Originally Posted by
tc101
There are general rules that do apply to any stand up fighting for example looking away or closing your eyes is a mistake no matter your style since it will get you hit, same with dropping hands, having an open mouth will get your jaw or teeth broken, being off balance will get you hit, telegraphing for obvious reasons and so forth. One of the goals of a good progressive sparring training is eliminating these mistakes and that will increase your chances in fighting since it limits the other guys opportunities. Sparring is not just about knowing what to do but also about knowing what not to do.
Using bad form like slapping instead of punching only trains you to have bad form since that is what you are practicing and you are not practicing using good form. It is with good form or good technique that you develop power accuracy and so forth. I guess slapping is fine if you want to fight like little girls but if you want to practice punching someone with accuracy and power and so forth you need to practice doing that. That is what sparring is for to practice your fighting skills. You also do not get the same response whether you hit or miss with slapping as you do punching even light punching which is important for practicing set ups.