Is sparring necessary?

**Teh El Macho** · Posted On: 3/01/2006 5:29pm

Originally Posted by hl1978

if you want an example of someone doing to themselves there is Sharmba Mitchell back in 2001 in a boxing match, while he did have a prexisting injury from years prior, apparently it got reagravated while beeing clinched. Justin Eilers is another case i believe in UFC 53? but im not sure if it was a strike to the knee or not.

you can find a number of situations like this, but im not sure if some of them are strikes to the knees or not. suffices to say, i would imagine most injuries are due to chance rather than dilibratly attacking an opponents knee while in the ring.

Justin Eiler had a busted ACL after Brandon Vera repeatedly kicked him. His knee was not broken, but his knee got busted. Human skeleton is made up to substain a lot of punishment, and bone-breaking is not as simple as some people may want to think.

Going back to Eiler's fucked up knee, that's in addition to two broken hands, a broken nose, and a badly sprained ankle. Though no one in his right mind would want to screw up another human being in an act of rage, this is a contact sports, a combat sports. Eiler knew pretty well what he was getting into. It is a risk that MMA fighers not only accept, but embrace. Same thing with (kick)boxers, Judoka, BJJers, wrestlers and football players. :israel7va

Fighers don't go there with the intention to **** people up. They go there to win. And screwing people up just happen to be a by-product. If someone has a problem inflicing injury onto someone else in the context of a contact sports, he/she should forget about MA as well as football, rugby, soccer... crap even basketball and get into origami, join the hare krishna or something...

... seriously... :bssign:

**Boyd** · Posted On: 3/01/2006 7:02pm

I have no problem believing a strong kick straight to the knee could potentially damage it. I also believe that a punch to the head could knock someone out. The problem is that with both techniques you're looking at an infinite number of variables, and we've got people saying "All I have to do is kick a guy in the knee and the fight's over" and we've got people saying "You'll never break the knee by kicking it". Whether or not it's physically possible to break the knee is a moot point. More relevant is if the technique itself is of any value.

The knee's a tiny, mobile target and really, you could probably just check it similar to a round kick with a good degree of success. I'm sure you could **** someone's knee up with it, but I'd wager it'd be more of a "chronic discomfort over the next few weeks"-type pain over a "hey my kneecap just went flying out the back of my leg"-type pain. While it's a low-risk technique, the fact that you can't spar with it makes me just want to push it to the back of my training and focus more on my fundamentals. You can knock a guy out with your fists, too. That's always an option.

**I aint punchy!?** · Posted On: 3/01/2006 7:45pm

The question should'nt be "Is sparring necessary?" but rather "Is everything else BUT sparring necessary?"

**Darren San** · Posted On: 3/01/2006 7:47pm

Originally Posted by Boyd

I have no problem believing a strong kick straight to the knee could potentially damage it. I also believe that a punch to the head could knock someone out. The problem is that with both techniques you're looking at an infinite number of variables, and we've got people saying "" and we've got people saying "You'll never break the knee by kicking it". Whether or not it's physically possible to break the knee is a moot point. More relevant is if the technique itself is of any value.

The knee's a tiny, mobile target and really, you could probably just check it similar to a round kick with a good degree of success. I'm sure you could **** someone's knee up with it, but I'd wager it'd be more of a "chronic discomfort over the next few weeks"-type pain over a "hey my kneecap just went flying out the back of my leg"-type pain. While it's a low-risk technique, the fact that you can't spar with it makes me just want to push it to the back of my training and focus more on my fundamentals. You can knock a guy out with your fists, too. That's always an option.

Whether or not the kick, or punch, or takedown is of value is more defined by whether or not it is the right technique to use at that moment of time.

Nobody here, including me, said that "All I have to do is kick a guy in the knee and the fight's over." I merely pointed out the fact that that if the opportunity presented itself, it is a great self-defense technique and that the human body can easily generate the force required to do it if the knee is in a vulnerable position.

If some want to argue that it is impossible...oh well!

**Darren San** · Posted On: 3/01/2006 7:50pm

Personally, I would rather use my fists or elbows I have much better control over them. But hey, if it is a serious situation and the guy screws up and gives me his knee...

**Darren San** · Posted On: 3/01/2006 7:53pm

Oh and by the way... the pics are really cute Poop Loops, but amount to little more than childish name calling.

**Poop Loops** · Posted On: 3/01/2006 8:25pm

Originally Posted by Darren San

Oh and by the way... the pics are really cute Poop Loops, but amount to little more than childish name calling.

The fact that you only adressed the picture and not my post pretty much proves my point, though.

**Darren San** · Posted On: 3/01/2006 8:47pm

Originally Posted by Poop Loops

The fact that you only adressed the picture and not my post pretty much proves my point, though.

No ... not really. There was simply not much to address in your post.

**Smeagol** · Posted On: 3/02/2006 6:02am

Originally Posted by Darren San

Certainly ... it is low percentage in the sports ring. Would you wish to inflict that kind of injury to your opponent ... even accidently? Of course not! Because you are a human being with some kind of a moral code. You train to fight the way you fight because that of the rules you fight under. If you gained a reputation for destroying your opponents knees in your matches, you would soon run out of matches.

didn't "some" guy in the early UFCs like ... break peoples arms even if they had already tapped?

blah

**Darren San** · Posted On: 3/02/2006 8:22am

Originally Posted by Smeagol

didn't "some" guy in the early UFCs like ... break peoples arms even if they had already tapped?

blah

Maybe, I really don't know.

I would wonder how long he would last doing that. Surely, sooner or later another fighter would come along who could exact "vengance" upon him for all those he intentionally and permanantly maimed in the name of "sport.".

I would wonder how long the UFC would last allowing that to happen...can you say million dollar law suits!

Hey Smeagol

I wonder how much **** I would stir up if I claimed that: after decades of performing fingertip push-ups in hot coals with a ugly BJJ competitor sitting cross-legged on one's back, one could actually generate enough force to poke someone's eye out with two fingers.

Ohhh yeah...I know. First, it is physically impossible to generate enough force to poke out the human eye. Plus, it is after all a moving target...you would actually have to have some skill. And, of course, it is low percentage!! Blah!!