Sparring : Basics (2024 CHANGES)

Sparring is a time consuming yet enjoyable way to play Toribash. The objective of sparring is to create a smooth and stylish fight scene with added intensity. You can apply the techniques in the guide to make the best looking scene possible.

We spar because it looks sick. Sparring isn't a matter of kicking the ♥♥♥♥ out of your opponent, but instead sending a flurry of movements that flow well.

You'll want to load into the mod called "xspar.tbm". This is what most people use, and uses the ideal settings for a spar.

When you've loaded in, learn how to run to close the large gap between Tori and Uke. There are plenty of videos out there that show you basic running techniques.

This is the start of your sparring journey.

Balance is the most crucial part of sparring. This means shifting the weight of your character to keep stability and control. Refer back to this if you are struggling with balance regularly, or have little knowledge of balance in Toribash.
Balance is the movement of your weight and how it affects your overall movement. Lean forward, fall forward. Lean backwards and fall backwards.
- Why this image?
Well, in Toribash, you cant always stand 100% upright.

To keep reliable balance, keep the feet planted in a wide stance. This will give you stability.

This stance is versatile. In the image, you can see the stance is wide and symmetrical, however this can be changed to shifting the character to a lower or higher position (relaxing legs to drop down or extending hips), or moved to the left or right (glutes).

Get into this stance, and:

If you are falling back, lean forward.
If you are falling forward, lean back.

Twisting is the most important movement to learn. When you punch you twist, when you kick you twist. Even running sometimes involves twisting.

To twist, start in the wide stance.
- Have a leading leg. (Twisting left, use left leg)
- Contract both glutes
- Rotate chest and pecs (if needed)

...and all movements from there are up to you. Get creative, be smooth.

Ankle control is crucial to balance and movement.

• Extend ankles to get grip on the ground
  
• Contract ankles to avoid getting grip with the ground (shifting stance) or in preparation to get grip
  
• Relax ankles to keep feet flat on the ground
  
• Hold ankles to stabilise

If you are in a situation where you cannot stay standing, there are multiple ways to recover.

- Step back
Lean backwards and move a leg behind you.

- Step forward
Lean forward and move a leg in front of you.

- Rolls
You have been kicked and you are falling backwards. A simple way to recover is by using the momentum of your fall to roll across the ground and land with your feet and hands planted. Kicking the ground is a good way to gain spin.

- Flips
Stylish recovery. Moving backwards will help you perform a flip. Check flipping section for more info on how to achieve a flip.

- Jumps
I usually use jumps when I'm losing balance and perform an attack. Check jumping section for more info.

The best move:

- Drop your weight
Relaxing your body will naturally incline the player to drop closer to the ground. You can get into a position to launch, jump, step, spin, but in any case you will be ready to move.

What is fluidity?

Fluidity in this case, is the smoothness of your movements and how smooth a spar is overall.

Minimising sharp movements is important as they can ruin the quality of the spar. Sharp movements (rabidly extending and contracting muscles) are unpredictable, hard to control, and generally bad to look at. So...

USE MORE RELAXED MUSCLES.

Fluidity also relates to the momentum of a spar. You'll follow a left punch with a right punch, a block with a punch. Chest movement is fundamental for keeping momentum. To create more spin from your momentum, bring your limbs closer to keep your mass closer to the centre of your body.

Basic principles to keep fluidity in a spar:

- Keep your own and your opponent's balance
- Counter attack
- Use the force of someone's attack to rotate/displace (chain momentum)
- Use the momentum of previous movements (keeping a spin going or constant displacement)

Remember that relaxing is for natural movements, and holding is for controlled movements. Doing a deliberate action will require you to control it effectively by holding, and finishing that action while keeping momentum will be helped by relaxing muscles.

Controlled action
Relaxed action

I thoroughly enjoy dismembering people. We all love hitting our opponents. However, offence is more fundamental than just attacking. It involves creating angles of attack on your opponent, uncertain movements that can throw your opponent off completely, and meticulously changing the distance in-between you and your opponent. This punch uses the combined forces of his left leg, turning chest, and contracted pec to deliver a left punch. You twist right to punch with your left hand.

Some fighters say that the strongest puncher is the highest jumper. Punches are a kinetic chain, if your feet aren't planted, your punches aren't landing.

