Master Ogden's view on sparring

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? 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 spoken to school owners who promote sparring and others who don't. After having listened to both arguments I can understand where both sides are coming from. 

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 that learning through practising and honing moves through individual punching and kicking drills, line work, katas/patterns/forms etc, is a good way to become better at and to understand moves. This is imperative in understanding the full anatomy and kinesiology (specific human movement) of a give technique or combination of techniques 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 training methods will not give you that extra ingredient that controlled sparring or situational practise 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 they have the necessary timing and movement to know the way they execute their techniques really works 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 practise 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 practised 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 practise 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 situations 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 in the main, their brain will have seen something similar to this situation before through sparring.  

Through good sparring education and situational practise, 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 practised and measured from the practice of controlled sparring.  When someone attempts to strike you, your brain receives feedback, primarily visual and auditory. This feedback is the processed by the brain and then converted into movement/action. When we look in more detail 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 resulting 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 student development in finding out what their strengths and weaknesses are. This is something that cannot be developed fully through line work, hitting pads or individual practise. When practising your skills on someone else who is trying to do the same, you get specific and random feedback. Sometimes positive and other times negative but all should be learnt from.

Sparring should be used as a valuable learning tool as part of martial development 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 an opportunity for students to hone skills and also have fun. 

All correct safety equipment should be in place before engaging in sparring and the instructors should make it very clear:

1. what they want their students to do

2. what techniques are allowed

3. how hard and fast the techniques should be carried out. 

Students should also be paired with others of similar size and ability or with a more experienced student who is willing to go steady with you and help to coach them.

 After a period of time partners should vary to give students variation allowing them to optimise different skills as each partner will bring different movement patterns, weight, temperament and ability. 

Sparring mind set:  Sparring should not be something students are scared of, it should be fun provided they are introduced to it properly. Before letting anybody engage in sparring instructors should inform the group of exactly what they want and what students should hope to achieve from the activity. For example: what certain techniques are used for, what the general objectives, protocols and rules are. 

Once sparring has started the instructor should be in total control of the situation 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 effectively if the sparring is either to fast or with too much aggression as the brain cannot see and cope with is happening. It becomes a 'rabbit in the headlights' scenario. Also the aggression level must be closely 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 practised.

So in my humble opinion I  believe controlled sparring where all involved understand the rules and adhere to them can be an essential and positive part of a students development.

Master Jake Ogden