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pcarney · 09-04-2002, 10:27 AM

I've noticed that several posts have equated sparring to fighting. But is it? Even at the highest contact, there are still things that aren't allowed- such as my dim mak death thumb

Beyond techniques, there's another element to a fight that is hard, or perhaps inadvisable to duplicate in a sparring session- that is the emotional content. Be it fear, anger, whatever, these are emotions that have to be dealt with in a fight. Often, it seems that the emotion must be controlled or overcome before you can hope to win a fight. I've heard about systems that try to address this, and I'm interested in learning more.

Another point, when we spar, we're sparring trained fighter- how often do you think you'll be faced with a trained fighter 'in the street' (the most cliched term in MA). That is, one of those arses who comes barrelling in with haymakers. This is 180 degrees from the trained, logical attacks we deal with while sparring.

Obviously, these are but a few ways that sparring differs from fighting. Don't get me wrong- I think realistic sparring (good contact, none of that 'don't kick below the waist' crap, etc) is a very important part of training. But at best, its still a simulation.

Thoughts?

09-04-2002, 10:27 AM	#1 (permalink)
pcarney Novice Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Rhode Island, USA Posts: 56 Groans: 0 Groaned at 0 Times in 0 Posts	Sparring = reality I've noticed that several posts have equated sparring to fighting. But is it? Even at the highest contact, there are still things that aren't allowed- such as my dim mak death thumb Beyond techniques, there's another element to a fight that is hard, or perhaps inadvisable to duplicate in a sparring session- that is the emotional content. Be it fear, anger, whatever, these are emotions that have to be dealt with in a fight. Often, it seems that the emotion must be controlled or overcome before you can hope to win a fight. I've heard about systems that try to address this, and I'm interested in learning more. Another point, when we spar, we're sparring trained fighter- how often do you think you'll be faced with a trained fighter 'in the street' (the most cliched term in MA). That is, one of those arses who comes barrelling in with haymakers. This is 180 degrees from the trained, logical attacks we deal with while sparring. Obviously, these are but a few ways that sparring differs from fighting. Don't get me wrong- I think realistic sparring (good contact, none of that 'don't kick below the waist' crap, etc) is a very important part of training. But at best, its still a simulation. Thoughts?