sparring in krav

Posted by: ShikataGaNai

sparring in krav - 09/21/05 03:05 PM

my krav classes don't generally offer free sparring. we do an excessive amount of defense/attack combo drills with partners holding mitts and shields, but i haven't seen anyone jump in the ring and going head to head using krav technique, we usually just box. is it possible, given the nature of krav and it's quick, effective self defense perspective to engage in prolonged sparring with it? does anyone do this? how effective is krav on krav or other MA's?
Posted by: globetrotter

Re: sparring in krav - 09/21/05 03:41 PM

I am not sure if "prolonged" is the right way to refer to it. I have taken part in, and seen, excersizes where there was extensive free style work, but they weren't quite sparring - the object was for one person to get away and the other to put him on the ground, or for one person to get into a room and the other not to let him. they were usually very fast and didn't last more than 15 -30 seconds.
Posted by: RangerG

Re: sparring in krav - 09/21/05 04:28 PM

We address this in a couple of ways. First, we have full contact fighting with gloves, headgear and shin guards. For the most part, we use 50% force, tho some of our dojos do 100%. We also grapple to perfect our ground game. Figting out of our guard etc.. I have added to this with two great seminars, first with Ryan Hoover and Jeff Jimmo, and the other with Bas Rutten and Randy Couture.
Posted by: ShikataGaNai

Re: sparring in krav - 09/21/05 05:01 PM

well, prolonged was acurate in my mind - 15-30 seconds is a long match for krav!
i guess to further my inquiry, and this is kind of far fetched, but if you were to be attacked by someone who knows and uses the system, would you be able to match up to them, assuming you were proficient in your technique? i could see this being a realistic stiuation in say israel and maybe on a few streets of western cities. a good friend of mine was once beaten up by gang bangers that knew some sort of martial art (he didn't know anything about fighting so they practiced their techniques on him in a sick monkey-in-the-middle kind of manner). i suppose it's not that important, since krav is in no way a sport, but is it practical for combating other MAists?
Posted by: umsangil

Re: sparring in krav - 09/21/05 06:41 PM

I spar with friends who all train in various martial arts and have various levels of experience. I have to say success does not depend on the style you train in. Success depends on HOW HARD YOU TRAIN. So train hard, harder, and the hardest out of anyone you know. Develop faith in yourself and in your abilities to defend yourself and if that kind of situation occurs, you will do fine.
Posted by: clammy joe

Re: sparring in krav - 09/21/05 10:59 PM

Our school does pretty much what Ranger G's does, full gear with punching, kicking, knees, elbows and takedowns. It's hard to really grapple with boxing gloves on so we usually stop soon after we hit the ground, it depends on who's fighting. This is all during a once weekly "Fight Class" which does not cost extra. The contact is usually supposed to be light, with little or no contact with elbows and knees.

There's nothing about it that is specific to Krav, we don't use the self defense techiques such as getting out of chokes, bearhugs etc, the fighting style ends up being pretty much what you see in the UFC, basic kicks with boxing style punching and some takedowns, except we don't spend too much time on the ground and of course most of us aren't close to being as good as those guys are.

Even though it can be scary I find it very worthwhile, it's easy to start thinking your pretty good when your punching pads and focus mitts, it's a really eye opener when all the things you thought you knew go out the window when someone is trying to hit you in the head.
Posted by: RangerG

Re: sparring in krav - 09/22/05 12:22 PM

Quote:

Our school does pretty much what Ranger G's does, full gear with punching, kicking, knees, elbows and takedowns. It's hard to really grapple with boxing gloves on so we usually stop soon after we hit the ground, it depends on who's fighting. This is all during a once weekly "Fight Class" which does not cost extra. The contact is usually supposed to be light, with little or no contact with elbows and knees.

There's nothing about it that is specific to Krav, we don't use the self defense techiques such as getting out of chokes, bearhugs etc, the fighting style ends up being pretty much what you see in the UFC, basic kicks with boxing style punching and some takedowns, except we don't spend too much time on the ground and of course most of us aren't close to being as good as those guys are.

