Street Fight Sparring - One Way To Make Sparring More RealisticDoes sparring in the dojo (martial arts studio) prepare you for real street fighting? Many feel that the answer is that it doesn’t prepare you, if you practice “classical” sparring. (Which is weird if you think about it. It doesn’t prepare you for real street fighting, yet so many continue sparring, claiming they are practicing self defense. Hmmm.) What I mean by classical sparring is that you face off against one opponent. (Only one opponent? We should be so lucky in a street fight.) Either you advance on your opponent, or your opponent advances on you. One tries a move, the other responds with a pat against the incoming limb. All nice and clean. Yawn. Boring -- and not very practical. Both opponents stay at a relatively safe distance. Sparring Variation A variation that is a little better -- notice, I said “a little” -- is when one opponent attacks, and then there is an exchange of two or three moves before each party goes back to his or her comfort zone -- the safe distance. Well, at least in the variation, there is some contact. You have to respond to an attack. Still, it’s not preparing you for real street fighting. Street Fight Preparedness In a real street fight, when have you known any fighter to maintain a safe distance. Once contact is made, it becomes an in-fight. And it stays that way. And so, one technique for making your sparring more realistic is to stay in close, once you make contact. Don’t retreat to a safe kicking distance, once you have moved into punching range. And learn to fight in close. Practice short vertical punches. Kick low. Develop fast and powerful elbow strikes.
|
