How to spar an aggressive fighter shown in the shared video

Question

This week, in the fighting session, I'm going to spar with the blue fighter in the linked video below:

https://kapwi.ng/c/6DK9Gm0E

• Is very aggressive
• Is heavier
• Makes heavy use of Kihap i.e. shouting
• He corners the opponent and won't give much opportunity to fight back
• He doesn't let the opponent to hesitate

What would be a good strategy to spar with such fighter? I'm afraid I'm going to be embarrassed!

UPDATE

Now is one week later. I fought with the blue fighter. I mostly employed these strategies among @SteveWeigand suggestions:

• Diagonal side-stepping into the opponent weak spot
• Being active and moving, not being a locked target
• Using combinations, like following spin kick with front, round and side kick
• Decoy: faking my previous combinations and following up with something else
• Shouting (Kihap), mostly just responsively

What I couldn't do:

• Half-beat timing: the fight speed was so high for me that I was not able to think about half-beat timing. Actually, I don't know it. I need to learn.
• Reading the opponent: I could guess how he's going to attack, but other than basic defense with hand, I wasn't skilled enough to know what else I can do.
• Separating properly from the opponent when sticks himself to me
• Managing the fight when I ran out of breath.

I feel pretty competitive and feel like a real contender =)

Now, I'm thinking about the next week fighting session and my to-learn priorities.

Answer 1

This is normal for Taekwondo. Aggression is far preferred to defense. You don't get points by waiting for them to come to you. And you don't get points for blocks. So TKD's main game is to always be on the attack. At least when continuous sparring, not when 3 point limit sparring.

I talked a little about this in some of my previous answers. First, in the following link I talk about the difference between "high percentage" and "low percentage" techniques:

What is the best point-scoring technique?

That answer talks about Taekwondo in particular and points to statistics about which techniques actually win points in TKD sparring. The primary take-away from it is this quote:

In general the highest percentage techniques and strategies are the ones that can be done safely, effectively, quickly, and in the most number of situations.

For Taekwondo that would be simple, linear, direct, quick techniques. That would be: the round kick, front kick, and side-kick.

Taekwondo's spinning kicks are an exception, which TKD people use quite a lot. They're done because of two reasons: 1) they effectively close distance, thereby setting up a combination which follows from it. And 2) if it goes badly and results in falling, the TKD player is simply asked to get back up. The rules in TKD make it so that spin-kicks are not as risky as they ought to be.

I talked about those statistics more in the following answer as well:

Study on Songahm TKD sparring matches - Wide count ranges?

And then there's my next answer to read:

How to defeat a much stronger and bigger opponent?

In that answer, the question was how to deal with bigger, stronger opponents in TKD. And my main take-away is:

So your main focus for preparing for this tournament should be on basic techniques - the ones you learned in white belt. That would be the basic jab punch, the reverse punch, the round kick, the front kick, and the side kick. Keep your kicks to the mid-section, rather than aiming high.

I talked briefly about half-beat timing in order to neutralize his leg reach advantage, if he's bigger than you. You would do well to add that to your own training. It will take you to the next level if you haven't already figured it out.

As for dealing with aggression, and someone who is always coming at you and pressing forward into you, you must not step backwards, because that makes it much easier for him to target you. You have to side-step. Step towards his weak side. For most people, that's their left side (your right side). I would also encourage you to step not just sideways but also diagonally either towards or away from your opponent. Diagonal stepping is harder for the eyes to track, and so it makes you less of a target.

Another piece of advice I'll give you is to always keep moving. Don't stand still. But move in unpredictable ways. Don't just keep circling around him counter-clockwise. Don't keep doing the same strikes and combinations.

Here's an answer I wrote describing why you want to always keep moving. I discuss tracking a target and how the human brain has to juggle variables and make guesses about where the target will be:

Defence in martial arts in general

In short, always keep moving. Don't make it easy for your opponent to track you.

And finally, learn to read and to decoy. You probably already are working on these skills. Reading your opponent will tell you what he's probably going to do next. If he has a habit of leading with a front leg front kick, for example, then that's excellent news for you. That means you can take advantage of that knowledge and prepare ahead of time for it. Step diagonally in towards him on his left side, and then throw a round kick or a front kick to his face or body. But you need to time this so that you begin right as he's starting his technique (for half-beat timing).

As for decoying, it works on the same principle as reading. You're going to let your opponent see you performing some combo technique over and over again. Do it 3 times at least while protecting yourself. Make sure he has it figured out and is able to block it or counter it. Then do it again, but this time change the combo mid-stream into something that hits him and gives you a point. He thinks you're doing X, but you're actually doing Y.

In summary:

1. Stick with your basics, nothing fancy.
2. Practice half-beat timing.
3. Practice side-stepping, especially on diagonals.
4. Always keep moving, in unpredictable ways.
5. Learn to read and to decoy.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

He is moving quite slowly and favours a front kick.

You can bet he will use a front kick against you. So train to deal with that.