Welcome back to my blog
Today I'm going to talk about the pros and cons of sparing.
Sparring, a hot topic at the moment. One of the questions I am always being asked by people whether it be other school owners, students or parents is "should sparring be part of a martial arts syllabus? and if so should it be taught in class?”; and, should clubs offer competition to their students?”
These are all good questions and I have firm beliefs about all of them.
I will address each question in turn.
Question 1. Should sparring be part of a martial arts syllabus?
I have spoke to school owners who do promote sparring and others who don't. After having listened to both arguments I can understand where both sides are coming from. However; personally I believe sparring is a good thing provided it is introduced properly and controlled very carefully. Sparring sessions do not have to happen all the time but I firmly believe that a certain amount should take place to further a student’s development. At the end of the day no matter how you like to dress it up, martial arts is self defence you are learning how to evade, intercept, block move, strike, fight etc.
I appreciate learning through practicing and honing moves, individual punching and kicking drills, line work, katas/patterns/forms etc, is a good way to become better at and to understand the full anatomy and kinesiology (specific human movement) of a technique from start point to finish/contact point. I am also very aware that striking pads/paddles and shields can give that proprioceptive feedback required for improving your striking skills, distancing and accuracy.
But all of the above practicing methods will not give you that extra ingredient that controlled sparring or situational practice can give you in terms of bettering your physical combative abilities. To put it bluntly; If sparring has never been a part of a student’s training and they have attained black belt status, how do they know if the way they execute their techniques really work for them in a combative situation? If being a black belt through being good at individual work, blocking and striking the air and looking good technically is all that the student wants, then that is fine; they can reach their desired objective without the use or practice of sparring or situational defence. But what happens if it comes down to a confrontational situation and someone on the street or in competition wants to attack/strike that student. How does he/she know that they can use their skills effectively to give themselves a realistic chance?
I appreciate that with all the sparring in the world it is very different on the street. But when it comes down to timing, reactions, strength and efficiency of thought and action in a pressured situation can that student rely on their techniques if they have never practiced them in a pressured confrontational situation?
The beauty of controlled sparring is that it gives the student a moving target that will strike, move evade etc, and if you get it wrong, you get hit.
Don't get me wrong, I know that even the most proficient sparrers can get caught out from time to time. But generally with only moderately regular sprarring practice their odds will generally be better. This is because they will be more able to anticipate a strike from an assailant. This would be gained by regular drilling of certain situation in sparring. This will create a certain familiarity enabling them to cope with things a little easier. Appreciated there are lots of other factors involved on the street i.e. adrenaline rush and fear being the main protagonists but all in all, their brain will have seen something similar to this situation before.
Through good sparring education and situational practice, the brain can learn to cope better in pressured situations. For example, the timing and movement, anticipation, speed, trajectory and power of the attack. Along with the angle, weight and intent of the attack. This can all be practiced and measured from the practice of controlled sparring. When someone attempts to strike you your brain recives feedback predominantly visual and auditory. This feedback is the processed by the brain and then converted into movement/action. When we look in more details we can analyse the process. Stage1: Sensory feedback in this case we will say Visual = information received by the cortex in the brain from what you have seen. Stage 2: Association = processing the information and making immediate decisions. Stage 3: Action = From here the central nervous system (brain and the spinal cord) initiate movement accordingly. Stage 4: The final part of the process is Motor = output (action taken) signals from the central nervous system are relayed to the peripheral nervous system (nerves in the rest of the body) which will initiate muscular contraction which result in muscular movement which could be in several forms. For example; blocking, countering, moving, intercepting etc; or in some cases even tensing and preparing to take impact. The more efficient the whole process is, the more efficiently you can deal with an attack.
Sparring is an essential part of your development in finding out what your strengths and weaknesses are. This is something that you cannot get from line work, hitting pads or practicing in the air. When practicing your skills on someone else who is trying to do the same you get excellent feedback sometimes positive and other times negative but all should be learnt from.
Sparring should be used as valuable learning tool in part of your development as a martial artist and should never be used as an opportunity for high grades to beat or humiliate the lower grades, nor should it be used as an opportunity to beat the hell out of each other. The only time it is acceptable to go a little heavier is if a competitor/fighter is preparing for their next competitive fight/competition and needs to experience a more intense pressured environment from another individual to prepare the body and mind for such for impact. But in the main an instructor’s job is to control the situation and create an environment that all students can learn constructively from. Learning and development is the key, sparring is so you can learn how and when to use your techniques and how efficient your are at not being hit. Its an opportunity for you to hone skills but also have fun. All correct safety equipment should be in place before engaging in sparring and the instructor should make it very clear what they want you to do, what techniques are allowed and how hard and fast the techniques should be carried out. You should also be paired with someone of similar and size and ability at first or with a more experienced student who is willing to go steady with you and help to coach you. After that your partners should vary to give you variation and allow you to optimize different skills as each partner will bring different movement patterns, weight, temperament and ability.
Sparring mind set: Sparring should not be something you are scared of it should be fun provided you are introduced to it properly. Before letting anybody engage in sparring, your instructor should let you know exactly what he or she wants and what you should hope to achieve from the activity for example what it is used for and what the general objectives, protocols and rules are. Once sparring has started the instructor should be in total control of the situation completely and be encouraging students to be controlled in their techniques, praising or discipline students where and when necessary.
Sparring should be conducted at a steady pace so all participants analyse each others movement and then react. This process cannot be carried out efficiently if the sparring is either to fast or with too much aggression as your brain cannot see and cope with what has gone on and will go into protective mode. Also the aggression level must be monitored as too much aggression in a sparing situation could easily roll out of control and end up in a real fight. A relaxed mind and half pace techniques should be practiced.
So in my humble opinion I believe controlled sparring where all involved understand the rules and adhere to them can be an essential part of a students development.
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