http://www.dragonkenpo.com/sparring.htm
Whenever I see sparring in a traditional martial arts school, I want to yell, "STOP THE INSANITY!" What they call sparring is having two students (often with wildly different skill levels) put on boxing gloves and punch each other. Pro boxers do something like this, since it is similar to their (my) sport, but I have NO IDEA what those martial arts instructors are trying to accomplish. It is, after all, impossible to execute most martial arts techniques with your hands taped into fists and covered by padded gloves. When you visit your neighborhood self defense school and see sparring, one of three things is happening:
1) The instructor didn't prepare a lesson for that night and wishes to create the illusion of education while actually killing time.
2) He REALLY, REALLY doesn't like one of those students.
3) He doesn't realize he's not teaching street self defense, which is the scariest of the three.
Do you know why boxers wear gloves? Not to protect the opponent's head, because it does just the opposite. The gloves, along with the tape that goes on the hands first, keep the tiny bones in the hands from getting broken. That is a good strategy for boxing as a sport, because fighters who are less likely to break their hands are more likely to get knock outs. The public loves spectacular knock outs! BUT - practicing fighting with your hands protected leads you to fight in real life as if your hands are protected. You launch one of those boxing style head punches on the street with bare knuckles and you are probably finished.
If you're not training to box, don't bother training like a boxer. By the way, you can't really spar with open hand martial arts techniques anyway. The techniques I teach have no tournament usefulness. They are not about scoring points or impressing judges. They are, almost without exception, illegal in full contact martial arts competition. They are for rendering an attacker UNABLE to continue. Please pay attention to this point: ANY SELF DEFENSE STYLE YOU CAN SPAR WITH IS A GAME or is INEFFECTIVE!
"Please pay attention to this point: ANY SELF DEFENSE STYLE YOU CAN SPAR WITH IS A GAME or is INEFFECTIVE!"
makes complete sense ... if you're living in a Bizarro-world!
kinda like the restaurant that's really good, but no one goes to cuz its always too crowded.
I have been working on shooting lighting bolts from my eyes but no success as of yet,17 years and still trying.I was going to start boxing, but reading this article has conviced me that would be a total waste.
there's a picture of the founder in a boxing ring throwing a left hook in a boxing match... go figure
Fernando aka 'The Troublemaker'
Just can't leave those poor TMA saps alone, can you?
no troublemaker here!
i was on some other site and i thought it was a joke.
i just amazing how people still think this way!
Just trying to spread the truth my friend!
"Just trying to spread the truth my friend!"
Just trying to get people killed is more like it.
This guy has to be a troll. IF not, he's just plain silly.
"Assistant instructor Beth Burke defends against a downward thrust knife attack with a right outside block."
HAHAHAHAHA! Beth BUrke gets her arm cut to ribbons and bleeds to death.
This type of "training" is really irresponsible and is going to get your students killed. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Sorry Fernando, I thought that was your website. It's been a long day,
Actually, the guy is right.
The gloves, along with the tape that goes on the hands first, DO keep the tiny bones in the hands from getting broken.
Other than that........
7.0 entertaining, a few people bought it, but I was not convinced ebough to go visit the web site.
post it on the underground, people will yell at you.
It was all going well up until: "By the way, you can't really spar with open hand martial arts techniques anyway." Then we're off into fantasy land.
"ANY SELF DEFENSE STYLE YOU CAN SPAR WITH IS A GAME or is INEFFECTIVE!"
Yep, that's why we have combat sports.
Cheers,
Will
Any statement of absolutism in this business is usually an immediate mark of ignorance and thus to be ignored.
"Any statement of absolutism in this business is usually an immediate mark of ignorance and thus to be ignored. "
I may or may not agree or disagree with this statement.
bsktrap may be correct... of course there is always the possibility that's he's not. What do you guys think?
I concur! J.K.
For real, though, post it on the UG.
lol
Ed Hutchinson sold the "Dragon Kenpo" franchise to someone else on ebay a couple years back. He used to advertise in the back of BB magazine and when you order his tape set he sends you the belt as well, so buy the tapes and be a 2nd degree blackbelt (I think there are people that still sell it on ebay as well).
If you look at Ed's "lineage" his instructor was a low ranking blackbelt in Kenpo from a branch that broke off and self promoted after Parker died.
I have actually seen one of the tapes WAY back when I was in college and I couldn't believe the crap that was on the tape, it would definately get you hurt if you thought all you had to do was practice that stuff and you could be a "real blackbelt".
LOL! That clip rules!
Jerry
I'd have to go back to what seems like another lifetime when I was training and teaching American Kenpo to remember that I would 'spar' techniques with my students.
Once a technique was learned, it was required the student pull the move off while a training partner was actually trying to hit them. I did away with the traditional punches and used Western Boxing (much to the chagrin of some of my fellow instructors, although Ed thought it was O.K.)
Like anything else, sometimes they worked, sometimes not. After a number of 'techniques' were learned to counter, for example, a right cross, then the student would use them all while the trainer was throwing right crosses. And so on for different common attacks.
The final goal was to 'spar' all the techniques with the trainer throwing whatever they want. It was very common for techniques to 'blend' one into another, or parts of this one and parts of that one. And this was the goal that Ed had in mind for his system...to free the mind from trying to 'think' of what to do, to just react to 'what is' using the techniques as merely a method of teaching.
Unfortunately, I saw very few people get this concept, not only the public in general, but a majority of the Kenpo instructors themselves. Most got caught up in 'doing a technique', rather than the techniques being merely training methods to be discarded as a person's skills improved.
I think people getting stuck on techniques was a point of (minor) frustration for Parker. When you 'sparred' with him, he was completely free flowing in his response to what was being thrown at him. Nothing pre determined, but you could definately see parts of 'technique'.
In reality, Ed's goal was the same as Bruce's....freedom in fighting. Ed just took a different road to the same place. And just like people took Ed's art, misunderstood and concretized it, there are many today who have taken Bruce's art, misunderstanding and concretizing it into a 'system'.
Terry G.