Hello Brian:

Absolutely we must definately should be sorry! The first question however should be are you hurt...? If so, then we apologize... both politeness & concern should absolutely be expressed.

Jeff

I don't remember saying "I'm sorry" all that much. I remember saying/hearing "Are you OK?" A nod of the head and a tap of the gloves and we're back at it.

We all know nobody is there to hurt another, so "I'm sorry" or "I didn't mean to" is not necessary, it is implied in the act of training together.

In other words, shut up and train.

I don't usually say anything unless their reaction tells me it hurt. If that's the case I ask if they're OK and continue if they reply that they are.
Sharon

Agreed. If you're sparring with someone and you make contact saying sorry would imply that you didn't mean to land the shot, and in which case you shouldn't have thrown it in the first place. If anything, rather than saying sorry, the person you caught should be saying "Thank you!" as you've just given them a gift showing a weakness in their defence. The whole "Sorry" for landing a shot thing breeds a mindset that doesn't actually want to hit someone else, in which case, don't throw any techniques. So IMHO there should be no sorries, only thank yous!

Gav

PS. Obviously if you go outside of the agreed terms of sparring then obviously apologies are needed, I'm talking here about sensiable conscience training.

This is one of those situations people call me "cold-blooded".

Thai people are a very. . . Forgiving and compassionate people. If they hit you and you get hurt, they will say sorry until you accept it.

When I was sparring I got kicked in the face. He said sorry and I told him "Don't be, you're trained to do that". After 30 minutes I spar another person and I hit him in the face with my left cross. He goes down to the floor with tears and say "WTF! You hit me in the face". I told him "That's the point of sparring, if I hold back, well, wouldn't I be better off learning Tai Chi or something?"

Sorry isn't a very appropriate of the nature of the arts we train. If an accident occur, and you didn't mean it, it's ok to apologize as long as you know that someday, it would have happened. If you're apologizing just because you hit someone, well, what's the point? You are learning to "injure" another person right? They are entitled to do the same.

-Taison out

i hate being offered a hand when getting up, if i can't get up myself then call me an ambulance!

OK... you're an ambulance.

If I hurt my oponent with an unintentional foul or illegal shot, then I say sorry and tap gloves.
If i hurt them with a legal and intentional shot, I am far more likely to shout 'NOW SON OF JORRELL, KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!!' and wade in. I wouldnt expect anything less in return