I tried WTF sparring!!

[TigerLove]

I tried WTF sparring last night! I like it very much.

It's pretty different then ITF fights is! Rhytm of the fight is different, tehniques are faster, no fisting to head..and guard down.

Tehniques i found best for WTF is front kicks, reverse kicks, and various kinds of double - kicks (front - front for example).

Roundhouse and side kick done in traditional ITF way doesn't suit the best there, at least for me.

I also found useful kick, i don't have name for it, something between front and roundhouse kick, and target is ribs.

However, hope i will try compete one day in both, ITF and WTF!

And i don't understand why most of ITF fellows spit on WTF, and WTF fellows spit on ITF. Well i look it if you are good fighter you will suit any kind of fight you entered in.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

I don't see most members of either group spitting on one another. I do see ITF folks considering what they do as more practical, particularly when you compare sparring styles. WTF sparring is a lot of fun, but is very much removed from the art of taekwondo, so much so that I consider it a separate entity.

Nothing wrong with either system; they simply have different flavors.

Daniel

 

[TigerLove]

That's exact what i said! Or at least i meant it. WTF is pretty "sporty".

About sppiting, i don't know, maybe i just have an illusion, but much of people i know do it so.

 

[Manny]

Well I am more versed on WTF sparring because this is the style I have practiced for many years. I have did continus fight a little in Kenpo and here I can use hands and kicks to the head and torso, so I guess continus fight is something like ITF sparring.

Yes WTF sparring is more dinamic because its focused lamost only in kicks, here we can see a lor of kicks combos, we can see a lot fo strategy. In ITF I can say (if it is like continus sparrin) it's not as fast as WTF but as long as you can use hands techs it has another aproach, and the fevored kicks here is the side kick mostly and the round kick.

Manny

 

[TigerLove]

Yes it's more dinamic! I like i can do the combos and that flashy but also painfull stuff if landed properly. It's also far more dynamic.

Also i read heard somewhere that WTF is pretty softer then is ITF. Well, it's definitely sport version of taekwondo and in that way it's softer. But, in way of dangerous and pain hell it is, because of fight dynamics and lot of spinning, there is really big chance of something popping out. And, reverse and spinning kicks also have their power.

And just to add, at training we didn't do it as in competitions, stop fight after a point. We fight until are jawes drop down because of being exhausted!

I don't know is this ok, i think it definitely is, it will get you in shape.

 

[StudentCarl]

TigerLove,
I like your words for WTF sparring: dynamic, exhausting, can be painful. It's a fun part of taekwondo for me. I don't know about ITF, but wish the groups could focus more on what we have in common than differences. I started in ATA taekwondo, and am now at a WTF school. I think having a good master is more important than what federation you fall under.

I'm glad you had fun.

Carl

 

[zDom]

I also found useful kick, i don't have name for it, something between front and roundhouse kick, and target is ribs.

Sounds like what we call an "arc kick."

I think WTF just lumps it in with roundhouses.

 

[Miles]

Good for you! Glad you had a good time and a learning experience!

 

[ATC]

I also found useful kick, i don't have name for it, something between front and roundhouse kick, and target is ribs.

We call this a 45 degree kick because that is what it is. You kick a round kick at a 45 degree angle. Exactly in between a front and a round kick.

Glad you tried it and found that it can be fun. The more you do it the more you will find. You will also find that those kicks that you think are soft can be hard once you get use to doing them and you body develops for them. You will also find out how to use the side and round kicks that did not seem to work for you. Ax and back kicks are also very effective as well.

Glad you had some fun.

 

[Manny]

Also i read heard somewhere that WTF is pretty softer then is ITF. Well, it's definitely sport version of taekwondo and in that way it's softer. But, in way of dangerous and pain hell it is, because of fight dynamics and lot of spinning, there is really big chance of something popping out. And, reverse and spinning kicks also have their power.

I can tell you WTF sparring is not any softher.Broken teet,broken nose, and a well knock out I got I can tell you WTF is not a softh way of sparring, in fact it's harder than some other MA. Tht's why TKD uses a hogu (chest protector) cause it's very easy to broke the ribs for example with a good solid kick.

