Who actually Free Spars??

Hi there Wing Chun Bros
I'd like to start my first post by opening a real can of worms!
Does any of your Clubs or lineges Free Spar?
If you do, How important do you think it is?
Chi Man

Hi Chi Man,
My club spars on a fairly regular basis and I feel it's a very good way of training. Not only does it test your skills but also helps to irradicate the fear of being struck. Hows about your club?

We dont spar like glove up and go for it.
But we do a fair amount of Chi Sao every lesson and thats pretty close to sparring in wing chun terms! It certainly makes you sharp thats for sure!
Chi Man

I personally try to refrain from putting Chi-Sau into a Sparring catagory, mainly because Chi-Sau in most cases starts from a point of contact and remains in a point of contact.
Sparring on the other hand begins from no contact and deals with many different ranges, with those ranges constantly changing throughout the exercise.

Both forms of practice are great tools for honing the skills, but neither can be classed as real fighting in my opinion.

Jin-Ka

I dont know Chi Sao in our club gets pretty heated at times!
But I understand what you mean Jin-Ka when practicing we generally consentrate on chasing and sticking.
Chi Man