It
is safe to say that Robby and I hold an equal disdain for sparring
week. He hates donning all of the pads and entering the "combat circle."
I hate helping him put on all of his pads and watching him in the
"combat circle." My little Koopa has so many attributes, but aggression
is not one of them.
Despite wearing every pad available, Robby is petrified of being hurt. He also holds a strong aversion towards possibly causing pain on his opponent. While the "combat" at this stage is supposed to be light contact, Robby claims that it is better to be safe than sorry. Therefore, he only attempts to fight back when the instructor stands next to him yelling. All other times he spends the sparring session frantically hopping, dodging, weaving and sometimes blatantly running away from his opponent.
Yesterday he was paired with a particularly aggressive six year old girl. In Robby's defense she is also scheduled to be tested for her black belt this month, so she is far superior in both skill and experience. This young lass was not lacking in aggression, and took after Robby like a pit bull going after a bone. With her arms and legs in full attack, Robby resorted to just trying to run away from her. When he found himself pinned against the back wall with no escape, curled up into the fetal position in the corner.
His instructors, to their credit, tried to encourage Robby to fight back. After he was coaxed out of the corner he assumed his spot on the mat and continued to spar. He made contact a few times, but at this point I'm fairly certain that the little girl was going easy on him. Class seemed to drag on forever, although I'm sure it was longer for him than for me. We went out for a milkshake on the way home, which seemed to soothe some of his frustrations. Thankfully, we won't have to spar again for a few weeks. Maybe by then he will have more confidence to defend and to fight back.
Despite wearing every pad available, Robby is petrified of being hurt. He also holds a strong aversion towards possibly causing pain on his opponent. While the "combat" at this stage is supposed to be light contact, Robby claims that it is better to be safe than sorry. Therefore, he only attempts to fight back when the instructor stands next to him yelling. All other times he spends the sparring session frantically hopping, dodging, weaving and sometimes blatantly running away from his opponent.
Yesterday he was paired with a particularly aggressive six year old girl. In Robby's defense she is also scheduled to be tested for her black belt this month, so she is far superior in both skill and experience. This young lass was not lacking in aggression, and took after Robby like a pit bull going after a bone. With her arms and legs in full attack, Robby resorted to just trying to run away from her. When he found himself pinned against the back wall with no escape, curled up into the fetal position in the corner.
His instructors, to their credit, tried to encourage Robby to fight back. After he was coaxed out of the corner he assumed his spot on the mat and continued to spar. He made contact a few times, but at this point I'm fairly certain that the little girl was going easy on him. Class seemed to drag on forever, although I'm sure it was longer for him than for me. We went out for a milkshake on the way home, which seemed to soothe some of his frustrations. Thankfully, we won't have to spar again for a few weeks. Maybe by then he will have more confidence to defend and to fight back.
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