Need Some Advice on Sparring

[bugatabugata]

Hi guys,

Long term lurker/relative newbie here -- have been busting my behind at taekwondo (both literally and figuratively) for about a year now. My issue is that my favorite part of practice is sparring (it's just pure adrenaline-fueled fun!); but, because the school I attend is small and more on the family-friendly side (i.e. a bunch of kids at the advanced classes), we spar a couple of times a month, if that, and when we do, it's no-contact.

I adore and respect the sabum, and have absolutely no desire to switch schools, as long as he keeps teaching there, but I'd really like to test myself against somebody that's in the same age/weight/sex/skill set and, well, do some actual "contact" sparring. Any advice on how to bring this up to the Master, without sounding like an overly-confident, violent tool? Is there anything else I could do, short of picking fights at bars :wink1:?

Thank you for your help and advice!

 

[Dirty Dog]

Why not look around your area for open tounaments? Or talk to other members of your school and see if they would like to do some extra training.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

Are there any students at your school that meet the criteria you are looking for? If so, do some full contact stuff with them after or before class, that way you will get your fix and your instructor may get the hint that you are looking for more in the sparring department. I had the exact problem in my original class, I moved to another class (same club) and now train with heaps of guys my age, most are higher rank, and I get to spar heaps of different people who can all kick my ***.

 

[puunui]

I adore and respect the sabum, and have absolutely no desire to switch schools, as long as he keeps teaching there, but I'd really like to test myself against somebody that's in the same age/weight/sex/skill set and, well, do some actual "contact" sparring. Any advice on how to bring this up to the Master, without sounding like an overly-confident, violent tool? Is there anything else I could do, short of picking fights at bars :wink1:?

Talk to your teacher and tell him/her that you are interested in competing at a tournament, how he feels about that, and if he approves, whether he had any suggestions on a good one that you could enter.

 

[Cyriacus]

Boxing and Kickboxing Gyms (And probably Muay Thai. Just not the emphasis on Gyms. Gyms are different to say, Halls, or dedicated buildings) usually wont mind too terribly much if You come by and ask if Theyd mind letting You Spar someone because You feel like a Challenge. Youd probably have to sign a waiver, but thats to be expected.

Optimally, ask Your Instructor. You may not be the only person to ever desire that kind of thing.

 

[Kinghercules]

Hi guys,

Long term lurker/relative newbie here -- have been busting my behind at taekwondo (both literally and figuratively) for about a year now. My issue is that my favorite part of practice is sparring (it's just pure adrenaline-fueled fun!); but, because the school I attend is small and more on the family-friendly side (i.e. a bunch of kids at the advanced classes), we spar a couple of times a month, if that, and when we do, it's no-contact.

I adore and respect the sabum, and have absolutely no desire to switch schools, as long as he keeps teaching there, but I'd really like to test myself against somebody that's in the same age/weight/sex/skill set and, well, do some actual "contact" sparring. Any advice on how to bring this up to the Master, without sounding like an overly-confident, violent tool? Is there anything else I could do, short of picking fights at bars :wink1:?

Thank you for your help and advice!

You have to quit. If they were doin non-contact before you got there what makes you think they're gonna change just for you?
Look for a school that dose contact sparring. This no contact stuff is stupid to me.

 

[andyjeffries]

You have to quit. If they were doin non-contact before you got there what makes you think they're gonna change just for you?
Look for a school that dose contact sparring. This no contact stuff is stupid to me.

I absolutely disagree with Kinghercules' advice!

They may be doing non-contact because of history, in that they had children and adults not wanting to do contact so they reduced/dropped it. Then they've just always been doing that way while the instructor thinks "I wish I had more people actually wanting to do proper sparring, oh well". He may be pleased someone wants to. If there are a couple/few of you then he may start to let you guys go harder, while the rest continues in the same vein.

Definitely talking to the instructor is the best advice. If you aren't rude and bring it up in a positive manner, he should respond nicely. That conversation should be more of a decider whether to quit or not than basing it on how things are at the moment without giving your instructor the chance to explain his reasons, plans, etc.