A key thing to note about attacking in general is using the whole body to move instead of moving one muscle.

Kicks are all about getting momentum. You will never get an instant kick without changing the rest of your body. To kick, twist your upper body in any direction first. We will twist left as an example.
After you have fully twisted, throw your upper body the opposite direction and lift your back leg. In our example we will kick with our right leg.

Try to focus on your balance when you kick. Kicks are harder because you have to stand on one leg. If you can't keep balance on one leg while kicking, use one of your hands. Hands can be used to create even more rotation and power, and gives the spar a capoeira effect.

This kick uses heaps of rotational momentum to get speed and power. This is done by twisting.

Here are some ways to maintain entertaining combat:

Distancing
The space between ourselves and the opponent will vary throughout a spar. Changing the distance on purpose will create a feeling of unpredictability and tension, as shorter distances means that your attacks will be quickly followed by another attack.

Following through / stopping attack
The connection your attack has will affect your opponent's balance. Following through will push your opponent, and this can be used to create any desired effect, e.g. opponent gets KO'd or almost loses balance.
Be mindful that following through won't always be a good thing, and can stop a spar halfway through the time limit.

Defence comes in many shapes and forms. Let's talk about the different forms of defence.

Seriously. It's really underrated. Makes your opponents look like a flailing car dealership balloon when you step back after they've done a 1080 typhoon toaster bath domestic violence tornado kick. You duck, step back or jump away to avoid an attack. This is heavily focused on balance, as you need to be aware of the direction of your opponents attack, and careful of how your momentum is used. Using a part of the body to block an attack. This lessens the power of an attack.
Some of the best fighters in the world say that you have to defend as hard as you attack. This applies to Toribash as well, as you have to meet some strikes with an equal force. In this photo I shift all my weight and momentum into Uke's kick to protect my head.
Defending against an attack, and using the momentum of your block/jump/step/duck to send your own attack. This is a very difficult skill, however with enough practice and application it can become second nature.
If you really don't want your head caved in, just jump away. This is a simple yet effective method of defense, however it will be hard to close the distance. The brain is the most critical organ of the human body, and in Toribash, it's no different.

Applying head movement in Toribash is a forgotten yet skilful and stylish ability.

Below is a photo with circles to show where you can move your head to. These zones will provide you stability and avoid attacks.

The red zone is what your opponent will be aiming for. The red zone is always there.
All of the surrounding zones are for straight attacks (jab, cross, front kick).
The blue zones are for diagonal hook attacks (turning/spin kicks or hook punches).
The yellow zones are for horizontal hook attacks, and you can use them for diagonal hook attacks as well if you can read them well enough.

Jumps and flips are pretty cool.

To do a basic jump, you first need to get into a position where your legs can spring upwards (standard wide stance works well). You then throw your arms up, and extend your legs.

A launch will unlock more advanced jumps (spinning jumps, flips etc), which make your spar look much more stylish and keep/change momentum.

This is a launch. The back leg is ready to spring the body forward, and the front leg is there to change rotation and add stability. The process should go something like this:

Contract (get in position for launch)
Extend (launch, rotate chest other way)
Contract (tuck limbs in, create spin)
Extend (extend limbs, land.)

Don't be afraid of how you move mid air. As long as you follow the basic principles of fluidity and momentum, a launch is almost always stylish when done correctly. Here are things to avoid when launching:

• Back foot is flat on the ground
  
• Player is not balanced when in launch
  
• Not deep enough into launch position (legs are too straight)

During the 2nd step of the launch, you can change the rotation of your player to create more unique spins.

Generally, grabbing your opponent in a spar is a bad idea, because they can lose balance. However, if your opponent allows it and is experienced enough to keep their balance after a grab, it should be fine. Grabbing objects and the terrain is fine.

With grabbing, you can apply Aikido/Judo style moves, and throw your opponent. You can even use grabbing to maintain close distance, or even to keep your opponent's balance while performing an attack.

How you use grabs is really up to you, however this is not a basic element of sparring.

Thank you very much for reading this guide.

Please be sure to watch and imitate the movements of people sparring, as it will help you spar a lot better.

Honourable mentions:
Matarika
Mocucha
ConCon

and many more to find.