Even though it can be scary I find it very worthwhile, it's easy to start thinking your pretty good when your punching pads and focus mitts, it's a really eye opener when all the things you thought you knew go out the window when someone is trying to hit you in the head.




Very well put!

It is an eye opener, but I still enjoy it..

Randy Couture coached me to try figting south paw, and it has worked wonders for me. I can switch from left to right and back, giving me an edge..
Posted by: Plantman

Re: sparring in krav - 09/22/05 06:14 PM

I switch from right to left while aprraing and it throws everyone for a loop.

Ranger G, did you get my PM?
Posted by: RangerG

Re: sparring in krav - 09/22/05 06:40 PM

Yep...got the PM..

When I get a break in this hectic schedule.. I'll look him up.
Posted by: Plantman

Re: sparring in krav - 09/22/05 07:41 PM

I have his number, but I'd rather give it to you privately. Send me a PM if interested.
Posted by: ShikataGaNai

Re: sparring in krav - 09/24/05 11:51 AM

Quote:

I switch from right to left while aprraing and it throws everyone for a loop.



i just started doing the same thing. not to name drop, but it was suggested by andreij arlovski, who trains at my school when he saw that i lose my balance when landing backfoot roundhouse kicks. now i just switch stances to recover from the kick!
my sifus, however, don't share this view - they say i should stick to my "stronger" stance. is this maybe because i'm still fairly green?
Posted by: ToddR

Re: sparring in krav - 10/06/05 03:09 PM

I don't know why your sifus tell you not to switch your stance but I've found it's helped me tremendously with my footwork during sparring. My left kicks suck so I use my right kicks a lot when I'm in left foot-forward stance so after I kick I often end up in right foot-forward stance but having learned to change my leads reasonably well I can now throw that right kick from a regular stance, land in south paw stance, and throw a right-handed jab and left-handed cross to follow-up. I should note that I learned this in JKD (kali/panantukan actually) and not in krav maga. You can come up with some focus mitt drills pretty easily to train yourself to switch stances, or you can buy something like Rick Faye's "Filipino Dirty Boxing (aka 'panantukan') videos and manuals which contain these types of drills. His website is: www.mnkali.com Check it out, panantukan is COOL!!!
Posted by: ShikataGaNai

Re: sparring in krav - 10/06/05 03:24 PM

funny you say that - i adopted the foot switching thing from jkd as well (and moreover, snowboarding!). i think the point the sifus are trying to make is that a beginner should be more concerned with finding their center of gravity and learning the basics. i see them spar, swithcing feet all the time. one of my sifus also believes that basing out solidly has everything to do with the outcome of a fight, so you should rely on attacking from your "strong side". she grew up in a rough part of chicago, so i guess that's as "street proven' as you can get, though she'll never brag or even mention it much. at any rate, it's not like they can stop me from switching!
Posted by: Tolyn1007

Re: sparring in krav - 10/09/05 12:36 PM

Where I train, we do sparring in the same manner that RangerG does. Protective equipment and at 50% power. For my own students, I let them spar either myself or my co-instructor while we're wearing a Redman suit. It isn't as effective as sparring someone who can move naturally (the Redman suit is bulky and restrictive) but the students can go full speed and full power against it and other then feeling the impact, you don't suffer any lasting damage. I do have the students wear gloves to protect their hands (the face mask on the suit is a metal cage type). I've also made them start wearing head gear after a few of them dropped their hands towards the end of the sparring session and got popped hard enough to ring their bells.
Posted by: ShikataGaNai

Re: sparring in krav - 10/10/05 03:02 PM

yeah, i tried the redman suit thing and felt like i was getting nothing out of it. it was kind of like having someone wear a heavy bag that's marginally capable of hitting back.
i have found a lot of krav techniques useful in my MMA sparring, so i guess i am doing it sans attacks to the essentials (head, groin and all). every week it seems like i get more used to doing these kinds of things. it's just the learning curve i suppose.
Posted by: Tolyn1007

Re: sparring in krav - 10/10/05 10:54 PM

Quote:

yeah, i tried the redman suit thing and felt like i was getting nothing out of it. it was kind of like having someone wear a heavy bag that's marginally capable of hitting back.




LOL. That would be an accurate analogy.