Importance of Place of Sparring in Karate Training

    If you ask ten different people what their definition of sparring is you are likely to get ten different answers.  All will mention fighting, but each will have a particular focus that speaks to his own experience.  Sparring training has distinct characteristics, yet it gives to and takes from other karate training methodologies like kata and yakosuko (or prearranged) kumite.  Sparring is distinguished from other  training techniques by its spontaneity, which can in turn be infused into kata and yakosuko kumite to bring those practices to life.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Languages, Fourth Edition defines sparring:

A.     To fight with an opponent in a short bout or practice session, as in boxing or the martial arts.

B.     To make boxing or fighting motions without hitting one's opponent

    This basically says that sparring is a short fight where opponents use practiced techniques and concepts while exercising control.  Where do the concepts and techniques come from?  The real starting point for sparring comes from techniques and control learned in kata and yakosuko kumite.  It is these lessons that help to distinguish a fighter from brawler.

Briefly, kata training is characterized by the following:

·         An emphasis on the proper formation of fighting techniques and the appropriate body alignment and stance in performing those techniques.

·         Accuracy of technique.

·         Emphasize flow of techniques while keeping each distinct.

·         Practices mental focus while maintaining a physical flow.

Pre arranged kumite would augment kata with the following:

·         Adds a partner/opponent

·         Each move is a mini fight with a terminating offensive or defensive move.

·         Emphasizes movement and distancing in coordination with a physical attack or defense.

·         Accuracy of distancing and technique placement is adjusted to the partner's size and intensity of attack.

·         Like kata, prearranged kumite is choreographed but the differences in a partner’s size, power and intensity will add some measure of spontaneity.

    Sparring does not structure its lessons with a set of prearranged movements.  It adds unpredictability by substituting the in-the-moment attributes of its practitioners for the choreography of kata and prearranged kumite. It does this without removing the important characteristics of these training methods.  The expectation is that kata-like control and execution of techniques will be maintained while sparring.  Kumite distancing should be in evidence even though the fight evolves in real time.  The practicality of a sanchin elbow position is undisputable when it is used to protect your ribs or to quickly throw a jab.  A poorly formed and executed front kick has little chance of penetrating a defense.  Conversely, a flowing defense will most likely evade a well-executed kick.  Techniques and attributes developed in kata and prearranged kumite can protect you in an unpredictable situation.  Sparring develops physical and mental attributes.  Fighting techniques are adjusted and paired down so that they work under spontaneous situations and work for different people.

    Arguments can be made that sparring does not train a person for the reality of a street attack.  Sparring does not include the streets hard hits and unpredictable nature.  This point is difficult to dispute.  All fighting methodologies need to have a measure of safety built in.  Without them, the student will spend time recovering from injuries sustained while training to avoid them.   The risk of injury increases as training becomes more real.  There are styles of martial arts that train solely with the street in mind but this does not negate the importance of the skills gained in sparring.  The attributes developed with a controlled approach will go a long way towards readying a person for a street situation.

Attributed Developed Thru Sparring

Physical Conditioning:     Most sparring matches are somewhat continuous.  Staying on your toes, throwing punches and kicks while evading the same without the benefit of built in pauses will elevate the heart rate and breathing thus putting the body to an aerobic state.  The more acclimated you are to this level of intensity, the greater your comfort will be in a fighting situation.  A higher level on conditioning will translate into kicks, blocks and punches that will flow with less physical and mental effort.

Clean and Purposeful Techniques:     Sparring training should emphasize clean techniques that retract and keep the person in a balanced and read state.  Punches and kicks are directed to openings or are designed to create openings.  The vulnerability of leaving punches out or of falling into kicks will become clear when facing an opponent who takes advantage of this sloppiness.  The demonstration of crisply executed techniques in a fight defines a fighter, not a brawler.

Control of Anger:  Getting hit is no fun.  It is irrelevant to equivocate about who is at fault for you getting hit during the fight.  The energy used up in getting angry would be better channeled into making blocks and figuring out why you got hit.  Emotions that distract you will give your opponent and advantage.  Sparring training will teach this over time.

