Free Sparring

Hands were very low and you were both far to stationary. When you weren't attacking you were literally standing still in place you need to use footwork and move around. Also the punches didnt really seem to have much on them and you didn't get the full rotation on them.

Kicks were nice though good job
 
Man you have nice fast kicks. I'd had to have to deal with them. Nice work teaching.
 
Hands were very low and you were both far to stationary. When you weren't attacking you were literally standing still in place you need to use footwork and move around. Also the punches didnt really seem to have much on them and you didn't get the full rotation on them.

Kicks were nice though good job

Thanks for the Feedback! I will keep all that into consideration as I continue training.
 
Thanks for the Feedback! I will keep all that into consideration as I continue training.

Oh! If you want feedback, you lug your punches. Not a biggie, just noticed it. But that doesn't take away from your very nice kicks, and I mean nothing negative by it.
 
Oh! If you want feedback, you lug your punches. Not a biggie, just noticed it. But that doesn't take away from your very nice kicks, and I mean nothing negative by it.

Sorry Mr. Mattocks, what do you mean by lug? My apologies for not knowing the lingo.
 
What was the purpose for the sparring session? What was the main emphasis you were working on and why?

For that particular match, it was just the first match. Just to get the heart rate up and get moving. Free Sparring with no emphasis on anything in particular.
 
Sorry Mr. Mattocks, what do you mean by lug? My apologies for not knowing the lingo.

Oh, sorry. Yes, lugging the punch means an arm punch - no power behind it because no hip, no koshi. You extend the arm with a fist on the end of it, but you're punching with arm power only. That's all. Again, no complaints - I really enjoyed your video!
 
Warming up...ok.
The reason I ask is there are several things I would suggest but it would be based on your emphasis for what you are sparring for.
Self defense, points, working out, being a sparring partner for their benefit?
 
Warming up...ok.
The reason I ask is there are several things I would suggest but it would be based on your emphasis for what you are sparring for.
Self defense, points, working out, being a sparring partner for their benefit?

I will take any suggestions, especially ones for being a sparring partner for the students' benefit.
 
For that particular match, it was just the first match. Just to get the heart rate up and get moving. Free Sparring with no emphasis on anything in particular.
I think you need to know what you want...

For training purposes, imo, you keep going too fast and your students don't feel comfortable to try anything beyond the very simple, if they do anything at all. I would go like this with other black belts (I mean, similar high skill) or for student evaluation/grading.

Regarding your technique, I will not say your hands are low or that you should use more footwork. In doubt, you just need to try it against skilled opponents. If it works, great!
 
To continue on what your emphasis was/is when sparring...

Are you trying to win?
Are you working an specific actions...entering, counter-attacking, direct attacking, specific combinations, set ups for a specific attack, ranging, set up-finish-follow ups, Plan B or C when Plan A fails, specific timings and or angles.

As a good partner for the student's benefit...Again what is the sparring for?
Learning to contact a specific target and multiple ways to get to it?
Defending a specific attack?
Counter-attacking?
Range or distance control?

Both of the above have a lot more with in sparring and really depends on the goal/s for sparring.
And sparring for self defense is different for competition. And in competition there are different types so again the goal for sparring will be different all based upon the rule sets.
 
to add to Danny's questions, I'm assuming this was semi-contact and no grappling allowed..do you guys ever spar with grappling, or with harder contact? There were issues I saw (hands being down, letting your leg hang to get a kick) that would be an issue in full contact or grappling, but not in the sparring that you were doing.
 
Hands were very low and you were both far to stationary. When you weren't attacking you were literally standing still in place you need to use footwork and move around. Also the punches didnt really seem to have much on them and you didn't get the full rotation on them.

Kicks were nice though good job
Being stationary isn't necessarily bad. If it works against a given opponent, it's a good way to conserve energy.
 
For that particular match, it was just the first match. Just to get the heart rate up and get moving. Free Sparring with no emphasis on anything in particular.
For those purposes, I would slow down with students. Even allow them to get a shot in, if my slower speed gives them an opening. Try to find a speed that is only slightly above what they can match, so it taxes them a little, but leaves them room to be successfully aggressive as they warm up.

That's not an absolute - just my approach.
 
to add to Danny's questions, I'm assuming this was semi-contact and no grappling allowed..do you guys ever spar with grappling, or with harder contact? There were issues I saw (hands being down, letting your leg hang to get a kick) that would be an issue in full contact or grappling, but not in the sparring that you were doing.

It is semi-contact no grappling. Full Contact isn't allowed in the facility where we train. We don't study grappling enough to be able to do it during sparring. We sometimes use moderate contact, but not often. The light contact you see in the video is about as hard as we go.
 
I will take any suggestions, especially ones for being a sparring partner for the students' benefit.
If you're sparring for your student's benefit...
You're too aggressive. You're bringing the fight to the student, whereas you should let the fight come to you. Be more passive and instead of what seems like constantly being on the offensive, hang back and counter. Pick apart their mistakes without overdoing it. It's a balancing act. Go on the offensive sometimes, but sparingly.

As far as technically...

You both seem to engage in what my teacher calls "going tit for tat;" you both wait for each other to finish the attack before starting your own. Two ways to avoid that...

1) You both block with both hands. Dropping both hands to block a kick opens you up for other stuff. If I was sparring either of you, I'd do a lot of bringing my knee up to get you to block a front kick and throw a straight punch at the wide open target. It's one of my most common sparring moves once I see someone block with both hands. A few people I train with are great at throwing a fake front kick that turns over into a roundhouse kick. If I could throw that one gracefully, I'd throw it quite often against you, as it seems you go to block the front kick with both hands, leaving your head open. Those guys and ladies that throw that kick constantly catching me with it taught me to block with one hand/arm. Don't get me wrong, I still get tagged with it; just not nearly as often.

2) You both moved backward just about every time you blocked, making effective countering nearly impossible. When you see a kick coming (especially a kick, double especially a high kick), protect with one arm while moving in at an angle and throwing punches. If you time it right and get in quick enough, they're practically defenseless. You seem like you'd have no problem getting in quickly. Since I've been doing that, the higher ranks I spar with tell me that they now actually have to try to hit me whereas I was a basically a punching bag beforehand.

I'm a karate guy. If my technique advice runs counter to TKD, discard it. I haven't trained a day of TKD in my life.

And I'm envious of your kicks. They're very fast and seem like they'd hurt if you wanted them too. They look a lot better than they did in what I think your first video was a year or two ago. And I like the use of the low kicks. Just be careful your partner/student doesn't more the wrong way and catch one on the side of the knee.
 
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