Master Thor explains sparring concepts

For most people, both students and observers, sparring is probably one of the more interesting and exciting aspects of any martial art. However, the purpose and benefits of this activity are probably missed or at least misunderstood by most. To begin with, the word sparring is used rather than the word fighting in order to imply that the exercise is not just intended to demonstrate ones ability to beat an opponent but rather the ability to work with a partner. To me the biggest mistake in learning to spar is the belief that to be victorious you must defeat you opponent. I feel that to be truly effective in sparring you must learn to adapt to your partner so that he is, in a manner of speaking, as much in charge of what you do as you are (This concept will be explained later).

If you realize that four on the main components of sparring are (1) control, (2) distance, (3) timing and (4) focus, then you can appreciate the purpose and advantage of practicing one-step sparring. Ideally in either one-step or free sparring, the only reason your partner is still standing is because you did not make contact. The purpose on one-step sparring is to learn to develop this precise control so that by advancing to free sparring the same principles will be applied to a moving target. One-steps are an ideal exercise for developing this type of control, but most students fail to see the benefit to this exercise. When done correctly, one-steps should demonstrate pinpoint accuracy with maximum force at vulnerable targets, without contact. In fact contact, even though light, implies a lack of power because if the technique was delivered with the true force is designed to have, your partner should be injured. The common flaw is to believe that control implies not injuring your partner. I believe true control implies not injuring your partner only because the technique did not make contact. The force of the technique was not lessened-only the effect it would have had on your partner, due to the lack of contact. It takes much less control to make light contact that it does to strike with full force and yet with no contact. When understood in the light, true non-contact sparring takes much more effort and control than does light contact sparring.

When learning how to spar, a common problem in the learning process is trying to remain in control of the situation by maintaining total control of your partner. The fallacy is the idea that you can be in total control of the situation by yourself. The only way you can be in total control is by first giving up some of the control to your partner. When we understand that our partner is as much in control of what we can do as we are, then we don't make the mistake of forcing the situation. I like to think that in order for me to be in control 100%, I need to first give to my partner the 50% of control that he has over me. For instance, no matter what distance I want to maintain during sparring in order to execute a technique, my partner can always change that distance by his choice. In the same vein, even if I want to do a specific combination of techniques, the way my partner blocks or dodges will have an impact on what I really can or should do. Someone who is good at sparring is one who is able to adjust to whatever happens and react appropriately.

In the application of techniques in sparring, then, the most common mistake lies in trying to be in control without realizing that you must give up control in order to gain it. A kick or punch is only appropriate when done at the right distance and the right target. A helpful approach is to think of your kicks and punches as similar techniques but with different effective distances rather than as different techniques. In this way a front kick and a punch are the same techniques, they just have a different effective striking range. The same theory can be applied to techniques and their appropriate targets. Rather than trying to make a specific technique work, why not let the target determine which technique will be effective. By approaching sparring in this way, it becomes evident that the situation determines the technique more so than the individual. As you, your opponent, or both of you move, the relative distance will obviously change and so too will the appropriate technique. This relationship between distance and technique becomes more critical as the movement and action increase. Thus instinctive reactions become an essential element of effective sparring since relying strictly on planned combinations would rely primarily on luck.

In order to help in the development of effective techniques both singly and in combination, a good exercise is to practice drills both alone and with a partner that work on increasing your knowledge of efficient techniques. Learning correct instinctive reactions in sparring is comparable to learning how to drive safely. When you are first learning to drive, you tend to be extremely cautious, partly because you have no idea of what to expect. After you begin to become more comfortable you may also become more careless because you think you can handle anything that will happen to you. However, it only takes a few dangerous or near fatal accidents to make you aware of just how out of control things can get. The more experiences you have, the better prepared you are to deal with whatever may happen. Think of how you felt and reacted to the first time you lost control of you car on a wet or icy road (regardless of what you had learned in driver's ed). Now think of how you react if you are used to driving in these kinds of conditions. The professional racecar driver is probably much more capable of handling any type of automobile emergency that is the average driver partially because he has more experience from which to draw.

Sparring drills help develop this same type of experience and reaction. The broader your body's experience with reactive technique, the more able it will be to react appropriately to what ever happens. This in one reason why the student who has been training longer has an advantage over the newer student: his or her broader "library of experience."

Another reason to practice multiple combination drills is to help you learn which techniques work well together and which ones don't. If in practicing combinations, you learn to relax and let techniques flow together, you will begin to understand the importance of the interaction of body dynamics. The flow from one technique to another is controlled both by the direction of the first technique and by your partner's reaction to that technique. For example a round kick that is not blocked or that is blocked in the direction of the kick has one set of dynamics while the same kick that is stopped by a target or a block may have a whole different set of dynamics. In the first case, a simple follow-up kick might be a reverse side kick, while the follow-up kick in the second scenario might flow more smoothly with an opposite leg front kick. Neither combination is right or wrong in itself; whether it is correct and natural depends on your partner's responses to your actions.

A final thing to consider when understanding how to improve your sparring is the impact of strategy on the effectiveness of what you do. I like to compare sparring to any game of strategy. Take, for instance, chess. It is not always the person with the most pieces, or the most powerful pieces who wins, but rather she who used her pieces most effectively. If you are naturally strong or fast or flexible or big, you can still be overcome by less physically gifted individuals as long as they have the ability to outsmart you. Physical talent is only one aspect of developing good sparring strategy. If you understand your strengths and you weaknesses as well as those of your partners, you will be better able to develop effective strategies that will work within each specific situation.

For most people, learning how to use their mind rather that their body as the key to successful strategy is one of the most difficult lessons. Some simple rules to help develop successful strategy are:

1. If it works, continue to use it.
2. Once it no longer works, don't try to force it to work.
3. Your best technique may not be the most effective technique.
4. Consistency can be the sure way to defeat.
5. Broken rhythm and changing strategy are the easiest ways to defeat any plan.
6. Good strategy will defeat good technique most of the time and in most situations.

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