What words come to mind when you think of sparring? If you’re anything like me, it might look something like this:
Intimidating and scary
Too hard
Risky
Fighting
Embarrassing
But what is sparring at Sangrok about?
It’s not intimidating, it’s a learning opportunity
Okay, I won’t lie, it can still be a bit scary, but it’s important to remember when we spar we’re not looking to hurt each other, we are looking for ways to use the blocking, striking and combinations that we learn in class, and to discover what does and doesn’t work for us.
It’s not too hard, it’s a challenge
You might feel like sparring is too hard, that you’re too unfit or that you haven’t been training long enough to learn to spar. Sparring at Sangrok is a great way to improve your fitness, endurance and timing at a level that is appropriate for you.
It’s not risky, it’s controlled
Sparring is conducted in a controlled environment with rules, protection, coaches and umpires. The goal of sparring at Sangrok isn’t to hurt your partner, but to practise your taekwondo skills in a fast-paced, but safe, way and supporting your peers to do the same.
It’s not about fighting, it’s about skill
Sparring is nothing like a street fight, it’s a way to test and demonstrate your technique, precision, speed and timing.
It’s not embarrassing, it’s team building
Everyone has fallen during sparring, had a bad day or thrown a wild kick. Some of us have even completely freaked out and made weird squeaking sounds… Oh wait, is that last one just me?! The point is, at Sangrok we’re a team, we support each other to reach our taekwondo goals.
Learn and improve sparring skills in a fun and safe way at Sangrok’s Introduction to Sparring workshops
The first Introduction to Sparring workshop was run by Paige and Tripharn on Sunday 17th of February. This workshop is designed for students of all ages and belt levels who want to learn or improve their sparring skills. The workshop started with an overview of the protective equipment used in sparring as well as a discussion about the rules, coaching, point scoring and umpiring in sport sparring. Students kitted up in their protective equipment and practiced sparring drills and kicking combinations with their partners. Everyone’s favourite part of the workshop was the “kick the instructor” session, where students got the chance to kick Paige and Tripharn, without them kicking back! Who would want to pass up that opportunity?! We also watched Matt and Aayush engage in a ‘proper’ sparring round. Very impressive boys!
Sparring is a great way to practise the skills you learn in regular classes, improve your fitness and have fun in a controlled environment. As sparring is now part of the core curriculum and a requirement of grading it is recommended that all students attend the weekly sparring classes or the Introduction to Sparring workshops so they feel comfortable and confident sparring at grading. The next sparring workshop will be held on the 2nd of June. More information and registration for the workshops can be found on the website.
