Sparring (Gyoroogi) is live action spontaneous practice with a partner. Student safety is maintained by a strict set of rules and guidelines that define acceptable methods of attack and defense. Through sparring, students improve their reflexes, speed, and understanding of how to apply each technique. As a form of sport, Tae Kwon Do sparring is part of athletic competitions around the world, including the Olympics.

Light Contact Sparring: Protective gear is worn that includes head gear, chest protectors, forearm guards, groin protectors, and shin/foot guards. Students are permitted to make light contact with kicks or punches to the chest protector of their partner. Kicks may be made towards their partner's head but no contact to the head is to be made. This is the type of sparring done most often in dedicated sparring classes.

Fight Team Sparring: Protective gear is worn but contact tends to be harder than Light Contact Sparring and, if announced by the instructor, light contact to the head is allowed with kicks. The purpose of Fight Team training is to prepare students to dish out and take the punishment that they will encounter in actual competitions yet with enough restraint to prevent training injuries from occuring. See our Fight Team page for more information.

Competition Sparring: While the inter-school tournaments we host are "friendly competitions" where a reasonable amount of restraint is encouraged among contestants to make the events fun, some tournaments where regional and nation titles are on the line are extremely competitive. In these high end tournaments, the blows are very powerful and, in the higher ranking divisions, contestants are occasionally knocked out from legal kicks to the head. Students should not enter outside tournaments without consulting their instructors.

Students that are interested in sparring competitively or that want a more challenging sparring class may enroll in our FIGHT TEAM program.