I’ve been seeing this in Japan arcades for years, but I don’t really understand how to approach it. I remember a long time ago I tried playing against one of the sparring players… I defeated one of them, and they kind of left the arcade. So I was obviously interrupting… or I wasn’t playing the right way?
The best way I can describe it-- It’s two player, but even though one player depletes the other’s health, the objective isn’t really to beat your opponent. The only objective I get is to drag out a match. For instance in SF3, you’d parry, block, evade projectiles, or break throws a lot. Not so much in the way of combo practice. It’s definitely not just BS’ing and practicing. There’s something more specific to this ‘sparring’ style.
I guess I want to know what routines go into sparring (what I call it), and if there’s anything I can learn from this style of play. Thanks to anyone who can offer a helpful answer!