Staying in the Moment: Sparring is a continuous flow of fighting.  Its best not to anticipate or ruminate while doing it since the punch that just landed is nothing more than a memory.  The ultimate experience is to stay in the moment and let the training take over.  Training should emphasize light and fluid movement.  Although people may think this is crazy, over time the sparring can become enjoyable, meditative, and even playful.  This is due to the necessity of staying focused on the events unfolding before you and being relaxed enough to react to them.  It's difficult to react to something if you don't see it while it's happening.  The ability to "pull the trigger" on a technique is characteristic of a fighter who stays in the moment.  Even though a lot of thought and experience goes into any fighting methodology, the act of fighting is in itself instinctual, not intellectual.  It requires allowing your senses to dictate the next move.

Control of Force: Sparring should be an exercise in self-control.  A physically superior competitor should triumph by channeling their advantage into superior execution of techniques and control. If they don't, then what is the point of training in the first place?  When a large person is paired with a small one and size tips the balance in the big guys favor, the larger person should seize the opportunity to work on quickness instead of power.  Work on evasion and footwork instead of using brute force.  Nothing is gained by reinforcing that you are bigger than someone else.  Karate training is not about who is biggest and toughest.  It's about who is prepared and about confidence in that preparedness.  Sparring should highlight this.  Without it, sparring becomes a brawl.

Staying on the Attack Until the Fight is Over: There are many skirmishes that comprise a sparring match. Each is terminated when someone says it's over.  A ring judge, karate teacher, or the common sense of the sparring partners will make that call.  One-technique skirmishes don't' do much for self-defense training.  The situation has to be brought to a definite conclusion.  That conclusion could be a call to stop or a turnaround on the part of the defender.  There is a middle ground found in sparring that allows partners to test techniques to see if they succeed or fail.  The execution of these techniques needs to be conclusive so that the partners see what worked and what didn't.  A spirit of give and take develops in sparring partners so that each is allowed to explore a conclusive outcome to their fighting.  One punch to a large person probably won't work.  Continuing the flow of your offense will help you to discover what will work.  This should be a logical and safe point of termination.  If you have someone on the ground and they are covering up and you have already thrown multiple punches, then common sense dictates that that skirmish is over.  Nobody's training is served by leaving that person down and vulnerable to more attacks.  The attribute developed by staying on the attack has to be balanced by the attribute of control of force.

Overcoming Adversity:   There are times where you can be outmatched.  What do you do when this happens?  These are the occasions when focus, discipline and confidence should kick in.  Sparring can help a person meet the adversity head on.  Any opponent can be caught off guard by summoning up your internal spirit and stepping up your effort at that moment.  The demeanor of a match can change in an instant.  This is where internal character should meld with physical training.  The techniques, focus and intensity of kata and yakosuko kumite are taken to a new level when the fighter is put in an adverse situation.  The ability to reach down and find the will to fight a superior opponent is essential and requires nurturing.  Rank and belts are all well and good but it's these moments when you understand the real meaning of your training.

    In summary, all of the above attributes should combine with the technical lessons of kata and prearranged kumite to give the karate student an advantage in a stress self-defense situation.  All physically able karate students should practice sparring.  There can  be a mix of advanced and beginning students, all taking into consideration the attributes discussed above.  It should be recognized that not all techniques are suited to all people  Under the pressure of a fight, a student will revert to techniques that they feel most comfortable with.  It is the teacher's responsibility to devise training drills that will expand the understanding of the basic material by putting it in combinations that facilitate fighting.  The student has to be given the flexibility to practice these in a safe and free flowing context.  Matches should be coaching sessions in the use of drilled material where the student is encouraged to bring forward their inner spirit.  Eventually the student will adopt or discard techniques that suit her needs.  The student will learn to flow with fighting situations.  Throughout this process, the teacher has a responsibility to consistently emphasize control of techniques and to stop fights where a person’s raw roughness, ferocity, and desire to fight are the only characteristics in evidence.  After all, continuous training, and by extension continuous improvement, can't be achieved if the student is constantly recovering from injuries sustained in sparring.

    In addition, the teacher is responsible to not only show what kata and yakosuko kumite bring to sparring, but also what sparring brings to kata and yakosuko kumite.  Sparring is practiced with partners but it is still and individual endeavor requiring high levels of spirit and control. All of the training methodologies should become connected in their purpose.  I noted from the outset that sparring has many connotations.  A teacher who conducts sparring classes has to introduce and drill techniques and concepts in a structured fashion.  Conversely, the teacher has to coach the student to control or unleash their unstructured internal spirit.  All of this has to be accomplished in a way that allows the students to explore their own internal fighting capacity in a safe and friendly environment.