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SPARRING; GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE SAND!
By BIG Sean Madigan
Is
sparring an important aspect of your training? If you answered no, then
it's time to ask yourself some questions. Sparring is the proving ground
to test all of the information that you learn in class, if you don't
test your 'stuff' in class, with your friends, then who are you going to
end up testing yourself against? Now, think about this comparison; would
you test a new automobile on a test track, or on a major highway? Of
course you would say, a test track. Sparring is your "test track" in the
martial arts, and a fight, I mean a real fight, is your major highway.
If you screw up in a fight, or on a highway, you could end up dead.
I've heard all of the nonsense excuses, hell, there was a day when I
used most of the excuses myself, but the trust is that unless you have a
physical or medical reason, you should be sparring on a somewhat regular
basis. "My martial art is to deadly”. Yeah, right. "I'm afraid I may
hurt somebody" Hah, ok. "Well, what we do you can not do with boxing
gloves on"! So, then don't wear boxing gloves. When we spar in our
school, we wear grappling gloves, along with headgear. You can do just
about anything with grappling gloves on (yes, even trap!).
I am not saying that you have to get up once a week and beat the crap
out of each other. Nobody has to get hurt to learn. Sparring does not
always have to be full contact, but there must be contact! Sparring is a
major drill in learning to be a fighter. In Jeet Kune Do, at least the
way it is taught in BIG JKD, sparring plays a huge roll in our training.
Don't fall for the excuses, even it you are the one making them!
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