Sparring tips if you dont mind

[KempoGuy06]

Ok. Ive been having trouble with my sparring. My problem is my speed. I cant seem to move fast enough. Even some of the lower ranks (we start sparring at white belt) can get around me a lot quicker than i can around them. The only thing i have been able to do is move in when some one throws a kick (squash them up and attack) but this becomes less and less effective as i continue and i dont want to rely on this. When i face higher ranks (brown & black) i just get man handled, i know they obviously have more skill and experience but at a set pace i feel that i should be able to at make land a couple hits but this is not the case. Im having some problems with my knee right now but this should not affect my movement that much in my opnion. Plus it is not a problem of the speed of my strikes it is my speed when moving. At 6'4" 260lbs i now that im not going to be the fastest person in the world but I should see improvements and im not.

My question: Is there anything i can do to improve my speed? Any tips from any one who had the same problem?

B

[LawDog]

Kempoguy6,
When you use footwork you must remember that it is no different than when you strike or kick. Before you can execute a kick properly you must chamber it correctly. By chambering I am referring to the stretching out of the particular muscle groups that are going to be applied into the release protion of your kick. Your footwork works on this same principle, you must make sure that the muscle groups that are going to be applied into the particular footwork action are properly chambered. To move very fast, referred to being light, you should bend your knees over the toe portion of your foot. I'll explane to you what this will do. If you are standing with your legs in a straight position your weight will transfer down straight to your heels. This will make you heavy and slow. when you bend your knees forward, over your toes, your weight will be transfered down into your hips, to your knees and, with your knees forward, towards the front part of your foot. With the weight off of your heels your calfs will be slightly chambered. Your calf muscles can then can be used in your footwork for increased speed, known as being light).
Try standing straight, feel the weight shift toward your heels? now bend your knees forward, the more you bend them the more you will feel the weight shift forward to the front portion of your foot.
This type of footwork does not show a telegraph to your opponent.
Hope this helps.

[KempoGuy06]

Kempoguy6,
When you use footwork you must remember that it is no different than when you strike or kick. Before you can execute a kick properly you must chamber it correctly. By chambering I am referring to the stretching out of the particular muscle groups that are going to be applied into the release protion of your kick. Your footwork works on this same principle, you must make sure that the muscle groups that are going to be applied into the particular footwork action are properly chambered. To move very fast, referred to being light, you should bend your knees over the toe portion of your foot. I'll explane to you what this will do. If you are standing with your legs in a straight position your weight will transfer down straight to your heels. This will make you heavy and slow. when you bend your knees forward, over your toes, your weight will be transfered down into your hips, to your knees and, with your knees forward, towards the front part of your foot. With the weight off of your heels your calfs will be slightly chambered. Your calf muscles can then can be used in your footwork for increased speed, known as being light).
Try standing straight, feel the weight shift toward your heels? now bend your knees forward, the more you bend them the more you will feel the weight shift forward to the front portion of your foot.
This type of footwork does not show a telegraph to your opponent.
Hope this helps.

I have been told somerthing like this before. For me to get in an effective stance like that i have to drop pretty low and spread my legs wide and this feels awkward. It also seems like it takes me a lot longer to throw my kicks. Maybe i need to try it out more and get used to it. Thanks

B

[LawDog]

To do this one does not need a very wide stance. A stance that is slightly wider than your shoulders is ok. A superior fighter always watches his opponents moves, especially his pre-moves,(telegraph). Improperly chambered moves lead to a very proper telegraph.
Have a good day.

[stickarts]

Hello,
While I think you should always keep working on improving speed, You can also compensate by having superior timing (jamming or counterfighting).
I noticed one of my instructors started to slow down a bit as he aged, but his timing and experience compensated for this.

[KempoGuy06]

Hello,
While I think you should always keep working on improving speed, You can also compensate by having superior timing (jamming or counterfighting).
I noticed one of my instructors started to slow down a bit as he aged, but his timing and experience compensated for this.

Do you have any suggestions on how to improve my speed? I have been effective with jambing, but this also takes an amount of speed to pull it off effectively.

