Sparing tips

[Just4Kicks]

I haven't seen any threads on sparring, so I thought I'd start one where you can post general info and answer questions.

I really want to improve my sparring ability, do you have any tips and tricks? Especially on counter attacking and what stances are good for what. Anything that applies to taekwondo, muay thai, karate etc.

 

[KenpoTex]

never block with your nose

can't really give you a serious answer as most of the stuff I do when I spar (not very often) would get me thrown out of a tournament.

 

[ares]

I tried to stand back and counter during my purple belt test and ended up getting my eye socket broken. That will be the last time that happens. Don't wait for the strike to happen, but get a little more aggressive and use head movements. Leg kicks work well, but stay moving with your hands up.

 

[Kacey]

Well, the way to get better at sparring is to spar more - so ask around your class for people who want to spar with you after class.

Make sure you know the rules - remember, unlike fighting, sparring is a game, and like any game, it has rules. The goal of the game is to score points - so how do you score points? Work on techniques that will allow you to score points on your opponents.

Spar whenever you get a chance.

Work on individual techniques and combinations that you can use in sparring - practice them alone, practice them in your step sparring, and practice them in your sparring. Expect them to not work the first time... or even the first 20, or 50 times, or more. Making techniques, alone or in combination, work requires practice - and like anything else, practice causes improvement.

Spar whenever you get a chance.

Practice blocking, dodging, and moving. Too many people stand still and wait for their opponent to come to them, or only move backwards. You need to be able to move, and more, you need to be able to move in unpredictable directions - forward, sideways, at an angle, in a geometric shape (try moving in a five-pointed star, the way you would draw one with a pencil, no matter which way your opponent goes, and see what happens). Remember that unpredictable movement throws your opponent off balance mentally.

Spar whenever you get a chance.

Practice blocking - lots of people can throw good techniques that should earn points while sparring... but they lose, because they don't block, and their opponent does. So even though you may have thrown 20 good techniques and your opponent only threw 3 - if your opponent blocks 18 of your techniques, and you block none of your opponent's - you have 2 points, and your opponent has 3... you lose.

Spar whenever you get a chance.

If it can't land, it's wasted energy - look for openings that you can exploit... but be careful, because people who are good at sparring will create openings in the hopes that you will do what they want, thereby setting you up for something.

Spar whenever you get a chance.

Make the opportunity to watch people spar. Pay attention to what they are doing - what works, what doesn't, why different things work for different people. This will help you in actual sparring rounds when you are trying to analyze your opponent.

Spar whenever you get a chance.

Have a variety of techniques available that you have practiced and can do easily - if you always do the same thing, you become predictable, and people who are predictable can be more easily defeated. Change your "style" between rounds - within a round, if you can manage.

Oh, yeah, and spar whenever you get a chance.... not that there's a theme here, or anything! As I said, sparring is a game, and a skill - and like all games of skill, it requires practice. The more you spar, the better you'll get - and then you'll have the energy (mental and physical) to use some of the other ideas above, and that other people come up with.

 

[Empty Hands]

Keep your guard up! Especially when you kick.

 

[Deaf Smith]

Kacey has the right idea.

But let's talk about sparring as if it was for keeps.

Now I know alot of good kickers. Some can kick so hard they will break your arm if you block with it (side, roundhouse, axe, spinning heal, back kick...)

When you spar, try to 'see' the kick before it really starts. Use a slide or shuffle to the front quarter to avoid the kick. If your lead leg is close to the other guy, then use hands. If it's farther to one side or another, use a kick for the counter.

If you can't avoid the kick, use a stop-kick to nullify the kick, then counter with any one of several kicks.

If your opponent punches, NOW YOU CAN BLOCK! Very few people can punch or backfist so hard it will destabalize you if you block it. Combine your block and punch into a single move (Bruce Lee called it one-timing.) You might want to shuffle off to one side as you do this, or slide backwards.

Try those for counterattacking.

And, BTW, spar whenever you get a chance!

Deaf

 

[terryl965]

If you are looking for sparring tips for Olympic style it is easy learn angle and counter angles with kicks. If you are doing point sparring be quicker and faster than your opponet. I know this sounds basic but without proper footing you can never be a great sparrer, so always work on your footwork as well.

 

[TheOriginalName]

I posted the following previously but feel that it's applicable here as well:



I'll offer my 2 cents here.........

I love sparring. We have two sparring classes a week (each one about 6 or 7 rounds). It's an awesome workout and gets you thinking.

A couple of tips.

1 - Each week try something new.
Go in there with a specific goal to attempt something you have never done before. It may be a new type of kick or a new combo. Sparring (particularly non-contact) is the time to experiment. Sparring at the end of the day is about learning; learning how to fight.

2 - Eat the poison berry
This is a John B. Will theory (www.bjj.com.au). If we eat a berry that makes us sick we automatically say "not going to eat that again". Don't let this happen in your sparring. If you try something and it fails don't think "not doing that again". Instead go "didn't work there......gotta try that again". Give it 20 goes before you decide it won't work - chances are it will work at least once and you'll be stoked with the new move.

3 - Talk
After class grab your opponent(s) and talk their ears off. If a black belt set you up go up to him and ask how he did it. Ask how to avoid it and if there was anything else you didn't do properly. The chances are that they will be as keen to talk to you as you are. This is called feedback.....it's a powerful way of learning and often overlooked.

Personally i love to spar - will do it with almost anyone - but at the end of the day it's all about learning and enjoying yourself. So get in there, try new things, analysie what happened and then get back in there.......

