WCI Review - Taner Erdogan - Sparring and Applications
The friendly red-shirted IMAA team takes centre stage once again with youthful vigour and, as always, a well-produced, high definition instalment of their series of instructional videos, with Sifu Taner Erdogan taking the stage and the added assistance of one of their IMAA instructors, Sifu Mark Weber. In this offering, it is their first time lacing up the leather, with the focus on sparring and application. Its runtime is a lengthy, non-stop (unchaptered) 90 minutes that rolls with the punches and lands some good points.
As always, you can't build without a sound foundation in place, so the opening instructional segment references what one should have already learned from the empty-hand forms, drills, exercises and Chi Sau practice, before adding sparring to their training regimen, and how those key conceptual points come into play to expand the practitioner's fighting skills. Sifu Taner's wisdom is also reflected in his addressing that there are greater variables involved when engaging an opponent, which these training methods expand on, in being prepared for the perils of combat.
Some key points addressed, which one may not have been privy to through other training methods, are the ideas of engaging and disengaging, footwork and movement, gauging the threat, and reading the movements of the individual in front of you to better protect yourself, and control some of the variables presented by someone whose intentions are to serve up physical harm outside of the constructs of system drilling. Sifu Taner, throughout this breakdown, shows some immediate responses to counter-attacks to employ before squaring off with one another.
Stepping into the ring, Sifu Taner says, "This is a game. It really is a game", to break down perceptions that fighting prowess requires more than just belief, conviction and commitment to training, but to step outside of the comfortable constructs of the training environment when introducing a live partner that will attack you in a variety of ways.
As the video evolves, so do the consistent reinforcements and further introductions of fundamental system concepts from the empty-hand forms finding their way into the dialogue to complement the information with relative, not novel, insights.
Finally, the gloves get laced up, and it all comes together in a live engagement, starting with one as the designated attacker and the other the responder. The demonstration is slow and steady, with the maintenance of structured engagement and dialogue for the audience. It continues with individual attack patterns and is capped off with a free-flow exchange by both parties moving, adapting, controlling, and throwing counterstrikes at each other, resetting only when it has been recognised that one of them has taken control of the other by landing a series of damaging and/or finishing blows.
The flow of fists and feet find their mark repeatedly, with friendly yet highly energetic exchanges, offering another instructional method of coaching to help adapt and improve, and heighten awareness in the heat of the moment. This video offers training and coaching methods for anyone looking to test and develop their fighting skills to higher levels.
Taner Erdogan - Sparring and Applications
Language: English
Running Time: Approx. 90 min.
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