B

[Blindside]

I find that most beginners problem isn't their speed, it is usually telegraphing or timing. Timing is a matter of experience, I don't know of any good drill that can teach it, you need to just spar, spar, spar. On the other hand telegraphing can be trained out with a good partner.

At 6'4 you should be eating people up at range. Use a lead leg thrust kick to stop them from closing and then follow up with your hands or punish them with a rear leg roundhouse. Mix this up with blitzing and you should be fine.

[Blindside]

Hello,
While I think you should always keep working on improving speed, You can also compensate by having superior timing (jamming or counterfighting).
I noticed one of my instructors started to slow down a bit as he aged, but his timing and experience compensated for this.

Oy, tell me about it. The most aggravating thing is I can see the hits coming, I just can't do anything about it because I'm off balance or hes hitting me from the perfect angle. :D

Lamont

[KempoGuy06]

I find that most beginners problem isn't their speed, it is usually telegraphing or timing. Timing is a matter of experience, I don't know of any good drill that can teach it, you need to just spar, spar, spar. On the other hand telegraphing can be trained out with a good partner.

At 6'4 you should be eating people up at range. Use a lead leg thrust kick to stop them from closing and then follow up with your hands or punish them with a rear leg roundhouse. Mix this up with blitzing and you should be fine.

Yes Blindside my height has been an advantage. I can usually keep people at bay with my legs or stike out of their range because of my long limbs. Im also trying to learn how to improve my speed so i can match my heght and limb length with some speed.

I guess its time to start doing soccer drills again. If those cant help me get faster i dont know what will. :)

B

[Danjo]

Yes Blindside my height has been an advantage. I can usually keep people at bay with my legs or stike out of their range because of my long limbs. Im also trying to learn how to improve my speed so i can match my heght and limb length with some speed.

I guess its time to start doing soccer drills again. If those cant help me get faster i dont know what will. :)

B

If you have access to a swimming pool, start kicking and punching underwater. Also, learn to relax your muscles a bit as this will help your speed too. It's not as easy as it sounds, but what worth learning is?

[bushidomartialarts]

relaxation is key. tense muscles fire later and move slower.

the more relaxed you are while sparring the faster you'll be.

of course the only was to become relaxed is to log a lot of sparring hours.

[bill007]

Ok. Ive been having trouble with my sparring. My problem is my speed. I cant seem to move fast enough. Even some of the lower ranks (we start sparring at white belt) can get around me a lot quicker than i can around them. The only thing i have been able to do is move in when some one throws a kick (squash them up and attack) but this becomes less and less effective as i continue and i dont want to rely on this. When i face higher ranks (brown & black) i just get man handled, i know they obviously have more skill and experience but at a set pace i feel that i should be able to at make land a couple hits but this is not the case. Im having some problems with my knee right now but this should not affect my movement that much in my opnion. Plus it is not a problem of the speed of my strikes it is my speed when moving. At 6'4" 260lbs i now that im not going to be the fastest person in the world but I should see improvements and im not.

My question: Is there anything i can do to improve my speed? Any tips from any one who had the same problem?

B

One of my first teacher said to me don't block the kicks if you don't need to, just escape and strike back with a punch because the hand is faster than the legs, good strategies can improve your speed, i suggest you talk about that with your teacher.

[stickarts]

Make sure to cover a wide range of speed drills that address different kinds of speed.
Work on initial exposion, work on speed from point A to point B, work on having the ability to change up your technique in mid stream.
This comes from doing reactionary drills, hitting moving targets, and sparring.
Find a good teacher and training partner that can help you with the training!
Working with someone faster than yourself can be frustrating but it is also a plus since it will keep you working hard and improving!

[KempoGuy06]

Make sure to cover a wide range of speed drills that address different kinds of speed.
Work on initial exposion, work on speed from point A to point B, work on having the ability to change up your technique in mid stream.
This comes from doing reactionary drills, hitting moving targets, and sparring.
Find a good teacher and training partner that can help you with the training!
Working with someone faster than yourself can be frustrating but it is also a plus since it will keep you working hard and improving!

I like that advise.

