Intensity Levels in Training???

[Water Dragon]

How intensely do you drill your apps? Let's just stick with a basic punch to the body so we're all talking about the same thing. Doesn't matter if it's one step, free sparring, or something in between. Be honest, I'm really curious as to who's doing what:

[SevenStar]

depends. If I'm with someone less experienced than me, I'll go light, and let them do what they want. Someone at my level or higher, may usually go medium to 75%, depending on what we're working. Usually it's in the medium range. You don't want to go hard all the time, for injuries' sake.

[Mutant]

Good question, but not an easy straightforward answer. I couldnt select a specific catagory in the poll because my answer is something like 'all of the above'...

Depends entirely on what I'm working on or who I'm training with.

I don't think training in any one of those catagories exclusively would develop good end results. Sometimes its good to use extremely light or no contact when honing a punch. A sifu of mine often experessed that if you use force or hard contact too early in learning or teaching, or when fine-tuning a punch, that you'll corrupt the technique. He wouldnt let us hit pads or a heavy bag until he was satisfied with that technique...which took us months and months, he was a perfectionist and very picky, which was at times frustrating and counter to what I had been previously taught, but made lots of sense in the end when I saw the results. And then after he was satisfied with the mechanics of the punch or kick. Once we had the techniques down well enough, he'd usually have us go full contact, with full protection, gloves, etc.

With that said, often I and some of my past training partners would go somewhere between maybe 50% & full out, depending on what we were trying to achieve. Remember that if you go full out all the time, you and your partners may have too many frequent injuries and end up being out of commision and possibly miss the event you were training so hard for, I've learned that lesson the hard way.

[Shooter]

I don't believe in "full-contact"...it's dangerous and people get hurt. ;)

Over the years I've had both knees damaged, broken both A/C joints, nose, all my toes, lots of ribs and fingers, blah blah blah....

I like to think I've learned enough from all that to be able to show others how they can train hard while avoiding all that macho $#!+. But hey, accidents happen. :p

[Mutant]

The title of the thread asks about intesity, which I think is different than the question of the 'poll' that I just answered above.

Whatever I'm working on, I try to maintain a high level of intensity; if it is lacking, as it too often is in many schools, you will never be very good.

Even when working a solo drill that has no contact, there should be a high level of intensity.

(I think I'm on Water Dragon's 'ignore' list, so I don't even know why I'm answering this...)

[Water Dragon]

Yeah, but I checked the message anyway. If I can ever figure out how to take someone off my Ignore List, I will.

[Shaolindynasty]

We usually start light and let it progress to whatever we feel like. Unless it gets harder out of anger. If someone is mad we usually don't let them spar unless we want them to learn a lesson about controlling themselves. We usually start slow and then the intensity is decided by the people sparring. But somtimes we make people fight hard cause some people nned that extra push. We don't make people spar hard if they can't though, my sifu pushed me really hard during sparring so we give it to the people who want/need it.

[Shooter]

Mutant Warrior, that's a very good point, and I agree. Range management and accuracy...