sparring

[seany85]

i wanted to know ppl opinions on on this subject,

in sparring i know that it should always be kept light, so u can practice technique, ring craft, footwork, etc!

however, how many ppl out there, if the person hit you hard, would you responed back with a hard punch

or

is it better to tell the person to calm down, and point out that it is only supposed to be light sparring

Ps, how do you put polls on new threads? just i dont know how to do it

[Khun Kao]

I don't know that I agree that sparring should ALWAYS be light...

There are different approaches to sparring for different reasons.

For instance, in my gym we take the following approaches:

BOXING ONLY: We go full contact during these sparring sessions. Try to take each others block off!

KICKING ONLY: Usually medium to semi-full power

CLINCHING/KNEES ONLY: Light to Medium power

MIXED SPARRING (ex: boxing/kicking): Light to medium power

[CHOPS]

sparring

Hey man, You had some good questions there. I've been taught that if someone wants to pick up the tempo and intensity that you follow along. However, I have found that inexperienced people tend to get emotional when they get hit alot, no matter how hard. When I'm sparring and somebody hits me hard i usually hit them back a little harder. If they don.t get the message by the end of the round I will usually say lighten it up a little. If they still don't get the message then I just take it from there.
In response to Kru Miller, I've talked to several people in regards to sparring at full speed. Some say that you don't need to, just work on your timing and foot work and when you get in the ring your power will be there. I have found that when I spar full power, or close to it, it absorbs alot more energy. Also when you spar full power there is more of a chance of getting hurt and when your hurt it is sometimes difficult to train. Im my Muay Thai class we spar about 30-50%. In Vale Tudo it can vary anywhere from 50-75% and sometimes more. If you feel like you want to lighten it up a little ask the person your sparring how your control is. If they say it is good then ask them to lighten it up a little. If they say you are going a little hard then try to work on your control and lighten up. Remember keep your CHIN DOWN and your HANDS UP, also try to keep your EYES OPEN when hitting and getting hit. Good Luck!
Any how these are my opinions, and everyone knows what opinions are like.

[dkm]

I went from a school that did hard sparring all the time to a school that did light sparring most of the time. With the hard sparring, I accumulated injuries that never really go away such as injured thumbs, toes, etc. Also with the hard sparring, you have a greater chance of walking away with lots of pain after the class is over. But when I sparred at the light sparring school, I was challenged enough. So after a few months, I decided to go back to the school with hard sparring, and I got my ass kicked because I had fallen into the habit of sparring lightly. So the decision is up to you do you want to sacrifice learning something under an aggressive situation by going light or do you want a realistic situation where if you fight in the ring or on the street, it won't be soft sparring. Here is the downside of hard sparring, injuries and after a while you just don't feel like getting hit hard all the time in exchange of hitting someone back hard. light sparring is lots of fun much more fun than hard, but I don't know if it can teach you as much.

[Khun Kao]

Yeah, I should clarify our sparring a little bit.

We spar full contact with Boxing only, and we only do that type of sparring maybe once every other week.

Kicking only isn't full contact, but hard contact. We spar with just kicks about the same frequency as Boxing only.

Clinch sparring and Mixed sparring are light to medium power for obvious reason, we want to avoid injuries. We spar with these quite often.

In regards to our harder sparring sessions, as said, we don't do these very often, but they ARE an integral part of the training program. Face it, you HAVE to know how to TAKE & RESPOND to a hard shot! This will help prevent you from 'freezing' up when someone clocks you.

One variation we do with Boxing only is we do Boxing to the Body only. No shots to the head allowed, and we try to make the fighters get up on top of one another and just start throwing. This type of sparring doesn't do much for your actual 'fighting' skill, per se, but it does a lot towards overcoming being gun shy, and it also helps a lot with your reaction time and reflexes. Think about it, when you are body boxing, its a lot easier to cover up, so the openings are a lot fewer and further between. You have to learn to take your shot while the openings there, which is typically as your partner is in the process of punching you.

[gregimotis]

How do different instructors handle the use of elbows in sparring?

Our instructor allows 'flat' elbows (as opposed to 'cutting') when we spar full contact with head gear. In light contact we may throw elbows but are instructed to avoid actual contact (or at least keep it very minimal).

I see the reasoning as far as avoiding injury, but I worry that I'm not really learning to use the elbow except as an afterthought.

Ideas?

[gregimotis]

As an aside to Seany85:

When you open the screen for posting a new thread, there is a check box way at the bottom labeled "post a poll". Fill in your new thread post as you normally would, then check that box and click 'submit'. It will then take you to a poll wizard.

[HighKicker]

In tournaments for us its usually if u get hit hard you hit them harder

[John_M]

-when i spar with friends we tend to keep it light
-when we spar we try and stop the punch or kicks just a inch from making contact to help teach us control
-but almost every so often one of us gets a get real good knocking

[MuayThaiNevrDie]

I go light, but if someone is trying to hurt you or gets cocky you have to put them in there place. Some of the best gyms sparr light. Mejiro Gym for example. Just go as hard as the other person is going.

[Karate_is_cool]

at my dojo we usually go light to medium. If we are training for tournaments (we are notified well in advance) then we will fight full contact with the sensei watching. Sometimes people get knocked ot but it just comes with the territory. Anyways both light and heavy contact have their place and purpose

[dkm]

Just go as hard as the other person is going.

That's how I approach it also, but that makes it difficult to throw the first combo of strikes b/c you don't know how hard he wants to go. So I start out light and if they want to pick up the pace and the intensity, then I am ready.