Notes about sparring--a two-edged sword

Yin Style Baguazhang does not spar as a functional part of its training. Some folks might try to paint this as a black mark against the art, believing that "pressure testing" in the ring is the only way to make or prove a fighter, but this is incomplete thinking. I'd like to elaborate on the topic of sparring a little bit here, then, to give a more complete picture, one that illustrates sparring as a training method that has two edges that cut both ways.

I've made no real secret about my background in the martial arts before finding Yin Style Bagua about six years ago. In case you haven't heard it, I did a little bit of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu back in the late 1990s and a lot of karate, starting in 1996 and continuing, in a sense, through quite recently, though the volume on karate training really got turned down around five years ago or so when I put Yin Style first. In both the karate and the jiu-jitsu, and in some cases something akin to what has become MMA (including formal kickboxing), I did a lot of sparring. In fact, I won a lot of competitions in karate fighting and really based my training around sparring.

I've occasionally sparred with karate and kickboxing guys since moving on from those arts, in the main, and switching my focus to Yin Style. The results are curious, and for me they really highlight the two-sided nature to the practice, which has real benefits and real problems with it. We've recently played with it a little bit in our Yin Style study group meetings, and we've found out a few more interesting lessons in the process. Learning this was worth the time, if nothing else.

The pros of sparring (benefits):

There can be no doubt that sparring is considered to be a highly effective method of training for martial arts, if proved by nothing more than the near ubiquity and the extreme emphasis put on it, say on forums like Bullshido (not that what beginners on the Internet have to say carries a lot of weight). We'll accept as a given, though, that there are tangible benefits to training sparring, and I'll use my rather extensive experience to indicate what some of those are. I'll also try to indicate how I think Yin Style handles each of these benefits, which it may seem it isn't receiving since it doesn't spar.

1. Timing.

Timing is really important in fighting, and by this term I mean to include not only timing your own movements but also being able to read your opponent to choose advantageous timing for executing your techniques. Sparring, in a sense, forces you to learn timing (or get hit over and over again). Stepping in a half a second too soon or too late can ruin the power in your technique or walk your face directly into an incoming strike, and the same goes with any other kind of body movement.

Yin Style, without sparring, seems to mitigate the need for developing great timing by seizing full advantage from whatever is going on. Every time we've tried to film anything that looks like a resisting striker going up against us, it actually just comes out looking like we're bullying someone that doesn't know what he's doing (and we've tried it with several different people). Contrary to what we usually see in the ring, at least with Lion and Phoenix, Yin Style doesn't give the opponent an opportunity to make timing super important. Instead, it throws out a high volume of very heavy, very powerful, tightly interlocked techniques that don't give the opponent a chance to test our timing.

Of course, as we progress in skill in Yin Style, we also pick up the pace in our applications practice and do things less predictably, giving us a sense of proper timing against unexpected attacks. Just because we're doing things in a "contract-hands" scenario doesn't imply that the contract includes "go slow and do this move."

2. Reactions.

This is rather like timing but is more focused on developing quick and intelligent reactions to various threatening scenarios. Sparring puts the pressure on and, again, forces someone to develop good reactions (or to keep losing). Along with timing, this is one of the most commonly cited reasons for why sparring practice is so important.

Yin Style, since it doesn't spar, has to build its reactions differently. First, we should note, as above, that Yin Style even in "self-defense" mode, is usually proactive (again, speaking from Lion and Phoenix) and not reactive, although it has reactive strategies and methods to draw from for those oh shit moments that come up from time to time in fighting. Even so, again, our applications practice pushes these boundaries once we get past the novice level, and so reactions are built up under slightly less pressure than in sparring.

3. Distancing.

Understanding proper distance is incredibly important to effective sparring. Whether throwing a strike, a kick, or a throw, or attempting to grasp the opponent, it is critical that you are able to do so from the correct distance. With sparring, again, this is practiced repeatedly--if your distancing is bad, then you'll miss or land weak techniques, and in return you are like to eat some heavy counters. Sparring, over time, gives a good sense of the distance required to land techniques of various kinds.

Yin Style has to develop distancing without sparring. The thing is, I think it actually does the job far better because of this. For really effective techniques, usually the proper distance has to be close. When you're constantly afraid of getting hit in the head, kicked in the balls, or thrown on your ass for a mistake, you tend to use distance poorly. Indeed, my experience has been that most karate, BJJ, and other fighters tend to stay too far out for almost everything, and this is wasteful, slow, and inefficient. It also prevents crisp techniques and the quick, overpowering nature that Yin Style Bagua is famous for. We say three to five seconds per opponent, not three to five minutes per round. Our applications-based setting forces us to get our distance tight and right without the fear of getting jacked for it until we pick up the level a little bit. This builds confidence and assurance in good, tight footwork and distancing.

