Freestyle Sparring [Paperback]

Woo Jung (Author), Jennifer Lawler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 1999

Build an explosive freestyle sparring arsenal with powerful techniques, precise timing, and superior tactics! Packed with valuable sparring drills and strategies, Freestyle Sparring provides the tools you need to develop and refine your fighting skills.

Grandmaster Woo Jin Jung, a lifelong Taekwondo artist and 8th Dan black belt, has written the ultimate freestyle sparring resource for beginning, intermediate, and advanced martial artists in all hard-style disciplines. Regardless of your current skill level, Freestyle Sparring's skills, drills, tactics, and conditioning will help you become a faster, stronger, smarter fighter. Grandmaster Jung shares his wealth of knowledge and experience by providing the following:

-Detailed instruction of proper technique

-Drills for refining technique, timing, and conditioning

-Skill assessment checklists to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses

-Mental tactics that provide superior focus and discipline

-Strategies for incorporating techniques from other martial arts styles

-Specific guidelines for tournament competition, including equipment, uniforms, and sparring rules for both Karate and TaekwondoSample training programs provide step-by-step guidance in developing efficient, effective workout regimens, including plans for preparing for competition and schedules for year-round training. Over 160 photos illustrate 110 sparring techniques, including punches, kicks, blocks, and strikes. Whether you enjoy sparring as one aspect of martial arts training or wish to excel in competition, Freestyle Sparring gives you everything you need to take your fighting skills to the next level.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"
"""Sparring books are few and far between, and "Freestyle Sparring" is one of the best I've ever read. The book would help any instructor be a more effective teacher in training classes."""
Willie ""The Bam"" Johnson
Master Wushu Practitioner
Six-time UMAC World Champion

""Freestyle Sparring "offers useful training and fighting instruction for all hard-style martial artists, from beginner to black belt. Grandmaster Jung covers many key fundamentals in this informative book."""
Carol Davis Hart
Managing Editor, Tae Kwon Do Times

""Freestyle Sparring" is an insightful perspective on sparring techniques by one of the world's true Grandmasters. Woo Jin Jung is a mountain of integrity to the fighting spirit of Taekwondo."""
General Choi
Past President Korean Tae Association
Founder of the International Taekwondo Federation

""Freestyle Sparring" is a valuable text for all serious sparring enthusiasts."""
Jhoon Rhee
Father of American Taekwondo

""Freestle Sparring" contains the fundamental essence of Taekwondo's combat dynamic."""
Grandmaster Chung Kim
Kim's Blackbelt Academy
"

Review

"

""Sparring books are few and far between, and Freestyle Sparring is one of the best I've ever read. The book would help any instructor be a more effective teacher in training classes.""

Willie ""The Bam"" Johnson
Master Wushu Practitioner
Six-time UMAC World Champion

""Freestyle Sparring offers useful training and fighting instruction for all hard-style martial artists, from beginner to black belt. Grandmaster Jung covers many key fundamentals in this informative book.""

Carol Davis Hart
Managing Editor, Tae Kwon Do Times

""Freestyle Sparring is an insightful perspective on sparring techniques by one of the world's true Grandmasters. Woo Jin Jung is a mountain of integrity to the fighting spirit of Taekwondo.""

General Choi
Past President Korean Tae Association
Founder of the International Taekwondo Federation

""Freestyle Sparring is a valuable text for all serious sparring enthusiasts.""

Jhoon Rhee
Father of American Taekwondo

""Freestle Sparring contains the fundamental essence of Taekwondo's combat dynamic.""

Grandmaster Chung Kim
Kim's Blackbelt Academy

"

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Human Kinetics (October 14, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0736001298
• ISBN-13: 978-0736001298
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,565,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you've never sparred before, October 29, 2000

By 

"spiritualmechanic" (Knoxville, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freestyle Sparring (Paperback)

I just bought this book, and I think it's a pretty good intro to get the feel of what goes on when sparring, and how to think, what to look for, etc. I recently started a karate class, and I was wondering how I should begin to think about sparring, because it was something completely new to me. This book talks about basic rules, basic strikes, and gives you a clue on what kind of counters work for certain openings. It's probably not very helpful for people who have been sparring a while, but it definitely made me more confident since I haven't done a whole lot of sparring and since I suck at it. But now I know what to look for and how to get better (beyond just practice, practice, practice) and so I think this book was valuable.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I was aSTUDENT of Mr. JUNG 10 years, March 13, 2007

By 

Jerome E. Owens - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Freestyle Sparring (Paperback)

Master instruction from a master instructer.I was a student of Mr. jung until I began FCR kickboxing.I bought this book specifically to work on my kick counters and anything else I had forgot under the tutelage of Master Jung.I personally recomend this book for any level really.Nobody knows it all, guys.
Jerome Owens 3rd Dan TKD,Former North American welterweight champ,CurrentlyWorld ranked by ISKA,#2 IKF superwelterweight contender.

3.0 out of 5 stars Can't imagine ever hitting someone? Nor could I..., April 7, 2011

By 

R. Hunt (Cincinnati, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Freestyle Sparring (Paperback)

Especially when just beginning the study of a martial art, the wave of new terms, forms, teachers, movements, precepts and cultures can be as mentally overwhelming as the physical onslaught to intense cardiovascular workouts and aches in places you didn't know you could stretch before. Early in the journey, less is more...so allowing the student to simply immerse herself or himself in the tumble of all the "new" is enough.

But four or five months later, you begin to look for specific instruction in the areas you feel most ill-equipped or uncertain about. For myself, one of those areas was definitely sparring (even though I had wrestled competitively for almost a decade, I had never hit or kicked anyone before in my life, so striking another person seemed unimaginable [a note to aspiring wrestlers: freestyle/collegiate is pretty much the ultimate high-water mark in the sport: there are no pick-up wrestling matches once you're out of school and to even mention the spectacle of "professional" wrestling is simply profane]).

There are three essential places to find specialized instruction within the art. First and foremost, your teacher. Books and videos are next.

Freestyle Sparring is a good resource for anyone about a year into their studies. The first third of the book details the similarities and differences between tae kwon do and karate, focused on the blocks, kicks, punches, and footwork for each.

The first half of the middle section had the most resonance for me -- the mental aspects of martial arts -- and the second half was a good reminder: the need to stretch mindfully and regularly. The remainder of the book was devoted to sample training schedules, but as martial arts really aren't anything you can do solo, the training in the dojo is essentially whatever the class does. Good to see there's a balance of material so the reader can try things out on his or her own, and if these exercises prove to have value for them, so much the better.

The heart of this book is the heart of each respective practice: for TKD, it's the tenets of courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit; for karate, it's commitment to training, discipline to avoid ego, necessity to be self-aware, focus to concern oneself with training (as opposed to slipping into just theory) and responsibility to behave ethically in all areas of life. All ten of these are good rules for life. Almost a contradiction on the surface, at the core of the flurry of fighting, these steadfast, strong ideals will guide the martial artist upon the path of contemplative, caring and continuous improvement.