I used to play soccer all the time and I remember the drills we used to run and how effective they were. Since doing these will help condition my legs, do you think they will also help with improving my speed?

Also as for working with someone faster than me thats not a problem since im pretty sure most of the people i train with are :) .

B

[stickarts]

Running will help with your general conditioning but I think the best way to get better at sparring is to spar! :)
There are some great training tapes out there such as Joe Lewis's series.
They go step by step.
Then work the drills over and over.
Some of the drills that appear simple can take years to master!

[Iron Leopard]

I'm just repeating some earlier advice in a different way but, ..If you are constantly moving but not being jumpy you will not allow your opponent to set for his attack as easily. Learn to change your guard and fight from different positions. Also learn to read your opponents shoulders and you will see his attacks before it's too late. That's one of the main keys -reading your oponents body-The other key point I'll make is your guard. I've seen masters avoid getting hit by much faster although lower in rank opponents and it almost seems like they are super human ..but if you ask them they will tell you they block without thinking..there hands are always in the best guard for the situation and their bodies and feet are in the best positions.

[exile]

Can I just ask one thing here?

How aggressive are you in your sparring?

Speed is an important part of fighting, but in a sense attitude and speed are connected: if you are in a passive frame of mind, waiting for techs to come in to you and react to them, you are going to get nailed even if you have lighting speed, because you're behind the other fighter's game. Do you attack from the get-go, and force the oppo the defend? Do you follow up an attacking move with another attacking move immediatesly, so that the oppo's defense is out of date almost as soon as s/he launches it? That sort of thing...

Training reaction time and speed is important, but getting yourself mentally wired to be the predator and the opponent the prey is also an important part of fighting.

[Danjo]

Can I just ask one thing here?

How aggressive are you in your sparring?

Speed is an important part of fighting, but in a sense attitude and speed are connected: if you are in a passive frame of mind, waiting for techs to come in to you and react to them, you are going to get nailed even if you have lighting speed, because you're behind the other fighter's game. Do you attack from the get-go, and force the oppo the defend? Do you follow up an attacking move with another attacking move immediatesly, so that the oppo's defense is out of date almost as soon as s/he launches it? That sort of thing...

Training reaction time and speed is important, but getting yourself mentally wired to be the predator and the opponent the prey is also an important part of fighting.

I agree. Even if you are countering in your style, you can still be agressive.

[KempoGuy06]

Can I just ask one thing here?

How aggressive are you in your sparring?

Speed is an important part of fighting, but in a sense attitude and speed are connected: if you are in a passive frame of mind, waiting for techs to come in to you and react to them, you are going to get nailed even if you have lighting speed, because you're behind the other fighter's game. Do you attack from the get-go, and force the oppo the defend? Do you follow up an attacking move with another attacking move immediatesly, so that the oppo's defense is out of date almost as soon as s/he launches it? That sort of thing...

Training reaction time and speed is important, but getting yourself mentally wired to be the predator and the opponent the prey is also an important part of fighting.

I do both the waiting game and the aggressor. I like to play the waiting game in the beginning, let them think that im wanting them to attack before i will make a move. Then i will pounce, i come in hard either with a flurry of hand strikes or a kick then some strikes. This usually shakes them up gets them off gaurd. That only works for the same or lower ranks. For the higher ranks i wait to see how they react, but im still agressive when i come in.

B

[exile]

I do both the waiting game and the aggressor. I like to play the waiting game in the beginning, let them think that im wanting them to attack before i will make a move. Then i will pounce, i come in hard either with a flurry of hand strikes or a kick then some strikes. This usually shakes them up gets them off gaurd. That only works for the same or lower ranks. For the higher ranks i wait to see how they react, but im still agressive when i come in.

B

That sounds like the right mental strategy. As far as pure speed is concerned... I know I've read some stuff about speed training somewhere... one very important source of guidance: if you haven't already, take a look at some of the speed-training exercises in Loren Christensen's Solo Training. This might well be the single best compendium of technical drills you can do on your own ever written. I like LC's overall `there are no problems, only solutions' approach—whatever you want to improve, you can improve with the right training drills. Check it out; a lot of libraries have it, and if not, it's not very expensive (Turtle Press puts it out). Christensen is Mr. Practicality, so his stuff is very result-driven and doesn't need any fancy equipment, or even very much training space.

