Plz help me with sparring

Question

so, i'm green belt and want to join a competition. do u guys think i'm ready for this?. because this would be my first time. i'm scared but want to try. i'm 14 and 5'. i am little. lol! i don't care if i lose or win. i just wanna know it feels like. and of course don't want to break my bone. haha. errm..can u guys give some tips. tht would help a lot. thnx. :) -my english are bad..lol!-

Answer 1

Go.  Have fun.  The way to no get your arm broken - don't enter 'full contact' tournaments.  At least not at the beginning.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

You learn sparring by sparring.  You might get hit a little but it's all for fun.

Answer 3

Yeah, the earlier you get into competition, the better. Gives you a chance to get used to it. If your talking about ITF taekwondo sparring, then green belt is the lowest level you can compete at, and you'll compete against other green belts, so you won't get beaten up by someone who's above your level. No matter what art you're in, your first sparring matches will definitely not be full contact, so you don't need to worry about serious injuries. If you're unsure of anything, just ask your instructor.

Answer 4

I don't know what art you're a green belt in, but in Tae Kwon Do you can spar and start going to competitions and low as a yellow belt.

Answer 5

Well here are some thoughts based on personal experience and competing for over twenty-five years in martial arts.  You are taking the right approach mentally I think.  By realizing that you have no experience with this but keeping a positive attitude it will enable you to learn more from your first experience and do better next time.  That is is one of the keys to self-improvement.  Secondly I would do some training with respect to footwork and moving and closing the gap.  You say yourself that you are small so you will have to rely on this a lot and getting yourself in position or closing the gap to score on your opponent rather than rely on your reach, size, and strength and always staying back.  Watch some of the better fighters in your class and how they do this as well as talk to your instructor about it.  If you notice some of them don't start their blitz or attacks from to far away but just far enough.  This gives their opponent less time to anticipate, react, and counter.  Practice throwing your lead hand backfist, reverse punch, slide-action side kick, lead hand ridge hand, and combinations with these techniques.  The smoother, faster, and more accurate you can get them the better chance you have of using them effectively and scoring.  Also practice using these techniques defensively or while moving back.  Being shorter its almost a certainty that your opponents will press the attack sometimes to take advantage with their greater reach.  If you can learn to time and judge the distance and counter you can catch them coming in with a defensive side kick or reverse punch.  I like to sometimes hit them with a jumping back, defensive side kick for instance and that usually slows them down some and keeps them from blitzing and attacking so much.  Work on some of these things with a couple of your classmates and it would be even better if they have experience at competing.

Another thing I would do is I would sit down and write three of four things on a note card that you want to work and improve on.  Take this card out and read it every time before you practice.  This will give you better direction and focus and as those things improve consider substituing something else.  Often times students like yourself lack direction, experience and maturity in their thinking and approach and this will keep you from saying "What should I work on?"  "Why didn't I do this or that when sparring?" etc.

A few of the reaction drills that I do with my studentsare the following. Drop a small focus pad and they must step out with their lead foot and hit the falling pad with a reverse punch before it gets to low or hits the ground.  We also do this with round house kicks and side kicks sometimes.  A second drill is I have them punch at me without actually hitting me and try to grab their hand as they pull it back.  (They must pull it straight back and this needs to be done with care as you can get a finger broken if the person grabing is not careful.)

If you do some of these things you will improve and if you keep a good positive attitude and channel your efforts and energy in the right directions you will contiue to improve as you gain experience even more than you otherwise would.  After all; self-improvement, striving to develop your skills and techniques to a fine point are partly what martial arts are all about.  Good luck!

Answer 6

Go for it- sparring, I mean - hold off on the competitions/tournaments for a little while till you have a little confidence in your skills. Sparring is very different from just practicing your technique and forms. Just get a little experience in before you do a competition, so at least you know what it's like! It's a lot of fun. You shouldn't get hurt too much since you will be wearing pads. So just get out there and do it, and have fun!

Answer 7

Well this is what I was taught, the only thing that hurts is not trying something, it's your own fault if you get hit, and when my dad was a white belt he knocked out a black belt.  So I would start with point sparring to you, not much hurt.