It's funny, when I was young I dated this guy and he would always have dreams about fighting. I thought it was the strangest thing. He seemed to thrive on the idea of fighting. I didn't understand it, but now I do. Defending yourself and defending those you love is important in life. Taekwondo gives one the ability to put self-defense into action. Sparring tests the skills I've been learning since I was a white belt.
Sparring Gear:
This is what we wear while sparring. I look pretty funny in this gear, plus the mouth piece, but it is necessary to wear to prevent injury. The shoes, in particular, feel strange on your feet, but they really protect your feet when you do kicks. There are also elbow pads and leg pads (not pictured above).
I started sparring last week. At first, I was intimidated by the other belts in the class. I'm a lowly first level green belt, which means I'm the lowest rank that can spar. I have less experience, and so for most of our sparring rounds I end up just blocking! I'm trying to work on some cool combos: Front Kick, Jab Reverse Punch, Side Kick, Jump Spin Side kick. I have all these great ideas in my head, but they don't actually come to fruition when I'm sparring.
Sometimes, Miranda Grace and I spar. She absolutely beats the crap out of me. She is fierce, at kicking and punching, and just reining down numerous combinations on me all at once! Yesterday, I sparred another one of my friends, and he just kept performing front kicks over and over again. I just sort of stood back and watched, then I started kicking and hitting him, but he's about 8 inches taller than me, and honestly I did not do very well.
After sparring, when I take my gear off, I'm just a ball of sweat. Gross, I know, but at least we know we're getting a good workout! Maybe, one of these days, I'll share a photo or video of me sparring...just maybe.
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