[KempoGuy06]

That sounds like the right mental strategy. As far as pure speed is concerned... I know I've read some stuff about speed training somewhere... one very important source of guidance: if you haven't already, take a look at some of the speed-training exercises in Loren Christensen's Solo Training. This might well be the single best compendium of technical drills you can do on your own ever written. I like LC's overall `there are no problems, only solutions' approach—whatever you want to improve, you can improve with the right training drills. Check it out; a lot of libraries have it, and if not, it's not very expensive (Turtle Press puts it out). Christensen is Mr. Practicality, so his stuff is very result-driven and doesn't need any fancy equipment, or even very much training space.

Thanks i will look into that. You think i will be able to find it at a Barnes & Noble or Borders?

B

[Danjo]

Thanks i will look into that. You think i will be able to find it at a Barnes & Noble or Borders?

B

Yes, or online. It's a good book as is his Fighter's Fact Book.

[exile]

Thanks i will look into that. You think i will be able to find it at a Barnes & Noble or Borders?

B

I bought my copy at a B&N. I know for sure Amazon has it in stock, saw that when I was looking up something else by LC. BTW, he also has some excellent tips about balance training (something I find is often neglected in books on physical conditioning for the MAs, even though it's both learnable and usually the hardest thing to develop if you don't have a natural internal `gyroscope'), and all kinds of things about adapting techs to realistic circumstances—a topic about which LC is well-qualified to speak, having trained early in traditional karate and then serving first as a military police officer and then as a police officer in the Portland department, in the VIP security and gang-crime units. He respects traditional arts, but is always poinnting out ways to train them, and train for them, more realistically.

[KempoGuy06]

I bought my copy at a B&N. I know for sure Amazon has it in stock, saw that when I was looking up something else by LC. BTW, he also has some excellent tips about balance training (something I find is often neglected in books on physical conditioning for the MAs, even though it's both learnable and usually the hardest thing to develop if you don't have a natural internal `gyroscope'), and all kinds of things about adapting techs to realistic circumstances—a topic about which LC is well-qualified to speak, having trained early in traditional karate and then serving first as a military police officer and then as a police officer in the Portland department, in the VIP security and gang-crime units. He respects traditional arts, but is always poinnting out ways to train them, and train for them, more realistically.

Balance now that is another area i need to work on. I will check those books out there is a Borders and a B&N right by my house. Thanks again.

B

[John Bishop]

From looking at your previous posts, it looks like you've been training 6-7 months. You may already be as good or better then you should for this amount of training time. I am a firm believer that if you want to be a good fighter, fight more. Watch good fighters, and see what it is that makes them good. Training drills are good, and will improve your skills, but sparring with live partners is the best way to go.
The best way to approach live training is to spar with people who are slightly better then you.
If you spar with people who are worst then you, or as good as you, you'll find that you will only fight to their level. Or develop a false sense of your own ability, because you can beat them.
If you fight with someone who is much better then you, you'll be frustrated and get sloppy in trying to find anything that will work against them. I see it and hear all the time about black and brown belts beating up on lower belt students. The students learn absolutely nothing from that.
Everybody has a little extra effort and ability that they haven't tapped yet. If you spar with people who are slightly better then you, they will push you to go that extra distance, and use your untapped ability. This will help you get better and improve.
But a lot of what is perceived as speed, is actually in the mind. It's simply the mental capacity to recognize threats, and formulate counter attacks in a timely manner. Even if one has the physical speed of an Olympic sprinter, it's useless if they don't recognize the threat in time, or see the openning for an attack in time. You can't cheat time. The longer you train, the better you'll be.


Here's a old magazine article I wrote on developing speed that may help you some: http://www.kajukenboinfo.com/speed.html

[exile]

Balance now that is another area i need to work on. I will check those books out there is a Borders and a B&N right by my house. Thanks again.

