It is rude to ask a teacher to spar if

[xinyidizi]

Internal people focus on health and do not spar.

Many internal martial artists do teach combat. My first taiji teacher didn't know how to fight and when I asked him about applications and to show us fajin he told me taiji is not practical in fighting. When I heard that I just left that class. My second taiji teacher on the other hand loved to spar with us. It wasn't just push hands in his class and we often sparred.
So whether it's internal or external, as long as it is a legitimate martial arts class I think sparring should by all means be part of the training but what I meant was that one has to consider ethics and respect for a teacher before trying to challenge his kungfu. If you choose the right teacher he would spar with you when the time comes.

The fact that the senior "played" with him instead of sparring is telling.

By played I meant that guy was so low level that my shixiong didn't need to use power to show him how he could hit him.

[IronFist]

Careful, though. A McDojo instructor who is "too deadly for the ring" might hurt his student during a sparring session. This may happen for two reasons:

1) he's never sparred before and doesn't know wtf he's doing (accidental injury)

2) he is afraid of his lack of fighting ability against a resisting opponent coming to light so he will hit the student just a little too hard as a friendly reminder that he is too deadly to spar

[jo]

Cus D'Amato never sparred with Mike Tyson.

Cus never fought in the ring.

But he could teach you how to fight.

- jo

[xinyidizi]

Small injuries are inevitable and are great opportunities for the body to learn. Without them I could never get rid of my fear and wouldn't know how to protect myself in a fight.

[RWilson]

i also dont liek the internal lies and scams, but it sounds like your anoos is severely sore from being passively bullied by " internal" people.

if they used to put you down and demean you to make themselves feel superior and special, dont cry about it. go back to their class, and tell them you fuk their mothers.

That would be pointless because they would not be able to hurt me. It would be like a grown up beating up a child. I am shocked and angered by how much money guys like this make teaching their students everything except combat and convinces them they are learning to fight.

[lance]

It is rude to ask a teacher to spar if he is mostly teaching forms and drills. I truly believe this. If a school is a fighting school, as in they spar and or compete, you can ask to spar(striking sparring I mean) IF the teacher also competes or trains with the students.

If the guy is aging, does not look like he has sparred in years, etc it is rude to ask.

Grappling sparring is not as dangerous and therefore the blackbelt teacher should be sparring with his students.

What do you guys think?

Rwilson , to me it ' s not rude to ask a teacher to spar , you know why ? Anybody besides yourself can just come in the class when your teacher is teaching , and challenge your teacher . To me a martial arts teacher should be ready for any kind of situation or for anything to happen . That way you know if the teacher
you ' re learning from is good or not .

Martial art is used for self defense , but if you ' re provoked to fight then you ' re going to have to fight . Because , your students all believed in you and looked up to you as a role model , and if you get beaten up by anybody like another martial artist or some person skilled in street fighting or any forms of combat , then it really does ' nt look good for you and your MA teacher right ?

A martial arts teacher should be able to spar with any of the students at any time . Because you know why you yourself can be attacked at anytime , you just don ' t know . When you spar with the teacher then you know how good he is , so it inspires you to spar more , then you can improve yourself .
You ' re paying money your teacher to teach you how to defend yourself , so your teacher needs to know that he has to back himself up .

If my sifu lost a fight or challenge to anybody who I believe is not really that good . Then I would think twice about continuing the martial arts training with the sifu who got beaten up , when he could ' ve handle the opponent . Just because you have a rank or certification by your own sifu or sensei to teach on your own , it really does ' nt mean that your good you really have to consistantly train hard on your own . Because once you discontinue training and still remain thinking that you ' re good , it won ' t work that way , because your skills and everything that you work hard for will get rusty , and you won ' t be good as you really suppose to be as the day you earned your own certification or rank to teach you own students .

[SPJ]

Spar with rules and safety.

a. 1 min rule.

Grappling or throw. Break up after no results within a min.

Define your win before sparring. Go over the safety. Using mattress on the floor etc.

b. Using technique just learned

Require you to apply a said technique in your spar.

--

Spar with your classmate, instructor or teacher.

We all learn.

A good teacher also learns from his student.

c. free sparring

anything goes but with rules and safety.

a third party judge to mediate

--

Spar away.

[David Jamieson]

I have had people come in who only wanted to learn shapes and did not want to do any pad/bag/mitts/sparring whatsoever.

so...forms it is. lol at least I have them to offer.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Cus D'Amato never sparred with Mike Tyson.

Cus never fought in the ring.

But he could teach you how to fight.

- jo

Very true, though Teddy Atlas and Kevin Rooney did fight in the ring.
Cus was an exception to the rule.
He had a mind for boxing and he neve fought in the ring because he never had the chance. He opened his first gym at 22 !
Again, an exception to the rule.
There are not and never have been, many Cus D'Amato's

[Lucas]

There was a write up in people a while back on cus. He said he never fought because when he was young a guy picked a fight with him, and he left him blind in one eye. Cus also was in the military. He may have not been a pro or amateur boxer, but he had some experiences in life to know what meant to be a fighter. He did a lot of self depriving in his life, so he also understood hardship and overcoming obstacles. Primarily he knew how to develop a powerful will. A primary attribute for any fighter. He also understood the science of boxing very well.

[sanjuro_ronin]

There was a write up in people a while back on cus. He said he never fought because when he was young a guy picked a fight with him, and he left him blind in one eye. Cus also was in the military. He may have not been a pro or amateur boxer, but he had some experiences in life to know what meant to be a fighter. He did a lot of self depriving in his life, so he also understood hardship and overcoming obstacles. Primarily he knew how to develop a powerful will. A primary attribute for any fighter. He also understood the science of boxing very well.

I've met a few guys that have never FORMALLY fought, but they have a very realistic grasp of what it entails and they KNOW how to make someone else a fighter.
Far and few between, yes, but they do exist.

[Shaolin]

Martial art is used for self defense , but if you ' re provoked to fight then you ' re going to have to fight .

Not always. There's more to the arts than fighting.

If my sifu lost a fight or challenge to anybody who I believe is not really that good . Then I would think twice about continuing the martial arts training with the sifu who got beaten up , when he could ' ve handle the opponent .

Everyone has an off day.

[Lucas]

I've met a few guys that have never FORMALLY fought, but they have a very realistic grasp of what it entails and they KNOW how to make someone else a fighter.
Far and few between, yes, but they do exist.

definately a rare case. but thats what makes great people great, rarely are they the average or the norm, often do they step outside the bounds of 'common restriction'

[xinyidizi]

Exactly how can a kungfu teacher who doesn't know how to fight teach fighting?

[sanjuro_ronin]

Exactly how can a kungfu teacher who doesn't know how to fight teach fighting?

A question for the ages dude, !
LOL !
Of course, the typical answer is "define fighting".