Sparring seminar

Meerkat just attended a 3 hour sparring seminar given by our JJ association head. It was the first of its kind for Jikishin since each club usually takes it under its own capacity to teach sparring with everyone ending up with their own ideas. JJ head decided it was time to streamline things a bit and get everyone thinking along the same lines.
The seminar began with a briefing of the rules. Nothing new there. But it was clear from his opening speech that JJ head was a big fan of MMA and was happy to introduce elements into our sparring work. Maybe I heard it wrong, but I'm sure there was a little dig at Gracie jiu-jitsu at one point - maybe I misheard. Anyway, the session proceeded and we went through a variety of takedowns and kick/punch combinations. I think what was valuable was the main idea that one should avoid flapping arms around in a vain attempt to block an attacker and instead, keep elbows tied to body and block more economically. Sensei also was clear to establish that sparring for sport was very different to self defence work.
My uke for the day was a good sport and we were bashing the pads and each other with gay abandon. To the point where sensei told us to tone down the power and aim for speed - which we did for about 2 seconds before bashing each other again. Poor Meerkat shouldn't have eaten his sandwich just before training, cos it nearly came back up again. The session ended with a few minutes of groundfighting with my uke which I enjoyed thoroughly, then it was over.
I kind of miss the kicking and punching of sparring and this seminar was a nice reminder of my past passion. I wish I had more time to do it.
In other news my Dad is recovering - the other day he managed to take his first steps. A massive improvement when you think that bits of the brain die in stroke victims and they have to learn to do things all over again. Fingers crossed he improves even further.