Holy cow.
Ok, this is my first karate belt fight, any general tips?
Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
To the OP: sir, you need to be having this discussion with your instructor, not with a bunch of strangers on the internet who know nothing about you, your training history, nor the parameters of this fight. Any advice you get here will have no context and will have no meaning for you.
Best of luck
Best of luck
Different styles generate power in different ways. While they all are ways to get the body's weight and momentum into the punch, there are different ways to achieve this. The falling step/drop step is one way; it sort of puts the body into free fall, letting your opponent "catch" it via the fist. It also represents a sort of one punch knock out approach. Wing chun uses different principles including what might be described as an "erosion" approach -- they'll hit a little softer, but they'll hit you 10 times. Kind of like tapping a nail into a board compared to driving it in with one hammer blow.
Looking at different methods is great -- but you have to be careful, because you can't always combine the approaches and have it work well together. It's kind of like cooking -- some foods taste great, but that doesn't mean they'll go together well. So if you try to mix and match power generation principles, you may find that you've thrown other principles off or even sacrifice other strengths... For example, one way to generate a powerful round kick is to step at an angle and drive the leg through the target. Another way is to rotate more on the support leg... but if you try to do that stepping hard on an angle, that might well be a recipe for destroying your own knee...
You still haven't answered what a belt fight is...is it point fighting or full contact? Is it to see if you can win, to see how well you've learned your material, or to see how well you fight? The answer to these should color our answers. And honestly like flying crane said we shouldn't be the ones answering these questions either way - you need to take them up with your instructor. If you're worried that he won't pass you for not knowing the answers, then you shouldn't be hiding your lack of knowledge from him so he can make an informed decision. If you're not worried about that, I see no reason to not be talking to him about it.
Frankly, I suspect we're being trolled.
And who the heck needs to Dempsy step on their first time sparring? What is wrong with you people?
Dude I wouldn't have asked if I knew what a belt fight was. For all I know it could've been anything from regular class sparring to a full blown death match! All I can say is depending on who you do fight, throw out the thoughts you are visualizing in your head if will go and expect the unexpected. Keep range and don't get hit!
lklawson
Grandmaster
He sort of described it up-thread. Apparently, he's testing for a belt promotion and part of that is sparring. Pretty common.
Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
lklawson
Grandmaster
I think he's just excited but very green; inexperienced and untrained. He has no idea of what he doesn't know yet but has an inkling. He's not even sure what questions to ask yet.
No dogma has set in yet either.
Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
lklawson
Grandmaster
Who doesn't?!?
One day I foolishly asked She Who Must Be Obeyed, "sheesh! What's wrong with me?!?" Now, you should know that She Who Must Be Obeyed is a State Licensed, Board Certified Counselor. She looked at me, smirked, and said, "Do you want it in alphabetic order or by severity?" Because I was feeling my cheery-oats, I grinned back and said, "Alphabetic." For the sake of my own self-image, I had to stop her by the time she got to around E or F. :rofl:What is wrong with you people?
Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
Who doesn't?!?
One day I foolishly asked She Who Must Be Obeyed, "sheesh! What's wrong with me?!?" Now, you should know that She Who Must Be Obeyed is a State Licensed, Board Certified Counselor. She looked at me, smirked, and said, "Do you want it in alphabetic order or by severity?" Because I was feeling my cheery-oats, I grinned back and said, "Alphabetic." For the sake of my own self-image, I had to stop her by the time she got to around E or F. :rofl:
Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
Yeah, thanks Kirk, I really needed that coffee to come out my nose.
And who the heck needs to Dempsy step on their first time sparring? What is wrong with you people?
Hah, yeah, some of the discussion on this thread seems like a little too.... high-level, I guess, for someone's first time sparring. Like if your kid's learning to drive, and you try to teach them how to keep from spinning out on an icy road the very first time they get behind the wheel.
My advice to a first-time sparrer would be: relax, control your breathing, don't give up or get angry, and follow the rules of the match.
They hit each other with belts? Oh, my mistake that's BJJ
Seriously though, I haven't heard of belt fight either ( other than the belt whipping they indulge in BJJ)
My advice for first fight? Don't over think it. You won't remember anything you've been told either by your instructor or us anyway so just do your best and enjoy.
drop bear
Sr. Grandmaster
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A week out what were we going to do.
A few of our guys did a disaster of a tradies fight night. And due to the lack of any organisational skills at all wound up having to corner a bunch of first time fighters they had never met before. (Some of which had never even trained before)
And there was a guy as he was stepping in to the ring, who asked what should he do.
At a loss for anything better they just keep punching him.
Wound up that this guy had his opponent physically tied up by the ropes and half out of the ring and was still dropping bombs.
So I guess that was good advice.
I take it you missed his 'interesting' post that has rightly been taken off?
drop bear
Sr. Grandmaster
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Yeah.
Back when I fenced, on occasion I would be the second for someone who was entering their first tournament and/or meet. They would always ask me what they should be. My advice: put out your blade (epee) and hit them with the pointy end. Sometimes, it worked!
-bounce on your feet so you can keep your body light for faster dodges and movements
-watch the way your opponent moves and break their rhythm
-surprise them with an unexpected attack (ex: jumping kick or jump straight/reverse punch combo)
-don't stay in one place or move in straight forward or you're guaranteed to become a punching bag
-stay out of their kicking/punching range unless you're going to attack
-always attack with at least two or three movements (one straight punch is easy to block, but a knee kick, circle punch, uppercut, and elbow attack all at the same time aren't so easy to avoid)
-never underestimate an opponent; even if they're older, or overweight, or super tiny (one ideal trait of a martial artist is compensating for their shortcomings to improve their fighting chance...haha no pun intended)
-don't forget that you don't have to stand there and block every attack they throw at you---you can step to the side or jump back to avoid an attack
-have confidence! physical strength/prowess isn't the only vital thing a martial artist needs when fighting; mental strength and a can do attitude are important too
-remember that whenever they go to punch you, they leave a lot of their torso open, so constantly search for openings or weak spots
-don't use the same attacks or patterns every time; be unexpected and instinctual
-ok I'm done, good luck