Have fun

 

[Big Don]

Wear whatever protective gear you are comfortable in, except ALWAYS wear a cup!

Two things you KNOW will happen in sparring:
1 You WILL get hit
2 It WILL hurt

Try to ONLY spar people who are better at it then you, this helps you improve.

 

[jim777]

There are some REALLY great posts in this thread

All I would add at this point is to make sure that both you and your opponent are using the same set of rules. Sometimes the rules aren't clear to everyone, and not all schools feel it is necessary to go over them on a regular basis. Certainly, not all schools use the same set of rules! If in doubt, just ask your instructor to go over them in front of the class so everyone is on the same page. Personally, I think it's a good idea to go over them once a month in that fashion, to make sure one or two rules haven't fallen off the radar.

 

[tshadowchaser]

Spar whenever you get a chance.

always work on your basic techniques each sparring session. Without the basics the fancy stuff dose not work.

Keep your mind focused on your opponent but listen for your instructors voice. Do not look to see if someone is approving of what you just did.

Find one or two techniques that you want to work on, then find a way to make them work

Spar with those of a higher rank or more ability, this will make you work harder

 

[Hyper_Shadow]

If you want to show off and put on some flair keep your distance and pick your shots. If you want to hurt em get in close and use your knees head body and elbows. If you need to rest close right in to about an inch or three away and keep pressing forward it'll give you time to think.

I dunno really, sparrings always come kinda natural to me so I've never actually analysed what I do personally. Thanks for giving me something to think about.

 

[bowser666]

SO many tips top give for sparring. In my experience , sparring TKD folks, stay within their striking range for kicks. 80% + of what they do is kicking. If you can get inside there attack area and force them into near clinch , not full clinch but go in with hands and a good guard you will suprise them everytime. TKD fighters ( that I have fought anyways) love it when their opponents backpedal, or sidestep cuz it puts them right in line with their kicks.

One other tip i would share is practice sparring in different ways, spar onlty hands, then only feet, then only defense , then only offense. It helps you to analyze different strageties and will help you blend them into your fighting techniques and overall style.

Always be mindful of your guard when you are attacking. I always see too many students dropping their guard when they attack. Sadly, some styles ( not naming) i see no guard whatsoever. Kind of scary.

Hope some of these tips help.

 

[snoack]

We do a lot of block and countre drills during sparring month, so that helps to get into the right mindset.

As far as tips...hmmm...

use multiple techniques in a combination. You want to get your opponent to move their guards, faking/throwing punches or kicks with the intent of getting them to open another area to strike

stay aggressive. Keeping your opponent moving backwards gives you more offensive opportunities

hve a specific technique/combination in mind that you want to work on each time you spar (ie: throw a reverse hook kick and then snap a round or front kick out of it before you set your foot down)

learn to recognize when and what technique may be coming and know what the best counter technique is (ie: a reverse side kick is a great counter technique to a round kick)

mix your targets up, throw the same techniques to differet parts of your target

be well conditioned, this helps to keep your techniques sharp

use basic, fundamental techniques whenever possible (ie: a tornado kick may be a great looking arial technique, but has limited practicality when sparring with an opponent who is at or above your skill level)

 

[Just4Kicks]

Thanks, I'll try and integrate what you've advised.

Could someone give a list of good counters to different kicks? Like roundhouse, side, crescent etc?

Good footwork is really hard for me, any tips on attacking off line or getting in close without coping a kick?

 

[terryl965]

Counter to the back leg roundhouse is the back kick, coming off the line in the beginning use a push kick it will always surprise most TKD folks. Side kick move on a 90 degree angle to the strong side and deliver a backswing. Hope this helps.

 

[bowser666]

A few good kciking combos are a low high turn kick, fake low turn kick ( roundhouse) then bring it up high for a head shot. ( Must be a fast snap) Another one I like is the hook kick to turn kick , either leg. Or either a inside or outside crescent kick, and after you complete the circle and almost come back to chamber throw out a front snap kick , chest height. Do not rely on just kick combos , or just hand combo's. COmbine them !!! Use a kick combo to close gap and put em away with hands Or close with a hand combo , then if they back pedal or side step , take em out with a kick combo. Use variety, and don't make your combos a pattern that they can read, otherwise you will get picked apart. Hope this insight helps.

 

[shihansmurf]

First off,

Spar as much as you possibly can. Nothing will help you improve as much as experience.

That being said check out the book Sabaki Method. There's a lot of great material in there. In particular focus on fighting to the blind side of the opponet, that is move to the outside of his leading weapon as much a possible.

The book on the straight lead by Terri Thom is also invaluable.

If the ruleset that you're fighting under allows it, really work on leg kicks. Mashing an opponets legs up will really take the fight out of them. Low roundhouse kicks and thrusting front kicks are great weapons.

In general though, the best advice is to work on your conditioning and overall levels of fitness. A fit athlete is always at a tremendous advantage over an unfit opponet.

Mark

Remember. Nothing teaches you to fight like fighting.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Attack on the off beat and watch your opponents breathing.

Watch your opponent’s rhythm in his/her movement and attack on the off beat. Many tend to spar rather rhythmically

If your opponent has to exhale to punch attack right after he/she exhales.

This is a bad habit that many MAist pickup from training the can only throw a punch or a kick if they exhale.

 

[Twin Fist]

Some very good advice here,

I would add, if you throw a fake, make it a HARD fake, you never know when that fake will land, so it might as well count.