Some Ideas For Sparring

When I go to places like Karate College and seminars around the States I'm surprised by what I see when I see people sparring. It's as if, apart from the individual techniques, or some cool high probability combinations, nobody has been taught how to actually do it.

In other words, I don't let my students just ackowledge one another and then get on with a tit for tat game of lobbing techniques at one another. While that's great exercise and not bad for timing, it's pretty limited as a fight trainer.

So, with the above in mind, here's some of the things I get my students doing...

1. Are you keeping score? All good salespeople know their ratios i.e. how many prospects do I need to call to get an appointment, and how many appointments to get a sale. If they want to become better they have two choices...call on more people, or improve their conversion rate.

Same with sparring. My goal, everytime I sparred coming through the ranks, was to score on the other guy, and not let him score on me. You could ask me, at the end of any round, how many times did you hit him, and how many times did you get hit. Ask the average karate student and they have no idea (unless they're in a tournament and judges are keeping score) I would track certain good fighters in the dojo, and, when it was time to spar them again, I'd work on improving my ratios from the last time we sparred.

2. If you watch me spar I'll always, always always score the first point and usually within a second of the round beginning. Too many people bow, step back and start moving around as if they have all day. Now, if I'm working with lower ranks I will tone it down to a level just above theirs, but only after I've scored already. It doesn't matter at that point if I let them score to develop their confidence because I already "won." (Now when you have two students who both try and get that first point in the first second it gets "interesting" and much more like a street fight for that initial shot. Again, afterwards you can settle back and play technique development, work timing, practice combos, develop stamina etc as the fight has already been decided.

3. With the above in mind sometimes the rounds will be one second in duration. Literally, you'll hear me call "hajime, yame" almost in the same breath. Do that a few times round after round and watch how students now focus on scoring as fast as possible. To keep it interesting I'll intersperse those with long rounds and I've done one class one night where the entire class consisted of one round of sparring. If you always do two or three minute rounds you fall into a routine and routines are dangerous in the real world.


4. Sometimes one side will only be allowed to kick and the other side can only use hands...while both can block. Other times one side can only defend and the other can only attack. In yet other rounds it might be you can only use your left arm and right leg and the other guy the opposite, or you can only grab, sweep or throw and he can only strike.

5. In line with the keeping score above I also have them focus on how many shots did you throw and how many scored. I watched Richard and Bob spar once in my whole life. Here was the head of the system and his 2IC going to spar and I was expecting them both to jump around like Jackie Chan on double espressos but instead they stalked one another for about eight minutes and Bob threw one kick and it was over.

At first I was disappointed and then I thought about it. Look at the masters playing chess. They don't just move pieces because they can be moved. They're thinking five moves ahead and when they do move it's for a reason. It's why the higher ranks thrash the lower ranks. The young brown belts were eighteen to twenty-three, in their prime and with the ability to jump about like cats while their older "brothers" were riddled with injuries and not nearly so agile...still, the older guys snotted the younger on a regular basis because they were thinking things through. They had a plan instead of just "wow, I haven't thrown a spinning back kick for at least two minutes...time for one of them."

You can see the same thing with disciplined troops who actually aim at something before pulling the trigger and the jackasses who stick their weapon up over a wall and pull the trigger while saying "lalalalalalalalalalalalalalal" or praying and spraying.

Aim to be like the sniper and not the kid throwing a handful of rocks hoping at least one will hit something of value.


6. If our sparring went to the floor because of a takedown, sweep or a kick being caught it was allowed to continue for about twenty seconds. You got into the habit of hitting the ground, curling into your fighting stance from that position, and fighting on instead of what I see in most trad schools where someone slips and the other guy helps him up. We didn't go on for much beyond that because again, the goal was to teach people to get back up as fast as possible and not languish on the ground.

7. Injuries should be treated the same way. As long as they're not life threatening you're expected to get on with it. Again, I see too many classes where everyone stops to make sure the guy with the bloody nose is ok and can we get him a glass of water? You don't stop because you're tired, hurt or thirsty etc.


