SPARRING

Sparring is a term used loosely Just like a "Martial Artist" could be confused for a "Cage Fighter", many fighters use the term "Sparring" incorrectly. As a Trainer and a Coach, my ultimate goal is to protect my student from taking too much unnecessary  damage during the learning process. My knowledge and experiences are passed down during normal fight simulation training in preparation for future encounters they will have.  Early on, as a world class competition in MMA, if I made a mistake, I made it a point to train myself to avoid making it a second time.  To ensure growth and success. Believe it or not, I took most of my damage sparring the ten years after my competition years and this is what really separates me from the rest of the regular trainers. The ultimate goal for me is to teach my student the Martial Art with minimal injuries and maximizing their desire to learn. There are more and more cage fighters lacking discipline in the academies these days with the growing popularity of UFC on national tv. The term Cagefighter was made more popular in early Y2K with the rise of the King of the Cage. These are mostly untrained, un disciplined, unscrupulous characters in search of an unattainable type of respect which usually ends in defeat and humiliation. They show up to the gym with their girlfriend,  just got released from jail, or commit fraud and compete as fighters while on workers comp. I have seen some real stupid shit. It usually starts out something like, " Do you want to spar light? We will go easy." because of their lack of actual training, the situation always ends up in a "Gym War." With neither coming away with anything but a test of toughness and an inevitable injury. You either know how to fight or you don't. My theory is to save this for actual combat or supervised sparring with skilled training partners who you can trust with a qualified trainer who has been traditionally trained in the art. I trained my Boxer Joe for 18 months to a gold medal in the Police/ Fire games in 2011 as he worked as a Fireman for the City of Glendale. Then life takes over. For obvious reasons, we cannot train "everyday" together, so, Joe has signed up at a gym close to his home so he can get workouts in between paramedic school classes and raising his new son. I see Joe after three months and he tells me this story. "Coach, I was in the gym and these guys asked me if I would spar with them"...and, after the guy swings and misses , Joe stops him and says to him and his friend, that was not 50%. You cannot tell me that was 50%. These two guy have no idea what Joe is saying. "So coach, I have this huge headgear on which is a big target, but I see his body, an even larger target. So, I jab him into the corner and rip off three body shots, drop him to a knee then finished him with an uppercut hook." Joe went home angry. He tried to control the sparring verbally. Most guys would have left satisfied, but if you google integrity, Joe's mug will pop up. He has tremendous character. And sometimes you just need your wife to tell you "Don't spar with those guys anymore. They need you, you don't need them." What Joe did was not wrong. It was what I classify as " the respect getter." And Joe's wife is right. Leave those dudes in the dust and fight up from there.There is a coach in this gym. He is bringing his fighters skills up. He does recognize Joe's skills. The coach approaches Joe and says "We have a fight team. I think you would be a great fit." Joe respectfully declines. And so, in conclusion, as a journeyman fighter in today's world, you will make mistakes. You will hopefully be prepared like Joe, and take the appropriate action. The key is to not make the same mistake twice.