Last year I saw in a national competition some folks with fisurate or broken hands and forearms too, even wearing the gloves and foreram pads.

WTF saprring can be as nasty and powerful like another full contact sport.

Manny

 

[ralphmcpherson]

I can tell you WTF sparring is not any softher.Broken teet,broken nose, and a well knock out I got I can tell you WTF is not a softh way of sparring, in fact it's harder than some other MA. Tht's why TKD uses a hogu (chest protector) cause it's very easy to broke the ribs for example with a good solid kick.

Last year I saw in a national competition some folks with fisurate or broken hands and forearms too, even wearing the gloves and foreram pads.

WTF saprring can be as nasty and powerful like another full contact sport.

Manny

Quite true manny. I think a lot of what makes sparring hard or soft is the 'mindset' used for sparring more than the rules. I have seen many clubs use the WTF ruleset but with a sort of street fight mentality about it and it can be quite brutal and looks nothing like what you would see in olympic sparring (hands up , lots of punches etc) , and yet the same rules are used. Sparring can be hard or soft , or martial or sporty etc but it seems to me to have a lot to do with the mindset and not necessarilly the ruleset used.

 

[Manny]

I am not a competitor so even I adhere to the rules set of WTF my way of doing sparring is to use a high guard to protect my head/face/neck area, I use my guard to protect my chest and midsection of an incoming kick too, howevere the head is a critical target (broken nose and teeth and a well kyo) and I try to cover it as much as possible.

About the safety gear (hogu,helmet,shin/isntep pads, forearm pads and gloves) even i don't like to used all I am not a full and a broken arm for example at my age takes more time to heal.

Manny

 

[TigerLove]

Last night i tried to wtf without any gear except body armor. That was bad idea, i literally look like i was in a cruel bar fight, and i feel like that. Tonight i must skip training because of stupidity.

That reminds once a time when we tryed itf sparring without any gear. We stoped after a minute, because it was clearly that it's way to dangerous and that somebody could end in hospital.

 

[StudentCarl]

It sounds like you learned something then, so the experience was good. Pads protect so you can spar more and longer, but even they don't completely prevent injury. Sparring without them only keeps you from training because you will get hurt.

Most who spar in competition train in many other ways besides all-out sparring--so actual sparring is only one part of their training. Even with pads you need to have variety to let your body recover.

I hope you have someone there with much sparring experience to coach you.

Carl

 

[TigerLove]

Yes, there are definitely need for sparring gear!

Long time ago, fights of martial arts was holded by full contact and no any protective gear, and no or litlle rules, and they usually ended in death or crippling. At least i read so.

Well i offcourse have master, and some really experienced club members to coach me! But that night (so as last), master wasn't in the dojang.

And when he is not there we organize fighting

Bad we!

 

[Manny]

When I was a teen (a little reckless and stupid and mucho macho I must confess) I only used shin protectors/pads and that was all, in fact in the begining I wore nothing but my gi and my belt and that was all, then we had use hogus in competition but in dojan they were an option, so hogus was a pain in the a.... for me to use but then I was too MACHO and younger. Afther some years the helmet made it's way in competition and then again we wore helmet only in competition.

My point here is this, when I return to TKD training in 2007 I was used to wear only the shin pads, so I did but slowly I start to rethink afther swore arms and hands and some day I sparr with a young doctor and he was wearing the full armor (chest protector,head helmet,mouth piece,albow protectors,forearms protectors,shin/instep protectors, groing protector and JESUS I think I was sparring with a zodiak knight!!!!

At the end I talked with the guy and he told me he was a surgeon and a broken finger or hand will put him away from the operation room and then he ill not earn money for living. Afther this chat with this guy and trying not to get hurt I use all the safety gear but the hugu and this is because there is no hogu that fits me inside de dojang and because I don't have the money to buy one at this time.

Yes TKD can be preety harsh and a good kick can put us away from training, it has hapen to me.

Manny

 

[ATC]

Well I can tell you that I will never spar without pads again. I use to never use arm or shin pads but after I got my arm broken I won't do it again. Also always wear your cup. I was lucky to have mine on when I got a back kick right to the groin. Shattered the cup into 5 pieces. I was in pain for 3 weeks. Without the cup it may have been worse.