Question for those that do/did train in martial arts

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If your art involves sparring, were you any good at it? I struggle greatly with sparring. I'm very slow and not good at putting combinations together. I think a lot about what I'm doing but I don't react enough, and I wondered if AS could have anything to do with it.

i took karate and i sucked at it.

I watched Tae Kwon Do for a while and couldn't make sense of it ... most of the movements did not seem logical.

I studied/practiced Tai Jutsu Karate Do for a number of years (A Jiu Jitsu, Karate combination focussing primarily on self defence). Had no trouble with it and became quite proficient. Initially, learning Katas was a problem, but then my instructor contrived a demonstration where real opponents were used to show us what each of the movements of the Kata were supposed to represent. After that, we simply kept an imaginary opponent in our head and the flow of movements in the Katas made perfect sense, and were much easier to execute.

Practice is important to imprint the movements and reactions on the mind.

Choice of a suitable style is important as it is extremely difficult to change once a system has been imprinted.

If having difficulty, consider a different style (if it's not too late), or a different instructor, or get together with fellow students for some extra study and discussion.

Sparring was my favorite part.

haha, I'm glad I'm not alone.

Nice username!

What kind of TKD did you watch?

I'm a first degree black belt. My forms (we call them Tuls) are very good, as well as my knowledge and proficiency in other areas of class. TKD is one of my "special interests." It's just sparring that I'm not very good at (well, and understanding movements and such when they're first shown to me). Luckily, we have a former world class competitor back at the school helping to teach, so he will help me, so perhaps my sparring can catch up a bit to my other skills. (And unfortunately it's pretty impossible for me to meet up with other students because the school is so small and the students are so spread out.)

I do Kumdo and my sparring is decent spite I'm on and off of being aggressive though I have the ability to switch to offense to defense and vice versus.

I did Jiu Jitsu for a while (grade 1 to grade 7 or and i found the judging for sparring to be hit and miss. the other would score points for a punch that was nowhere near my head because we were young and they didn't want head/face contact, so that threw me off. all in all i wouldn't say i was good but i wouldn't say i was terrible, somewhere around average or low-average.

Chasingthsun, you don't mention how long you have been practicing your martial art. That makes a difference.

I'm a blue belt in Karate. In my style (Shito-riu Itoso-Kai), that's one step below a brown belt.

I'm NT, and I had trouble with sparring as well. There are three factors (in my opinion).

The first is that if you haven't been practicing for very long, your body is still learning unusual body movements and hasn't really been able to put them all together. We have an excercise that I found VERY difficult at first. We would have to attack a heavy punching bag (you know the kind boxers use) with "everything we have", full force, for 30 seconds. When I first started attacking the bag, I had to THINK about everymove I made. I had to think about a kick, think about a punch, think about an elbow, etc.. consequently, I barely did a dozen hits before my 30 seconds were up. I felt like such a loser!

As I practiced, it got easier and easier to just DO the moves (without too much thinking) and attack the bag. Now, when my instructor blows the whistle, I'm like a raging demon attacking the bag with everything I've got. My body just does it. I don't think about it. But THAT comes with practice. I think it took me about two years before I could do that.

Sparring is the same. You are thinking too much about HOW to do it. If you keep practicing, your body will eventually take over and it becomes second nature. You don't think. You just DO.

The second factor is that we are taught "Don't hit. It's not nice". In a corner of our mind, we are thinking "I'm not supposed to be doing this", and we REALLY don't want to hurt anyone, so we aren't nearly aggressive enough, and you need to be aggressive to spar.

That will also change as you get more control over the moves and over your body. You will be able to pull your punches and kicks better so that you don't seriously hurt someone.

The third factor is that we have inhibitions. We don't want people staring at us, and thinking we look stupid, and consequently, we are inhibited in our moves. This will also change as you practice. I was extremely inhibited to the point where my "Kee-aye" (the scream you do when you attack) sounded more like a mouse squeak. I felt stupid doing it because again, we are tought, "it's not nice to shout." Believe it or not, it took me a REALLY long time to not be afraid to "Kee-aye". But I learned a great word for "kee-aye". I don't spar anymore, but when I did, jumping into a fight and screaming DAH-EE into an opponents face and freaking them out a little was half the battle! *LOL* (Wouldn't you freak out a little if someone jumped out at you and screamed DIE!! !! !! !! !! ! in your face?!?)

Just keep practicing your katas so that they become second nature to you. Don't worry about the sparring too much. That will come in time.

LL

I still suck a sparing but good at entry technique and will get better at sparing eventually. I am slight but one thing I do have to my advantage in opening can be a lot tighter and I can still get through quite a bit (my teacher likens it to pin hole surgery), and I can be fast if I don't let myself be tired. I am trying to turn up early to practice with one of the guys I spar with a lot so when can practice and focus on help each other get better instead of it just turning into a brawl. I want to stay engaged but feel like it is the most natural thing in the world. I guess part of it overcoming your anxieties, which cause defensive reflexes that you don’t want. That is basically our problem.

Last edited by 0_equals_true on 13 Jan 2009, 10:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

I also think it is good experence sparing with people of differnt styles. Even a beginer level you can learn a lot form it, and you do remember it for later even if it is like cloud of confusion the first time.

It's a while ago now, but I'm pretty sure the classes I watched were being run by Rhee International. The movements all seemed very awkward and unnatural to me, much more so than other styles of martial arts. There was a lot of focus on high kicks.

I think lawlesslady ^^ has given good advice. It is important to practice enough that everything becomes automatic ... so that thinking is no longer required.

I agree that finding the right style for yourself and what you personally want to get out of it is important. I'd add that a good school/dojo and where their focus lies (teaching you the respect and discipline or teaching you to look good on camera?) is equally important.

As for me; Shotokan, then when I moved somewhere I was less than impressed with the local Shotokan dojo, switched to Ki-Aikido.

In both, sparring was less freestyle and more focused to dealing with specific techniques.

Both stressed very heavily that in real-life situations, you are NEVER going to use what you learn as choreographed. Rather, what you're learning is about body movement, how to not get in the fight to begin with, and failing that how to react unconsciously rather than having to think about it.

And it's worked. I've never been in an actual physical self-defense situation in the street, but I've come dangerously close a time or three, and have always been surprised in retrospect at how my training helped me react (or more specifically, be ready to act) instinctively.


- Jo

I take tae kwon do. I am pretty good at sparring except for when they are fast and constantly throwing techniques. I can do good but I have to concentrate.

I practice WTF taekwondo, and I have a red belt. When I was younger, I had trouble sparring. This was when I took karate. Last year, from lots of practice, I won two gold medals from a State championship. Just takes time.