TKD sparring...

[SRyuFighter]

I have heard a lot of bad things about TKD sparring. Could somebody tell me about the rules involved in all types of TKD sparring?

 

[TKDman]

Depends on which organzation, country, instructor, etc.

 

[white belt]

The style I train in and teach is WTF style TKD. To make a long story short it is very similar to Mas Oyama's Karate sparring. The main differences are we don't kick below the belt and we use foot and hand guards. The tournaments sometimes allow knock outs, in the Black Belt division only. The hand attacks are limited to the body, to force people to develop the swift head kicks. Self defense drills comprise our hand to head strikes. There are diverse views/rules concerning sparring, in TKD worldwide, due to the many organizations, daycare McDojangs popping up, and the harder traditionalists fighting the trendys. I once shut down an opponent in a tournament, back when I was 1st Dan, with a roundhouse kick to the ribs, while wearing chest protectors. It was ruled a TKO because he could not stand for about 5 minutes. He recovered, we joked around and watched the other divisions spar. I have heard that some organizations penalize for excessive contact, in the adult Black Belt division, if doing what I did at that tournament. A lot of rules are dictated by the insurance concerns of school owners and jumpy parents, I find.

white belt

 

[TkdWarrior]

sparring is basically tool in TKD it depends wat kind of sparring u r asking for...competition or regular sparring in TKD
competition rules change in every 100 miles or so... so no comments on that but the basic sparring should be like this

pre arranged
step sparring(3 step, 2 step 1 step), foot sparring, hand sparring,

semi arranged
in this section u add some rules it can be pre arranged too where u specify wat kind of things u want to work at.

free sparring
again this can get into foot sparring n hand sparring n then complete full sparring...here we try not to kill each other

full contact sparring comes later
yea go for kill j/k here we understand wat is our pain threshold is ...
-TkdWarrior-

 

[SMAC]

The WTF competitions i have competed in have been full contact, from the waist up only, no punching to the face. Head guards and chest protectors are worn. Scoring with punches is difficult. It isn't very realistic but is more useful is you train for full power knockout?down kicks rather than tappy point scorers.

 

[SRyuFighter]

Thanks everybody.

 

[cali_tkdbruin]

FYI, here's a link to a World Taekwondo Federation site that will give you comprehensive info about WTF Olympic style TKD rules. Hope this helps... :asian:

http://www.wtf.org/main.htm

 

[SRyuFighter]

Cool, thanks a lot. They sure do put a lot of restrictions on there don't they.

 

[jfarnsworth]

In my school we used the rules of kicking to the body and the head. Punching to the body only. No punching to the head, or sweeps, takedowns, groin strikes, ground techniques. This was before he changed the school and started to cater to this person and that one, this parent, I can't do that person, etc.

 

[fissure]

Jason, if this is how you sparred when you trained in TKD, how do you spar in Kempo now?Less contact,. more tech.?

 

[jfarnsworth]

We spar with kicks at the groin and above. Front leg sweeps. Punching/striking the groin and above. Takedowns are legal.
I have a lot of respect for you to even try the nationals as you posted I think in the other thread. I wouldn't have even been able to go and do anything. Personally I didn't like TKD style sparring. It didn't suit me that well. Once my instructor starting changing (at least the sparring aspect) it was for the better. When we had the different instructors and styles things were going well. Get a taste of all different ideas and various sparring. No one spar's the same because we're all different. No one single person on the street will fight the same as anyone in your class. This is why I feel point sparring, heavy contact, full contact, TKD style is all worth merit for the development of your skills.

 

[fissure]

When I trained in Shotokan in Britain, it was basically point sparring. A little more contact would have been nice, but I loved the array of tech. allowed. If you accept each for what it is, then it can all be beneficial, I think.

 

[Zepp]

I study Tae Kwon Do under the World Tae Kwon Do Association. We actually do non-contact sparring, similar to some Karate styles. We actually have several people in our class that have practiced full contact sparring under the the WTF or in kickboxing, and they prefer our style because it seems more practical to them.

In class, we don't worry so much about keeping track of points, but points are effectively determined by whether or not a technique came close enough to a target (as in millimeters), wasn't blocked or checked, and obviously had enough power behind it to stun someone or break a bone. Needless to say, getting an actual "score" isn't made easy.

I don't mean to say that non-contact sparring is superior than full-contact, but it has its advantages. For one thing, without wearing pads, you certainly learn to throw good, solid blocks- as opposed to letting the pads soak it up for you.

-Zepp

 

[fissure]

as opposed to letting the pads soak it up for you.

Thats funny!:rofl:
Guys get KOed in competition all the time.I guess their pads weren't absorbent enough!

 

[Zepp]

That is funny. I was actually referring to the arm and shin pads worn in official WTF competitions.


-Zepp

 

[fissure]

I know! Thought the first response you got at Martial Talk should at least make you smile.
Seriously tIhough, WTF pads don't cover the fists or feet. It hurts like hell when you take a shot in the back, or some other unprotected area.

 

[white belt]

Zepp,

How do you know a block is "solid" if there is no contact? I have blasted through seemingly solid blocks in contact sparring. Are you doing that new math I've heard about?

Welcome aboard,
white belt

 

[Zepp]

I believe you misunderstood me White Belt. Non-contact means that our strikes do not make contact. If a block doesn't knock a strike out of the way, or abosorb it at the very least, you'd just end up looking silly.

Besides that, I should say that striking without making contact is the ideal, but mistakes happen aplenty. Particularly when we upper belts spar, because you become more likely to lose control as the intensity increases.

 

[cali_tkdbruin]

Originally posted by fissure
I know! Thought the first response you got at Martial Talk should at least make you smile.
Seriously tIhough, WTF pads don't cover the fists or feet. It hurts like hell when you take a shot in the back, or some other unprotected area.

Yup, and you sportsfans should check out the nice purply-red bruises on my body on the day after a tourney that are a direct result of shots that get through.

See what happens when you're late with dodging and blocking... :shrug:

 

[Marginal]

Originally posted by white belt
Zepp,

How do you know a block is "solid" if there is no contact? I have blasted through seemingly solid blocks in contact sparring. Are you doing that new math I've heard about?

Since I have a horrible time detecting your humor, I'll answer somewhat seriously. Strikes are thrown not to penetrate the target, not to avoid making contact with a block. They're not thrown badly or slowly under good no/light contact situations.

(I end up with enough bruises from the effort at least...)