How we spar and why we spar that way.

Sparring is essentially engaging in violence in a controlled manner with rules. Whether that is striking sparring, grappling sparring, weapons sparring or a mixture of any.

Sparring is an essential part of martial arts training for any program that exists to empower people to defend themselves. Sparring is a subset of pressure testing. Pressure testing is an activity that applies pressure to what you are doing. We do many types of pressure testing but sparring is the focus of our pressure testing.

In our classes (both kids and adult classes), we start you off with kick boxing. As you continue to grow and learn we add in ground grappling for positions only. Later we add in leg kicks, clinching, and dirty boxing into the striking. We also add submissions into the grappling. Later we add in take downs and throws into the striking and strikes into the grappling. When a student is ready, we begin MMA sparring. When they are comfortable there, we add weapons. into the mix. We also have weapons sparring and "styles from a Hat". "Styles from a hat" is where one person draws a paper from a hat with a discipline on it like boxing or Jiu Jitsu and another person draws another slip and then they spar using only their rules. This shows the participant how weak one set of tools really is.

When we spar, we spar in one of three ways..

Light contact/friendly is where most of the learning happens. This is relaxed sparring...it is playful. In fact many professional fighters have moved to this model. This model still teaches reactions, consequences, and technique. In fact, there is a lot of evidence that points that this is the type of sparring that is most conducive to learning. Rounds (sparring time) can go as long as you want. Thing of it as walking, it's not that difficult and it is extremely helpful.

Medium contact/challenging. Here we use gloves, mouth pieces, and sometimes shin guards. This style raises stress levels and truly adds pressure. In this level, things like, timing, reactions, use of movement, distancing, speed, accuracy, and choice of techniques are far more important. In light contact, you can experiment a little...here experimentation can get you hurt, not injured but hurt. At this level, you also get to see if you can even tolerate the pain necessary to defend yourself. Here you can grow and even heal your nervous system and gain confidence. Rounds here are typically 3-5 minutes long an there can be a minute break between rounds or you can keep it going for 15-30 depending on your fitness level. Consider this like jogging.

Hard sparing. We don't do this often but when we do, we gear up to the max and keep rounds at around 1 minute. These are intense rounds that are designed to test durability, intestinal fortitude, and the ability to survive difficult situations and persevere. During hard sparring your techniques and inner person are pressure tested to a very high degree. During hard sparring the techniques that you will use become limited to a very small percentage of what you have actually learned.

There is a saying: "Under duress, you will not rise to the level of your training but you will fall to the level of your mastery." Under stress, you will only be able to do what you have truly mastered. That is a whole new topic that I will write about soon. Look for upcoming sessions on "How to become a master of technique." and "How we train the nervous system"

Be Blessed,

Coach Chance