You don’t need to win in sparring.

Sparring is essential when you are training in any fighting art, be it for competition or general self defence.

This is the time when you will get to practice your skills against someone who has the same idea and intent as you, the key word being PRACTICE.

Often I’ve heard people say how they’ve knocked so and so out in sparring or how no one can touch them in their gym etc etc. This is not a good way to train in my opinion, therefore we do not condone this type of training at K-Star or K-Star Legacy.

Your sparring is a time for learning and honing your skills.

One of the biggest mistakes people make in sparring is thinking they have to hit their partner full pelt. This does nothing other than to make people think that you are a complete tit.

One of the biggest downsides to going hard in sparring is that you will get into a false sense of security. If you continuously go hard the chances are your partner isn’t really trying to do much other than survive the round, you will end up thinking you’re Superman when in reality you are not. All you will be used to is people running away from you, in a real fight this will not happen, that person has come to fight and you will not have the know how to deal with him.

You’re better going at about 50/60%, if either your partner or yourself gets caught with a good shot you can analyse how and why you were caught and address it, rather than being scared of being knocked out for making the slightest mistake.

Another down side is people will simply choose not to spar with you, this isn’t like top class boxing where their sparring partners get paid, these are your friends, peers and stable mates, if they don’t want to spar you they simply will not.

Sparring at a steady level and letting go of your ego will also mean that you can practice things that you wouldn’t normally use.

I often handicap myself in sparring when I want to work on a certain technique, like I may only use left body kick for the whole round for example. Even if I’m getting panned through out the round I will continue with what I’m doing. Not allowing my ego to take over and go back to what I know best just so that I can be on top.

Situation sparring is another good one, this is where you allow yourself to be put in a certain position such as being trapped on the ropes or constantly being clinched and learning how to deal with it.

Always being on top in sparring has it’s downfalls in the ring. If you are in control during a contest then there isn’t a problem but if at any stage the fight becomes hard, you will not have the knowledge on how to turn the situation around.

Being king of the gym is no big feat, during your training you should be looking at learning and improving to become king in your sport.

Below is some of the best fighters in the world showing how its done.