Me Sparring!

[Mr.Sleazy]

So in the last couple weeks I have done my first serious sparring in Muay Thai and BJJ. Yes I know this is the Kung Fu forum, but the thread is really about sparring.

Pretty awesome experience. I have had the beats laid on me by the more experienced students, but I think compared to the other white belts I did pretty good and got some good smacks in when sparring the other beginners. A real eye opener after training the techniques on the pads and bag, then trying to put them over on an opponent. My boxing was OK, even defensively, but my kicks need a lot of work. Oh well, thats the road ahead.

Did jujistu sparring too, real alien to me but lots of fun, and very very hard work. The guard completely baffles me! When I was in it, I had no prob getting out, but to put something over seemed pretty tough.

Just to say I'm proud of my school and although I am def still a beginner, I feel that already I am a better fighter. Looking forward to more.

To end up with questions: I don't really know in sparring how hard to go at it. In BJJ its no problem - as hard as you can. But in Muay Thai, I don't really want to blast my partner full-force in the head, so I tend to pull the punches a bit (and I think they are doing the same), and I really pull the kicks and I know they are holding back too. I know I would get hammered by the advanced students' kicks, so I guess I appreciate this. How hard does everyone else go in normal class sparring? Full force, or full speed/ partial force? And is it mostly free-style sparring, or specific techniques?

[Ryu]

I try to mix it up. Usually moderate to semi hard contact. I don't do full force real often as I want to keep my face in tact. :)

Grappling is different. You can go full resistence quite often. As far as contact kickboxing, I think most people pull things just a little unless they're training for a fight, but even then they don't want to get hurt. Of course, I'm no pro kickboxer, so I could be wrong. :)

Ryu

[Mr.Sleazy]

Yeah I hear you! In grappling sparring I go full out as hard as I can. I think I get an "A" for effort and an "F" for technique but I think this is normal for beginners. Grappling sparring is great because you can do it full force full resistance and not get hurt (qualifier: often). Tap out quick and you're OK.

Muay Thai sparring is tougher to sus out. We change partners ALL the time so I guess I just need to get to know the other students in my classes better, and their comfort level. Full out sparring I would not want to do; the more advanced students would put me on the mat (in the best case scenario;worst case in the hospital) and people who are a little below me would be mad (best case scenario) or perhaps on the mat, even with the big 16oz gloves.

The classes are mixed men and women too, I admit that I have even more of a quandary sparring with the women. I would never overgeneralize (I admit to not understanding women..... despite being a married man, or perhaps because of that) but I don't know if I should put up a huge fight with the women or go easier on the contact. There are definitely women in my class that I think could floor me in seconds if we were to go without pads full on, just because of their skill level compared to mine. But this confuses me, because at the basic (white belt) level, the "comfort level" of the women is different from mine.

I guess again I will just have to get to know everyone's comfort level better. Personally, I don't mind a few punches to the head, it helps me learn, but I don't want to hurt anyone if they are not OK with a little pain.

Overall, in sparring, I think it is good to just drop any idea of competiveness at all, and just look at it as training. You are just trying to apply what you have learned, not beat anyone down.

Anyways, thks for reading the long post and for the replies.