Let's Talk About Sparring!

[Liokault]

2 minutes on youtube Lets me put some definition in here:

This is totally pointless and probably counterproductive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFF-mNzBkvU

Where this is much better:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QnTu7mHgwM

You can see that the blows are sharper, intending to actually hit. The evasion is therefore quite (generally) good. Ok, I think they are more at 75% intensity, but ok.

Of the two groups above, one had a beneficial time, the other didn’t.

[MightyB]

That was YOU ?!?!?!
You ****er !!

It's necessary to simulate the violence in the Street!

Some day you'll thank me for the experience. Sorry about selling your ID on the internet, but it's part of the lesson.

[sanjuro_ronin]

It's necessary to simulate the violence in the Street!

Some day you'll thank me for the experience. Sorry about selling your ID on the internet, but it's part of the lesson.

The russian strippers and the mail order bride were a nice touch !

[Lucas]

i did say most people wont agree with me. but i really dont care. im glad i've been through this several times. and like i said, when you get back up, you dont get hit in the head again. getting back up and hitting pads, or getting back up and then continuing with a different intensity and no head shots is not really that much different. if you think about it. unless you're brain damaged and can't see that. thats why you would only do this with someone you trust has the control and experience to partner with you for that. circumstances change things of course, you have to be smart about it, if you get ko bad and go down hard and cant even operate when you get back up. use ur fukin judgment and dont be poosies.

i would never tell someone they should do this but i do value the experience and think its a valuable one to go through if you never plan on fighting in the ring. you could do the same thing with letting yourself get blasted in the stomach while breathing in, and then fight through it. if you get brain damage, sucks for you. we're not talking about guys who are taking hard shots to the head on a regular basis from competative fighting. we're talking about giving a valuable experience to martial artists. most of all of us have been there and understand its an important feeling to know.

'if he dies, he dies'

[eltravose]

I don't have any videos but I like to take an open mind to every sparring match. I have heard before that you should have nothing on your mind when you spar, which happens automatically for some people. It is really easy to get caught up in your own head. I am constantly looking to see 'whats open' or 'how can I make an opening.' I tend to spar more reactive and aggressive, but it all depends on the type of match: testing, point, continuous, etc.

[Kellen Bassette]

I just randomly punch people in the building. Sometimes I hide in the dark parking garage and jump people. It's best to take their wallets so that they can appreciate the maximum effect of the simulation.

Your a perfect candidate for the Black Lotus, dark trickery, fighting society.

[GeneChing]

Training is training. Reality is reality. You can train for reality, but only reality is reality. You can also train for fantasy, which might be helpful if you live in a fantasy world.

Nothing brings you as close to the street as competitive full contact fighting.

I imagine this to be true but I've never competed full contact personally. I've been in a lot of street fights however, mostly through my psychiatric crisis intervention work. You know, I've managed to get through a lot of those just through intimidation (I do a decent Bruce Lee impression, part of my fantasy work ). I imagine that's not nearly as effective in the ring as on the street. In street fighting, there's a lot to be said for a good sucker punch or distraction (Hey, your fly is down!), which I can't imagine are quite as effective in the ring. In the ring, you know you're going to fight. You and your opponent are committed, and there's a judge that says 'go'. On the street, you never know if the fight will actually go down until it goes down. After a ton of posturing, sometimes you just both walk away. Honestly, you're better prepared for the street by learning some basic conflict resolution techniques than training your sidekick.

Don't get me wrong here. Sparring is great! Keep sparring, on every level: light, hard, whatever you can do.

[Kellen Bassette]

You won’t get injured if you are against a person of a similar build/fitness level and ability as yourself. You will find that it is actually quite hard to KO or indeed hit a guy in a way that actually hurts him (or her) when they are are the same size as you, are as good as you and are making you have to worry about being hurt back.

I think even match ups are the way to go for hard contact, better to use mismatched guys for working specific strategies and skills, but not quite the same as the hard sparring, IMO.

This is a tough one though. It can be hard to find good sparring partners. If your from a small school, or just can't find many guys in your area interested in hard sparring/fighting, you got to take what you can get.

My old Karate teacher started fighting Kyokushin bouts back in the day. He told me he went to all 6 martial arts school in his town and only found one person who wanted to train for fights.

I even know guys that think themselves MMA types and are always talking a big game, but when it comes to getting in the ring they always seem to have an excuse, obligation or injury. If you got a good group where you can provide half-way even match ups most the time, then your fortunate in that respect.

[Kellen Bassette]

Training is training. Reality is reality. You can train for reality, but only reality is reality. You can also train for fantasy, which might be helpful if you live in a fantasy world.

Maybe I misjudge the LARPers...perhaps they are doing exactly what they need to do.

After a ton of posturing, sometimes you just both walk away.

I've known dudes who spend more time practicing their posturing than their martial arts.

[Lucas]

[GeneChing]

Maybe I misjudge the LARPers...perhaps they are doing exactly what they need to do.

lol. Indeed yes. Did you ever read our ezine piece on it? The Care and Feeding of Your Inner Superhero by Lori Ann White (it's just me trying to sling ninja gear again gotta pay the rent around here, doncha know?)

I've known dudes who spend more time practicing their posturing than their martial arts.

Wait, isn't that what forms practice is?

[Kellen Bassette]

lol. Indeed yes. Did you ever read our ezine piece on it?

I have now.
You certainly make it appear cool by finding attractive women. I wonder what percentage of the LARPers girls like that actually compose?

Wait, isn't that what forms practice is?

Ouch. Wow...

[sanjuro_ronin]

Training is training. Reality is reality. You can train for reality, but only reality is reality. You can also train for fantasy, which might be helpful if you live in a fantasy world.

I imagine this to be true but I've never competed full contact personally. I've been in a lot of street fights however, mostly through my psychiatric crisis intervention work. You know, I've managed to get through a lot of those just through intimidation (I do a decent Bruce Lee impression, part of my fantasy work ). I imagine that's not nearly as effective in the ring as on the street. In street fighting, there's a lot to be said for a good sucker punch or distraction (Hey, your fly is down!), which I can't imagine are quite as effective in the ring. In the ring, you know you're going to fight. You and your opponent are committed, and there's a judge that says 'go'. On the street, you never know if the fight will actually go down until it goes down. After a ton of posturing, sometimes you just both walk away. Honestly, you're better prepared for the street by learning some basic conflict resolution techniques than training your sidekick.

Don't get me wrong here. Sparring is great! Keep sparring, on every level: light, hard, whatever you can do.

Believe me, as a bouncer I used conflict resolution more than a left hook.
Of course you don't build a rep with conflict resolution...

[GeneChing]

Of course you don't build a rep with conflict resolution...

Good point...for bouncing. It's different in psychiatric crisis intervention. There's nothing like the expression of a half dozen burly security guys whenever I managed to just talk some crazy nekkid tripper into putting down the beer bottle/knife/hatchet and following me to medical.

You certainly make it appear cool by finding attractive women. I wonder what percentage of the LARPers girls like that actually compose?

Gotta grab the perks where you can, ya know. I've done a little research - market research - and I'd have to say the percentage is about 20/30% attractive women (and not to be too fetishistic but that stat does drop without the costume ). On the plus side, I'd venture to say that there's only about 10% attractive men in that scene, so your odds aren't bad. Alas, were I young and unmarried, there would have been a whole lot more mischief that scene might have offered.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Gene "The Gigolo" Chen !!