4. Facing a live, resisting opponent.

Clearly, absolutely clearly, this is what sparring is for. In fact, this is by definition what sparring was designed for--to gain experience with a live, resisting opponent. Sparring is therefore just about as good as one can get for developing experience in this regard without going and getting into real (and really illegal) fights on a regular basis.

Yin Style only has to offer here that the opponent in applications setting is not simply dead-compliant--if you don't block in YSB applos, you get hit--and this resistance increases as experience increases. Our goal in applications is to give nothing on purpose but to avoid being a non-compliant jerk that stands in the way of getting the technique right. What I mean by that is that we, as a rule, don't give the technique to anyone, but we don't go out of our way to break out of it when we know it's coming.

5. Getting hit.

It's pretty fair to say that if you've never been hit, then you don't know how you'll react to it. Usually, the result is that you'll react poorly. In sparring practice, particularly in situations where you will frequently be pitted against opponents of similar or greater skill than yourself (as in almost all martial arts settings), you'll get lots of experience getting hit with varying degrees of severity. Fighters do need to be aware of what it feels like to get hit so that they can manage their reactions to it and even build a certain level of toughness to it.

Yin Style hits people too. We don't do it live, but we have rules like "if you don't block it, you're getting it." We don't whack each other full-contact, but we give some sense of this. Compared with kickboxing, I would say we're quite gentle in this department usually. I'm not going to claim that we do better than hard-hitting arts at practicing getting hit, but I will claim that practicing getting hit isn't necessarily an ideal way to practice anything.

6. Conditioning.

If you've ever sparred, then you know how incredibly physically demanding it is. Striking sparring is exhausting, partly because of the full body movements, explosiveness, power, and tension involved. It also involves a lot of cardio-style movement. Sparring will get you in shape. Grappling sparring is even better, in a sense. To wrestle against a resisting opponent, on your feet or on the ground, is simply a tremendous workout. Sparring is great conditioning.

Yin Style is great conditioning too. Try it. I dare you.

The cons of sparring (costs):

On the other hand, there are some pretty serious costs to a robust sparring practice. As a long-time karate guy, I definitely feel those. Particularly I've noticed if I put on any kind of sparring gloves or face against someone wearing sparring gear, my "pressure tested" brain goes directly into sparring mode. Since I am about to lay into some of the bad habits this brings, I don't think of this as a good thing in any way whatsoever now (until recently, I would have said it provides certain advantages). So for me, whatever advantages in terms of the above benefits that I have gained from more than a decade of sparring (which I've been removed from now for several years), I pay for in very hard-to-break habits that I'm about to tear apart.

1. Bad habits.

Sparring creates bad habits. This is true for a number of reasons, some of which I'll detail below and not get into here. One of those is that sparring footwork is atrocious. Like I mentioned above, I think the fear of getting beaten while practicing prevents one from developing the confidence to step in and do it right. Another is a strong tendency to withhold power. Now I'm not saying that MMA beasts like Bas Rutten hold back on any power when they get into the ring, but I will say that if you're taking care of your opponents as a rule while training, not beating them at full power, then that's a training habit that you've got to overcome when you go to use it for real. Another major bad habit of sparring is the engage-disengage pattern that drags matches out into the several-minutes range.

Yin Style doesn't suffer from these problems. In particular, considering the last one, one of the fundamental rules of the Lion System is once the hands go out (meaning once you engage), they don't come back until the opponent is down. Engage, stay engaged, win--this is a better pattern.

2. Bounciness.

Technically, this is another bad habit that comes from sparring, but it's so huge that I'm laying it out separately. Sparring is done almost all on the toes. In karate and kickboxing, at least, I was repeatedly taught that to be caught flat-footed was to be caught with some heavy-duty technique. This creates a rather recognizable bounciness, which also tends to make people light on their feet. The result is that these people are quick-moving but very easy to sweep and throw. This problem cannot be understated. It is huge.

Since Yin Style is a seamless art that combines striking, kicking, throwing, and grasping without and gaps or rules, we gain a huge advantage by practicing stability. Indeed, the first of the six words that characterize the art of Yin Style Bagua is stable. We start by practicing the Lion System, most of the time, and the imperative there is to be low and heavy all the time. I feel this pudding was proved when we first started fooling around with some "what if" grappling play. Our opponents, some of whom had BJJ backgrounds, told us right off the bat that we feel twice as heavy as we are and are very hard to move, let alone throw. We can be thrown, of course, but good technique is a requirement to get us down because we aim to find and develop a solid, stable root that sticks with us while we move (thank you, circle turning practice).

Ask anyone who has trained Yin Style if they've heard it. They have. "Don't bounce!"

3. Distancing.

I really covered this above, but I'm including it on my cons list for completeness. Distancing in sparring is built around "stay out of range, come into range, do your thing, get back out of range." This sounds pretty good, but it is the mother of the engage-disengage problem noted above.

