Free sparring is an extremely important part of Tang Soo Do training. It is an area where one must pay very careful attention to proper practice. It is essential to approach sparring practice with a solid strategy, a sound technical foundation, a healthy attitude, a good sense of personal discipline and a proper etiquette, as well as an understanding of the appropriate use of technology with regards to safety and equipment.

One must understand that each Tang Soo Do instructor does a great deal of preparation with students, before introducing them to free-sparring. Students are introduced to the basic techniques through line work during regular training sessions. Tang Soo Do instructors

Meticulously drill their students on the blocks, punches and kicks that will later be integrated into the free-sparring. Students spend many hours perfecting hyungs (forms). Hyung practice imparts such qualities as transitions between stances, focus, and proper technique development. All of these qualities are essential to developing a good understanding of free-sparring. It is always easier to develop a practitioner who is a champion in hyung into an excellent free-sparring practitioner than it is to develop a champion in free sparring into an excellent hyung practitioner. Tang Soo Do instructors also spend a lot of time teaching their students one-step sparring. This type of training helps students understand distance, focus and proper footwork, all attributes of a good fighter. Finally Tang Soo Do instructors will personally direct each student’s introduction to sparring making sure that they are aware of all the regulations associated with safety and competition.

There are two major types of free-sparring suitable for Tang Soo Do schools. The two types of sparring are referred to as (A) Dojang sparring, (B) competition (sport) sparring. Although the techniques used in these types of sparring could be potentially dangerous and could result in a knockout or serious injury if not properly controlled, full contact sparring (kick boxing), traditionally is not included in the Tang Soo Do venue.

Dojang sparring is primarily concerned with students exchanging energy in a positive way. In other words, Dojang sparring is a method where both practitioners can learn from each other in a supportive way. Students are encouraged to alternate their offense and defense while attempting to develop more of a versatile repertoire of techniques. The emphasis is not on scoring points but rather on a continuous exchange of energy, sometimes giving energy (attacking) and sometimes receiving energy (defending). Dojang sparring allows the practitioners to develop combinations and precision timing that can later be applied to point or competition sparring.

Competition sparring on the other hand emphasizes the sport aspect of sparring. It is in this method of sparring that students can compete in an atmosphere that cultivates their growth and development while providing a set of rules that places the safety of the competitors first. All practitioners whether they participate in Dojang sparring or competitive sparring are required to wear protective gear for the head, hands and feet. Practitioners are also required to wear mouth guards and groin cup protectors. Tang Soo Do competitions do not allow contact to face or groin, or the back while allowing light moderate contact to the sides and front of the body. When one looks at injuries occurring in other sports, such as Hockey, Basketball or Football, one realizes that Sport karate is actually a very safe activity. Qualities like sportsmanship, mutual respect for each other and personal discipline insures that karate practitioners compete in the healthiest environment possible.