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Dancing in and out, judging distance, feeling the rhythm of your opponent, making contact, taking
a punch, vying for position, working a submission.
This is what sparring is all about.
Most people believe that sparring is the closest you can get to actual fighting and the best way to
condition yourself for the real thing. It's exciting for the participants and the crowd. Martial artists,
boxers, wrestlers, and MMA fighters all have some form of sparring they use to test their skills
against their peers. It increases your strength, speed, endurance, and gives you a chance to use
the material you have learned against a live and uncooperative opponent. Most of this is true.
But, does sparring it have a place in Self Defense training?
Threatening situations such as muggings, assaults, rapes, stabbings, or shootings more often than
not happen with little to no warning from the aggressor(s). These people set to their work with no
appreciation for sportsman like conduct; they will not allow you to tap out, they will not play tag
with you, and no buzzer will sound. They will use every tool they have to finish what they set out to
do.
As such, it seems only logical that self defense training should step out of the realm of rules as
well. Self defense should not be about a fair fight. The most effective techniques in any self
defense program will, in the very least, seriously injure an attacker. Does this sound safe to test
out in a friendly sparring match?
We have all heard the adage, "practice makes perfect"; it has always been a driving point in
training. In the ring you cannot eye gouge, strike to the back of the head, break bones, use small
joint manipulation, bite, or attack the groin, and all for good reason. The results of their use have
been deemed too dangerous. It is true that in self defense training you cannot poke someone's
eye out, or break someone's arm anymore than you can in a sparring match, but the mental
aspects of the training are quite different.
In self defense you practice without target restrictions as safely as possible. When you train with
an "anything goes" attitude it will be reflected in the event of its actual use. It would not do well for
you to hesitate to take an open shot to the groin in a life threatening situation, only because you
have spent years training yourself not to do that very thing (like when you are sparring with your
partners).
Sports are about fairness. They match people of similar skill, and weight class to make the fights
entertaining and not leave one fighter with an advantage.

2. However, on the street or in that lonely parking garage there is no guarantee that an attacker won't
outweigh you, be tougher than you, or use any weapon available to him.
If the purpose of your training is self defense, then you cannot afford to have sport fighting
restrictions ingrained into your self defense mechanism.
If you ever find yourself in a situation where you need to use your self defense training, you need
to be in a mental place to be able to do what needs to be done and make it home safely. Sparring,
by its very nature, actually trains out of you the very instinct to do the needful and necessary
things that a true self defense system would otherwise require of you.
So, when considering a self defense course, ask yourself this question: Am I being taught to
spar... or to fight.
If the time ever comes when you need to defend yourself, trust me when I tell you... you won't
want to spar... you will need to FIGHT!
Kris Anderson holds a 3rd Degree Black Belt in Kung Fu and a 1st Degree Black belt in Tae Kwon
Do. He teaches private Self Defense Classes to students in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Kris also offers
online Self Defense training for both men and women. Click on either of the highlighted "Self
Defense" links in this paragraph to learn how Kris can help you achieve your personal protection
goals.
Copyright 2011 - Kris Anderson. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint
this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, give author
name credit and follow all of the EzineArticles.com terms of service for Publishers.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kristopher_Anderson
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A special Report for struggling MMA Fighters. For your FREE Renegade video click here:
http://tinyurl.com/85efqyf
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