When You Spar, How Hard Should You Hit?

When you spar, how hard should you and your partner hit?

The short answer is - as hard as you want.

If you're preparing for a full contact match, then at least part of
your training will need to be full contact. Most martial artist don't
compete regularly in full contact though, and many of them don't
compete at all. For them, sparring full contact probably isn't what
they want to do . . . but then they miss the benefits of full contact
training.

And what are those benefits? Well, hitting and kicking full power
requires better conditioning, better set ups, more exact use of
leverage, footwork and rotation and it conditions you to not freak out
when you get hit.

On the other hand, you're going to have injuries - jammed fingers and
toes top my list. Also, getting hit hard in the head is sort of like
getting x-rays: you should only get so many in a lifetime.

So how hard should you spar?

Here's how I like to spar in my school. We wear head gear with a face
guard, and a sturdy rib and chest protector. The rules are: VERY light
contact with punches to the head (anything more than that seems to
escalate), light kicks to the head. For some reason, they're easier to
control than punches, probably because the person is farther away and
you don't feel the pressure to back them off with power. Full contact
punches and kicks to the body wherever it's covered by the chest and
rib protector - again, I use the most solid ones I can find. Full
power (or close to it) leg kicks. They sting, but I've yet to see an
injury from a thigh kick. Take downs are allowed, and the fight
continues if it goes to the ground.

Following these rules, we've been able to have good matches, get a
great workout, and improve timing, power, combinations, and both stand
up and ground fighting.

Doesn't all the gear get in the way? Of course it does. The face
guard blocks vision, the chest guard is bulky and makes it difficult to
do some moves.

You don't have protective gear on the street, so why wear it in the
School?

Huh?

Who said anything about the street? It's a sport. If you want to get
completely "realistic" in your training, why not just go at it with
baseball bats, or guns? A sport is a sport. It has advantages and
disadvantages when you try to apply it to anything other than the sport
itself.

So, if you haven't sparred the way I've just described, you might want
to give it a try. I recommend that you only use a chest and rib
protector that is so strong you can let your partner side kick you full
power in the chest and you get knocked down but not injured or even
bruised in the least.

Being able to hit that hard is fun. Knowing that nobody is going to
get hurt keeps it fun.

Until next time, train like you mean it.

Rob LaPointe

P.S. In a few hours I'm heading into Washington, D.C. to teach a Tai
Chi workshop at a hospital's annual staff retreat. It's 45 minutes
long and they're paying my $675.00. I've got two other seminars in the
pipeline. If you're not getting bookings and paychecks like that, I
strongly suggest you check out my site http://indyinstructor.com/