Is it possible to take up a martial art? but to not do any sparring?

Question

Is it possible to take up a martial art? but to not do any sparring?

Answer 1

Yes it's possible, but to see if you can apply it in real combat is the point. If you can't apply it its is worthless, sorry but its the truth.  

Answer 2

This is something I come across a lot... Sparring means different things to different people. To me, sparring tends to be you and another student in pads, punching, kicking, and throwing each other around and getting judged on contact or points or whatever. In my current martial art (Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu), we train in pairs or groups, perform techniques on each other, get punched and kicked (when we don't move properly), but focus on training movement and our bodies for proper response. Still some schools line up in lines and throw punches and strikes into the air or at a punching bag all day or work on forms/kata without ever making contact with each other.

I don't like sparring. I'm not wearing pads when I leave the house, so how do I know I can take a punch or a kick if I have to without pads if the only time I'm being hit is when I'm wearing full sparring gear? Further, what good does a martial art do in terms of self defense if I only ever strike a bag or the air?

Sure, it's possible. But think about what you really want to get out of it before you leap into martial arts.

Answer 3

Wuss!  

Answer 4

Yes, totally agree with John. I was seriously injured sparring in one dojo and had to retire. Some years later I found another style (Gojo Ryu) and have been training in that for 6 years now and, following discussion with my Sensei, have been able to adapt the sparring to suit me and my opponents ( my response to a street attack would still be more than adequate!!) Just shop around and be honest why you are not keen to spar. Good luck.

Answer 5

yeah but ur training is pointless if you never want to fight you might aswell just workout

Answer 6

yes, but why would you want to do that?

also, hahah couldent agree more with mscymru LOL!

Answer 7

Yes; some styles do very little or no sparring at all and don't believe in it or the benefits of it.  Shorin-Ryu and those associated with the Nagamine side of Matsubayashi-Shorin-Ryu sometimes don't spare at all in some of their schools and this is one of those basic, philosophical differences that caused some black-belts to break away from it in the late 1800 and early 1900s and start other styles.  I always recommend that a person shop around and look at the different schools in their area and consider how much sparring they do at each, how much contact is allowed, along with the quality of the instruction and it's students.    

Answer 8

Yeah try Karate. They just f***y about pretending to kick and punch people all night. Judo's pretty much the same ...they just throw each other about a bit

Answer 9

hah first off i totally agree with mscymru about karate. i can grantee you wont get hurt in that. you can do alot of the martial arts just stay away from the real combat ones like kickboxing mauy thai jujitsu kenpo. you have to actually sparr in those to do the sport.

Answer 10

I have a black belt in karate and have sparred plenty.  As a matter of fact, to get my black belt I had to spar all of the other black belts and grapple with my classmates.  We probably spend about 1/4 to 1/3 of our time sparring.

I have no idea what karate you guys have seen that doesn't do sparring.

But are there martial arts without sparring, of course.  Tai Chi is one that comes to mind.

Answer 11

Yes, there's lots. Learn Shaolin Kung fu; you learn mainly forms and sparring is a secondary thing. There's also karate; I don't think you have to spar in it, but there is sparring too. Finally, if you happen to live in Hollywood or select locations, learn XMA; it's not really a martial art, but it will teach you impressive spins, jumps, and flips and there's no sparring.

Answer 12

Its possible but it would be a waste of money if your aim is to be a better fighter

Answer 13

Of course it's possible, a martial art doesn't have to be about aggression or combat. Look up traditional Aikido or any number of Chinese internal martial arts.

Answer 14

I guess, you could probably sit down and refuse to spar but, that seems pointless. Sparring is a big aspect of fighting and you deffinitley need to. You need to reconize how humans interact while fighting. That way, if a real fight arose you would be trained.

www.fight-site.com

Answer 15

Yes Judo is all throwing there is no sparing involved

Answer 16

I couldn't help but say, "huh" when I read MsCymru's response.  Then I looked at her profile and realized she is from Wales.  In Texas people call Karate Texas Blood and Guts Karate because of the frequency and intensity of the sparring practice and competition.  I'm sure it's much milder in England, probably like cardio kickboxing or something.

To answer your question:  What are your goals?  The way I'm reading your question it sounds like you're saying that you want to learn how to swim, but you don't want to get in the water.  I'm sure that's not what you meant, but if you clarify what you want to get out of it we might could help you a bit more.

Answer 17

ehh its not gonn abe as fun without sparring. personally i love sparring, so yea but if ur afraid to get hurt then u can just beat on the big oild punching bag,

Answer 18

when you first take up martial arts the chances of you doing any sparring to start with is almost a zero chance as you need to understand what goes on etc it'll be a while before you start and by then you'll probably look forward to it as its not fighting as such more of practice rounds to better yourself