something I'm exactly happy about. I don't like them either, but I've learned the hard way with that. Regarding foot gear, I never used it, neither did my partners, and it didn't seem as big an issue. Safety is always the better option, but at the same time if she is entering a tournament without them, it's worth practicing sometimes (not all the time) without it.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Heads up for this comment...I did not read all the other comments so I may be repeating things. Took notes on my phone on all three of you while I was watching, so just going to post those...it's a bit of word vomit, so my apologies if they are jumbled. If you need clarification on any of it, let me know. And if you want timestamps for any of my comments, just let me know and I'll specify.

Also, should I be offended I wasn't tagged to review ? (JK obviously)

YELLOW: Footwork footwork footwork. Particularly retreating. Learn angles. Some slow sparring may help him to learn technique/strategy/balancing/timing. Not going to say much more, as there are things he can work on, but he should focus on the fundamentals (AKA footwork/timing) first.
BLUE: She should learn what distance/range she wants to be at, and maintain that distance. But don't just stay static in that position, move around a bit inside the range. Against the yellowbelt, she rushed a bit, when she could have done better fighting a bit farther outside. In another of the matches against him, she stayed right inside 'the pocket' where if he was better it would have been dangerous (you should never assume your opponent is still learning...unless you're goal is teaching). Against you, you were in control of the distance, and she seemed to engage at whatever range you set. There were times that she tried to break your range, but it wasn't very effective...she mainly tried to rush in, and it was obvious from the video what she was trying to do.
YOU: Wow. You have improved immensely. Like a serious amount. Your hands and footwork are so much better. You've got a pretty good head fade, that I would use more often (take that with a grain of salt...read the last post about concussions lol). I would also suggest that you focus on comboing different kicks...you're better at comboing punches and kicks, or the same kick, but comboing different kicks could help you a bit more (unless that was intentional because you were focusing on something and/or trying to teach). Also, noticed while I went back to write for blue, when she tries to rush in, using a front kick or a 'forward' side kick could help you stop that rush, and help her learn to be more tactful (is that the right word?) when changing ranges.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Also want to commend you on one other thing. @JR 137 already stated this, but comments people have made in the past, you've picked up on, worked on, and improved from. I can see the different changes you've made as a result of that, and it's paying off. Sorry I didn't have more advice specifically for you this time around...hopefully some of the other did).

I would also recommend that you take a look at this video you posted a while ago, so that you can see the changes

 

[JowGaWolf]

A competitor was swept and landed on the back of his head on the hardwood floor.

Valid point. sometimes its the head hitting ground / floor that is a risk.

 

[hoshin1600]

As to sparring gear...

IMO it’s a necessary evil. If anyone’s going to wear anything, wear head gear. My current organization didn’t wear it until our founder (Tadashi Nakamura) was at another organization’s tournament. A competitor was swept and landed on the back of his head on the hardwood floor. His skull was fractured. The guy needed several surgeries and had significant brain trauma. It was a routine sweep; nothing fancy, the guy didn’t pick him up and drop him, he didn’t go airborne, etc. From that moment on, headgear that covers the back of the head was made mandatory in all dojos in our organization.

A local dojo owner was sued for practically the same thing. Students were sparring in class and one was swept, landing on the back of his head onto the hardwood floor. Significant trauma. Putting on headgear would’ve helped. The teacher making them wear it would’ve been his due diligence and saved him quite a bit in paying out damages. Had the student still had the injuries while wearing sufficient headgear, the liability would’ve been far more on the helmet manufacturer than the teacher. That lawsuit closed his dojo.

But forget liability. Do you want your students sustaining easily avoidable head trauma? The head gear may not eliminate it completely, but at least it helps and shows you’re doing your part to protect them.

And I’m out of the protective gear conversation.

Maybe I was wrong in my comment. Your post reminded me of the time I went down and cracked my head on the dojo floor. At that time mats were unheard of. My instructor did a sweep on me from a blind spot and I had no clue it was coming. I went down fast and it sucked big time.
As much as I hate it,, $÷! ¥ happens and maybe protective gear is important.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Maybe I was wrong in my comment. Your post reminded me of the time I went down and cracked my head on the dojo floor. At that time mats were unheard of. My instructor did a sweep on me from a blind spot and I had no clue it was coming. I went down fast and it sucked big time.
As much as I hate it,, $÷! ¥ happens and maybe protective gear is important.