 

[Dirty Dog]

You have to quit. If they were doin non-contact before you got there what makes you think they're gonna change just for you?
Look for a school that dose contact sparring. This no contact stuff is stupid to me.

This is horrible advice. Schools may focus on non-contact sparring for many valid reasons.

In our Moo Duk Kwan school, we stress control at all levels, and the lower ranks (in which category the OP would fall) have light contact. As they progress the level of contact is allowed to increase IF they choose. By the time they are approaching Dan rank, they may be going full contact, but that is not mandatory. We have two Chodanbo students who do not like heavy contact. That's fine. When we spar, there is only light contact. It's an excellent oppportunity to work on control.

Talk to your instructor. Talk to other students in your school. Look for open tournaments. You have lots of options.

 

[Cyriacus]

This is horrible advice. Schools may focus on non-contact sparring for many valid reasons.

In our Moo Duk Kwan school, we stress control at all levels, and the lower ranks (in which category the OP would fall) have light contact. As they progress the level of contact is allowed to increase IF they choose. By the time they are approaching Dan rank, they may be going full contact, but that is not mandatory. We have two Chodanbo students who do not like heavy contact. That's fine. When we spar, there is only light contact. It's an excellent oppportunity to work on control.

Talk to your instructor. Talk to other students in your school. Look for open tournaments. You have lots of options.

Whats most important is that whats being Drilled in is Sound. Sparring is not Fighting.
That said, I prefer Contact Sparring. I can appreciate Non-Contact regardless.

I absolutely disagree with Kinghercules' advice!

They may be doing non-contact because of history, in that they had children and adults not wanting to do contact so they reduced/dropped it. Then they've just always been doing that way while the instructor thinks "I wish I had more people actually wanting to do proper sparring, oh well". He may be pleased someone wants to. If there are a couple/few of you then he may start to let you guys go harder, while the rest continues in the same vein.

Definitely talking to the instructor is the best advice. If you aren't rude and bring it up in a positive manner, he should respond nicely. That conversation should be more of a decider whether to quit or not than basing it on how things are at the moment without giving your instructor the chance to explain his reasons, plans, etc.

Plus, the Instructor may be able to point You at some Opens, upcoming or otherwise. Its generally just a good idea.

 

[Gemini]

My school was not really into sparring when I started, but I had the same opinion of it as you did. It was a ton of fun! Another student who started only a few weeks before me also felt the same way and we (respectfully) voiced our interest to the instructor. He allowed us to pursue interest, but really didn't support our efforts initially. As interest grew some students receiving event information from the instructor signed themselves up for events. It took a while but with persistence, we were able to build up the interest and eventually become a sizable competition school in New York.

Not sure if this helps you or might be applicable in any way, but if you really like the school, I would try to promote interest within as long as you do it with your instructors support and permission.

 

[Instructor]

If you like your teacher and he has always treated you with respect then show him the same respect and just ask him about it after school one day.

Contact sparring can teach you a great many things, but it isn't everything. Many fine schools don't have ANY kind of sparring and they still produce quality training.

I believe in sparring if it's done responsibly and everybody remembers they are adults.

 

[Gnarlie]

This happened to me initally too. If you have an interest that's not currently on the menu, talk to the instructor and (afterwards) the other students. If there's enough interest it will happen. We ended up putting on Saturday classes and seminars specifically for those interested in contact sparring - that way none of the other aspects of the syllabus were affected.

 

[bugatabugata]

Thanks for all the excellent advice, guys! So yesterday, I decided to get proactive and asked around in class -- turns out two other people would be up for sticking around after class once a week and getting our "spar on." (Which means that I need to find a place to buy some good protective gear, but that's a different issue all together.)

Also, I brought up the competition thing to the Master and the outcome was positive -- he actually paid me a wonderful compliment for pretty much the first time ever (normally he just chews me out for the various stuff that I'm doing wrong . Long story short -- I'm going to my first tournament this Saturday, just to watch and see what it's like. (Thus far, I've only watched various youtube vids of Olympic fights, so not exactly sure what to expect), and we'll take it from there.

