Sparring Tips

 

Anticipation/Perception

Anticipation is dangerous; it has much to do with guesswork. You are trying to presume or guess what an opponent will do. You may get it right and a pre-planned attack could work, but you could just as easily get it wrong. Anticipation is not mindset. It is not about what is happening "here and now."

Perception is not just about visual assessment and guesswork. With perception, we feel as well as see. It allows us to do as little as possible or cut out unnecessary movement. If our perception is good, it will always be right. Perception is seeing, feeling in the "here and now."

Waiting

One of the biggest errors of novice fighters is to get close to an opponent and then wait for an attack, try to read it, block it, and then counter. This approach only works with novice opponents. Experienced fighters attack with combinations so even if your block and counter works, you will still get hit by numerous other attacks.