I could see we were a little rusty tonight. Two month off is to too long, but sensei needs vacation occasionally. We stopped using throws by the neck for safety purposes. Also a throw by the neck, which is the basis of our training, is too easy and this will force the students to develop under-hooks, over-hooks, and various differing grips. Wes still promote head throws in all self-defense situations. One other area we need to work on is after making the throw we need to mount over the hip line quickly, so that it becomes instinctual.
Now and again we let the students fight with our senior belts. This improves their skills and lets the old guys have a little fun now and again. The black belts are given the option of wearing protective gear or not wearing protective gear. The students however, are not.
It pleases me to see young ladies wanting to spar. This takes courage, and I am greatly pleased. We do have some things that need to be worked on. Our girls are relying on too many parry blocks. This is a by product of introducing students to controlled sparring via Tiger Boxing. Tiger Boxing is a good tool to develop movement and familiarization when in a confrontation, but it like all tools has some downsides. We need to focus on clean technique. We need to better develop our jabs, crosses, hooks, upper cuts, front kicks, elbows, and shin kicks while sparring. We also need to work on blocking with the forearms and elbows. Another area that needs to be improved is lateral movement on the mat. We tend to stand toe-to-toe and that is not the smart way to fight.
To spar takes courage and time to develop. This match is a case of a seasoned veteran, that has had many matches, sparring an opponent that is just beginning to develop his skills. The student, new to kumite, has everything it takes to be a good fighter. Steve “Nasty” Anderson once told me, “Anyone can be taught to fight, and it only takes one thing, and that one thing is the courage to get into the ring.” He said this to me this shortly after I had lost badly in a tournament. He probably said that same thing to many other competitors, but it was something I’ll never forget, and something I needed to hear because it was a discouraging loss. I am proud of every student that tests his or her skills regardless of their performance. Remember it only takes one thing to become a good fighter and that is time on the mat.