What's rubber guard?

I was actually discussing Jujutsu w/ some of the kids at my Dojo today. One of the kids hates sparring and always makes a fuss when the instructor wants us to spar. He did the same thing today so the instructor caved and decided to NOT have us spar (gee, thanks ). I told him that he doesn't need to be scared of sparring because it's SO much safer than a real fight because he's in a nice, controlled and safe environment (flat dry surface, 1 v 1, no weapons etc.). I also added that another advantage is that the person that he spars with (the other kid) is also a Karateka and therefore he knows all the techniques that his partner will use on him (in fact, his partner is of a lower belt!). This kid then started bragging about how "I know everything he knows!", so I told him that he would not have this advantage on the street against fighters who use other fighting styles/methods. He'd lost interest in what I was trying to say to him (sigh), but the other kid was more interested and I started talking to him about Jujutsu, which he'd never heard of before. It's interesting how insular his views (not just the kids, but some adults at the school too) have toward martial arts; as if they actually cannot even imagine what different styles might be like.

I explained to this kid that Jujutsu doesn't employ striking but is more reliant on grappling and take-downs... I don't think he had any clue as to what this mean. So I asked him to throw a punch, and I gently took him down and did a very simple armbar (not that I'm very good at it, but he's just a kid so even a badly done armbar was enough to give him some basic idea of what being taken down and grappled was like). Up till tonight I think his idea of 'fighting' was entirely based on tournament style point sparring. But he told me that he did like the idea of a fighting style that didn't hit people. He's a really gentle person and he's said that he really doesn't like the idea of hitting another person, and others have criticised him for this because that's apparently his "weakness" in his last tournament where he was unable to land any decent hits onto his opponent that would score points. But I heard that the other opponent (who was a higher belt) was also unable to land any hits on him, so I repeatedly praised him for that... I told him that he doesn't NEED to hit anyone in a fight -- if he can avoid being hit then he's done very well! Everyone else (including his parents) kept on encouraging him to "do better" next time and hopefully land more hits in, but I kept on praising him for just not getting touched! Seriously... he deserves to get praised for just avoiding getting hit! If another kid at school or someone on the streets tries to hit him, and all he does is dodge/block/parry and run off then that's perfect! If he hits back then he gets suspended from school too (as schools suspend all students who use violence, even if it's in self defence). I wish that others were more encouraging of this boy's natural tendency toward a more passive and pacifistic form of self defence rather than trying to encourage him to become some kind of kickboxer. Considering his personality, I reckon he'd be better off doing a more passive/defensive martial art like Jujutsu, Aikido, Tai Chi etc. What's the point of spending all this time and money learning to punch and kick when he doesn't want to use it in a fight?

IMO a lot of students at our Dojo should try sparring w/ a grappler some time, because we do NO grappling... not even any breakfalling ever. I do use Tai Chi take downs and grappling when I spar*, but sparring's becoming increasingly rare at this school which is more focused on techniques and Kata... and that's all great, but gee I'd like to spar once in a while (or even do more two person drills, almost everything we do is just individual work). I honestly haven't done any sparring at the Dojo since July!

------------------------------
*I have to be extremely careful when I do take downs because my partners don't know how to breakfall... I often just move in to tip them off balance so they're just about to fall, but then pull out so they don't actually fall. Or if I do take them down, I do it slowly and gently because there's also no mats; I often slip another arm behind the head to protectively cradle it as they fall backwards (to avoid having the base of the skull hit the floor, which it totally would if I did a full forced take down!).