The Importance of Sparring in Martial Arts

The first thing to understand is that ‘Sparring’ does not mean ‘Fighting’ as they both have completely different objectives. Sparring in martial arts is used as a means of teaching students to use the techniques they learn within their training but fighting however, is basically a way of saying ‘no rules’ which is the kind of scenario expected from a street confrontation.

There are however ‘Organised Fighting Events’ which consist of fights in a ring or arena with some rules that both competitors must abide by, this is referring to combat sports such as Kick Boxing, Muay Thai or Tae kwon Do and Karate matches with the spoils at the end of it often being some kind of personal gain such as trophies, medals or even a ‘purse’ to reward the efforts.

When it comes to the subject of sparring, some people tend to frown upon it because instinctively they might think it means to fight and they worry about injury but as mentioned before it is an exercise to develop control of techniques. Most sparring at club or school level is conducted in a controlled manner, this means to focus more on accuracy and timing rather than power.

Sparring can be performed in a number of different ways such as set, semi or free sparring depending on experience or what’s to be learnt.

Sparring here at Family Martial Arts in Maidstone and Gravesend, is practiced with extremely strict safety guidelines so that students learn from sparring rather than feel intimidated by it, we never allow students to start sparring until they have been graded to a certain level where they can show basic understanding of techniques with an increase in fitness and confidence.

Beginners to sparring will only practice light coordination drills with their partner to develop Focus, Distance and Timing. Drill training is used to help those who are maybe not so confident or in turn it helps those who have the confidence but lack the skill, these drills range from training footwork and evasive skills to learning countering and defending tactics.

It is in my belief that sparring plays a vital role in Martial Arts because without it students cannot practice their techniques against a live moving target, hitting a heavy bag or pad is good training for stamina and resistance but the equipment does not hit back. In a real life situation you would not expect the opponent to know much about martial arts but the pace of a situation is replicated through sparring allowing the students to practice moving fast and protecting themselves, learning to face opposition but without the fear of being domineered. There is nothing to gain from heavy sparring other than injury and losing the will to carry on training unless that is the type of training needed within your own sporting regime.

By keeping sparring friendly and controlled everyone can learn from each other, gain confidence and fitness so therefore enjoying sparring.

By Michael Morgan-Lewis, Chief Instructor, Family Martial Arts – Maidstone