To be able to swim, you have to get into the water and swim. Obviously you are not thrown in the deep end straight away, because you will drown, but gradually you work your way to deal with them types of waters. This is a very common saying, and I am sure you have heard it before. It is mentioned a lot in the martial arts world, when people talk about weather sparring is needed or not.
The argument of sparring being useful or not is never ending. Some think that there is no way of learning qualities like reflexes, distance, timing etc without it, and that sparring must be carried out each training session. Others think that it not needed to become an efficient fighter or to be able to defend yourself on the street. Some people believe that you need to spar so as to learn what it feels like to get hit, so if it happens in the street, it won’t shock you. Then there are some who think that sparring lures you into a method of fighting that is not practical for the street. Personally I feel that sparring is very useful and should be carried out constantly. But there should be different types of sparring. Grappling only, striking only, both, two or more against one, full contact, semi contact, hands only, clinch fighting only, etc. There should be many types of sparring practised, rather than the standard one against one. Sparring where you concentrate on street techniques (strikes to vulnerable areas, trying to not engage in a ground fight etc) is an excellent type of sparring, and should be done by all martial artists, as the main reason why most practise martial arts to be able to defend themselves on the street. By sparring, you don’t have to always hit hard. Controlling your techniques is probably the best way to learn the mechanics of fighting and by doing this, sparring can be very useful and can be practised by all, regardless of style.
Marks
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Monday, 25 February 2008
Is Sparring Useful in the Martial Arts
Labels:
full contact,
Grappling,
self defence,
sparring,
Striking
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2 comments:
KarateStudent ("KS") on: IS SPARRING USEFUL IN THE MARTIAL ARTS?
This comment follows on MARKS posts "WADO-RYU KARATE with TATSUO SUZUKI" [April 2009]; and "ARE KARATE DRILLS WORTH PRACTICING?" [December 2009].
On KS's initial post by MARKS on Lyoto Machida's MMA fighting style [Shotokan Karate base], MARKS put KS on-the-spot about KS's knowledge of boxing [virtually nil]. So, KS has since read up on boxing training and fighting.
I came across a website "www.rossboxing.com;" some pretty impressive stuff (the heavy bag video, for one). There was an article by a guest author-boxer (says over 20 experience who rates himself, slightly 'above average') on "The Martial Art of Boxing."
In the article, the boxer / author states, "The natural free-style manner of boxing leads to the development of fighting skills that are unparalleled in the martial arts community."
He then goes on to say how he recently attended a few classes at a traditional arts school, which he was highly critical of. He later asked to spar with one of the black-belts, which he made short work of, dropping the black-belt with a single left hook to the body, after the martial arts guy failed with his 'telegraphed' strikes.
Well, KS has attended this kind of martial art school too. Before taking up Tang Soo Do (TSD), I took 6 months of kung fu, more like 'tofu-ku' or 'aerobo-fu.' I'm sure that the author / boxer here could have blown through virutally all of the students (of any rank) at this school.
IN THIS COMMENT, KS is going to CONTRADICT boxer-author's statement that the free-style manner of boxing leads to ... unparalleled fighting skills, far better than martial arts training.
KS is going to do this by explaining how he trains in karate 'sparring.'
MARKS as well as the boxer / author spend a lot of time discussing actual free-sparring, where two opponents are more or less active in fighting. KS, if left to his own devices, almost never engages in free-style karate sparring. Why? Because it doesn't teach how to fight with karate.
At this juncture, KS will lose the audience. Most people won't agree with this, including most karate people. Furthermore, everyone who trains sports, athletically will say KS is full of "BS." The reason for KS's position is that karate is not a sport; karate is a Discipline.
In the development of fighting skill, traditional marital arts, traditional karates, first prescribe and continue to prescibe specific applied fighting drills. One of the things that KS likes about TSD, is that these are fairly straight-forward techniques called '1-STEP SPARRING.'
Nearly all my 'applied' fighting training, believe it or not, is 1-STEP SPARRING. The very 1st 1-STEP learned in TSD is generally goes like this:
(1) Your passive opponent step forward and throws a right punch chest high with his left arm chambered at left waist, then stops;
(2) You step out right into a horse stance at an angle and chamber to block and strike;
(3) You perform a synchronized left block to the opponent's right arm at the wrist & counterpunch to the left side of the face.
KS absolutely loves these 1-STEPS. Why? Because we are taking all the physical conditioning we have done and the basic techniques we have learned, and now applying these in a practical way to overcome our practice opponent.
In a Discipline, there is more emphasis on a PROGRESSSION THAT METHODICALLY BUILDS HIGHER AND HIGHER LEVELS OF SKILLS (The key words being, methodical and progression).
KS will end this diatribe by saying that those outside martial arts (like the author-boxer) as well as the majority of those in martial arts (the 'tofu-ku' [kung fu] school, many karate, TSD people), do not apprecicate the value of the 'classical' training methods and progression contained in most all the styles of traditional martial arts.
COMMENT Closing to follow.
KarateStudent ("KS") Closing Comment on the RossBoxing.com guest article, "THE MARTIAL ART OF BOXING."
Although the Guest author-boxer @ RossBoxing.com (he states 20 years experience in boxing, slighlty above-average in skill) believes that many underestimate boxers, KS makes no such assumption. KS holds Zimmer's (a commentator @ MARKS TRAINING) view that "fighting is fighting is fighting;" and therefore, good boxers are a threat to be taken seriously in any contest or confrontation.
Should KS be facing the kind of offense show in the heavy bag training video @ Ross..., KS recognizes he would be in serious trouble.
What's more, a look around RossBoxing and the apparent sister website, "RossTraining.com," shows the enormous amount of work the website author has put in to describe physical conditioning and sports-fighting and MMA-type training. He's not fooling around.
KS, however, is not a sport-fighter. In the Guest author's zeal to promote boxing's superiority, the DEPTH of the fighting benefits arising from traditional martial art training methods has been overlooked.
KS is a KARATE FIGHTER. When faced with the serious trouble posed by the RossBoxing heavy bag video, traditional karate '1-STEP SPARRING' provides an answer. A better way to state this, is that 1-STEP SPARRING TECHNIQUES provide the [tactical] foundation to answer any assault.
The UFC fight highlights are frequently on TV. In a recent fight, one MMA type was outfighting another MMA type. Between rounds, the losing MMA guy's coach came over and literally screamed right in his face, "Go out and knock him (the winning guy) out, RIGHT NOW! The losing MMA guy went out proceeded to lose the fight, himself knocked out. Why? Because his coach didn't give him anything meaningful to combat the other fighter, who was a more aggressive, better striker.
Had the loser been well schooled in Hard-Style Karate '1-STEP SPARRING,' he doesn't need to be more physicaly aggressive or a better boxing striker. To succeed, the loser guy ABSOLUTELY would have to be better at: (1) Stepping out at an angle, then (2) Firing off a coordinated block against the incoming punches & launching that powerful KARATE counterstike to the head that ends the opponent's ability to continue.
Karate's '1-STEP SPARRING' answer is not a guarantee; the answer comes with a caveat.
The CAVEAT is that the 'loser MMA guy' would have to undertake "Hard-Style' Karate training in THE DEPTH IT REQUIRES. Otherwise, the guest author-boxer is right--the aggressive, skilled boxer wins everytime!
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