Sparring Styles

[camotheman]

What is your favorite “style” of sparring? Meaning, what are your favorite techniques to throw, what are some of your favorite ways to set up techniques? Any favorite traps, feints, or throws?

Anything you use in sparring can be discussed. I’m looking to change up the way I spar a bit and I figured I could steal some of your guys favorite techniques!

Thanks!!

 

[Gyakuto102]

If sparring someone new, I’d often try a few tentative ‘let’s-see-what-they-do’ techniques. What do they do if distancing is closed? What if I rotate around them? Do they pay attention to their foot/knee placement? Can their attention be easily moved around by feints; does she drop her hands when I lift my knee allowing me to punch her in the face?

Once I’ve assessed my partner I ‘cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war’…well something like that

 

[camotheman]

Whoop, I meant to follow up with my own little tricks / favorites in sparring in the original post.

One of my own favorites techniques is to feint a jab until I can get a good read on their reaction, once I have that reaction locked down I grab their gi at the wrist, or just their wrist, and pull their hand down, then come over the top with a reverse punch to the face. This relies on feinting heavily, as well as hand speed.

 

[drop bear102]

I have a jab so good they named a street after it.

 

[Prince_Alarming102]

I believe in taking the fight to the enemy. Counterfighting is cool, but not something I'm gifted at. So I'm an aggressive sort of fighter. My favourite throw is ippon seoi nage, and I'm disinclined to throw roundhouse kicks. My favourite punch is a shovel hook to the gut. I'm kind of a 'get in their face and hit them' kinda guy. I dislike pulling guard.

 

[camotheman]

I believe in taking the fight to the enemy. Counterfighting is cool, but not something I'm gifted at. So I'm an aggressive sort of fighter. My favourite throw is ippon seoi nage, and I'm disinclined to throw roundhouse kicks. My favourite punch is a shovel hook to the gut. I'm kind of a 'get in their face and hit them' kinda guy. I dislike pulling guard.

I love the shovel hook to the gut, I feel like it’s one of my most powerful tools. I like to set it up after throwing a jab then cross.

 

[Gyakuto102]

I have a jab so good they named a street after it.
View attachment 34242

At the risk of pedantry, it’s a drive

Your jab really drives-in.

 

[wab251]

Well, you did ask what I liked to do when "sparring." For me, "sparring" is practice, or laboratory time. It's a time to try new things, a time to perfect other things. It is not a time to "win."

Usually, the instructor has us work on some technique or combo whatever for a bit before we start sparring. I always like to then try what we just practiced. So, I will give my partner the exact opening that the technique or combo of the day started from, to let my partner do it first. When things go well, they recognize what I am doing and feed me the same thing in return. So we get to learn to recognize the opportunity and then respond with what we just learned. As we get better, we gradually increase the resistance and try to counter and reverse... then throw in other stuff... then surprise them and come back.

I also like to get more practice in areas I am bad at... specifically the ones I have the hardest time working from. I usually have a hard time passing guard... so I make it easy for the other guy to get me into their guard... then I try working out of their guard. When I find that something is working really well for me, I try not to use it and try to use other things instead. When I was younger I got really good at tomoe nage. For a while I threw everyone tomoe nage. (It was especially fun when I worked with people that told me how simple and easy it was to defend and counter.... I heard some very interesting "kiai's" as they flew over me...) But, I had a hard time with most of the other throws. I had to force myself not to take the easy throw, but to work on the harder ones. This is not the way to tap or beat every person I spar with. But, it is a way for me to improve my techniques and to practice what I just trained a few minutes ago or what I have been having a hard time with.

 

[Kung Fu Wang102]

what are some of your favorite ways to set up techniques?

This is a good subject. It has no style boundary.

In sparring, you only enter when you feel safe. Your entering strategy is to "seal off" both of your opponent's arms so when you enter, his arms won't give you any trouble.

Suggest 2 different "safe" entering strategies.

1. Uniform stance side door entering (you and your opponent have the same side forward) - A "jab-grab-pull and guide leading arm to jam back arm" can be a good choice.



2. Mirror stance front door entering (you and your opponent have different side forward) - A "hook punch with downward parry and back arm control" can be a good choice.

 

[Kung Fu Wang102]

I believe in taking the fight to the enemy. Counterfighting is cool, but not something I'm gifted at. So I'm an aggressive sort of fighter.

Agree! If you only play counter fight, you may fall into your opponent's trap. It's better to let your opponent to fall into your trap instead.

When you shop with your girlfriend, it's better for you to lead her to Dollar Tree store than for her to lead you to Macy store.

 

[philwhite32]

Nothing feels better than landing a jump turn side kick. I like counter fighting because it’s fun when you find the right timing. If I want to win I’ll stalk with hands and use the clock.

 

[windwalker099102]

I like this teachers approach to usage ….Sparring first among one’s own method then with others of different methods…Understand how to adapt to different approaches .

He talks about being empty allowing one to shrink the space, not allowing the other to have anything to react with….ie. not giving them a point to land their force on…

CMA strategy: method becomes reaction. No separate phase of figuring out the opponent—only continuous expression of the system. Outcome does not change the movement, the movement is no longer a choice.
It becomes an expression of the self reacting to the moment

 

[Kung Fu Wang102]

shrink the space,

Good point.

Old MA saying said, "If you understand how to run your opponent down, your fighting skill have moved into a higher level."

If your opponent wants a

- kicking range, you give him a punching range,
- punching range, you give him a clinching range.
- clinching range, you run him down.