I swept someone during a friendly sparring match and when I viewed the video in slow motion, I noticed that he hit the back of his head on the floor when he landed. I was thankful that the floor had great padding and that it wasn't a hard floor.

I actually ban certain sweeps in sparring if the floor is hard, because I'm so afraid that someone will get a surprise sweep and will have a serious head injury when they hit the floor.

 

[Azulx]

Hmm what did I see.

Her distance control and timing vs the yellow belt was good, but he seemed timid. It was less so vs your aggressive tactics. Keep pressuring her in sparring like that to improve her counter game.

I'm no tkd guy, so I don't know what the theory is behind keeping your hands down( especially the rear hand), but if head punching is allowed you might want to get them up. Vs a good puncher an always on line undefended head is pretty much a BOB.

Other than that good stuff. At least you are sparring.

Yeah, I've had low guard since I've been about a blue belt. It's not the best habit. I'm trying to bait my opponents to strike high, since in TKD there will be a lot of body kicks, at least in my TKD.

 

[Headhunter]

As to sparring gear...

IMO it’s a necessary evil. If anyone’s going to wear anything, wear head gear. My current organization didn’t wear it until our founder (Tadashi Nakamura) was at another organization’s tournament. A competitor was swept and landed on the back of his head on the hardwood floor. His skull was fractured. The guy needed several surgeries and had significant brain trauma. It was a routine sweep; nothing fancy, the guy didn’t pick him up and drop him, he didn’t go airborne, etc. From that moment on, headgear that covers the back of the head was made mandatory in all dojos in our organization.

A local dojo owner was sued for practically the same thing. Students were sparring in class and one was swept, landing on the back of his head onto the hardwood floor. Significant trauma. Putting on headgear would’ve helped. The teacher making them wear it would’ve been his due diligence and saved him quite a bit in paying out damages. Had the student still had the injuries while wearing sufficient headgear, the liability would’ve been far more on the helmet manufacturer than the teacher. That lawsuit closed his dojo.

But forget liability. Do you want your students sustaining easily avoidable head trauma? The head gear may not eliminate it completely, but at least it helps and shows you’re doing your part to protect them.

And I’m out of the protective gear conversation.

Pretty much exactly what I was saying, there's to much of this macho bs surrounding protective gear. People saying oh you wear head gear/ foot pads etc your a wimp. Well personally I'd rather be a wimp and healthy than be a tough guy and have serious injuries or seriously injure my friends

 

[Azulx]

IMHO, your upper body technique looks ok but your kicks are weak. You are swinging them up, using little or no knee, quad, hip. The body posture for hand strikes is too tilted back, I assume to prep for a kick. It makes the hands slow. The sparring is totally linear in motion. That is the sparring dance. "I'll advance then you advance". Side to side and circular is most effective.

Everything still needs a lot of work, but if you saw were I was 6 months ago you'd understand that there has been significant improvement.

 

[Azulx]

Pretty much exactly what I was saying, there's to much of this macho bs surrounding protective gear. People saying oh you wear head gear/ foot pads etc your a wimp. Well personally I'd rather be a wimp and healthy than be a tough guy and have serious injuries or seriously injure my friends

I would agree that not using sparring gear under the sole purpose of being macho, is ridiculous. There should be a purpose for lack or more sparring gear. Less gear requires training partners to be intentional about each other's safety.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

I got confused when the video started because I knew neither of the people sparring was you. I had to check to make sure I wasn’t thinking of someone else.

You’ve come a long way from the first videos you posted. You are still throwing your punches from too far away but not as badly as you used to.

Wab25 has a nice breakdown of some other issues I noticed.

As far as safety gear, meh. I’ve sparred with heavy protective gear, no protective gear, and everything in between. You just need to know what you can do in each situation. Last week I was sparring with a pro MMA fighter using no gear. (It helped that both of us had the experience to control ourselves and we trusted each other.)