Combat Training and Mindset

[jimbob]

Dude

Who told you Southern mantis doesn't spar? I trained with southern mantis folk for about 3 years and there was sparring. ****ed painful very effective sparring. We used to use those koshiki "bubble" style helmets and go full contact. The school I was with also used to get together with other clubs in the area and go at it. I remember them going through a local kyokushinkai school like hot knives through butter.

Maybe not in your part of the world, but I can assure you, there are at least some mantis folk who spar.

Stay funky

James

[taichibear]

I spar with my students as often as possible, and I spar with MY Sifu at least once a week. I also am leary of a Sifu who will not spar. If they do not have the control required to not hurt the student, they do not deserve to be instructing!!! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif[/img] Sorry, sore point there. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Namasté

Some are born fools, others achieve idiocy through their own efforts.
http://www.dragon-studios.net

[Ross]

Hey..I only report what the Southern Mantis guys web site said.....

http://www.mantis.org.uk/mantis_kung_fu.htm

"Chow Gar Southern Praying Mantis kung fu training does not include sparring. How can a martial art be valid if the students don't learn how to fight? Students of Chow Gar kung fu do learn how to fight; they just do it without sparring. The Chow Gar system requires a high level of sensitivity in all parts of the body. This heightened awarenes to touch and pressure is effectively an extra perception-sensor (!), allowing the hands and bridges (ie hands, feet, arms and legs) to act and react of their own volition, sticking to, thwarting and overwhelming the attacker's offensive potential. This is not just an instinctive situation-awareness, but something more. To obtain this martial sensitivity, one of the methods used is two-man attacker/defender sets where pre-ordained sequences of attack and counter-attack are practised. Like a post supporting a young tree, these sets allow the students to refine and internalise the techniques and principles. At the right time, the support is removed and the student finds himself (or herself) able to cope with, and act appropriately in, self-defense situations."

What can I say...? Differences in different branches of the style?

Cheers, R

[This message was edited by R on 11-02-00 at 07:14 PM.]

[imp_one]

here's my view: sparring is necessary but not sufficient for becoming proficent in fighting arts. It's just my opinion. I agree that sparring is nothing like the real thing, but it can show you some things about fighting. It's not a perfect replica of fighting but as someone said-how far do you want to go for skill? The problem is that people who spar often don't catch on that It's not like the real thing. It becomes an end in itself instead of a tool for growth. Without grappling you can't hope to understand fighting. That means that you have to be able to react to instinctive grabs and tackles to prevail in the real thing. Not always but a lot of the time. And sparring only involves speed and technical skill. There is no sense of raw power. A lot of people attack with raw power and this is why many martial artists go down in the street. An effective martial artist has to be able to counter raw power with technical skill, but controlled sparring can never teach this. I still think sparring is useful though, as long as it's understood as a limited vehicle for training. Someone mentioned "combat sparring" in another thread. there is no such thing. Sparring is not even close to combat for many reasons. No grappling, presence of pads, mental intent of training partner etc. The street is far more more brutal than sparring. In street fights there is no round two. A person goes down and gets beat down. And power counts in the street, where it doesn't in the training hall.

[Black Jack]

Two man drills are a great tool but they do not give you what sparring can.

Sparring allows you to put yourself agaisnt a moving and thinking person and not a static training set that repeats the same movements into the air with no flesh and blood contact.

I find that most martial artists that do not spar are trying to be artists and not to train themselves to be fighters.

Every time I have sparred or seen a match with a martial artist who did not spar and went agaisnt a guy who was realistic about his training and put sparring into his practice the static based martial artist always got the crap kicked out of him.

They have developed no wind, no flow of range, no good footwork basics as they have never applied them in a fighting situation, horrible defenses, loosy accuracy on a moving aggressive attacker, they have problems dealing with angles from those that are not on a straight line, they panick when they are taken to the ground, they dont understand what it is like to take a few hits and most important they are not working on the psychological aspect of pitting themselves agasint another human being who is not going to be following any one drill or guidline.

You need two-person drills, energy drills and sparring to become a good fighter and beyond that you need to be creative and work your tools in different enviroments.

Its a joke otherwise. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

Regards

[rogue]

The average street fight is not as bad as a hard sparring session, with or without pads & gloves. As long as you're not caught unawares it should be pretty easy to drop some joe long before he inflicts much damage on you. That is if your trainings up to snuff of course.

It's those **** odd ball fights against an experienced street fighter where the trouble really starts.

I used to be daga