Sparring Question...

[taijiquan_student]

November at my school is the month where saturday morning, the sparring class, is 1 hr. FULL contact sparring, 5 min. rounds, no breaks(well, last week we had a five min. break). Most students cal l it "hell month". This week, Dante, one of my teacher's best senior students is coming in. He is the nicest person you'll ever meet, but also happens to be a big 300 lb. african-american guy, who is really large AND fast, and ridiculously skilled. He actually was my first teacher, before my class moved up to learning from the head of the school.
Do you guys have any tips/suggestions so that I won't get totally demolished. I know he'll pound me anyway, but if you have some things that are good to do against much larger opponents I'd be really appreciative :)
Thanks guys,
--t.s.

"Duifang jing zhi meng ji, wo fang tui zhi ce fang xi zhi."

[Johnny Hot Shot]

Move out of his way.

"Life's a great Adventure, Mate"
Jacko Jackson

[Tigerstyle]

...and hope they don't have blasters. ;)

[Mr. Nemo]

Spar him as much as possible, it will be a good experience. After him, people your size will seem like midgets.

As for suggestions, I have three, and these apply to sparring anyone, not just against Frankenstein:

1 - Be aggressive. Don't be reckless, and don't disregard defense, but still try to take the fight to him. It may take a while to became comfortable attacking, but it's worth it.

2 - Concentrate. A lot of people say that when you spar full contact, you forget everything and go off instinct, but I don't see why this has to be true. I've sparred full contact and kept a relatively cool head.

3 - Use as much technique as you can. You obviously can't outmuscle this guy, so try to outtechnique him. If he's as good as you say, you won't be able to, but try anyway.

If you gave us more specifics on the rules, and what techniques you've been learned recently, we might be able to give you more specific help.

[Johnny Hot Shot]

How much do you weigh?

"Life's a great Adventure, Mate"
Jacko Jackson

[Fu-Pow]

First of all, the chances are that the guys got reach on you.

So you are never gonna beat him in a head on fist to fist boxing style manner.

So you have several options to make up for your lack of reach.

1) Move his hands out of the way or tie them up. Then you can basically pick your shot. If he's stronger than you this is gonna be tough.

2) Feign, side step and move in at an angle that allows you to attack but so that your not running to his fists. You gotta do this fast and then get out of the way or expect a back fist or worse yet a spinning back fist.

3) Come from underneath and open him up. This is one of the best strategies for smaller guys. If you can work inside of his reach then he's done.


Also, if he's launching a series of vigorous long range attacks on you, the worst thing you can do is back up. As he advances and you back up, you keep moving right into his range. So instead of backing up I suggest you use one of the tactics that I suggested.

In CLF we have a saying "always attacking." Even when you are retreating attack. When you advance attack. If you see an opening exploit it for all its worth. Don't just take one shot and step back. If no credible defense emerges from your opponent keep atttacking . Don't relent. This takes bravery in the face of danger. But this one of the lessons of kung fu.

Good luck!!!!!

Fu-Pow
http://www.makskungfu.com/images/Graphics/Choy%20Lay%20Fut%20red.gif

[straight blast]

Get in close to him. I used to spar in Muay Thai a guy who outweighed me by about 15 kilos and about 4 years more experience. The only way I could avoid getting s**thammered was to get inside the range of his kicks and punches and try to avoid his knees. If his punch has an extension of 2 and a half foot (for example) then it's pretty weak at 1 and a half foot. get in close and drive him backwards.
That worked for me.

"Pain is merely weakness leaving the body"

[taijiquan_student]

I'm 140lbs.--little skinny guy.
As for the rules, it's anything goes, except you want to stay away from the eyes, and use little/no power on the throat. Other than that, it's full speed full power(except for my teacher who uses about half 'cause he would probably kill us if he used full power.) If you go to the ground, you keep going till someone taps, either by choke/submission or if you get like 6 strikes on the back of their head, and they tap realizing they would be out. So basically, full contact, anything goes, boogie till you puke. ;)
Thanks a lot for the help, guys. :)

"Duifang jing zhi meng ji, wo fang tui zhi ce fang xi zhi."

[Fish of Fury]

keep your distance chewie, but don't LOOK like you're tryin' to keep your distance

__________________________________________________ _________________________ "I'm just trying to lull you into a genuine sense of security!"

[rogue]

Kick him in the face while he's bowing. He'll probably kill you but you got at least on good shot in. :D

"Americans don't have the courage to come here," Mullah Mohammed Omar, leader of the Taliban


There is only one tactical principle which is not subject to change; it is, 'To use the means at hand to inflict the maximum amount of wounds, death, and destruction on the enemy in the minimum amount of time.' Patton

[nospam]

Work with him, instead of simply fighting him. That is to say, ask him for advice and insight to your interactions and specifically what he feels you might do to assist in fighting big blokes.

Step up to him prior to sparring and say you want this to be a learning session, please help me as we are sparring. Then keep your eyes and ears open and your guard up :)

Train hard, and smart.

nospam.

[Fu-Pow]

No Spam-

Yeah, and tell him its a "learning session" and get your ass kicked!!!!! I know all about "learning sessions." :eek:

Fu-Pow
http://www.makskungfu.com/images/Graphics/Choy%20Lay%20Fut%20red.gif

[Johnny Hot Shot]

Your 140, Dude. :rolleyes:

If you have good kung fu stay the fu(k out of his way.

Try not to let him hit you.

Dude, your 140.

He's 300 POUNDS Man!

Full Contact!

Try the 3 N's Nose, Nads or (K)nees.

Kudos to you and good luck.

"Life's a great Adventure, Mate"
Jacko Jackson

[ElPietro]

Heh, we may never hear from him again... :(

[taijiquan_student]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, ElPietro ;)

Class is tomorrow morning. I'll let you know what happens. I think I'll mainly be concerned with staying away from his strikes, moving in real close like Straight Blast said(although what would I do from there other than strike maybe twice before he moves? Throw him-- :eek:), maybe coming up from underneath like Fu-Pow said. Also, I'll definitly try to come from angles--no way I'm doing anything effective from head on.
Anyway, enough of my planning and nervousness. I'll just go and do what I can, and hopefully a little more. Thanks again for the help, guys, and I'll let you know what happens.

"Duifang jing zhi meng ji, wo fang tui zhi ce fang xi zhi."