Sparring Analysis (self-centered)

Analyzing My Own Sparring Matches:


I looked at some of of my own sparring matches, not to be self-centered, but because I believe that analyzing my own videos is one of the few ways to improve my skills, and I am interested in how I have changed over time.

Tournament, August 2008 – match with Tammy: I remember NOT wanting to spar Tammy. Watching the video brought the feeling back. She probably knew that, because as the match began she plowed into me straight down the pipe, and forced me to move back to the edge of the mat. Because she was a very aggressive opponent, I saw in the video that I started keeping out of her way, not staying in her line of fire because, if I did, I could not stay on the mat! I was looking for opportunities to strike as she moved in, while getting off to the side. That's usually not my style, but it was working. I have reach, height and weight on Tammy, so I was able to strike before she was, but she is much faster. It looked like I was using the side-step method to keep out of the way of taller opponents, though it was her aggression and speed that made me react that way. My kicks were not chambered. That made them slow as molasses and ineffective when they did hit. When we slowed down a bit, after the first rush of activity, my kicks were still not chambered, even when there was plenty of time to do so. Only size advantage let me seem to overmatch Tammy. Speed and style were hers. She threw combinations, moved in quickly, kept her guard up and was FAST. She kept her head to her left, though, and sometimes left it unguarded. While she led with her right, keeping her head to the left protected it most of the time, but being a left-handed, taller opponent, sometimes I could get over that right hand for head strikes. Tammy was good at disrupting an attack with hook punches that came out of nowhere and high/low combinations that were difficult to block.

Red sash test, June 2010 – match with Steven: (1st one, not the second one where I actually thought I'd rather just stay on the ground and get stomped than get up again. ha.) I see myself not reading what is going to happen next, after I move in. I look for a chance to dive in, and I don't have a combination ready in my head. I act, then react. For instance, Steven often chambers his lead leg, and I wait for it to drop and then throw one punch, or one kick, mostly halfheartedly. My body language tells me that I don't think my kick or punch is going to do anything – and so it doesn't. My kicks are not chambered at all, again because of that halfhearted delivery. Without a proper chamber, there is little, if any, snap and therefore little, if any, speed or surprise.

I also see that I am making many energy-draining moves – starts of kicks that aren't thrown nor are they effective feints, head movements, bobbing, circling, without purpose. Nervous energy that could be redirected.

Steven waits. He knows I'm going to come in. Then, when I think he's going to wait some more, he comes in quickly before I'm set. At one point, I moved in with a punch or two, actually DUCKED a hook punch from Steven, and then when I failed to follow through (probably happily thinking, hey, I saw that punch coming and dodged it!), then came the side kick. The side kick knocked me back, and in my brief period of mental disgust at falling for the side kick again, Steven followed immediately with a flurry of punches before I recovered. After that series, I threw a pointless punch or two, then had a fairly logical combination where Steven easily kept out of reach. The combination made sense, but the targets were not selected. After that, though, there followed a brief period before time was called where I was wasting more energy with little punches, and low, short kicks that wouldn't do anything even if they hit full power. It looked like I was trying to poke a dragon in the eye without wanting to.

Red sash test, June 2010 – match with Eli: My style with an aggressive opponent is different. Eli always moves in and I work on defense rather than aggression. I know if I get in close, he'll be able to use the short right hand power punch that is one of his favorites. With Eli, I was able to wait for him to kick, then follow the kick in with punches. That's a combination that has worked for me repeated – except against Steven's side kick because (a) I'm not able to move in after being knocked backward and (b) he's waiting anyway. (there's a clue there somewhere) If a kick is not effective enough to move your opponent back, they can follow it in and eat your lunch. Ergo, do not throw ineffective kicks.

During one clash, I was able to move in and strike the mid-section (harder than I intended). Though I took a hit to the head, the strength of my strike reduced the head hit significantly. However, I think that if no pads were involved, anyone could take that mid-section strike better than a crack over the head. And what if he'd had something heavy in his hand?!

I show little to no side movement. Circular, yes, but not any movement getting me to the outside of my opponent. I stay straight down the middle, which is not logical for real-life situations against a taller, stronger opponent, which Eli now is.

National tournament, August 2010 – match with intermediate female opponent: This was the first opponent I can remember who did not wear a mask. In this tournament, face strikes were disallowed. It is hard, in the speed of a match, to remember not to strike what has been a regular target. (If I am ever in a street fight, I will certainly go for the face.) I lost a point because of illegal face strikes.

My opponent had a strong side kick (where have I seen that before?) and good timing. She was tall and outweighed me. I could not depend on my strength and size in this match. I had some trouble with her good, high kick since it was well aimed. She had that kick, and a punch that followed, or vice versa depending on the situation. Once I blocked her lead hand strike, and her kick immediately followed. That combination created a difficult-to-block high/low combination. I don't know how I would have done against her in point-only sparring, but in continuous matches opponents have a chance to get past the initial strike(s) and change the game. After eating her kick and punch a time or two, I found the timing of her kick to get past it, and blocked her punch. I caught her kick, and climbed over it punching. She did not have a well-developed close fighting style. Once I discovered that, I felt I had her. The emotion of the fight changed at that point, too, because I knew what to do, and she seemed to be made uncomfortable by the close-in contact. Her body language at the end of the first round told me she thought I had her too. Her shoulders slumped, she would not meet my eyes, and she looked like she wished she hadn't signed up. As we “set up” for another round, she walked slowly. My body language was bouncy, literally on my toes ( a waste of energy, probably) and confident. That helped me psychologically in the fight as well because the judges see that body language, as well as the opponent.