What contact level do you use in sparring.

[eXcessiveForce]

Just curious what levels of contact schools are using for sparring. and under what rules.


Our most basic sparring is Light contact techniques above the waist. No hands to the head but kicks are allowed to all areas of the head and the sides and back of the neck. No strikes are allowed to the back. This is done both for points and for free sparring.


Then we have Light contact no target or technique restrictions
Without going to the ground. with and without gear

then we have the same with going to the ground with and without gear


We also do higher contact 2/3 contact. With rules. light gear

And 2/3 with no rules.

And 2/3 with weapons no rules

Have not done full contact because there is not much interest in it. Safety is also a concern since we teach both adults and children,

Working on getting the adults to expand a bit in their own classes where mothers aren't watching.


gear consists of mouth piece, hand, head and feet gear. No chest protectors.

Light gear is usually just hand and head gear.

Some wear shin gaurds but I encourage them to use them only to heal if they have taken some nasty knocks and then stop wearing them again.


So what about you all?

[Damian Mavis]

At my school we do semi contact up to black belt and then it becomes a personal choice between fighters. If some of my best, toughest guys are sparring it's going to be full contact but with a level of respect where they don't crush the opponents nose if they can help it. If some of my less "gungho" students spar it will be with less force in the contact. Besides the regular broken nose or rib that can happen the worst injury we've had was when one of my guys got his cheek bone cracked by an axe kick. Doctor said it would be fine but a week later his eye started sinking into his head and he had to have a plate put into his face to hold it all together.

Our targets are anything above the belt except the back with both kicks and punches.

Our gear consists of hands and feet protectors and cup and mouthguard. Occasionally they wear helmets.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

[ryanhall]

Contact ranges from light to full, but never semi-contact or pulling of shots.

One thing to worry about with full- or close-to-full-contact is the maturity level of the people involved. Even light sparring with only mouth guards can turn bad easily if you have someone who feels the need to prove something. On two separate occasions, I've sparred with people who were out to hurt me, and I KO'ed both of them (fortunately) for their efforts. Coincidentally, both of these events were without the presence of an instructor. I guess if you keep a close eye on your students, this shouldn't be a problem.

[Damian Mavis]

What's your definition of semi contact? To me it means anywere from light to just before full contact.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

[ryanhall]

I define semi-contact sparring as touch sparring or stopping your shot just before it hits (as many karate/tkd/insert trad art schools do). Even without a mouthguard or headgear, you can still throw punches at one another's face without causing injury. Definitely enough to let you know you've been hit, but nothing that will leave a mark (but it will jolt you good). I'm sure you know what I'm referring to--I'm having trouble putting it in words.

[Kingston]

lol Ryan, i bet those guys weren't happy. What did you do, just wait for them to wake up?

I dont think i would go full speed with anyone i didn't trust. For training i mean.

[Nit]

I think we are too soft in our approach at our dojo... semi speed to full dependant on personal skill and the opponents ability.

light to medium contact, most places valid except directly to face or groin.

however we have a tendedncy to 'pull' punches etc and so I agree with my partner beforehand if we can step it up to actual contact for every technique used... so if they hit make sure they hit me so I know it would hurt...


it's been better as I have a good idea of what imapct training I lack, and what I need to control more (side and back kicks mostly)

[grubbogoppoly]

Ours is about what ryans sounds like. .But, it depends on who your partner is as well

[Szczepankiewicz]

We just fill up the kiddie pool with some jello and have battle royales!

[Thai Bri]

In every club I've ever been in theres always been someone who gives you a hard tag, but then whinges and whines when they get one back. There are too many half baked tough guys in the martial arts i.e. they can give it, but they can't take it.

When I was a student I was helping instruct their Karate class. But I was branching out into full contact, and we managed to con the Student Union into buying all the gear. Remember, it was unusual to do full contact in the UK back then (early 80s).

Only four or five of us wanted to do it. And, perhaps laughably, we wore gloves, foot pads, head protectors (full face masks) and even heavy body armour. Lol.

Being bigger and more experienced I managed to beat everyone, except one guy called Kurt who gave as good as he got. I was ded annoyed at the time, as he started putting it about that he was going easy on me. These things are important when you're only 20!

The next week came and I nearly took his head off with a roundhouse kick. Honour was satisfied!

I've done much more hard contact training since, of course, but that was the one I enjoyed the most!

[amjdoc]

For sparring we usually don't contact at all, the attacker will perform the technique and the defender has the choice to simply step away or to "block" the attack. In freefighting with protection it is full contact using WTF rules....no punches to the head, no kicks to the back of the head, neck or any other part not covered by protection (i.e. the spine). For cloloured belts "blind" kicks are not allowed but at black belt level anything goes. My 2 instuctors, a Korean 7th dan and a korean 5th dan, tell me its important to feel the full force of a kick for 2 reasons, first to condition your body and second to teach you to avoid your opponents kicks.
Occasionally if a student is clowning around during the lesson he'll be told wear a couple of chest protectors and the rest of us will practice our body kicks on him.

[doubleouch]

Full contact does not mean full power. It simply means making full contact with your opponent and not stopping your punch short. There is some benefit to using full power on occasion, but to do this day in and day out is not valid. If you go to thailand and watch the thai boxers you will see that they rarely spar full power. When I used to train at a boxing gym I saw the same thing. They hit hard but not knock out hard. There was no point in it. A good rule is to hit hard enough for your opponent to know he has been hit. If your opponent walks through your kicks or punches and doesn't respect them then you need to step up the contact. Most of us aren't professional fighters so beating each other into unconsciousness is a bit of overkill.

[osopardo]

We don't wear any protective gear when we spar in class except cloth-covered foam shin and forearm guards. So must of our strikes are flesh to flesh.

We had a couple of little boys at our school, around 8 to 9 yrs. old, who were cousins. They were fairly moderate and friendly with everybody including each other most of the time, but real intense and competitive when they sparred against each other. You could hear their strikes all the way into the office. You know, that dull hollow thump when somebody punches you in the chest. It was scary to watch, we would stand around the perimeter of the floor, wincing with each blow. Their chests, arms, faces and legs would redden vividly, yet they never showed any signs of pain or tears or a desire to quit. For them, this was full contact and fun.

Afterwards, the instructor would call a halt, ask them to bow to each other and shake hands. As soon as that happened their whole demeanor would change and they would smile and walk off the floor with arms around each others shoulders.

They quit coming to classes after they got their green belts.

[Tom Yum]

muay thai: Head gear, mouth guard, groin cup and shin guards (optional)

About 70%. Just enough to get the other guys respect, but not enough for KOs, allthough knockdowns happen.

[highgrindr]

in kenpo, full contact, medium to full power..... our instructore understand that you wont learn anything play-fighting, but we also arent "head hunters". If someone is beating on someone though, that is not allowed... lower belts start very slow and light until techniques are developed and understood, then slow progression to full contact is made...