Mega gyms that have abandoned hard sparring?

FIghtxIQ said:
True scrambling takes more energy and causes some weird body parts getting tangled up. Going for hard takedowns will definitely cause injuries, better to be aggressive on getting the take down but not on finishing the takedown. The falling of everyone's bodyweight together is what causes a lot of injuries. People trying to break their fall, or just falling while a body part gets jammed up and ends up breaking/dislocating, or hyperextends the wrong way.
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Yes the very explosive scrambling grappling is likely the most taxing kind of all grapplings. However, wrestling is also very taxing, judo as well, and BJJ while low impact has a lot of wear and tear on joints, the spine, the neck, etc.

Grappling at a high level is often pretty bad for you. When I see all these judokas getting ipponed on their neck and shoulders, all these wrestlers landing on posted arms in weird positions, etc, I have to wonder just how insanely conditioned they guys are.
 
AKA, if you watch IamTheBay (a great behind the scenes channel, on youtube). Their idea is that you need hard sparring to get ready, but it's done with taking power off the punches. Pros know how to not hurt a sparring partner, while still going good speed.

Mitrione talked about him doing touch sparring only. That he moves around normally, but the contact is just taps.

Hearing these stories I believe the hardness of contact is still individual preference. Like Overeem is known to switch gyms regularly, but he still does his own thing.
 
Travis Alexander said:
Some of the hardest sparring I’ve had in my life. Guys like a prime Rashad, King Mo, Luis Cane, Tyron Spong etc etc going hard full MMA sparring where the only things separating it from a fight were 16oz gloves and shin guards. I once had my leg so bruised from Cosmo Alexandre leg kicks I couldn’t bend to sit on a toilet seat for a week. Also I should add it is an absolutely incredible camp and I loved every minute of it. I have nothing but love for my Blackzilian family. The glory days there from Imperial Athletics through the Jaco move were some of the best times of my life.
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Lol
 
Pullout Merchant Islam said:
Josh Thomson made an interesting point in on his podcast that a lot of injuries come from sparring and going too hard in training. He said he's seen guys who were never the same after getting knocked out in practice. Which actually brings this back up.
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good point. Happened to TJ Grant, injured/concussed in training and never came back from it
 
Travis Alexander said:
Some of the hardest sparring I’ve had in my life. Guys like a prime Rashad, King Mo, Luis Cane, Tyron Spong etc etc going hard full MMA sparring where the only things separating it from a fight were 16oz gloves and shin guards. I once had my leg so bruised from Cosmo Alexandre leg kicks I couldn’t bend to sit on a toilet seat for a week. Also I should add it is an absolutely incredible camp and I loved every minute of it. I have nothing but love for my Blackzilian family. The glory days there from Imperial Athletics through the Jaco move were some of the best times of my life.
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Sounds like a fucking nightmare. :). Adrenaline of dread during wrapping. But knowing it’s part of getting better and being part of a team.
 
DoctorTaco said:
I’ve heard team alpha male isn’t sparring super hard anymore. Combat Sports Academy, team oyama, the BMF ranch, even the american top team mothership have all started to work more technically when it comes to sparring.

it’s cool to see a more evolved way of training out of these gyms while still producing world class talent. Are there any other big/mega camps that aren’t going for knock outs and wars in sparring anymore?
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Robbie Lawler didn't spar at all for 6 years. He said in an interview that he already knows how to fight, so he doesn't need to spar. He got fucked up from a concussion, and just decided the benefit of sparring wasn't worth the harm. He just drilled technique and pad work. During his UFC title reign, he only sparred softly once a week.

Vertigo stricken UFC champion Robbie Lawler once took six years off from sparring
https://www.mmamania.com/2015/10/25...ler-once-took-six-years-off-from-sparring-mma
 
superpunch said:
It depends on style too. I'm a shorter guy, so when I used to train I HAD to move in fast, dish out damage and keep punching until I was out of range, then circle out. You can't do that at 50% speed like you can moving around and picking your shots. Sparring at 50% is useful for most guys, but counter-productive and teaches bad habits to guys always at a reach disadvantage.
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But you still know how to not throw at 100% power.
 
Good. Baroni KTFO Hendricks while sparring. Now look at Hendricks.
 
superpunch said:
Yeah for sure. I'm saying the touch sparring that Schaub talked about wasn't very fun. It would just be me standing 6" out of reach getting touched by some Nick Diaz guy like a high school bully haha.
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Reality is its not that hard to not concuss someone in sparring. If you do, you likely went too hard and you're a dick. :)
 
DoctorTaco said:
I’ve heard team alpha male isn’t sparring super hard anymore. Combat Sports Academy, team oyama, the BMF ranch, even the american top team mothership have all started to work more technically when it comes to sparring.

it’s cool to see a more evolved way of training out of these gyms while still producing world class talent. Are there any other big/mega camps that aren’t going for knock outs and wars in sparring anymore?
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It takes a ton more control and precision to hit someone with light to medium shots in full-speed sparring. If someone is worried about bad muscle memory kicking in, they can whale on the bags and pads to make sure they can bang when they need to.

So, yeah, not costing your gym members huge chunks of their potential incomes and career lifepan because they're injuring each other in training is a pretty smart idea. NFL and college teams don't go full contact any more, either, for the most part, for American football.
 
KBE6EKCTAH_CCP said:
Yes the very explosive scrambling grappling is likely the most taxing kind of all grapplings. However, wrestling is also very taxing, judo as well, and BJJ while low impact has a lot of wear and tear on joints, the spine, the neck, etc.

Grappling at a high level is often pretty bad for you. When I see all these judokas getting ipponed on their neck and shoulders, all these wrestlers landing on posted arms in weird positions, etc, I have to wonder just how insanely conditioned they guys are.
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Yeah when I mention grappling I group together all grappling arts because all of it comes with risk of injuries when grappling aggressively or full intensity - that can be wrestling, bjj, judo, sambo, catch wrestling, japanese jiu-jitsu, etc.

Especially when people refuse to tap in training and would rather get injured instead. Happens a lot when grappling vs lower belts, the higher belts will refuse to tap and a lot of injuries happen in training that way.
 
A lot of great thoughts and advice here, but can anyone name any big name gyms that don’t spar super hard?
 
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