2026-02-18

Teaching my regular classes at the Ross Farnsworth - East Valley YMCA.

Tonight’s sparring practice introduced some new drills I’d like to share. We started with everyone donning safety gear, then we found partners and made two lines. Rounds 1 through 3 proceed with the attacking side driving the defending side back across the dojo before switching roles and coming back to the starting point.

Round 1: The attacker moves forward to strike with any single technique. The defender moves back only after allowing the attacker to make contact. The defenders’ tendency is to move back in anticipation of being struck, but I wanted them to stand their ground, presenting a static target for the attacker and building a bit of mental fortitude.

Round 2: The attacker moves forward with a series of techniques. The defender may now move back before getting hit, but must touch each incoming technique. The defenders’ tendency here is to back up too far, block too aggressively, or reach to block attacks that weren’t a threat. This drill is about timing and maintaining distance.

Round 3: This is similar to round 2, but now the attacker focuses on providing a steady, rhythmic stream of techniques (like attacking with a metronome). The defender, at some point, has to disrupt the attacker’s timing and get in a counterattack.

Round 4: Identical to round three, but now attacker and defender switch roles immediately after the defender’s counterattack. This drill doesn’t go the length of the floor but instead changes direction frequently.

The lessons here include maintaining distance, being able to put hands on (though not necessarily block) every incoming attack, allowing an attacker to make contact without losing composure, disrupting an attacker’s rhythm and … finally … rapid context switching between defense and attack.