Posted: 12/14/2004 5:24:20 PM EDT
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OK, now I've done it. I've been practicing TKD for a couple of years now and have earned my purple belt with blue stripe. I've avoided competing in any tournaments until now, but have signed up for my first one in January. I'm going to be doing board breaking, forms (Yul Gok) and sparring. I don't expect to have any probelms with board breaking or forms, but my sparring is weaker than I would like. If I understand the rules correctly, I could be sparring anyone in my weight class (about 200 lbs) from white belt to brown belt. Other than try to practice sparring as much as I can and doing a lot of jump-roping to build endurance, what can I do to prepare? One of the black belts in my school has shown me some sparring tricks that should work at least once. What are your favorite sparring tricks? |
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Foot sweep/backfist/reverse punch Start with a foot sweep, follow it up with a back fist to the head, all weight and protection go up. Follow it up with a score to the ribs. If they have tried scoring earlier in the match with some cheesy shit, like jumping up and giving you a backfist to the top of the head, you might want to slow them down by burying that reverse punch to the elbow. Oh, one tip: Talk to your opponent. Get them talking about what they do in the gym. If you are good at it, they will tell you exactly how they train. Use this knowledge against them. Remember, you are there to learn, but you are also there to win. Good luck. |
| I always liked to let the other guy move first, make him think I'm a counterpuncher, then when I had him in the rhythm, I would launch a jump side kick as fast as I possibly could with no warning, and if it hit (it usually did) I would keep pressing him, not giving him time to recover. |
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I don't train in TKD (I train at an MMA gym where our standup is Muay Thai), but I hope this info might help you. Preparation: I usually work on the jump rope and excercise bike for cardio, I don't do much running. Usually we'll do our cardio stuff in rounds (interval training), the same length as the rounds you'll be sparring with 30 second rests. Don't overdo it in the last few days before your tournament, and it's just as important to prepare mentally as it is physically. Make sure you're getting enough rest and eating right, and mentally visualize what you have to do to win. Ask your instructor for advice, they will be happy to help you and will already have an idea of your strengths and weaknesses, and can help you come up with a good gameplan or improve any areas you need to. Overall, try to make your opponent fight YOUR fight. Don't let them dictate the pace. Actual Sparring: Breathe!  Don't tense your muscles up. If you're going to have several matches in one day, pace yourself. Breathe with each strike, and keep your muscles loose. Tensing up and not breathing properly will wear you out unnecessarily. It is a bad, bad feeling to be tired and in the ring with an opponent who is trying to defeat you. Lots of matches come down to a battle of conditioning and mental toughness, if you're evenly matched with someone skill wise, but you're in better shape and want it more, you're likely going to win.Day of the Tournament: Warm up good, stretch out, stay focused, and just concentrate on what you're there to do. Stay calm, and stick to your game plan. I use a lot of feints to interrupt the opponent's offense and rhythm and set up openings for my own strikes. Try to avoid falling into patterns that your opponent can time and capitalize on. Mix things up. Hope this helps, and good luck! Please let us know how you do. p.s. Don't forget to have fun too.  |