Originally Posted by
Jimbo
Djuan:
PalmStriker makes a good point about oversized egos, testosterone and even sociopathic personalities in many MAists, to reliably have a general sparring community, for the most part.
That said, out of all the teachers I had, there were three main ones that often gave us such opportunities. The first one was my Kenpo teacher. It wasn't uncommon for guests (or guest groups) from other schools and arts to drop by, and he would always invite them to join the sparring. And my teacher was always the first one to spar (at the time, he was in his early 30s to 40 years old). We were also lucky, because he had friends and students who were professional kickboxers and pro boxers who regularly sparred with us. It was a great learning experience.
The second teacher I had like that was one of my Mantis teachers in Taiwan. He wasn't much older than I was, and he was in a position for his students and himself to prove ourselves to establish himself. He also had upper classmates from his various teachers, some of whom would bring their students and come 'exchange' with us. These other stylists included Bajiquan, Wing Chun, Hung Gar, Lei Tai/Sanshou, combative Taiji, Bagua, etc. In addition, some of my classmates had friends from different schools that a few of us would meet with one night a week at a remote, neutral spot at Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Park to spar with. It was kept friendly and under control, because there was some type of connection already.
The third and last (but not in importance!) of my top instructors is my CLF Sifu. To prepare us for certain events, he would invite other schools of teachers he was friends with to bring their black and brown belts to spar with us, or he'd take us to visit their schools. It was always pre-arranged in advance. Mostly the other fighters were Kajukenbo and Kenpo, some of whom were also point fighters or pro kickboxers, and a few did both.
The key point among all three teachers was that they had long-established networks of other teachers and MAists who were trusted enough to come in and spar, and be confident that things wouldn't spiral out of hand. If someone just walks in off the street and 'challenges you, you have no idea who you're dealing with. If he gets hurt or fakes an injury, will your school be facing a lawsuit? Or what if a student is hurt? Is the challenger mentally stable? I remember my Kenpo teacher accepting a few blatant challenges from people coming in off the street, throwing a pair of gloves at them and then beating them handily, but not really injuring them. But that was back in the '70s into the early '80s. Things are different now.