Primal STRIKING 

Primal Striking.

Much like our grappling and MMA programs, our striking programs are all live and interactive. We just spar? Kind of yes. I know, and it's our hardest sell! 

 The Art of Striking.
Becoming a skillful striker is not easy. But it's relatively simple. Unfortunately all the bags, padwork and drills will do little to develop striking skills. (Seriously, head over to our blog page to get an idea of why this is). At Primal we consider 'sparring' to be any unscripted interaction that is unpredictable. This can be as simple as, is my training partner throwing a right or a left. What striking is in its purest sense is becoming sensitive to opportunities to attack and defend against a live partner. The techniques and combos and counters aren't much use if you can't land them. Striking is about cultivating relationships and learning to pick up signals from the noise. 

We've been hoodwinked.

Open your IG and you'll see all sorts of impressive and beautiful striking techniques and combinations. Hundreds of coaches 'showing' you the perfect form. Add the footwork, hand-eye co-ordination, head movement drills, throw in some pool noodles, agility ladders and flashing lights and you might be convinced that stuff can help you learn how to strike. But it's all mostly fluff and a waste of time. 

Sparring is really the only way to become a skillful striker. 

Again, sparring at Primal means only unscripted and live. And we get to sparring immediately. This means scaling our sparring activities as we progress. 

But what about technique?

Meh, techniques will come along for the ride. The same way everything else comes along when you do it enough. Seriously, we've been doing this long enough. Techniques comes in time as we build the skills. 

More Sparring makes sparring safer!

Of course sparring can be dangerous and risky, however this is typically a result of inexperience, lack of control and discipline and an irresponsible sparring culture. Primal is committed to a safer approach to sparring by becoming better at sparring. By sparring immediately and sparring often, we can start to cultivate the control, trust, discipline that is needed to shape our gym's sparring culture.

What about my brain?

At Primal we take brain health and safety seriously. In our novice programs and for those under 18, head contact is strictly prohibited. This ensures a safer learning environment and allows practitioners to focus on control, reduce anxiety, build trust and development some skills without undue risk.

Furthermore, at Primal, no participant is ever expected to engage in head contact during sparring without a personal, informed choice, coupled with the approval of our coaching staff. 

Finally, hard or reckless sparring is never tolerated at Primal. Our team understand that it's the movements and speed of the strikes that help us learn and grow. Not the forces. Can we make sparring completely safe and risk free? No, but we can and do make it much safer. 

Culture is everything!

Cultivating a Culture of Mutual Respect: Our sparring culture is built on a foundation of trust, respect, control, and playfulness. We believe that sparring is not just about testing your skills but also about building camaraderie and understanding within our community.

So, don't be scared about sparring. It can be a ton of fun and (relatively safe). For more of the science and rational for our approach to striking at Primal, head on over to our blog and podcast page.