Why free sparring isn't practical for self-defense training (VIDEO)
Training Tips | Written By: Andre Vatke
Often students or visitors to our school coming from other martial arts like Karate or Taekwondo ask us why we don't spar. They are often under the impression that only in sparring can you truly hone your skill.
And there may be a kernel of truth in there.
Sparring, or more accurately, "free sparring" pits two people against each other - each looking for openings and advantages. Which is fine in preparing you for a fight... with someone that's trained in roughly the same type of fighting you are. But...
...self-defense isn't fighting.
Fighting is where you and I know that we are about to fight. There are either agreed or implied rules that we follow. And this isn't at all like 99% of the assaults reported by police in Columbus.
Self-Defense is the capacity to unleash violence on one or more attackers - people that intend to do you serious harm or even kill you. They are probably stronger than you, more skilled and most likely have a weapon. This isn't the octagon!
As you watch the video below you will see a sparring qualification for 2nd Degree Black Belt in another martial art. Believe me it's not easy to fight for 2 minutes at the end of a 2 or 3 hour test. I have a ton of respect for that - and it's similar to what our Black Belts have to endure.
What you see in this video is similar to what we call "Defense Drills". The difference though is that in our defense drills one person plays the role of an attacker (in a specific scenario - or open) and the other as a defender. There's no give and take in defense drills - it's unleashing specific targeted attacks designed to shut down the attacker physically and emotionally.
This is where free sparring breaks down in its ability to allow specific targeting and the mental conditioning required for a self-defense or pure survival situation. It's also why pads alone won't protect us from fully executed strikes. We have to visualize attacks and leave power for other drills simply because an all out "full contact" spar would end in serious injury even death.
DSD is like having a loaded gun. We have great respect for what we know and train. We don't teach these skills to new students without expecting that same kind of respect from them.