Some sparring advice?

[skribs]

Sparring is probably my worst subject in Taekwondo. I understand the theory, but I have a few issues.

1. Timing - I have trouble timing when I'm supposed to use my techniques, especially against people faster than me.
2. Technique - Shadowboxing or kicking a BOB I have sharp technique. As soon as I start aiming for a hogu my technique gets incredibly sloppy. My back kicks are with the ball of my feet, my roundhouse kicks have a hard time sneaking past arms, etc.

Does anyone have advice on how I can work on my timing and technique? Maybe partner drills I can do, or just things I can mentally focus on while I'm sparring to improve my performance?

 

[Danny T]

Do you not do specific partner drills in your practice?

 

[skribs]

Do you not do specific partner drills in your practice?

We do. I was looking for advice on what I should focus my mind on to improve my timing or cut out the slop, or if you have any drills that specifically help address those issues.

 

[wab25]

Timing is what you use to beat faster opponents. Instead of beating them with speed, you time them instead. Look for their patterns and tendencies. Use feints to draw them out... then hit them where their tendencies tell you they will end up. Watch others sparring... the art of picking up their patterns can be worked on while you watch.

For everything else, change your focus from winning. Sparring is practice. People get so concerned about winning, they do the same things again and again. This either works or doesn't, and it depends on the opponent. Try new things. Change things. If you keep kicking his arm, try different angles, different setups, different combos... Don't keep trying the same thing again and again. Make your goal to throw a proper kick, regardless of what happens. Sure, your will "lose" in sparring. But, your technique will get better, you will get more options to rely on later.

If you keep doing the same things you will keep getting the same results...

In competition, we rely on what works for us. That is a certain set of tools, used a certain way. The goal of sparring is to increase the number of tools you have, the number of ways to use those tools and to polish what you have already. Find out what works and what doesn't work in sparring. Don't be afraid to lose a lot in sparring. The idea is that for your next competition, you have more tools and more uses for those tools, when the winning and losing counts.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Timing - I have trouble timing when I'm supposed to use my techniques, especially against people faster than me.

Timing is not about being FASTER. It's about doing the technique at the CORRECT TIME. I've sparred with people who were faster than me. So instead of me trying to be faster than they were. I attack where I know they will be Vs. where they are.

You can't always be faster than someone so learn how to be ahead of the game.

Technique - Shadowboxing or kicking a BOB

Get rid of BoB for shadow boxing. It's a stationary target and you need to learn how to envision how a moving target moves. Here's a Tip.

When you spar only use 2 attack techniques. As you do these same techniques over and over, watch how your opponent responds or counter with these attacks. Does your opponent counter the same way all of the time? Does your opponent have the same movement during the sparring. Once you can visualize his movement, then you can use that visualization for shadow boxing. This way you can have a good reference of how your opponent will counter or block your attacks, how your opponent moves, and you can work on ideas of how you might be able to beat your opponent based on how your opponent moves.

You are going to have a long learning process if you aren't analyzing your sparring partner as well as yourself while you spare. Remember only use the 2 same techniques to attack during the sparring session. Spar to learn not win. Save the winning for real fights and competition.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Timing is what you use to beat faster opponents.

Exactly.

Timing is what you use to beat faster opponents. Instead of beating them with speed, you time them instead. Look for their patterns and tendencies. Use feints to draw them out... then hit them where their tendencies tell you they will end up. Watch others sparring... the art of picking up their patterns can be worked on while you watch.

For everything else, change your focus from winning. Sparring is practice. People get so concerned about winning, they do the same things again and again. This either works or doesn't, and it depends on the opponent. Try new things. Change things. If you keep kicking his arm, try different angles, different setups, different combos... Don't keep trying the same thing again and again. Make your goal to throw a proper kick, regardless of what happens. Sure, your will "lose" in sparring. But, your technique will get better, you will get more options to rely on later.

If you keep doing the same things you will keep getting the same results...

In competition, we rely on what works for us. That is a certain set of tools, used a certain way. The goal of sparring is to increase the number of tools you have, the number of ways to use those tools and to polish what you have already. Find out what works and what doesn't work in sparring. Don't be afraid to lose a lot in sparring. The idea is that for your next competition, you have more tools and more uses for those tools, when the winning and losing counts.

I should have read this first and it would have saved me some typing lol.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Timing - I have trouble timing ...

If you always attack first, you will let your opponent to worry about timing. Try to develop your own "entering strategies".

If your opponent

- kicks, you will run him down.
- punches, you will run him down.
- does nothing, you will still run him down.

If you can understand this, you will be fine in your MA training for the rest of your life.

 

[Martial D]

Sparring is probably my worst subject in Taekwondo. I understand the theory, but I have a few issues.

1. Timing - I have trouble timing when I'm supposed to use my techniques, especially against people faster than me.
2. Technique - Shadowboxing or kicking a BOB I have sharp technique. As soon as I start aiming for a hogu my technique gets incredibly sloppy. My back kicks are with the ball of my feet, my roundhouse kicks have a hard time sneaking past arms, etc.

Does anyone have advice on how I can work on my timing and technique? Maybe partner drills I can do, or just things I can mentally focus on while I'm sparring to improve my performance?

Spar spar spar spar and when you are done spar some more.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Timing - I have trouble timing when I'm supposed to use my techniques, especially against people faster than me.

Do you know (intellectually) the timing you are trying to execute? If you don't know the correct moment to move, that's one problem. If you do know the moment but you're just reacting too late, that's another.