8. When "time" is called I watch classes where everyone just turns their back on their partner and runs (or walks) back to where they lined up before switching partners for another round. Not so fast grasshopper. We were made to get back to the starting point sharpish but without turning your back on your partner or dropping your guard. Not only did this instil an awareness of where your opponent is and what is he doing, and never taking your eyes of your adversary but it also was a safety factor. What if you heard the instructor yelling "stop" but your partner didn't? You turn to go back to the line up and he punches or kicks you in the back. Great habit for in class and one that pays dividends outside as well...as all good sparring should do.

9. Many rounds are against more than one opponent. Sometimes two, sometimes 3 or any number up to about twelve. If you only spar one person all the time you train to fight one person. Street fights are rarely one on one any more. The more sparring against multiple opponents the more comfortable (as least as comfortable as you can get in that situation) you'd be fighting groups.


There's another whole postioning drill we used to be taught at brown belts that basically makes it so you can hit the other guy at will but he can't hit you even thought it looks like they should be able to. It was incredibly frustrating for me coming up the ranks to wonder why they were always able to score at will and I never could seem to until Malcolm showed us that one. I wish there was some way to explain it on the web but it's really beyond the scope of trying to write it down. Even practicing it takes hours and hours but once you've got it down...awesome stuff.

Anyway, thought I'd toss all that out there in case any of you are sparring and looking for some ideas. I dropped in to a local school here the other day and saw what passed for sparring which is what reminded me.

Nick

Cheers for that Nick, some interesting points. A while back you talked about padwork using one pad and a glove. The pad holder (for example of practising a jab) will hold the pad with his left and have a glove on his right the other guy can practice his jab but the pad holder can give him a dig if he doesn't cover, or in fact if he does cover!. It makes the striker cover well, gets him used to taking shots, it's a good pre-curser to sparring. Got a clip of us doing this somewhere...try to stick it up. Cheers Rob.

If sparring was always taught the way you have described it would be vastly more productive. When I have sparred in classes it was never explained or taught.

In fact, in the last karate club I attended, it was all about bouncing about and competition karate point scoring. Which I think is useless for real fighting.

I particularly like the idea of keeping score, oh hell, I like all the ideas. Going to use them when I can.

Good stuff Nick... Thanks for posting.

Any potential trips to Florida in the near future? I would still like to meet you.

Oops, one I forgot that ties in with the 'throwing techniques for the sake of throwing techniques" angle.

Don't throw something unless there's an opening. Of course you can make the opening, or create the opening (subtle difference) but don't just throw things at someone who's covered up. It makes as much sense as shooting at someone behind cover.

I'll watch a guy in a really good guard and his oppenent will just throw a roundhouse kick (or any other technique)...ask him why he did that and there'll be a shrug and a blank look.

Now, that seems like I'm contradicting the get something in fast argument but it's not really. Create or make an opening and get something in fast as you can...don't just throw something for the sake of throwing something.

Again...comparisons can be seen any night on the news with disciplined troops and rabble. The rabble fire their weapons in the air, over walls and at anything. As long as they're squeezing the trigger and the gun is making a noise they think they're doing something productive. Don't be their sparring equivalent.





Nick

Nick Hughes wrote:Don't throw something unless there's an opening. Of course you can make the opening, or create the opening (subtle difference) but don't just throw things at someone who's covered up. It makes as much sense as shooting at someone behind cover.

I'll watch a guy in a really good guard and his oppenent will just throw a roundhouse kick (or any other technique)...ask him why he did that and there'll be a shrug and a blank look.

Whats the difference between making and creating openings? O.o

Thats some ninja semantics Nick ?


So your opponent has a "really good guard" - are you saying wait until he moves (hence leaves himself open in some sense) before going?

No mate...let me clarify.

In boxing we weren't allowed (and it was difficult with gloves anyway) to grab the opponent's hand/wrist and yank it out the way so, if I wanted to hit the head for example, I could feint a low shot which would cause my opponent to drop his guard and then punch high. I.e. I created an opening by causing my opponent to move his guard out of the way.

