my taekwon-do class...

Post Reply New Topic

ok so my taekwon-do class is separated into two groups, the juniors, under 13's and the 13+.
im 16 but that means anyone age 13+ can join. case in particular: in sparing i was matched up with this rough looking guy, a white belt so i assumed he was new to combat sports (for the lack of a better term). he wasnt

i learned that he had been doing boxing for about...5 years. he looked about 28-30.
whilst sparring with him i was thinking "...ho--ly--s***...i am going to die. screw winning, i just gotta survive this"

but yeah has anyone else ever had to fight someone like this? (not looking for advice by the way if that sounded like it...although it might help )

Yes only it wasn't a class, it was a huge regional tournament (Tae-Know-Do) as well...I was a brown belt at the time but no one else signed up for the sparring competition that was my rank and class, therefore I didn't have an opponent. My head instructor asked if I wanted to fight a black belt and I wanted to take on the challenge, even though it didn't matter. (I won Gold by default, lol)

I ended up fighting a 2nd Degree Black Belt named Hector, he was a tad bit taller and was 18...I was 15 almost 16 at the time.

When the match started, I tried to get a couple of shots in but never landed a solid kick or strike, 20 seconds in I was nailed with a spinning autobahn kick to the face. The fight was stopped for a sec as I had a small cut under my eye but I wanted to continue as I said I was fine and ignored the judge's choice to stop.

After he scored a couple more points with a lead roundhouse and a punch to the stomach, I got him with a roundhouse to the chest. Right after that he then caught me with a spinning back kick as he slid to the side of me throwing a skipping side and planted me with the back kick.

That ended the match as I got the breath knocked out of me...I did however last almost 2 minutes with Hector, and he was by far too good for me. I overheard my head master say that he was the best fighter at the tourney and I felt great that I scored a point on him.

What was even more cool about it is that we were the only match that was going on so everyone was watching and it was cool to have the crowd behind me, especially when I scored. Everyone, including me was in awe of how talented Hector was and we ended up getting a nice ovation...mine was I guess for the toughness and Hector because of his amazing ability.

Never did I feel more proud of myself that day, we shook and we both complimented each other and then my master just looked at me and shook his head in disbelief. He said "I guess we just found out the size of the fight in the dog."

I've practiced with a few of people who just couldn't (or wouldn't in one case) control their punches. It resulted in several things for me - a dislocated shoulder, a desensitization to getting punched in the face, and a determination to get better to put an end to that!

My sifu would emphasize that when practicing with someone, you don't want to hurt them because then you've slowed their progress and taken out a partner who can help you improve. Still though, the holy s**t feeling is kind of fun - makes me feel alive in a way.

I'm a 1st Dan in ITF TKD as well and I often get matched up with lower ranks who have lots of experience/little control and it's extremely difficult for me to fight them. Sparring is SO not my area.