Sparring is a very effective tool to help with the development of karate. Students can spar too early in their development and create bad habits.
As a black belt, I have seen how karate basics are forgotten when sparring with an opponent. Sparring should be the application of everything you have learned in a real-life setting. Sparring is designed to allow you to test movement and timing speed in an environment reducing the likelihood of injury.
I have lost students because the sparring in our dojo does not occur until the rank of a blue belt. When Total 360 karate students get to the blue belt rank, they are conditioned and have been in hundreds of classes, developed muscle memory, and understand what they can do.
Sparring is a different element in karate. Even in a dojo such as Total 360 karate, sparring will make you tired if you do not train for it. We have high conditioning standards in the dojo to help students realize the importance of conditioning.
In my personal development, I was allowed to spar at a green belt level, due to my dedication, commitment, and heart in training. I quickly realized you must learn to control yourself and react to what is in front of you.
The first part of sparring is understanding if you need to defend yourself if you're going to get hit. Total 360 karate works hard at adjusting the freeze element in human DNA and reverting it to a reaction. The reaction might be to retreat initially, which is better than the freeze reaction. When karate student realizes they have a choice, they fight back. Students should analyze what is going on in a particular situation. The goal is to realize what is going on quickly. Thinking allows students to make choices. If a student can think and breathe, they can begin to conquer what is in front of them.
Total 360 karate dojo has classes where students are allowed wear everyday clothing and shoes to see how they change their movements. Sparring is no different, students wearing protective gear can force you to change your methods.
Total 360 karate does not teach point sparring as a methodology of sparring. Point sparring does teach timing and strategy, but it is not likely one hit is going to end the fight. Students are allowed to compete in tournaments where point sparring occurs. Total 360 karate supports sparring to the application of life, and self-defense.
In the style of Total360, sparring is a necessity in the program. In the rank test of the brown belt, students will spar with each other to show they have a level of understanding of the art and self-defense. At the brown belt level, students spar with the Sensei.
Conditioning plays a significant role in sparring. Most students when they spar for the first time are exhausted, as they do not have the conditioning to spar. Total360 karate introduces conditioning very early in its training. Students' breaks get shorter and shorter as they move up the ranks. In the warm-up section students are working to raise their heart rate.
Our goal in sparring is to condition the body that it is normal when they have to defend themselves. The more a student can relax, the more they can think and apply something that will save them.
Come be a part of a program that challenge’s its students to go beyond themselves.
Total 360 karate
Sensei Rodgers
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