In karate no such rule exists so, if I wanted to punch my opponent in the head I would make the opening by grabbing his lead hand, pulling it out of the way and then punching.

No, if his guard is really good you have to find a way to get around it - usually using either of the above two methods. What I'm critical of is guys throwing techniques when the opponent's guard is good and they haven't bothered to do anything about it other than throwing shots. Makes as much sense to me as shooting at someone hiding behind a building.

Nick

That's a fantastic article on sparring Nick, with lots of interesting points - many thanks.

I wasn't taught how to spar, and so I have often just thrown stuff out there with no ryhme or reason.

I think that this is what badly "taught" sparring encourages anyway. Students just see sparring as an exciting exercise, usually done at the end of class, which is basically just an excuse to try to look like their favourite celluloid martial arts hero.

The whys, and wherefores can often be distressingly missing.

Exactly...hence the article. It's the main reason why, I think, TMA gets a bad rap. When I go into the McDojo's and see what passes for training I think "no wonder they think our shite doesn't work."

Roadkill...don't know...need to sell some houses.

Sammy T, glad you liked it

Rob...stick 'em up mate.

Pullup...hope that makes sense.

Nick

I'll get it sorted on friday Nick. Nick, I'm getting into this BJJ stuff at the moment, (hear me out!) the reason being is that you can go 100% full out in sparring and I find that it's good for building that will to win without getting blackeyes and split lips every week(also still haven't found a judo club!). Still doing alot of stand up and would never be stupid enough to try this in the street, but what do you think about sparring of this nature for a safe way of building tenacity ? What kind of stuff do you do for agression drills etc?

Also would you consider yourself as a fighter or someone who can fight?

Go 100% in BJJ? I don't think so. They rarely bang on those locks - thankfully.

Brian, they do where I train mate. They seem to ignore tapping as well! .We start on knees and go at it until submission,I certainly go 100% in sparring.

Rob...there's nothing wrong with the BJJ approach for sparring etc. One of the reasons the military opted for grappling was because, at the end of a long march, the unit commander can pair his guys up and have them go at it with very little risk of injury.

If you tried that with punching and kicking there'd be broken ribs, jaws etc and half of your squad out of commission on a regular basis (not to say injuries don't happen in grappling but they tend to be more manageable for sure)

My only issue with it is, if you train it so heavily it becomes your default response you'll be in poo in the street. Can you for example, imagine a soldier in Bagdhad shooting in and going to the ground with his kit on, knives and multiple oppenents in play and a weapon in his hands? It's easier to use the weapon to strike with or, take advantage of the weight of the kit, and lunge in with a heavy kick which was the principle behind the old pugil stick training. (but damned didn't they get injuries!!!)

There's lots of different drills to tap into someone's aggression, the key is finding the right button because most people's are different.

Not sure I understand the fighter or someone who can fight question...define each and I'll tell ya.

Nick

Rob Mac wrote:Brian, they do where I train mate. They seem to ignore tapping as well! .We start on knees and go at it until submission,I certainly go 100% in sparring.

And no one gets their limbs broken?

Nah.

Point 6.

The only form of sparring I ever liked was sport ju jitsu; with points, KO's and submissions.

You had 10seconds to finsh them once it went to ground, for those of us who were there to really train; it meant it was a frenzied 10seconds taking advantage of the guy you hopefuly just stunned as he hit the mat.

BUT for those who just wanted to win the 'match', they'd hang on fiercely until the 10s was up. Like a boxer who clinches knowing that the referee will save him and give him a few seconds breather from an enslaught.

How do you motivate people to actively get back up during those 20 seconds?

You'll probably answer "by kicking them"

Jan,

It's not as bad as it first sounds...

In the street someone might attempt to do the same thing i.e. hang on for grim death...what are you going to do to break contact during those ten seconds. Remember, his mates might be barreling across the room to give you a lacing.

