No Sparring = No Rank Advancement

[risingfire]

Sparring is required as part of of the testing for 6th Gup so it begins at 7th Gup. Some might be given permission to start sooner.

Either you are teaching people to swim or you aren't.

If you are teaching them to swim they have to get in the pool and swim.

Otherwise it's just Tae Bo.

LOVE IT! I have seen new people off the street walk into class, sabumnim has them sparring that night.

 

[granfire]

LOVE IT! I have seen new people off the street walk into class, sabumnim has them sparring that night.

different strokes for different folks, I know a few, especially female students, who would not return for a second class.
But sparring is - to me - part of TKD, though the rules may vary.

Some people need a bit longer to gain the trust into the environment to put on the pads.

 

[dancingalone]

LOVE IT! I have seen new people off the street walk into class, sabumnim has them sparring that night.

This is perhaps another thread, but I don't believe in sparring for beginners. They simply don't have the tools yet and will just devolve into a poor game of tag.

I don't start people sparring at my karate dojo until they have a good level of proficiency with their basics AND they must demonstrably understand the key principles of the style (goju-ryu in this case). Otherwise sparring becomes more of a movement & targeting drill, rather than a reasonable 'fighting drill' when we add in take downs and controls.

That said, I'm inclined to let the TKD class go at it a little earlier. Around 6th gup is the current plan.

 

[Nomad]

For beginners, we have "offense/defense" sparring. Each person will take turns doing only offense or only defense. This gets students used to the idea of sparring while taking away most of the danger of the "wild" factor.

It works well when a beginner is teamed up with a more experienced student to guide them and make sure things stay safe... if the newcomer hurts the experienced student, it's usually the experienced student's fault (assuming no massive size differential... like teaming up a new 35 year old ex-marine with a 10 year old upper belt). If the experienced student hurts the newcomer, there aren't enough pushups to make up for it (definite no-no, as odds are good that the person may quit over it).

Once the students start getting a feeling for distancing and some techniques under their belt, then they can start "real" sparring with others of the same rank.

 

[dortiz]

Martial Arts with no sparring...Tai Chi.

Dear sir I want to learn how to kick, puch and hit..just not on a another person and especially if they tro to do it back.