Sparring is something that all martial arts use. There are numerous sports, such as boxing and wrestling that use sparring as well. It is a very useful technique, helping students become better with their techniques and what they have learned. By practicing with other people, students learn their arts better and become more apt at performing the techniques quickly and efficiently.
If you are studying martial arts in a dojo, you will find sparring to be very exciting as well as beneficial to your training. The instructors and teachers will be right there watching and guiding students, making sure that no one gets hurt. Students use full body gear, including headgear, to ensure safety during practice.
Depending on your skill level and martial art you are studying, you may end up using no protective gear. Students that are very skilled won't normally need protective equipment, as they are good enough with sparring and their techniques that they can go a few rounds with other skilled students and not make any type of contact at all.
Martial arts such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, that focus on grappling, make the most use of sparring, as it is needed to properly execute the techniques. Martial arts that focus mainly on grappling use joint locks and submission techniques, which will need to be practiced quite a bit before they can be used effectively during a competition or even as self defense.
During sparring, students go back and forth, competing with each other and testing each other. The rounds will vary, although most last several minutes. Students will also receive help and insight from their instructors to let them know how they are doing and if they need to change anything they are doing. This also gives instructors the chance to see just how well you are progressing in training and what areas you need to work more on.
Sometimes, sparring is done by yourself, without anyone else working with you. If you are sparring by yourself, you will use equipment such as punching bags, tackling dummies, or other forms of equipment that will help you with your martial art. The foam or rubber dummies are most often used with grappling techniques or punching on the ground, as they represent the opponent that you are trying to pummel into submission.
All in all, sparring is an excellent way to practice the skills you have learned against equipment or other students. Students are fun to spar against, especially if they are at a higher level of skill than you are. You can use sparring to your advantage, learning what others do and how they react to your movements and techniques. The longer you spar and practice your moves - the better you will get in your training, speed, and the execution of your skills.
Lora Severson Photography offers a wide selection of martial arts gifts, t-shirts, hoodies, tote bags and more. Presents suitable to give as for a birthday, holiday or belt rank promotion test. Lora Severson is a black belt in Taekwondo who loves to spar. She fights for fun and for the overall fitness she achieves from it.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Martial Arts Sparring
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Martial Arts Flip Minos Discount
Take $30.00 off Martial Arts Flip Mino and Flip Mino HD available through Martial Arts Gifts by Lora Severson Photography! Just in time for holiday shopping, the Flip Mino and Flip Mino HD are now $30.00 cheaper! Buy one for your Martial Artist in Karate, Taekwondo, Kung Fu or Judo. These custom Flip Minos feature colorful Yin Yang, Martial Arts or Black Belt designs.
Product Information
Making and sharing great video has never been easier. Or more fun. The ultra-thin & pocket-sized Flip Video Mino camcorder has a handy USB arm that flips out and hooks up to your PC or Mac. This charges the battery, plus lets you use its built-in software to easily view, edit, and upload video and photos to favorite sharing sites.
- Records 60 minutes of VGA-quality video
- Built-in rechargeable Lithium Ion battery
- $55 restocking fee on returns
- Technical Specifications
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Martial Arts Black Belt Gifts for Girls and Women
Are you looking for a special gift for the martial artist girl or woman in your life? Does she have a birthday coming up or a black belt promotion test? This adorable Pink Floral Black Belt design on a t-shirt, mousepad, poster or tote bag could be just what you need. These gifts feature a feminine pink daisy design. They are suitable for all martial arts - karate, taekwondo, kung fu or judo. These high quality gifts are available through Lora Severson Photography and are 100% satisfaction guaranteed. Bulk rates are available - the more you buy the more you save.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Choosing the Best Martial Arts Style
For anyone who wants to learn a martial art, there is always the question of find the best one to study. There are so many martial arts styles to choose from, it can be very complicated to pick one to learn.
It is virtually impossible to name one style of martial arts as the ultimate best. Actually, there are several factors that come into play, which makes a statement about a style being the best impossible. Even though one style may beat another in a competition or a fight, it doesn't always mean that the winning style is the best.
Before rushing out to learn a martial art, there are several things that you should decide first. Martial arts are great to learn, no matter which style you decide on. A martial art can teach you self discipline, self defense, perseverance, self control and confidence which will help you no matter where you decide to go in life.
Self Defense
All over the world, there are several martial arts schools and dojos that emphasize self defense a lot more than others. Schools that focus on kata, forms or light sparring are less than likely to teach you what you need to protect yourself on the street. If you are looking for street self defense, you will want a style that specializes in that alone.
Fitness
Even though martial arts can improve your fitness level, it isn't the goal behind a lot of the martial arts styles. Several styles, such as Tae Bo, are based purely on martial arts and doesn't include a lot of physical fitness training. If you are looking for fitness as your main goal you may want to try kickboxing or Taekwondo sparring; both of which are an awesome cardiovascular workout.
Fighting Ability
This will vary among the many different martial arts styles. Self defense schools will most often take advantage of fightling skills teaching you everything you need to survive. Most martial arts styles are slow in theory, teaching you kata or forms and movements. It can take 3 years or longer to earn a black belt rank. Self defense schools on the other hand, teach you how to inflict the most amounts of damage in the least amount of time.