Technique - Shadowboxing or kicking a BOB I have sharp technique. As soon as I start aiming for a hogu my technique gets incredibly sloppy. My back kicks are with the ball of my feet, my roundhouse kicks have a hard time sneaking past arms, etc.

It's pretty common to see technique get sloppy during sparring. Typically it's due to either the psychological pressure of sparring, the technical adjustments necessary for executing techniques while in movement, or both. I recommend letting go of any concerns with "winning" a sparring session. Pick a technique that you want to clean up. Take every opportunity to throw that one technique as cleanly as possible, identify any flaws in execution, then throw it again trying to fix those flaws. You can even pick one specific flaw in one technique and make your goal for the match nothing more than trying to execute that technique without that particular flaw.

 

[WaterGal]

I always recommend this to people, but if you can track it down, there's a DVD series from maybe 10+ years ago called "The Science of Taekwondo Fighting" by Dr. Sang Kim. I think Turtle Press put it out. It's a 3-DVD set that's has a whole series of drills, both solo and partnered, footwork, your relative body placement to your opponent, etc. I'd say that it's aimed more at instructors/coaches than at students, but it's not terribly complicated and should be able to be used by a student with a decent grasp of the basics. It was a big help in putting together our sparring curriculum.

 

[skribs]

Do you know (intellectually) the timing you are trying to execute? If you don't know the correct moment to move, that's one problem. If you do know the moment but you're just reacting too late, that's another.

I'm not sure. I'll try to evaluate next time I spar.

It's pretty common to see technique get sloppy during sparring. Typically it's due to either the psychological pressure of sparring, the technical adjustments necessary for executing techniques while in movement, or both. I recommend letting go of any concerns with "winning" a sparring session. Pick a technique that you want to clean up. Take every opportunity to throw that one technique as cleanly as possible, identify any flaws in execution, then throw it again trying to fix those flaws. You can even pick one specific flaw in one technique and make your goal for the match nothing more than trying to execute that technique without that particular flaw.

I'll try this.

 

[marques]

Sparring is probably my worst subject in Taekwondo. I understand the theory, but I have a few issues.

1. Timing - I have trouble timing when I'm supposed to use my techniques, especially against people faster than me.
2. Technique - Shadowboxing or kicking a BOB I have sharp technique. As soon as I start aiming for a hogu my technique gets incredibly sloppy. My back kicks are with the ball of my feet, my roundhouse kicks have a hard time sneaking past arms, etc.

Does anyone have advice on how I can work on my timing and technique? Maybe partner drills I can do, or just things I can mentally focus on while I'm sparring to improve my performance?

Sparring can be the simplest thing, when you just do without thinking and it works, or the most complicated, when there are so many variables to think about and nothing works.

A generic advice is simplify. For exemple, only kicks, only punches... before trying all together. Other thing I like is low speed, before high speed. Even more simple, you know the opponent’s first strike and you only need to counter in different ways. The opponent can follow up or not.

If you have better imagination than me the possibilities are infinite. But the basic idea is simple: make the sparring simpler. One bit at a time. Slow. Then mix a few bits. Then, and only then, all together. Speed... and power, after a few years practice.

 

[drop bear]

Being fearless with technique helps. So commit to what you are doing regardless of failure.

Then in theory with enough repetition the timing should come.

And your issue is probably strategic. If you are reacting. Then your timing is going to be crap.

 

[TrueJim]

And remember the 5 Ds of sparring: Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge. If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a roundhouse kick.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I always recommend this to people, but if you can track it down, there's a DVD series from maybe 10+ years ago called "The Science of Taekwondo Fighting" by Dr. Sang Kim. I think Turtle Press put it out. It's a 3-DVD set that's has a whole series of drills, both solo and partnered, footwork, your relative body placement to your opponent, etc. I'd say that it's aimed more at instructors/coaches than at students, but it's not terribly complicated and should be able to be used by a student with a decent grasp of the basics. It was a big help in putting together our sparring curriculum.

THE SCIENCE OF TAEKWONDO FIGHTING DVD SERIES

 

[CB Jones]

And remember the 5 Ds of sparring: Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge. If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a roundhouse kick.

Combine that with the 3-BFs:

Be fast
Be first
Be frequent

 

[paitingman]

Sparring will just take practice.
"Live" drills with a partner help you get comfortable with certain techniques and footwork.
But just keep at it. Good coaching and solid effort are you need to improve.
Shoot. Even without the coaching, eventually, you will improve.

Just keep setting goals and practicing!

 

[andyjeffries]

THE SCIENCE OF TAEKWONDO FIGHTING DVD SERIES

Are they the same ones being referred to? Because they're by Dr YANG Jin-bang, not Master Sang H KIM.

I have those Dr Yang videos (I actually had them in video before they were released on DVD and recorded them to DVD and later ripped to MPEG, myself) and they're awesome!

 

[skribs]

Being fearless with technique helps. So commit to what you are doing regardless of failure.

Then in theory with enough repetition the timing should come.

And your issue is probably strategic. If you are reacting. Then your timing is going to be crap.

What do you mean by this last part?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Are they the same ones being referred to? Because they're by Dr YANG Jin-bang, not Master Sang H KIM.

I have those Dr Yang videos (I actually had them in video before they were released on DVD and recorded them to DVD and later ripped to MPEG, myself) and they're awesome!

Ah, I missed that. Thought they were the same ones.