If you are training in combat sports or any form of fighting art, sparring is essential for competition, self-improvement or even self-defence. Through sparring, you will be able to practice what you have been learning and put it to “live” against someone who has the same intent as you. Sparring is a time for you to learn your strength and weakness, your mistakes, and hone your skills to the next level.

One of the biggest mistake people think about sparring that it has to be like a real fight going at 100%. You get people trying to knock each other out and end up hurting each other.

It gives a false sense of security that you are a badass. By sparring hard all the time, you are more likely to sustain injuries (including head trauma, which will be a topic for next time) that could hinder your training sessions ahead, and through accumulation will impact your progression level.

Chances are, by going hard, your partner will end up trying to either survive the rounds with you or straight on brawl throughout the rounds, making you think that you are tough and invincible. You could potentially injure your partners and end up with no one healthy enough to spar with you. And since not everyone is paid to spar with you, you will end up having friends and teammates simply not wanting to spar with you.

On the other hand, going at about 30-60%  allows your partner and yourself more room for play. Even if either one got caught with a good shot, you can analyze and learn from the mistake and work on it rather than being afraid of getting knocked out throughout the rounds.

The chances of your partner and yourself getting injured are much lower, and you are more likely to be able to get more rounds in. Consistency is key. By being healthy and able to train consistently, you will be able to spar more often on a frequent or daily basis, which allows you to clock more time in sparring, as compared to hard sparring. It is almost impossible to spar hard every day considering the fact that you are more likely to sustain injuries and head trauma.

Technical sparring also allows you to try new things that you have learnt, not having to worry if you will get knocked out by making a slight mistake. This is very important as it allows room for growth, rather than always being in your comfort zone or scared to execute a technique. The idea is to improve your skills in “live” sparring, the only way to do that is to practice and try.

Being top in sparring isn’t necessarily a good thing. Often I like to put myself in situations where I am only allowed to work on a certain technique. For example, I may only use mid to long range techniques such as jabs, cross and right body kicks for the first round. And work on mid to close range techniques by working on forward pressure, clinch and knees for the whole of the second round. I might want to focus on working on my takedown defence, fighting off my back and create angles for submissions in the third round if I am doing MMA sparring. And even though I might get knocked off my game throughout the rounds, I will continue adapting and work with what I planned to do without allowing ego to take over and go back to my comfort zone.

Many times I see guys simply just shut down while sparring because of a minor injury that can be dealt with. Working around an injury is also a way for me to focus on using what weapons and techniques I am left with to use. For example, I might have hurt my right foot during initial kicks, I will need to reevaluate my gameplan and use more left kicks and knees instead. Because you never know in a real fight, you might have to deal with a broken hand, a sprained ankle or even a banged up thigh from leg kicks. Allowing yourself to shut down from minor injuries in sparring closes your ability to think and work new strategies during rounds, which in turns, is a game finisher in a real fight.

Of course, when fighters prepare for fights, a little hard sparring is needed to get used to taking a certain level of impact and intensity, but never more than 80% in my opinion. Leave it for the real fight. There is no big deal being the king of the gym, because the level for growth is too slow, if not, declining. Always seek to train and spar with people better or same level as you. Not too high of a level that you cannot keep up, not too low of a level you end up able to do whatever you want, making you think you are invincible.

A good sparring is when everyone sits down after a session and ask questions, discuss techniques and give constructive feedback, rather than having guys limping around, with bloody noses, and a migraine.