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B Bates
B Bates's picture
Shadow sparring warm up

Hi all,

I am still training online with my students and recently changed our warm ups after attending one of Iain's zoom sessions where he did light shadow sparring at the start of the session. I found it an enjoyable way to get the lesson started, here's one of the variations we work which incorperates a new technique from the heian kata in each round. It's good as a reactive drill too :)

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Nice stuff! I’m a great believer in making our warm-ups as functional as possible. Firstly, it makes for a more effective warm-up because our motions resemble the motions we are just about to undertake. Secondly, it makes for better use of the time because the warm-up also contributes to the development of skill. Finally, it is a more effective “psychological warm-up” because the warm-up and the main activity flow together.

Things such as star jumps, running on the spot, etc – while very common – are less effective as warm-ups, do nothing for skill development, and see a potentially jarring switch between “warm-up” and main activity.

The mix of the sparring motions and kata motions here is very cool. I like it!

All the best,

Iain

B Bates
B Bates's picture

Thanks Iain, 

I agree with all of the above :)  Pre covid I tried to make all our warm ups task specific and it seemed easier when you could partner up and do tactile response drils, grappling for grips etc. 

The shadow sparring is a nice addition that will definitely stay when things eventuall get back to "normal"

Cheers

Brian

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Hi Brian,

B Bates wrote:
Pre covid I tried to make all our warm ups task specific and it seemed easier when you could partner up and do tactile response drills, grappling for grips etc.

Same here. Maintaining grappling skills without grappling is a challenge, but not impossible. We’ve been doing a fair bit of “shadow throwing” and floor-based movement drills, but we can’t wait t get back to hands on training. A few other European nations are there now, so I hope it won’t be too much longer.

B Bates wrote:
The shadow sparring is a nice addition that will definitely stay when things eventually get back to "normal"

Our syllabus has remained largely the same for quite a while now, but Covid has forced many adaptations to training. Some of them I will jettison the instant I can as their role is definitely “good enough for now”. However, there are many things that have proved their long-term value that we will keep going forward.

All the best,

Iain