I hate to say it, but the only way to get good at sparring is to spar. There's no other way around it.
If you did have to focus on something to work on that will help your sparring, then work on your footwork and distance.
The reason I mention footwork is it's very overlooked among beginning martial artists. My footwork adds power to my strikes, keeps me out of range of my opponent's strikes. If you are walking up and down a line, that maybe why you are getting caught. I try to vary my footwork, I'll turn, shift, evade, get in range and out of range. I use these movements to setup my strikes and defense.
My main defense is not to be there. I want to make my opponent miss me by a margin, which gives me the ability to counterattack without wasted motion.
Besides footwork drills, which you can look up on youtube. Get a jump rope. This will help your wind, too.
Also, if you can videotape your sparring sessions. Look for weaknesses and mistakes that you are making. What could you have done better?
That's a start. If you do it, it may take some time for you to improve. You'll swear you've hit a plateau, but stick with it.
Im a kickboxer , You should start practicing with speed bags and your footwork to move around your opponent making you faster . Practice sparring with a partner , but go light and start getting into it more as you go , practice everyday .
Spar more often. Be aggressive put him on defense. Do lots of movement its harder to hit a moving target. don't always spar in your comfort zone, try new things.
you can learn various techniques to attack and defend and try to move fast to be better sparrer.
Practice practice practice!
Hello everyone, I took up Taekwondo four years ago and I just achieved my First Degree Black Belt on Tuesday and I had the Grading on Sunday (which was three hours, sweaty but more mentally challenging than physical because I'm physically fit for anything that comes) and I'm 13. I'm 156 cm and I weight 42 kg in Weight. I'm a useless Sparrer but when it comes to Patterns, Linework and Fitness; it's fine. What drills should I try and is there anything to build upon.
(Note: I'm not very flexible, but my joints in the hips and shoulders are flexible).
