How to Fill Your Shelves with Sparring Trophies
It would be great to have all those great looking tournament plaques you see on display at your school or at home? Well, you can. Just pick the number of trophies you want and then enter that many competitions! So, we got a little ahead of ourselves because you might be asking yourself. How do you get there? To answer this question only takes one word: sparring. You cannot walk on the tourney mat without a great deal of sparring under your belt and hope to walk away with a trophy or medal. You need experience and skill and that is why sparring training is a must. Or, more accurately, proper sparring is a must.
So, here are a few ideas to help you get the most out of your sparring practice:
Let’s straighten out something out from the very beginning: sparring is not fighting. Sparring is a drill designed to enhance your fighting skills. It is not about winning or losing. It is about improvement. That means you need to curb your competitive spirit and approach sparring with an attitude centering on a positive learning experience.
If you are not in the higher belt ranks, you should never be sparring without proper supervision. In addition to having a knowledgeable eye presenting you with tips and pointers, there will be someone there to ensure the sparring session stays light and friendly.
It is imperative that in now way do you spar without the proper training equipment on. You can see professional fighters sparring without such equipment all the time. They are also professionals and they have the experience to handle such training. If you are training as a hobby or for amateur or tournament competition, you will want to wear as much protective gear as possible. This includes head, chest, feet, hand, and groin protection. This will reduce the chances of injury and allow you to train extensively and safely.
Always keep intensity and contact levels at a minimum. You don’t have to practice at 100% to develop sharp your sparring skills. In fact, doing so is often self-defeating. You want to be able to assess your strengths and weaknesses while sparring while refining the areas you excel and enhancing (or avoiding) that are underdeveloped. It is very tough to do this when you are training with excess contact or intensity and such heavy training should be limited. However, limited does NOT mean never. You will have to push yourself very hard to get to the same exertion point you will find in a competition. Keep your full speed sparring down to around 15% of your training.
Spar according to the rules of the tournament you wish to enter. In this way you will have the tournament rules work in your advanatage as opposed to working against you. Also, wear the same apparel in training as you would in the tournament. If you train in shorts for mma and Taekwondo Shoes then you are in a tournament that requires a uniform and doesn’t allow shoes, you will feel very off when the competition arrives. Always pick your sparring partners wisely. You want someone who is safe, controlled, and non-competitive but still knows how to push you to improve. Be sure to avoid sparring partners who are ultra competitive or feel like they have to prove something to you!
Martial Arts Speed Training – Advanced Candle Punches
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