Kickboxing in a school..sparing?

patjunfa

I've been teaching kickboxing in a secondary school for a while and its been running well. I've been doing mostly padwork with them. I'm wondering if its wise to do any sparing with them or none at all.

Last week one of the students said can we spar, I said ok with him if we go v light touch, it went well and was fun. Someone suggested one of the other lads, I checked 1st that he knew what light touch was and then said ok. Then he swung a couple of shots that were ment to take my head off.I stoped it and said I wouldn't fight with that leval of contact here without gumshields. Thinking about it after I'd be mad to spar with him at all. I don't trust him that he wouldn't turn it into a fight which would be bad for me win or lose. Does this mean I shouldn't do any sparing at all there... hmm...It seems hard not to when there are some who would get on fine with it. Any thoughts?

HammerHeadGym

Have a word beforehand. Let him know that if he makes it a fight he will be banned from class forever. If he wants to learn he'll go at the right pace. If he's a prick, he'll lose the head and you're club is better off without him. Better he tries to fight you and gets put in his place than starts on one of the others and looses you students and creates a bad reputation for your school.

Nadaur

if during school time be exceptionally careful as regards permission and insurances (ie school/private)

Sid_Justice

you'd be mad to spar with a school student

rom

Nadaur wrote: »

if during school time be exceptionally careful as regards permission and insurances (ie school/private)

echo this. To be honest this sound light they are pushing boundaries. You need to be in control. If this is what happened so far then I'd say stay away from sparing suggesting to them that they can spar at your club etc. (insurance reasons etc you can't here). That BS is being put on because of the audience. It is a no win situation for you with a class like that. They are playing to the audience. Don't entertain it as you have it all to lose.

HammerHeadGym

wait, are you teaching in the school or teaching the students themselves? would never do it with a student. Not in front of witnesses anyway, wink wink.

riffmongous

My advice would be not to do any sparring at all. If they want to spar, get them to join a club, that way its all safe and legal for you.
Remember that any little sparring incident at all, even if you had nothing to do with it, can give you a bad reputation that could stop you from getting to teach at other schools down the road.

patjunfa

"That BS is being put on because of the audience. It is a no win situation for you with a class like that. They are playing to the audience. Don't entertain it as you have it all to lose. "

unfortunatly I reckon this is right. If he busts me up(its a pretty rough school;)) I lose credibility both as a fighter and as a teacher responsible enough to hold the class together; if he goes at me and I've to bust him up I lose the credibility of the class being a safe thing for students to do.

seems unfortunate as the couple of times I've done light touch work with students it can be fun and engaging. Because of the above possibility I probably need to make no sparing a policy. I don't think I can say cause of insurance reasons cause my insurance probably covers it. Unless its different in a school? Students are between 16 and 20. Saying come to my club if you want to spar is a good idea I reckon, though it is a bit far and I know they won't

Reckon I need to come up with some padwork games that are challenging and engaging and have something compeditive about them. Anyone got any novel ideas on this or interesting links?

Thanks

Forest Master

3 things:

* Insurance.
* Indemnity forms from parents.
* clear it with the principal of the school.

Get all of those, then as long as you keep them well padded & tell them it's for technique only & to keep it light, it should be okay.

Barry.Oglesby

Sid_Justice wrote: »

you'd be mad to spar with a school student

Yeah that's nuts. Sparring with a juvenile member of your own club would be risky enough but someone in a school? Forget about it.

whelan058

hi,

just finished a 5wk course in a private school with 26 students, went extremely ,well considering the school is a rugby school and they are all pretty big lads for 16 & 17, did the usual pads and technique.

I was asked would there be sparring at any stage, i decided against
it.

Told them they needed more time to develop there technique, told them they could come 2 our club.

Don't think the teacher should sparr the students, each other yes but make sure it is well controlled if u do decided to sparr them...maybe down the road when they know more technique and know how to control there punching and kicks.... that's what i would do if it were me

Maybe a dis-calmer form to cover u, the school and ur club like some one else said really good idea....

best of luck with it anyway...

Torakx

Forest Master wrote: »

3 things:

* Insurance.
* Indemnity forms from parents.
* clear it with the principal of the school.

Get all of those, then as long as you keep them well padded & tell them it's for technique only & to keep it light, it should be okay.

This sounds like great advice.

Also isnt there head gear that covers the face and nose?
Would it be possible to have sparing with headgear like that?Or does everyone need to get their own for that sort of thing..just an idea anyway.

Khannie

After you've taken care of permission, insurance etc.:

You could do what we do with the kids in bridgestone....Pad them up well and dont' allow any head shots during sparring. Then when you're comfortable that they get it / they're not going to go home with any shiners you could add the head shots. It still allows them to get combos off (jab to the chest instead of the face, yada, yada) with a much reduced risk of injury.

whelan058

adidas do head gear that cover a good bit of the face and are well padded, lonsdale do a soft safety glove for sparring made of sponge material so when sparring won't leave marks like the leather gloves would, going to get them for my kids... do have them well padded i have my kids well geared up head gear gum shields, chest guard, groin guard, shin pads and feet pads....i sometimes us bubble rap lol.....

u can get head gear that has a plastic cover, that protects the wearers face from hits i'll try and get a pic and post it up....

whelan058

I supply my own gear pads gloves etc, i ownly ask them to get gum shields. It took a while saving to get my own gear but well worth it in the end... started off borrowing my instructors pads and gloves. there not 2 dear if u have a look on the internet...