Need Sparring Help!

Hey everyone =) Long time no post, but it's good to be back. We sparred hard today, I have bruises all over my stomach and a jammed finger (it's hard to type so I'll make this brief.)
I'm a Wing Chun fighter. What can I practice to make myself better at sparring while a partner isn't around? Any tips from anyone? I think my problem is that I hesitate too much; I wait for the other person to attack before I make a move and thus end up not fast enough to counter sufficiently. I don't totally suck--I do my share of hitting, but in my class the people on my skill level are more than twice my size and strength, and the other people are bigger, stronger, AND better than me. What can I do to make myself better at sparring? Also.. a specific note, what is a good way to block low/stomach punches? The Wing Chun sweeping block just hasn't been fast enough for me and I end up getting clobbered repeatedly.
No grappling please--this is Wing Chun sparring, but any advice from experienced fighters would be welcome.

-Scott

"Life is hard, but so am I." -- The Eels.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> what is a good way to block low/stomach punches? [/quote]

Im not sure if im visualising the right punch you talking about but here's my effort:

Wu Sau..... you know after tan, and before fook in the first form. Ride the striking hand back till its close to you body then re-direct downwards in an arc (but still going forwards all the time mentaly)...once the redirection is complete, with the same hand, launch a punch at your opponent.

In regards to your sparing problems, dont worry if you're not so good today. Practice hard and be very technical...try and get every movement 100%in the future it will pay off. TST used to get beat up all the time by his classmates; they too were stronger than him so he persisted in learning the technical aspect of the art. He found a strong force in the SNT; and eventually one day in class when sparing with others they began to complain to yip man of his supreme strength (or so they thought) He overpowered them using the force of the SNT...geez this is begining to sound like star wars! Anyway have faith in WC and practice trying to progress each lesson and you will gradually see it all come together.

Oh yeah, forgert how well you do in comparision to your class mates, worry about how you are progressing!


S.Teebas

Thanks Teebas =) Sound advice.

"Life is hard, but so am I." -- The Eels.

>>>I think my problem is that I hesitate too much<<<

Here's a good drill that my sifu gave me because I used to have the same problem...

To really make good use of your TV watching time what you can do is stand back away from it in your stance with your hands up. Work on relaxing as much as you can and let your eyes go slighty out of focus so you can fully utilize your peripheral vision. What you do is when the scene shifts on the TV, you shoot forward with Biu Ma and throw a punch. Set back up and do it again when you feel relaxed.

This really works your reactions against imperceptable movement picked up by your eyes and drills the hesitation out of you. It will also physically smoke real fast.

When you've got a partner around you can do the same drill with a heavy bag. Have your buddy stand on the other side of the bag and you move when he quickly pops his head around the side. Punch the bag and not his head. :D




Sunt hic etiam sua praemia laveli
"Here too virtue has its due reward."

excellent drill watchan, thanks for sharing. I've always wanted something that could genuinely test my reactions (when im alone practicing), that's a good example.

Thanks again

Edd

My anus is superior

Plus, it justifies your TV time. :D

Wing chun is not for sparring. It's for killing.

shut up whipping hand, that the kind of crap that wing chun schools round here say. All teh fighters there are crap.

Would you drive a car, never having actually driven one? Sparring is the closest thing you have to fighting in a real situation, so practice it. People that say wc ppl shouldn't spar give wing chun a bad name.

Look at the ancient shoalin monks - all they did was spar 24/7. Yip man did his fair share of sparring when he was a kid (so i have read). Boxers spar, and are one of the most effective fighters on teh street. DOn't get me started on muay thai.

Building up false confidence to kids and not getting them to spar is gonna get a lot of kids hurt.

You make me vewwy angwy. :mad:

Edd

My anus is superior™

Tabletennis or Badminton, serves the dual purpose of hoting up your reaction time and fooling the missus into thinking your not such a MA freak!
:D :D :D

"And the crowd called out for more"

If you feel that you weren't fast enuff, then its prolly the wrong technique. Speed shouldnt be the hinging factor to determine victory or defeat. Just a thought.

"If you and I agree all the time, then one of us is unnecessary."