 Sparring, where the moment of truth occurs in your training, doesn't really matter which art you practice or how long you've trained. Sparring is where your expectations will meet reality, and you'll see just how much you've really learned. If you're thinking about getting into a martial art or you haven't had any experience sparring yet, then stick around because we're going to go over the top five things to know about sparring. Sparring is one of the major components when it comes to training. Think of it as a martial art sandbox. This is where you're going to put your knowledge, reflexes, endurance, and control to the test. And I also highly recommend that you begin sparring as early in your training as you can, or at least as early as your instructor will allow. The more you spar and the earlier you spar, the better you will be. Okay, so let's get to it. First thing to understand when it comes to sparring is that it comes in many different forms and names. It's a common word, especially in boxing, and it's often used as a general term, but you may hear it referred to as freestyle. In Brazilian jiu-jitsu, it's referred to as rolling, and sometimes you can hear it referred to as randori or kumite in the more traditional Japanese karate arts. It doesn't really matter what it's called, the idea is the same, to pit your skills up against another practitioner. First of all, be sure to learn the rules and ethics practiced by your school before you jump right in. Every school and academy is different, and always clarify what is or is not allowed. Some schools teach point sparring, which is tournament focus. The whole idea here is that two combatants trade attacks until somebody lands a strike and scores a point. Usually it's best two out of three points wins, or the first person two out of three points, and targets are usually above the belt, torso, not the back, but often the head, especially if you're wearing headgear. Sometimes there's something called continuous sparring, in which points don't exist, there is no point fighting. The two combatants will continue to battle until either time runs out, or somebody gets tired and submits. Most schools allow you to use variety of punches and kicks, but knees, elbows, other things such as biting, eye gouging, groin strikes, dirty techniques, it's usually not allowed. But once again, learn the rules of your school. Many schools, especially MMA-based schools, will allow takedowns and fighting will continue on the ground, so it's not like you fall down and you get back up. The fight goes until somebody submits. There's also some arts that are weapon-based, such as kendo, and they'll use practice swords for their version of sparring. It doesn't matter what style or what it's called, in any case, sparring is a fantastic way to get a workout. You will get hit. It's gonna happen, deal with it. Now, while sparring is a great way for you to practice what you've learned and a great way to practice applying it to other people, it's also a great way for getting used to taking hits. Most schools will practice light control, you know, contact, but it never feels good, even physically or emotionally, to have somebody land a strike on you. So here's your opportunity to make it a learning experience. If someone continuously lands the same strike on you, this is your chance to figure out how to defend it. Why is it happening, analyze the situation, why you keep getting hit? Are you standing the wrong way? Is your timing off? Are you leaving the guard open? Fix it. This is the time to do it. Now, if you're in an MMA-type class, be prepared for some conditionings. The sparring in MMA in jiu-jitsu tends to be a little bit harder and rougher, so there's gonna be a lot of value in getting accustomed to those and pushing your conditioning to endure the most of that as you can. Your tolerance level will increase. So if you've just started training and you haven't taken a real hit yet, put on some gear, get on the mat and get knocked around a little bit. It's worth it, I promise. Sparring does not equal street fighting. This one is important to remember. Sparring is not an accurate simulation of an actual street fight, but it's as close as you're gonna get inside of a classroom environment. Sparring has rules. Sparring has protective gear. Sparring is done indoors, usually in air conditioning and on soft mats or floors. In a street fight, you will have various terrains. You won't be wearing a karate uniform, usually you'll be wearing normal clothes. And you're gonna have to employ a very keen sense of awareness of your surroundings. Are you in a parking lot? Are there cars? Are there people around? Furniture? Are there items you can use as a weapon or weapons can be used against you? And analyze your hazards. You're going to encounter things out in the real world that you will not find in a dojo. Especially taking an art like Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Oh, it's a fantastic art and it's great for one-on-one sparring. But you're gonna learn that there's a very big difference between rolling on the mat with somebody and getting into a fight outside on the street and rolling on the asphalt. I once had an internet troll argue that most martial arts are complete and total BS and that if something doesn't work in sparring, then it's never going to work out on the street. Now, I can see what his point was or where he's coming from, though that's not an entirely accurate statement. On the street, stakes are obviously much higher with greater dangers, but you also have a wider range of attacks and options at your disposal. Most schools aren't going to let you elbow somebody to the head or bite them or rip their hair or gouge their eyes, headbutt them, et cetera, et cetera. But on the street, anything goes. So it's not the same quite comparison. Now, if your interest is in tournament fighting, then point sparring is a great way to prepare for that. The rules are similar and usually what works in sparring will work in a tournament. Spar people better than you are. It's one of the fastest ways to improve your fighting, I promise. Spar as many people as you can in class and get used to different tactics. Everybody fights differently, but try to go up against people a higher rate than you and as opposed to someone who's just lower rank. Don't be afraid of it. Most schools keep sparring in controlled environments and it is a learning tool after all. You're going to take hits, you're going to miss attacks, and many times you'll be thrown around, but you're also going to sharpen your timing, steady your sances, and learn to anticipate most complex attacks. Additionally, if you're sparring somebody lower than you, try to kind of, you know, work practice of, don't try to dominate them. Now, I absolutely loved it when my instructors would jump in the ring with us and spar. I always lost, but I'll tell you one thing. I could walk out of that ring. If I could walk out of that ring, getting hit 100 times, but if I was able to land that one strike or that one technique I was trying or was able to defend that one thing he always got me with, I went home feeling great. So you're there to learn. So go up against somebody better than you. It will make a big difference in your own fighting. And the number one most important thing to understand about sparring is this is where you're going to truly develop your own fighting style. I mentioned this in the earlier points, but this is your own personal sandbox. So, experiment. You don't have to take it so seriously. This isn't, oh, I have to win all the time and dominate, but experiment. This is where you get to try something new. Did you learn a new technique last week in class? Throw it in, see how it works. Or maybe you see what you have to change or adapt it to make it work. Now, were you online? Did you see somebody perform a really cool, fancy, jumpy, spinning double backflip tornado kick that you really want to try, but you're afraid to? See if it works. Go for it. Try all the things you're afraid to try out for real. It's okay. You can fail here. Learn from it. So those were the top five things to know about sparring. Please subscribe and share this video. Oh, and be sure to comment below. Tell me about your own sparring experience. Tell me about the coolest and craziest things you've been able to pull off either in a tournament or in your class. Thanks for watching.