Hey everyone, I'm currently in the procces of seeking out sparring partners and was wondering if there was anyone on here in my area. Is anyone from Connecticut or Rhode Island?
hello, hmmmm... sounds like you are on the southern end of rhode island. if this is the case, you might just wanna hop the train to new york once in a while. if you can range further north to, say, providence/cranston/warwick area, you can find some decent guys. call mat santos at (phone number removed as per ToS). he knows EVERYONE around that area. let him know what you need (bjj, boxing, muaythai, mma, other) and where you need it. he'll try to hook you up. he was always pretty good about that. happy hunting. thanks
WHAT?! I always thought you lived in England. It must have been the "Stonington" for your listed location (sounded English to me : P!), missed the CT.
Close, im in southeastern Connecticut. Mat santos, I don't know the name, I'm only really savvy on the karate scene around me. I'm not so concerned with style at this point, I just want some sparring practice. The dojo I go to (although the instructor is fantastic and I'm happy here) is very small, and mostly kids. I've really run out of sparring partners of my size and skill. Everyone seems to be moving away or just dropping out unfortunately. I'd love to go to another dojo for sparring every once in a while, but things are a little political around here unfortunately. I do hate karate politics, people take something that should be fun and turn it into this big giant political kerfuffle.
Lol, New England has a weird mix of English and impossible to spell Native American names for towns. Plus, I think I've picked up some English vocabulary between my posting here (there are tons of English people on this forum) and my love of doctor who/torchwood.
See, who could blame me?! I was born in Fall River Mass., most of my family lives in Tiverton RI though. If I'm ever up there visiting I'll shoot you a PM to maybe get some training in if you promise you won't go all crazy and claim you have to kick or shoot or stab me to make sparring even
Are you looking to "spar" outside your style? Are you considering other things besides karate? If yes, there are plenty of good schools in CT (CT is not a big state by any means well at least on this side of the pond ) and they might be worth exploring to get outside of your comfort zone. I'm sorry if you mentioned it before but what is your "size and skill"? Also the politics exist in one shape or another in most martial arts groups and depending on where you are in the group you just may not see it. IMHO the important thing is how (and if) we let it affect our training to the point where it stops being enjoyable.
I'd be open to training outside my style, but it wouldn't be ideal. I'd informally meet with people of any style, but I'm not so much looking for another dojo (although it may come to that).. As for my size and skill, I'm 5'11". 176 lbs, black belt and I'd like to believe fairly good. I've always done well in tournament (although I've only competed in point sparring wich was never my forte. I much prefer free sparring)
Its a deal! I've always wanted to try a couple rounds of boxing, and you look like you could give me a good wallop if (when) my lack of boxing experience presents itself
Too bad because there is a great BJJ school near you in Norwich at Macarra BJJ Norwich http://www.bjjnorwich.com/ They are under Marcio Stambowsky who has his academy in Norwalk and IMO this would be a great place to "test" yourself.
Ive been to matt santos gym and t is a great place. Not political at all. Another great fighting Gym is Keith Allan's Combative Arts Group. Also nice people no politics and you can pay for a days training and get a great sparring session with talented folks.
At Sifu Allan's place its 15 or 20 bucks to get a a few hours work out. Stand up, ground, stick, or JKD work depending on the day or who shows up...lol
update, i just went up to ichiban karate (this is where my instructor trains and teaches) for a sparring class and absolutely loved it. because my sensei teaches there as well i can take lessons free of charge, so my price concerns are met. i plan to head up there every week i can from now on.
I use to work with this Legit Bad Ass Shorin-Ryu Karateka named Cliff Cohran has a school near the casino.. he has done Full Contact no hold barred Kumates. Editing out contact information. Please review MAP's policy on advertising.
What type of sparring are you working on? I've started getting a little more involved in live sparring. It has been slow because of a car accident but i am getting back into the swing of things. More specifically i have been working Chi Sao, hubad, focus mitt drills, and some submission grappling. Im not big on the wrestling but it is a range of combat and grapplers own it so im getting some lessons on escapes and such.
a bit of a mix, we did a variety of drills, mixed with live sparring. no grappling, but there is rarely grappling in karate sparring anyway. especially not shorin ryu.
I think i've heard of the guy. thanks for the info, but i think i'll stick with ichiban, the guy i'm training with up there has knockdown experience as well, is a fantastic instructor and great guy, and i get lessons free. my finances are in a bad situation for now (that will change fairly shortly when i get a CNA job, but that takes time). this guy is incredible, some of the fastest kicks I've ever seen. and every time i see him do a spinning hook kick i swear i feel the wind!
