2026-04-29

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

I think we’ve finally broken the barrier into jiyu kumite, and I think I did it without anyone noticing. The slow, deliberate steps I took to get there included small, incremental changes to drills we already do. To put it simply, we start with the most structured sparring drill and then remove one piece of the structure at each step:

1. Begin with “normal”, pre-arranged, one-time attack/defense drills. The defender starts in a natural, upright position. The attacker goes through all 8 of our basic attacks, announcing each one, and its target, before delivering it immediately and directly. Then partners switch roles and the other side does all 8 attacks, etc.
2. Remove the requirement that the defender start in an upright, natural position. (i.e. Allow them to begin in sparring stance.)
3. Remove the requirement that the attacker announce the attack and target. (i.e. Make the defender figure it out.)
4. Remove the requirement that each side do all 8 techniques before switching roles. (i.e. Switch roles after each attack, getting them used to moving between attacking and defending mindsets.)
5. Remove the designation of whose “turn” is is - go when you can go.

Poof! We have free sparring!