By using simple English, this strategy can be as simple as to "use your leading leg to control your opponent's back leg".

 

[isshinryuronin]

There is no best fighting style, just what works for the individual. I tend not to overthink it. There are some general strategies (not fool proof) like against TDK to get in close to nullify kicks or against Shotokan to get offline to nullify deep linear attacks. Other basic strategies are to get outside the guard, working towards the back and using timing and angles to create openings - these work against any style. The exact tactics used depend on what's in your toolbox and the opponent's reactive tendencies.

As Musashi said one should not have a favorite weapon, I think the same goes for karate as far as fighting "style" goes. My style will not only vary with the opponent, but within a single match: Sometimes giving way only to switch to an aggressive attack, start with kicking then switch to punching, going with direct attacks but only to set up feints and timing variations. Start with countering then initiate. Sometimes my style will vary simply on my mood/spirit.

The exact tactics used are less important than employing basic concepts of getting the opponent off balance (mentally and physically) frustrated with your changing angles, speed, timing, movement, etc. Getting in position for attack while keeping the opponent from doing the same. Try to control the arm (which can lead to controlling the body) and check the legs. Tactics and techniques are simply helpers to accomplish this.

Don't get overly aggressive, keep things simple and don't leave unintentional openings. Strike when the opportunity presents itself by having presence of mind (experience helps) and having the body in an offensive posture. I never think of having a style aside from employing all the above as seems right at the time.

Just as kata serves as a template for many applications, the basic general concepts above provide a template for many styles.

 

[Kung Fu Wang102]

As Musashi said one should not have a favorite weapon,

This old man (my teacher's young brother) believed one should always repeat his favor entering strategy. The reason is simple. If your "entering strategy" has been repeated over 10,000 times, you will accumulate enough experience and be able to handle all different kind of surprises. You will have more knowledge in this area than your opponent has.

Try to control the arm (which can lead to controlling the body) and check the legs.

Agree with you 100% on this. This old man's entering strategy was conservative and safe.

1. He will use his arms to touch your arms first (control the arms).
2. He then used his leg to touch the outside of your leg to check your intention (check the leg).
3. If you move your leading leg, he will enter and attack your front boor.
4. If you don't move your leading leg, he will enter and attack your back door.

 

[isshinryuronin]

This old man (my teacher's young brother) believed one should always repeat his favor entering strategy. The reason is simple. If your "entering strategy" has been repeated over 10,000 times, you will accumulate enough experience and be able to handle all different kind of surprises. You will have more knowledge in this area than your opponent has.

We all have favorite techniques (ones we are good at) but I was talking about overall style, which I believe should be flexible to fit the opponent and our own spirit.

Agree with you 100% on this. This old man's entering strategy was conservative and safe.

1. He will use his arms to touch your arms first (control the arms).
2. He then used his leg to touch the outside of your leg to check your intention (check the leg).
3. If you move your leading leg, he will enter and attack your front boor.
4. If you don't move your leading leg, he will enter and attack your back door.

Yes, rather than just control the opponent by striking or blocking or feints, going the extra step and gaining direct physical control of his body (to manipulate his position and/or balance) in conjunction with these other moves is a skill seldom seen in modern sparring and one much applicable in actual fighting.

 

[Kung Fu Wang102]

We all have favorite techniques (ones we are good at) but I was talking about overall style, which I believe should be flexible to fit the opponent and our own spirit.

Agree! We all have our favor entering strategies. What I'm trying to say is if one is good at certain entering strategy, he should keep doing it.

I knew a guy who always started his attack with a foot sweep. He didn't care whether his foot sweep could take his opponent down or not. He just wanted to connect his leg with his opponent's leading leg.

I like to kick my opponent's leading leg knee joint for the same purpose. I don't care whether I can hurt my opponent's knee joint or not. I just want to feel his leg so that leg cannot kick me.

Beginners may not invest enough effort to "listen". They just try to knock their opponent down with 1 punch.

 

[HighKick1]

Agree! We all have our favor entering strategies. What I'm trying to say is if one is good at certain entering strategy, he should keep doing it.

I knew a guy who always started his attack with a foot sweep. He didn't care whether his foot sweep could take his opponent down or not. He just wanted to connect his leg with his opponent's leading leg.

I like to kick my opponent's leading leg knee joint for the same purpose. I don't care whether I can hurt my opponent's knee joint or not. I just want to feel his leg so that leg cannot kick me.

Beginners may not invest enough effort to "listen". They just try to knock their opponent down with 1 punch.

Doesn't this make you predictable?

 

[Prince_Alarming102]

Man, this thread is teaching me a lot. Good stuff guys!

 

[windwalker099102]

Agree! We all have our favor entering strategies. What I'm trying to say is if one is good at certain entering strategy, he should keep doing it.

I knew a guy who always started his attack with a foot sweep. He didn't care whether his foot sweep could take his opponent down or not. He just wanted to connect his leg with his opponent's leading leg.

I like to kick my opponent's leading leg knee joint for the same purpose. I don't care whether I can hurt my opponent's knee joint or not. I just want to feel his leg so that leg cannot kick me.

Beginners may not invest enough effort to "listen". They just try to knock their opponent down with 1 punch.

With those I work with, a lot of time is spent on closing the gap and understanding range.

We have a practice called "walking the circle."

A practice for understanding that one is either on the outside or inside the circle.

Outside the circle: the practice is to enter starting with three movements, then two, eventually reaching a point where one can enter and close the gap, using a single movement.

Inside the circle: the practice is to see the entering movement.

hop gar example of this in use