Yin Style does it differently. As soon as the opponent's hands go up, before if it's clear that's what's about to go down, Yin Style comes in with overwhelming, interlocked attacks, and, of note, stays in until the job is done. My goal as a Yin Stylist is to overwhelm you with strikes until you give me your feet and body, where I can get three or more (preferably five) points of contact with your body into which I can put forces that you can't handle. We commonly get asked about how we're going to get that kind of lock-up on someone, and we commonly tell people to try to stop us from getting it. Overwhelming is, well, overwhelming, and when you're dealing with all those heavy, interlocked techniques up top (or at your crotch), it's only a matter of time until you forget your feet. Then our footwork, which is tight, has those, and you're done.

4. Limitation on technique.

Another huge point: sparring forces people to limit what techniques they can use, mostly for safety since the goal in sparring is not to maim or kill your opponent. This might sound like one of those "too deadly to spar" bullshit lines that fly around out there, but it's got a real grain of truth to it. If I am going to spar, for instance, I have to be very careful now to avoid anything that directly hits with the forearms and elbows, doesn't kick vulnerable spots, doesn't tear flesh or muscle, doesn't hit the throat or eyes, doesn't injure the neck, doesn't throw anyone on their head, doesn't strike the spine, and doesn't strike the back of a joint or apply a joint lock too quickly. That really changes what I would normally do as a Yin Style guy, who sees martial arts as being for fighting, not for competition or sport.

They say that you fight the way you train. This is probably true. I have noticed recently that the moment I put on gloves and face someone who is geared-up for sparring, I forget entirely about striking with my forearms, as we prefer, and switch to striking with my hands. That limits my power (another thing I have to do while sparring) further and opens me up to injuries like broken fingers (this has happened) that I wouldn't face using my forearms. It also forces me to modify (read: screw up) my technique, mostly in the interest of safety but also largely out of bad habits learned while sparring. Since a ton of our attacks also aim at joints or the throat, sparring takes away a huge dimension of what we do because practicing that kind of stuff at-speed with a resisting opponent (who might move unpredictably) is dangerous. In a fight, I don't care if he moves funny and gets his arm broken. With my training partners, I really do--a lot. Big, big problem.

5. Injuries.

Anyone who has sparred much knows that sparring leads to injuries, sometimes bad ones. Personally, to mention only major injuries incurred while sparring, I have had broken toes, broken feet, broken ribs, a torn hamstring, broken nose, broken fingers, broken hand, and concussions from sparring. I've personally seen--from sparring only--broken teeth, broken arms, dislocated elbows, dislocated shoulders, ruptured testicles, bruised liver, dislocated kneecap, dislocated jaw (not pretty), hernias, sprained ankles, torn ACL (and other knee tears), and someone that bit the tip off his tongue (that bleeds a LOT, by the way). I am aware of at least one person (whom I have met) who while sparring was thrown on his head, broke his neck, and is now paralyzed from the neck down. This is all during take-care-of-my-partner sparring that got a little heated or ended up causing an accident. Each of these injuries is serious enough to severely dent training if it doesn't stop it completely. This is a big problem with sparring that has some serious consequences outside of the injuries themselves--particularly it severely limits longevity of training and tears down, instead of building up, the body over time.

Yin Stylists occasionally get injured. In our applications practice, I'm aware of an ACL tear, broken toes, and one case of a broken rib (from a hard throw). Injuries happen in any martial art that trains hard. The thing is that injuries happen far less often in an art practiced like Yin Style than they do with free sparring, even when the fighters wear padded armor. The proportion of times that I've been significantly injured in YSB (all broken toes for me, twice so far, it turns out) compared to my years of sparring has got to be less than 1 in 20, and Yin Style practices techniques that are far more brutal than anything I saw in any of the other arts I trained. Yin Style gets a five-star safety rating in comparison, no doubt.

Final thoughts

I'm finally reaching a conclusion about sparring and Yin Style Bagua, after at least five or six years of thinking about it. That conclusion is: Yin Style can't spar. Even if we might put on the gloves and do reaction drilling or timing or even whack at each other a little, for us to spar forces us to make a choice. We can either take the martial out of Yin Style, which is to practice it as a different art that it simply is not, or we can, to put it frankly if inelegantly, fuck each other up, maybe permanently.

Another thought I have from time to time is about people who come to Yin Style. What advantages versus disadvantages do they have if they do or do not have a sparring background. On the one hand, there are clear experiences for those who have sparred that don't have to be bridged another way when they start Yin Style, but because of the training under pressure that sparring automatically is, many of the very bad habits (for fighting, at least) taught by sparring are deeply ingrained and hard to remove. My jury is out on whether or not I'm better of for having sparring experiences, but it's tilting toward that I'm not.