Do You Spar?

Within the last week, two different potential students asked me the same question... "do you guys spar?"

I said, "sparring is a required part of our school. You can't learn to fully apply without learning to spar. You will need a mouth guard and you will learn to hit and be hit. This a required part of good, honest training."

For those looking for more information on The Dragon Institute's take on sparring, here is a note from our soon to be released student manual...

Sparring is a required part of our program. Forms are great for building self-awareness, muscle memory, structure, stability and much more, but they are not a substitute for sparring. You can also do a million pattern drills, but it won't translate unless you can learn to integrate it. Sparring is integration.  
Sparring for Beginners: Sparring at The Dragon Institute is a progressive exercise they increases in speed and power over time. Beginners spar from the very beginning, however all sparring for beginners is both slow and soft. Building confidence and control is key for beginners. Beginners learn to go faster and hard one they become more comfortable with their abilities to properly apply Wing Chun concepts. 
During all sparring for both beginners and more experienced students, speed and power go together in sparring. In other words, whatever percent speed you are going, you must go the same percent power. Sparring must also be as relaxed as possible. There is no Wing Chun without relaxation. If tension becomes evident, both you and your partner should slow down.  
No sparring is allowed without a mouth guard (mouthpiece). Groin protectors (cups) are highly advised. You must learn to hit and be hit - - both with substantial contact (in other words you must move the body mass of your partner). Bruises and cut lips will happen because of good hard training. But these aren't really injuries. Of course safety is of great importance, but you cannot learn to defend yourself if you do not learn to spar with substantial contact.