Beat Down at the OK Corral
February 15, 2008 by Bob Patterson
Wed. night sabum was out so I was the teacher. To mix things up I started out by teaching the low belts a basic jab/reverse combo. Then we went straight into taekwondo sparring drills in full gear.
After that I decided to introduce them to point sparring (i.e., stopping then restarting after each point is scored) so we actually held a mini-tourney of sorts.
I was going to have the winners of male and females spar but then thought better of that idea given the unfair weight advantage. So I got the brilliant idea to take on both winners cold. (I figured I had more control than the low belts which I do.)
I generally do not like start-stop point sparring. In fact, I prefer continuous sparring for a whole host of reasons that I don’t want to get into. Granted, I don’t want to take anything away from start-stop point fighters. In fact, I know that in the taekwondo and karate world there are folks who reach world class level in this kind of sport competition.
Anyhow, the winner of the males murdered me at 6 - 1. Now I could make all sorts of excuses but at the end of the day he beat me fair. Yes I have 20 years on him and yes again I was cold and not stretched. Still, even *if* I was warmed up I think I would have lost because I fought him wrong from a start-stop point match perspective. Essentially these were my mistakes:
- I was fighting like I would in continuous sparring.
- I did not rely on lead-leg techniques which are quicker and better suited for a game of tag.
- I tried too many combo fancy kicks when I should have just kept it simple.
Given he knows only a few basic and intermediate kicks, by default, he kept it simple. He’s also a former athlete in track and football so has some very good reaction times. He also has a lot of power and not a lot of control yet. So, given that I am STILL sore two days later it was good that I took him on.
My only consolation is he did e-mail me and comment about all the bruises I gave him. So at least I know I gave as good as I got. I also will have a re-match.
For those interested in some stop-action point sparring tips I found this article.
I also used this opportunity to also go through my training notes. Here’s some continuous sparring tips that were passed down to me:
- If tall: Keep your range by jamming them with push kick and back kicks.
- If short: Get inside your opponent’s long legs.
- If you have power but are slow: Make every block count by punishing them. They might start to fear the pain.
- Not strong but have speed: Use your speed. Don’t go toe-to-toe. Stick and move. Get in then get out.
- Just a little slow: Stick with a few simple techniques. Probably your strong ones. Don’t chase either. Make them come to you.
~BCP
I’m fascinated by the dilineation of point and regular sparring. In regular sparring do you just seperate when you get to an impass? When we do light sparring we with drawal naturally when we recoganize someone would have been painted pretty severally.
I love your hints. I’m tall and slow compared to the younger folks in class. Distance is my friend.
Sometimes a junior-rank can fight above his ability against a senior man; he has nothing to lose.
I think the original idea behind the point-match was the one-strike, one-kill philosophy. I’ve never been too keen on point-matches anyway, to me it’s like glorified tag.
Good sparring tips, especially #4.
Potatoe -
Not sure what you mean by seperate. In continuous point sparring you don’t stop ’til times up. That is unless someone fouls you, knock-out, etc.
In stop-action the match stops as soon as someone hits a scoring shot. They break you and you do it all over again until time is up.
John -
I agree. Like I said: I know there are some world champion stop-action point sparrers but I don’t particularly care for it either.