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The meaning of sparring fighting in martial arts: a free mini-guide

Sparring is:

A friendly type of fight made in a totally safe environment with a training partner (the goal is not to hurt or to win but to improve, together)
In pure terms of combat capabilities, the type of training exercise that makes the difference between a low-quality preparation and a good one
The key to truly learning to fight (as for Tennis, no one can say to be able to master it if he / she never have been involved in a real match against another player)
Not mandatory if we want to study martial arts only for health and wellness
Not the only practice that a practitioner has to focus on to learn to fight but certainly the first
Not something to start with but something to arrive at
Something to do against someone reactive and not cooperative
Nothing terrible if done with intelligence, respect and graduality
…

It is exactly to explain all these points that we have created this mini-guide.

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

What is sparring and how does it work

How to practice it safely and why:

How to do sparring – What is sparring and how to gradually become able to practice it
5 effective ways to find a training partner – For serious training it is important to find at least 1-2 sparring partners
Why martial arts do not work: 5 reasons – Without practicing sparring it is impossible to become a real fighter
Learn Kung Fu online: free introductory video course – A video course about safety and how to start training in the right way
Dojo (guan): rules, respect and etiquette – The rules to practice proficiently and without useless risks
Continue…

The preparation for sparring

What we should do and know before practicing sparring:

The falling techniques (breakfalls) – How to fall safely and in most cases without consequences
Pain conditioning for combat – How to prepare the body for the type of contact of sparring
4 Tips to effectively apply any fighting technique – What we have to know about real applications of combat techniques (to be adapted for sparring)
7 principles to become a better fighter – How to always improve in combat
How to use martial arts in a real fight – The practical rules to implement martial knowledge in a real dynamic context
Continue…

The types of martial fights

The difference between sparring and the other categories of the martial fight (plus why it all starts from it):

The 6 types of martial clash – In martial arts there are 6 general types of combat and each of them has specific rules, characteristics and goals
Declared techniques, sparring and sport competition – Sparring is the second type of martial fight we recognize in 6 Dragons Kung Fu
Self defense, martial clash and war clash – Without sparring it is impossible to face any kind of combat, especially the 3 most dangerous
Continue…

6 Dragons Kung Fu’s sparring types

The subcategories of sparring that we adopt in our school, how they work and what their goal is:

Sparring type 1: slow motion fighting – A first technical and completely safe approach to sparring (ideal to win the fear of combat for the beginners and to plan tactics for the more advanced practitioners)
Sparring type 2: close combat – A sparring type to learn how to manage a close-distance fighting situation
Sparring type 3: body defensive automation – A sparring exercise to condition our muscle memory (read also The muscle memory) to basic instinctive defense
Sparring type 4: multiple opponents – To prevail against more than one opponent of our own level is almost impossible but it is good training (for stamina, etc.)
Sparring type 5: knife fighting – The knife is a dirty and dangerous weapon, the only way to understand it and learn its dynamics is to work with it in a realistic but safe context
Sparring with Nunchaku – Often with ancient weapons, we limit ourselves to learning forms and / or juggling tricks but the real fight has many things to teach our body mechanics (also in relation to unarmed combat)
How to simulate realistic self-defense scenarios – For self-defense, until we do not work on predetermined actions-reactions, there is nothing better than field simulations
Continue…

More about sparring

Other articles and tutorials related to this topic:

Kumite: the secret of Karate effectiveness – Sparring in Karate
Martial arts training dummies – The only possible (temporary) substitutes for sparring partners
Continue…

If you want to ask for specific articles or give priority to one that is already scheduled, read Learn Kung Fu online: request a specific article.

In-depth video courses

Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu Exercises – All the exercises that we use to build practical martial skills
Advanced speed and reflexes training – A video course to learn how to improve combat speed day by day
Advanced combat tactics – How to build good quality strategies made of interchangeable tactics
Basic free hand fighting techniques – The core fighting techniques of 6 Dragons Kung Fu
Weapon disarming: what works and what not – Techniques, limits and opportunities of weapon disarming
Combat mobility: how to – How to move efficiently in combat (speed, balance, tactics, etc.)
Body manipulation for combat – The secrets to exploit the mechanics of our bodies and the opponent’s one with the minimum effort
Static and dynamic balance: how to – How to build the capability that differentiates the beginner from the expert
Worst combat errors to avoid – The small mistakes that make us weaker than we could be almost without effort
Structures for combat: liquid, solid, fluid – How to practically implement the 6 Dragons Kung Fu’s theory about the interactions with the adversary’s action
How to use feints in combat – The most tactical and difficult aspect of combat

In-depth articles

Violence and martial arts: the difference – The distance between consentient sparring and violence
The 6DKF’s diagram about the use of violence – Sparring is not violence, it is a way to deeply understand ourselves and a martial art

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

How often do you spar?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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