Yes, it’s that time again – we’ve had our break and it is time to continue that journey together again.

Last term went very quickly for us and everybody made really good progress.

If you missed out last term, then there will be plenty of opportunity to get up to standard this coming term – but you must practise!!

The sparring competition was as exciting as ever with some really good techniques being displayed. This time it was a draw with both teams scoring 9-wins each. Thanks Terri and Haylee for time keeping and scoring!

As they adults group may have noticed, we have purposely held back on recruiting new beginners – this is because we are training hard with our brown belts to prepare them for their Black Belt gradings in term 4. Although we do expect some new beginners to start next term (and you are most welcome), we are going to hold back on advertising for new adults for the same reason.

I though that I would spend the rest of this news letter talking about different types of sparring:

If you were to get off the sofa and go and visit a number different karate clubs, you are very likely to hear the instructor say the words, “Let’s finish off with some sparring.

Most people will think of sparring as the stuff you see at competition – but, in reality, there is far more to choose from than that. All have different benefits.

If your motivation for training is competition success, then of course it is best to stick to, and practise as much as possible, sparring that adheres to competition rules.

If, however, your motivation for training is for self defence then there is a real danger in sticking to one form of

sparring. Sticking to one type of sparring will tend to condition you to adopt this as your default fighting style in a self-defence situation, which could severely limit the techniques that you might use.

If you choose not to spar, and just stick to training bunkai (applications), then your techniques are likely to become too static to be of any use in a real situation. You are also unlikely to get used the fear of getting hurt and this fear may cause you to freeze up in the high stress situation of an attack.

In competition sparring, you are not allowed to launch any techniques below the belt. You are permitted to launch techniques above this area but only minor contact is permitted to the torso and no contact whatsoever is permitted to the head. Techniques should be controlled to ‘skin touch.’

Gloves and gum shields are mandatory, groin guards and foot /shin and forearm protectors are optional. All this protection severely limits the nature of technique that can be used.

The referee judges when a technique scores and when it doesn’t and scoring is, therefore, very subjective. The fight is stopped whenever a point is scored. This is done to reflect the ‘one punch, one kill’ philosophy, i.e. that a karate exponent should only need one hit to dispatch an opponent.

In real self defence, this is clearly a ridiculous and very dangerous assumption.

The referees have two clickers (to record the score of each participant). The fight is not stopped at all; the person with the highest number of clicks at the end of the bout is the winner.

The idea behind this type of sparring is to promote a flow of techniques, rather than the stop-start style of the competition style.

Non-stop sparring is good in that it acknowledges that multiple techniques may be required to neutralise an assailant but it does tend to get a bit frenzied or scrappy and can lack control. Also, blocking does tend to get a bit lax and participants seem to ignore the potential devastation of a technique scored against them.

Itchikawa sparring is far more difficult. You have an attacker and a defender. The attacker may not move other than to change kamai (defensive posture) or to execute a defensive technique.

The fight starts with the opponents being placed around 10-meters apart and the attacker must approach the defender in order to launch an attack. The attacker must approach and try to attack in away that, at no time, leaves the defender any opening to counter. While approaching, the attacker must assess the best method, tactic and target of attack based on their perception of the weakness in the defensive posture of the defender. Also, the attacker must use his/her own posture to mask the intended target, timing or tactic and/or to project false intentions.

The defender, on the other hand, must try to maintain an as impenetrable defensive posture as possible but may change that posture at any time in order to respond to a change in the perceived threat. The defender may use the posture as a trap – to create a purposeful opening in the posture to lure an attack.

Once an attack is launched (with possible counter attack) the fight is stopped regardless of whether a point is scored or not. The roles are reversed and the fight is restarted with a 10-metre gap.

This sparring style is outstanding for developing efficacy of kamai. It is also great for developing body language skills (both reading and projection) and also encourages the development of entry techniques.

The amount of protection worn depends on the experience and skill of participants – the higher the skill level, the less protection. Contact is essentially ‘skin-touch’ but any target is permissible (especially groin and knees). Grabbing, throwing, choking and locking are all permitted techniques.

Itchikawa sparring adds real thinking and tactical dimensions. It is very explosive by nature and gets rid of the myth that just because karate is a form of self defence, that there are no attacking techniques. In the pursuit of self protection, attack may well be necessary.

At some point in time, a fight is very likely to end up on the ground. If a martial arts expert does not embrace what judo has to offer, the ground may very well be where their quest for self defence ends.

Sparring partners must be able to trust each other completely, knowing that they are not going to get hurt.

Contact is definitely ‘skin touch’ and no protection is worn (with the possible exception of gum shields). All techniques are permitted and low target areas (groin and knees) are encouraged.

Participants start and stop the fight only when they are convinced that a technique has been successfully executed against them to a degree that they would have been unlikely to have been able to continue had the fight been for real.

This risk reduction is completely replaced by a different, much greater risk of injury by putting yourself in a full-contact sparring situation.

Full contact still conforms to rules (of some nature) in order to make it safe enough to be legal and protection (gloves, teeth and groin) is almost always compulsory. Full contact sparring, therefore, is of very limited value in terms of self defence for reasons already mentioned.

I think that anybody who practices full-contact sparring is an idiot. It is not a question of if you are going to get hurt; only when and how badly. Full contact is not an activity you can continue into old age, or even middle age for that matter.

In terms of being a sport, full-contact is dominated by brainless, muscle-bound, testosterone infused melons that do nothing more skilful than trade blows. The biggest and most muscle bound melon is normally the winner.

People who feel the need to participate in this rubbish cannot have much self-confidence. There is no excuse for it whatsoever.

Any activity designed to increase a participants self defence efficiency should be done in a way to minimise the risk of injury. Injury may prevent you from ever being able to defend yourself.