Subject: Free Sparring
What's it for:
Free Sparring is the 'sport' side of Taekwondo.
During normal Free Sparring both fighters MUST wear full safety gear (headguard, gloves, footpads, gumshield, shin guards and a groin guard for men) and exercise good self-control.
In the TAGB (and indeed any organisation licenced and insured by the BTC) you will only do Semi-contact sparring - this means that while the fighters will aim to land techniques on eachother, those techniques should be controlled enough to be light and fast, the emphasis on skill.
We will NEVER do any full-contact sparring (where there is no restriction to the amount of power that is allowed to be put into techniques).During Free-sparring fighters aim to score points by striking certain areas on their opponent: the front and sides of the torso, and the whole of the head. 1 point for a hand technique on any of these areas, 2 points for a kick to the body, 3 points for a kick to the head.
Techniques should not be aimmed anywhere else, and if strikes land on non-target areas without being blocked or deflected to that place it is viewed as a loss of self-control and earns warnings, penalties, and even exclusion from that lesson/competition (the same goes for excessive contact).Free-sparring becomes a part of gradings from 5th Kup (Blue Tag) onwards. When you Free-Spar at a grading no-one is counting the points, instead you are assessed on the range of skills you show, both offensive and defensive, regardless of who 'wins'. Any loss of self-control (excessive contact, intentional strikes at non-target areas, verbal or otherwise obvious expressions of anger and/or frustration) can result in failing your grading even if you 'win'!
What it's NOT:
Compulsory! Though Free-Sparring is nessecery to advance to Blue belt and above, if you are not concerned with advancing further than this grade then you don't have to ever practice Free-Sparring if you don't want to! Your Instructor (at this club anyway) will respect your wishes and will continue to train you in all other aspects of Taekwondo.
Additional information: Anyone insured by the BTC (British Taekwondo Council) can only do Semi-Contact sparring, if you practice Full-Contact sparring you will not be covered for any injuries - Taekwondo is a highly effective martial art after all! You are also only insured while in the Dojang (training hall) under the supervision of an Instructor and while wearing full safety kit - while restrictive, these conditions are for the protection of the student.
Full-Contact Taekwondo sparring is conducted at WTF (World Taekwondo Federation) clubs - at these clubs they have a different type of insurance, must wear torso armour and have a different set of sparring rules. Taekwondo in the Olympics is currently conducted under WTF conditions.