Sparring or Free Fighting

At American College of Martial Arts we believe that sparring is optional.  We don’t believe that a person should be pushed into a situation where they have to have physical contact with another person in a striking or kicking environment.  We would like for all individuals who would want to spar have the opportunity but to get pushed into doing so could have adverse effects.

Sparring is important since it can help sharpen your skills but also just doing your techniques if practiced correctly can have an important roll as far as making one a proficient martial artist.  Sparring helps one get the feel of contact both in giving and receiving.  If done with control on both parties it will be rewarding and fun.

At American College of Martial Arts we do several different types of sparring or grappling.  For sparring we do no contact, light contact, medium contact and sparring with takedowns.  In sparring with takedowns we have a 5 second rule when we hit the ground which means that one would have that time to continue striking or kicking or going to a finish move, such as a joint lock or choke, after you hit the ground.  We also spar with no time limit after you hit the ground.  Even with protective equipment we never go full contact on sparring.

When we grapple we do it with gi or no gi.  We start off with several students with a rotating 10 second match per person which means you start with on opponent for 10 seconds then they will come out and you will stay with another opponent for 10 seconds then you will come out so you are in for 20 seconds.  This makes one become proficient in the initial attack.  We also grapple with no time limit or until submission and we grapple with the goal being one particular technique in mind such as an ankle lock or wrist lock.  When doing that type of grappling the person with the greater skill would have to give up all other opportunities for tap-out and only have one goal other then defending.

Regardless of stand up or ground fighting the main result is the same, advancement in the arts of self defense.

-Master John Dowdy