Nick

Granted the original purpose of the ju jitsu guard was to hold the opponent so your mates could lop their head off. Similar to how its been used in house clearances in recent times by the US army when it all went to ratshit.

Ignoring that for a second.......... so you use the 'bitchy hold on for dear life' training partner as a tool to perfect your release/attack skills

I like that train of thought

Nick, what kind of agression drills would you favour? Nick I also agree with with training this stuff too heavily, I still can't see many benefits(although there are some) as a reality fighting art, as I said I always prefer stand-up. There are certain benefits(IMHO) for training tenacity etc.

Brian, what do you do to get position? Tickle? Do you never spar for dominant positions etc? The BJJ i do is specific for MMA, it may differ, I don't know enough about it I'm not even a good white belt yet. But for the last 20 mins/half hour we do 4x5min rounds of full out sparring, in which I try my very hardest not to get tapped and to put put on the limited techniques I know.

Nick, the fighter thing. I enjoy fighting, I'm not saying I go looking for it, or that I'm good at it, but I enjoy it. I think theres many people who are more 'on the front line' who deal with violence day to day, more like yourself or Mick Coup who just have to get the job done and are interested more in 'high percentage' stuff(I think that's what you call it). So where as someone like myself may enjoy the fight, a fighter, someone like yourself will just want to end it, (someone who can fight). Does that make any sense what so ever outside of my head?

Jan wrote:Granted the original purpose of the ju jitsu guard was to hold the opponent so your mates could lop their head off. Similar to how its been used in house clearances in recent times by the US army when it all went to ratshit.

They are teaching and using this? Do you have a source or are you serving in US forces?

Grappling sparring is an unusual animal.

People can train full out until the moment of disaster. There's three stages of completeness with the application of submission.

coming on
on
frakken ON.

The time taken to move through the stages depends on fatigue, strength and position. People can be working, playing the game as hard as they possibly can play looking for the finish.

SO... on occasion.. people CAN be going 100%. Stopping at the point where the technique is on and working to the tap system effectively.

All the time, every time past the point of disaster in training and not working to the tap system effectively with instruction... nope.

fine line to walk but its easier to walk with grappling on the ground than in any other circumstance.

Just to try and clarify that! As I've said before there is stuff in MMA that is superflous(sp?) but it would be wrong to say that they wouldn't be able to handle themselves on the street. Not only because there are alot of useful techniques but also because of the intensity of the training, building that will to win. I saw that more than ever at the Steve Morris seminar at SENI, his guys are animals(in the nicest sense of the word) and all his stuff is geared up to develop a well rounded fighter and to create that agression and adreniline. Sparring is part of that 'tool' in MMA that brings out that tenacity, quite often it is as you've said probably not the most efficient, but for me it is important.
I'm just interested as to how you would do this without these'tools' (mma)but still be relative to fighting, creating that mayhem of a fight. Or do you think that by drilling these 'high percentage' strikes till they are ingrained in your muscle memory that you don't actually need to do this?
Just another thing! Within mma the fitness level is extremely high, which you need if a real off goes on for any length of time. To me, to build up a decent fight fitness is to go further than you will ever realistically need to go, how do you deal with this in the SP world?


PLEASE LETS NOT HAVE ANOTHER KARATE VS MMA DEBATE! I'M JUST CURIOUS AS TO NICK'S OPINION! Cheers Rob

Above post addressed to Nick BTW there was a couple of posts posted in between!

Just another thing! Within mma the fitness level is extremely high, which you need if a real off goes on for any length of time. To me, to build up a decent fight fitness is to go further than you will ever realistically need to go, how do you deal with this in the SP world?

Not to derail anything here but the level of fitness in MMA is not universally very high. I've seen some incredibly fit well conditioned people and I've seen some lardballs who couldn't run a mile.

MMA doesn't have a monopoly on physical fitness any more than the SP world is full of cammo wearing secret squirrel wannabes.

Plus.. its more about functional fitness than anything else. Specificity in training.