How We Spar

We have 2 types of sparring at Momentum. Technical sparring and Free sparring

Technical Sparring:

We do Technical sparring or, alive drills, every session. This is very controlled and is aimed at developing specific aspects of your fight game. Generally speaking, the type of attack and techniques are known and there will be a specific response required. This is very safe but still adds a level of realism to the techniques.

Free Sparring:

Free sparring is reserved for the sparring class on Monday evenings, and as the name suggests is relatively free from restrictions. There are still safety rules involved for the protection of the participants. Free sparring is not mandatory, but encouraged.

Free Sparring is a contact activity and the odd bruise or scrap is a given, as it is in any contact sport, but longevity is the key word here. We want to make sure that we can train for years to come, and as such you have to be intelligent about your training. This means training in a realistic way, without doing your body too much damage day in day out. Even with this in mind, it is important to remember that contact is an important part of the training, Imagine learning to swim and the coach telling you that you can’t get in the pool and making you practice your strokes in thin air, then telling you what a fantastic swimmer you’d be if you ever got in the water. It’s a ridiculous concept, isn’t it? Why should it be any different in Martial Arts? Learning to do the techniques isn’t enough. You have to learn how to apply them in an unpredictable environment.

We’ve found that, if you understand the concept of the unpredictable environment that real fighting is, right at the beginning then the rest of your training will come at a much faster pace. You will straight away understand why you need to keep your hands up to defend your head, what we mean by a good, solid base and so on and so on.

Whilst sparring is an important part of your development, no one in their right mind wants to be taking countless big shots to the head. Most people who train will have a day job to go to the next day, no one needs to be going to work battered and bruised, or worse, having time off sick due to an injury. We therefore make it a rule in the sessions to be very controlled when training and safety equipment is paramount.

We pride ourselves on the people training at our sessions having a good attitude. They are always willing to help people with less experience, as they understand that the faster they make the new people better, the faster they will have better training partners. Every one of our members has been a beginner at some point and therefore understands how hard it can be.