Fortunately, in the meantime I've discovered that I somehow have to come up with a semi-decent spinning, jump-back kick in the next ten days (for the belt exam), so now I have a whole new thing to obsess over...oh, well.

 

[granfire]

Awesome!

(on a side note, a couple of people have told me that it takes a bit getting used to full contact. Since our organization only did light contact, the guys that did go open said to try the point events first, still harder than average, but not all out.)

 

[Cyriacus]

Thanks for all the excellent advice, guys! So yesterday, I decided to get proactive and asked around in class -- turns out two other people would be up for sticking around after class once a week and getting our "spar on." (Which means that I need to find a place to buy some good protective gear, but that's a different issue all together.)

Also, I brought up the competition thing to the Master and the outcome was positive -- he actually paid me a wonderful compliment for pretty much the first time ever (normally he just chews me out for the various stuff that I'm doing wrong . Long story short -- I'm going to my first tournament this Saturday, just to watch and see what it's like. (Thus far, I've only watched various youtube vids of Olympic fights, so not exactly sure what to expect), and we'll take it from there.

Fortunately, in the meantime I've discovered that I somehow have to come up with a semi-decent spinning, jump-back kick in the next ten days (for the belt exam), so now I have a whole new thing to obsess over...oh, well.

What Organisation is hosting the Tournament?

As for Jump Spin Back Kick, Good Luck!

 

[Earl Weiss]

BAck in the early 1970's we did "No Contact" . By 1973 we were doing contact. The reasons for needing contact are to numerous to mention but one is to get used to being hit so your brian doesn't shut down when you experience it for the first time in a stressful situation. Or, as MIke Tyson so elequently put it; "Everyone has a plan...then they get punched in the face."

 

[Em MacIntosh]

You fight the way you train. So cliche, so true. While I find full contact sparring to be essential to my goals, I feel no-contact sparring has its use. It's a building block to learn control so you don't injure someone as you progress to semi-contact and then to full contact.

Not everyone has the same goals and not everyone likes to spar hard but if your goal is self-defense, the more realistic your training, the more useful it will be if you need it.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

You fight the way you train. So cliche, so true. While I find full contact sparring to be essential to my goals, I feel no-contact sparring has its use. It's a building block to learn control so you don't injure someone as you progress to semi-contact and then to full contact.

Not everyone has the same goals and not everyone likes to spar hard but if your goal is self-defense, the more realistic your training, the more useful it will be if you need it.

exactly. If your goals are a bit of fun and fitness then no contact is fine, but if self defence is your goal there just has to be contact in the sparring.

 

[bugatabugata]

The competition yesterday was at a local high school and was put on by one of the local tkd academies (U.S.A.T rules; all ages and skill sets). (I just googled "open tournament tkd" and that was the first one to pop up.) It was an all-day event, but I just went in the afternoon to watch the sparring --an eye-opener in many ways.

1) The most intense match was between what looked to be two twelve-year old girls: we're talking kicks to the head and face, parents and coaches yelling at the ref, one kid broke down crying -- the whole shabang. Not exactly sure what to make of that one.
2) The adult blackbelts were pretty darn incredible -- the one guy that should have won (but somehow got injured after the first game and didn't go on) -- his movements were so precise and "to-the-point," it was just beautiful to watch.
3) Of the more evenly-matched folks, it seems like it all came down to stamina.

Bottom line -- I'd still love to give it a go. There's apparently a big tournament (the Governor's cup) in mid-May, so I'll talk to the sabum tomorrow, about what he thinks. I just need to work on my defense and up my cardio on the off-practice days. (So far, I've followed the "Leeroy Jenkins" approach to sparring -- overwhelm them with kicks and worry about the rest later, which is probably not going to fly with a) actual contact/points; and b) people in my category that know what they're doing and have a strategy for how to do it.

 

[Cali Gal]

Find a sparring partner? Try joining another school? Don't miss out on sparring, I love the quote from Earl Weiss above: "Everyone has a plan...then they get punched in the face." Train some pain.