Competition
Competition based martial arts are all about winning trophies and showing the world your style of martial arts. The style of your martial arts will greatly impact your competition. You will need to decide if you are going to showcase your fighting ability, your kata or forms, grappling or striking or board breaking techniques.
Before you decide on a martial arts style, you should always research the schools and dojos in your area and see what they have to offer. The best schools will allow you to participate in a few free classes as a trial. They will answer any questions that you have and work with you to help you learn as much as you can.
Martial arts can be a very fun and exciting learning experience. There are hundreds of different martial arts styles out there although you will be limited to choose from what is offered in your area. Karate, Taekwondo, Kung Fu, Judo, Kickboxing and Jiu-Jitsu are some of the most common types of martial arts and normally offered just about everywhere. The more distinct styles such as Shootfighting, Kenpo and Shaolin styles are a bit harder to find.
If you do your homework on some of the styles that are offered in your area, you will find one that best fits your reasons to study the martial arts. Martial arts can change your outlook on life - all you have to do is devote yourself to learning all you can about the philosophy of your martial art.
Lora Severson is a photographer and first degree black belt in Taekwondo who is currently training to earn her second degree this fall. Read about her journey to black belt at age 40. She sells Martial Arts themed gifts, cards, t-shirts and apparel online through her shop Martial Arts Gifts by Lora Severson Photography.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
A Close Look at Martial Arts Belts
With most types of martial arts, the color of the belt that you have signifies your rank within your style of martial arts; although they have no universal means or ranking within the martial arts world. More or less, they tell others how much you know about your specific martial art.
The use of belt colors in martial arts is an old practice, dating back hundreds of years. Belts and their use in martial arts all started by a man known as Jigoro Kano, who created the martial arts style known as Kodokan Judo. Kano started out by using only white and black belts to signify rank within his style of martial arts. His reason for using belt, was to specify which students could compete in different activities. For example, those with white belts couldn't compete in the same activities as those with black belts.
Shortly after Kano introduced his idea of using belts, other belt colors were introduced to the world of martial arts. Over the years, it became a great way of telling what experience a student had in his style - just by the look of his belt. Other styles began to use this system as well over the years, including Karate, Taekwondo and several others.
The only problem with using belts to signify ranking, is the fact that one school may have different requirements from another school. Even though they both may teach the same style of martial arts, their ranking system and requirements to earn a certain ranking may be totally different. This can cause confusion in ranks, especially if a black belt from one school isn't as versed in the style as a black belt from another school. While most school adhere to the same criteria, there are some schools that choose to incorporate their own unique style as well.
Although most martial arts styles use belt to signify rank, there are some martial arts such as Shootfighting that don't use belts at all. The styles that choose not to use belts don't use a ranking system either. They are more or less for self defense purposes. Pitfighting is another style that doesn't use belts either. These styles are great to learn for protecting yourself - although they differ from the traditional sense of martial arts.
All thing aside, belts are an innovation to martial arts. They give students something to aim for and a reason to keep practicing. Most students that study martial arts aim for getting a black belt, which is the most prestigious belt in martial arts. A black belt takes years of practice to obtain, as the student will promote and move through many lower ranked belts before getting the opportunity to earn the black belt.
Lora Severson is a first degree black belt in Taekwondo. She will be earning her second degree this year. She is also a photographer and offers a complete line of Martial Arts Gifts, Cards, Posters, T-Shirts and Apparel. All belt rank colors are represented and are suitable for karate, taekwondo, kung fu or judo.
buy unique gifts at Zazzle
Thursday, May 14, 2009
And then there were two...
Well, last night was another elimination on American Idol. It was a real nail biter for me. While I have been rooting on Adam Lambert all season, Danny and Kris were really good. And on American Idol, anything can happen. I felt terrible because I kept calling and calling to vote, but I couldn't get through. I wasn't one of the 80 something million votes that were received. And in the end, it was Adam and Kris that prevailed.
It will be interesting to watch next week to see what each will sing in the finale. And I will be wearing a new unique Adam Lambert American Idol T-Shirt from 
Cafepress! They are for a limited time only, so get yours soon!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Martial Arts Sigg Water Bottles
Now you can work out and practice your martial arts, stay hydrated and help the planet and environment with this Martial Arts Sigg Water Bottle. Sigg Water bottles are a great replacement to buying disposable water bottles everyday. They are cheaper over the long run and they help the environment because they are reusable. Sigg Water Bottles are constructed of lightweight aluminum and are the hottest thing right now in sports equipment.
At Martial Arts Gifts by Lora Severson Photography you will find a large selection of designs just for the martial artist. You will find that all belt colors are represented but there is a large section just for black belts. Buy a water bottle for your Black Belt Mom, Black Belt Dad, Black Belt Kid, Future Black Belt, TKD Black Belt, Karate Black Belt, Judo Black Belt and Kung Fu Black Belt. These high quality water bottles make a unique gift for a black belt promotion test or colored belt rank promotion test, birthday or holiday.
Here is the product information from Cafepress:
Product Information
Help save the planet while you rehydrate in style with an eye-catching BPA-free water bottle from SIGG. Made from a single piece of aluminum, it's ultra-lightweight yet rugged and crack-resistant. To minimize unwanted tastes and scents, the inside is lined with a water-based, non-toxic epoxy resin that exceeds FDA leaching requirements.
- Holds 1.0 liter
- Recyclable & reusable
- BPA-free
- Lifetime warranty
- Do not freeze
