the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

I HATE sparring newbies. And I would go so far as to say I won't do it too often, and not when I'm feeling a little out of it-- too dangerous.
Overall its easier to beat a newbie because you can get away with alot more commitment behind your strikes/throws, but still I have the same feelings as you Juan. There are several times they throw themselves at me so hard that the only way to ensure I don't get hurt is to hurt htem.

In tourneys, I actually enjoy fighting advanced division more. Its more cerebral and technique based and less GRWARRR SMASH. I have sent 2 different novices to the hospital, and felt terrible about it, but it was because they resisted my throw too much and landed on their neck or outstretched arm. Scary situations, and I tried to avoid them, but in the end I wanted to win, so I threw with some power and they ended up badly hurt. Not a fun time.

Wrestling with new guys may be more dangerous than sparring with new guys. They usually don't

- release grips during falling, so his opponent may drop on top of him.
- finish a throw completely, so his opponent may land on his head.

Old saying in Western fencing:

The best swordsman does not fear the second best; he fears the worst.

As I put it, if the other fellow doesn't know what he is doing, you don't know what he's doing either!

You have to be really careful sparring newbies. If you spar at less than full speed and full contact then they tend to speed up and hit too hard for what you are supposed to be doing. They are also scared of getting hit so they flinch and move quickly to avoid/block stuff. If you try to take advantage of obvious holes they will jerk to keep from being hit and sometimes throw wildly instead of defending. Then if you try to do a sweep or throw they don't know how to fall and get hurt more easily. On top of that they aren't aware of how dangerous some things they might do are. Like kicking directly into the knee. I actually think it is easier to spar newbies closer to full speed because they can't change speed as much, at the same time they don't know how to control their contact or how to get hit and lessen the impact. Then if you hurt a newbie or do things that they think are going to hurt them they will just about immediately gain habits regarding certain things that can be very hard to break.

For reading movements I don't have much trouble but I have been sparring newbies on a regular basis as long as i have been taking lessons. They tend to be easier to read their intent and sometimes they have REAL intent, they want to hurt you. An experienced guy isn't as easy to get to that point.

I don't like to spar with them, but it's because they throw everything they got on you when you agree to play nice and relaxed. Don't have trouble with the angles, mostly the akward stuff is pointless and not makeing any harm.

cerebus wrote:

qiphlow wrote:you and troy should compare stories.

Yeah, one time I was sparring this NOOB and he kicked me in the nads. So, the next time he threw a kick at me, I grabbed his kicking leg and HIT HIM WITH PLANET EARTH!!!

and i later stole the move and applied it to someone else.

qiphlow wrote:

cerebus wrote:

qiphlow wrote:you and troy should compare stories.

Yeah, one time I was sparring this NOOB and he kicked me in the nads. So, the next time he threw a kick at me, I grabbed his kicking leg and HIT HIM WITH PLANET EARTH!!!

and i later stole the move and applied it to someone else.

Heh, heh, excellent!

Yeah, I like newbies because they're unpredictable. The only thing is, that they usually go hard. These days I am playing soft both for my own development and to avoid injuries (I try to be as soft as I can when I have an injury). You can learn a lot, but have to be careful both for you and the "newbie".

klonk wrote:The best swordsman does not fear the second best; he fears the worst.

Can any untrained soldier be more dangerous than the trained soldier?

Don't think this apply to the throwing art. If the new guy has no throwing skill, he can't throw you. One may get a lucky punch but he will never get a lucky throw.