User blog comment:Volktenen/New Features For Shadow Fight @ Community Collaboration/@comment-24329676-20150329082736/@comment-24329676-20150331065413

What I had in mind with sparring was not PvP but friendly battles between characters in the story such as Sensei or Cypher. This helps you to level up gradually if you are stuck in a location (survival gives about a ten-thousandth of the XP you need to level up, but Sparring gives about a 15th or 20th). This gives you a chance to get out of a pay-wall or difficulty spike without having to play tons of survival to get stronger.