Sparring

Sparring is an integral part of any martial arts training. Whether it's Taekwondo training like I practice, or it's karate, kung fu, MMA , or even Tai Chi push hands sparring is something that should be included in any practitioners workout. Sparring with contact whether it's full or light contact is very important for rounding out and honing your skills. You can train day after day with poomse (forms/kata), targets, punching bags and drills for years, but if you never put it into a physical application then all of the skills you've acquired are going to be shaky at best. Fighting a real human being is the most random act one can partake of. When being mugged on the street or being assaulted by an over angered person the attacks are not going to be controlled and in proper fashion like in a traditional martial arts class. It also allows you to develop the ability to take and deliver a hit. Most people don't realize the level of shock your body goes through on impact of being hit. As stated in the movie Never Back Down, "your mind only registers 2 things, get the hell back or get the hell in". I know this to be true. The very first time I ever sparred was boxing with a semi experienced friend in my back yard when I was about 16. The first punch my buddy landed on my face shocked me right down to my feet. It hurt, and I covered up and froze.

I've come a long way in the last 10 years since then, and as you know if you've been reading my posts on here I have recently restarted classes at my old Taekwondo school. It's been a hard road getting back into shape and i do have a long way to go in the weight-loss area, but I'm feeling a lot like my old self in the cardio and strength areas. I'm down 25lbs in the last couple months and in the past 3-4 weeks have severely altered my diet to better coincide with my training, so hopefully that number of pounds lost will increase quickly. I look forward to the results.

About 1 month ago I also started sparring classes at my school to coincide with my regular martial arts training. It adds an extra class each week to my regular schedule that focuses directly on free sparring. We wear some padding so we can fight full contact as we would in competition. I've always felt that the people that partake of this extra class advance much faster in the skills department simply because they have a much better understanding of how the moves they are learning work. While there are rules that make the fight more sport like you still get the same type of feeling that you do in a real fight that is not for sport. The randomness factor that is missing from regular martial training is present in a sparring class.

If you decide to take up Martial arts for any reason, if you want your skills to jump forward quickly then spar. Some schools offer the classes separately from the main class like mine, and others integrate sparring into the regular classes. Either way take part, and don't be afraid of it. Yes you can get hurt, but if you have a good instructor or coach then they will match you with someone that is at your level, and they will work with you until you feel comfortable with this type of training. The results will be apparent after a couple of sparring sessions and you will be thrilled with how much more confident it makes you in your martial arts skills. I also find it to be a blast.

Happy training.