This sentence should make it clear that it is different from real fighting, even sports fighting.
Sparring has a different purpose. Rather than winning or losing, the purpose is to learn to move with a non-cooperating opponent, to deal with distance, timing, rhythm, stamina, defence, and offense, etc, in a controlled environment.
A sparring session should therefore not be entered with a mindset of ‘win or lose’, but rather looking at it as an opportunity to improve and get better. After all, if you spar and make mistakes then those will be opportunities to learn and grow.
The purpose of sparring is to learn, not winning or losing. “The great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of the engagement; you ought not to be thinking of whether it ends in victory or defeat. Let nature take its course, and your tools will strike at the right moment.” Bruce Lee
Safety:
Obviously to do so safely you need to be wearing the right safety equipment, in our case these are a good pair of gloves, head gear, body armour, groin protection, shin/knee guards, and potentially a mouthpiece.
This equipment is not worn so that you can go all out and beat the ‘you know what’ out of each other, but rather to protect from injury. Good protection can make all the difference in your ability to train the next day or having to take time out to recover for a while, which is never good for anyone’s progress!
Intensity:
Sparring is never all out, but on average at about 50% of your speed/power level and depending on who you are sparring with too.
People with a lot of experience, can go up to 70-80% at times, but never for the whole duration, and never at 100%. The risk of injury to yourself or your partner is just too high, and no one wants to sit at home recovering, or be without a training partner, both situations put a pause to your development!
If sparring with a beginner, you do not go after them, but rather help them get comfortable in this potentially stressful situation and help them gain their confidence, get used to hit and be hit etc. You may want to reduce your intensity to
10-30% in those cases.
Have a plan:
Before you spar, have a game plan to follow.
For example, if you struggle with finding your range for punches, then have a sparring session where you can only throw punches, while your opponent gets to throw everything.
If you cannot time your kicks properly, then have a sparring session where you can only attack with kicks, while your opponent can attack with everything.
Vary your attacks: Don’t be a one trick pony. You may find that you feel very comfortable throwing a left kick over and over, but you will become very predictable, particularly to your regular sparring partners.
Pretty soon they’ll find a way to deal with that attack, so learn to vary your tools and ways of attack (remember the 5 ways!). Think about what else you can do? Clinch, elbows, knees, throws/takedowns, punch, kick? ‘Empty your cup, be formless, shapeless, like water’ ‘Bruce Lee.
Defend well:
Don’t think you constantly need to go on the offensive, but with good defence comes greater offense. Try to employ parries, head movement, footwork etc. and from there develop your counter attacks.
It is important for both you and your partner to give each other space and give each other the opportunity to both attack and defend, so don’t start chasing the other continually, nor should you just stand there and constantly let the other do all the attacking. Overcome the fear to attack, for fear of being countered / hit, but similarly learn to deal with being attacked and remain calm/focussed and not lose your situational awareness!
‘Defeat is a state of mind, no one is ever defeated unless defeat has been accepted as a reality’ Bruce Lee
Find your distance:
Its going to be hard to attack if the distance isn’t right (work on finding your fighting measure!). Taller people might find it easier to stay at longer range to keep your partner at bay, but shorter people may want to get in closer range and attack from there. How to move in/out those ranges is a key skill you’ll learn through sparring. In addition, you will learn which techniques work for you/your body type during sparring and which don’t. ‘Research your own experience, absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own’ Mao.
Leave your ego at the door:
The moment you carry your ego into a sparring session, you are already at a loss. Avoid thinking that you are better than your sparring partner. Accept that you will be hit, and then you will learn a thing or two. ‘Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory’ Bruce Lee
You only improve with the help of others, so be sure to stay humble before, during, and even after you spar. (Also see the paragraph about intensity!)
Do not assume that you know it all and do not think that you’re the boss because it is at that exact moment when you will be schooled during your sparring session. Show respect to your fellow partner. Both of you guys are in the class to learn. If you notice someone carrying their ego to a class, then let them know they should keep it outside the class.
Stay Humble, only then will you continue to learn and improve. ‘flowing water never grows stale’
‘The martial arts are ultimately self-knowledge, A punch or a kick is not to knock the hell out of the guy in front, but to knock the hell out of your ego, your fear, or your hang-ups’. Bruce Lee
Prepare for when you are tired:
Getting tired is a natural process of sparring, but once you get tired you are going to be forced to use ‘smarts’ rather than ‘strength’. Be the intelligent fighter, use moments of tiredness to employ the finer techniques you learn during class, and be the intelligent fighter to prolong the time it takes before you get tired. Fight smart & fight fit.
Stay Calm:
Undergoing your first sparring session can be a nerve-racking experience, that’s why it is important to stay calm. It seems like simple advice, for don’t forget to breathe! If you forget to breathe, you will starve your muscles (and your brain) of oxygen, which will tire you out and lose focus/clarity.
‘Be a calm beholder of what is happening around you’ Bruce Lee
Have Fun!
The most important thing when you spar is to have fun and enjoy the process. It may not be fun to get hit or to miss every shot but try to treat it as such. Have a laugh about it after class, you’ll make new friends too! ‘What is defeat? Nothing but education, nothing but the first step to something better’ Bruce Lee
“It is not a shame to be knocked down by other people. The important thing is to ask when you’re being knocked down, ‘Why am I being knocked down?’ If a person can reflect in this way, then there is hope for this person.” Bruce Lee
WALK ON!
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