B

My pleasure, KempoGuy, and let me know what use you're able to put LC's stuff to. I agree, balance is one of the keys to the MA kingdom, and it's probably harder to train than strength (though I do think the two are related: it's hard to balance when the relevant change in your body configuration involves the weaker limb, and it's not always easy training the crucially involved muscles directly using standard free weight methods). Anything good you come across involving balance training, do let me know—I'm always in the market for that!

[KempoGuy06]

From looking at your previous posts, it looks like you've been training 6-7 months. You may already be as good or better then you should for this amount of training time. I am a firm believer that if you want to be a good fighter, fight more. Watch good fighters, and see what it is that makes them good. Training drills are good, and will improve your skills, but sparring with live partners is the best way to go.
The best way to approach live training is to spar with people who are slightly better then you.
If you spar with people who are worst then you, or as good as you, you'll find that you will only fight to their level. Or develop a false sense of your own ability, because you can beat them.
If you fight with someone who is much better then you, you'll be frustrated and get sloppy in trying to find anything that will work against them. I see it and hear all the time about black and brown belts beating up on lower belt students. The students learn absolutely nothing from that.
Everybody has a little extra effort and ability that they haven't tapped yet. If you spar with people who are slightly better then you, they will push you to go that extra distance, and use your untapped ability. This will help you get better and improve.
But a lot of what is perceived as speed, is actually in the mind. It's simply the mental capacity to recognize threats, and formulate counter attacks in a timely manner. Even if one has the physical speed of an Olympic sprinter, it's useless if they don't recognize the threat in time, or see the openning for an attack in time. You can't cheat time. The longer you train, the better you'll be.


Here's a old magazine article I wrote on developing speed that may help you some: http://www.kajukenboinfo.com/speed.html

Thanks you as always Mr. Bishop, thats article was insightful i will have to relay some of that to my instructor when we have sparring if you dont mind that is.


My pleasure, KempoGuy, and let me know what use you're able to put LC's stuff to. I agree, balance is one of the keys to the MA kingdom, and it's probably harder to train than strength (though I do think the two are related: it's hard to balance when the relevant change in your body configuration involves the weaker limb, and it's not always easy training the crucially involved muscles directly using standard free weight methods). Anything good you come across involving balance training, do let me know—I'm always in the market for that!

Exile i will let you know what i find, i plan to stop by Borders or B&N sometime this week, i may do it today in fact.

B

[KempoGuy06]

Exile, i went by Borders last night and no luck. I will need to order it but before i do i plan on checking B&N and Books-a-million.

Also my instructor purchased this piece of equipment designed to improve balance. It is flat on one side and half of one of those big boucey balls you find at gyms (cant remeber what they are called. You inflate the one side and you can stand on either side to help with balance. Throw punches kicks whatever. It works. I will find out what it is called tomorrow when i got to class.

B

[Infinite]

Just a side note JKD (OPPINION) is probably one of the best at teaching this type of stuff right off the bat.

Speed is actually as other people have stated a set of principals.

1) How fast it takes for you relize you need to react.
2) How fast your muscles respond to your mental stimulation.
3) The distance that you have to cover.
4) The speed in which you can cover it.

Anyone of those may seem like you are slow when in fact there are underlying causes.

So you may want to sit down and practice in each of those four catagories to determine which are the factors that you feel need to improve.

For reaction time you can use an alternating light pattern as long as it is random. See left light->left strike->right light->right strike.

For muscle reaction time there is really only one way to improve it... Repatition. The more the neurons travel the path the easier it because to travel it.

As for timing/cadence, Well sparring :)

Finally the problem of actual speed. Sadly I've always been very fast so I really only worked ont he other area's... I'm going to go buy Exiles book too :)

[exile]

Exile, i went by Borders last night and no luck. I will need to order it but before i do i plan on checking B&N and Books-a-million.

Also my instructor purchased this piece of equipment designed to improve balance. It is flat on one side and half of one of those big boucey balls you find at gyms (cant remeber what they are called. You inflate the one side and you can stand on either side to help with balance. Throw punches kicks whatever. It works. I will find out what it is called tomorrow when i got to class.

B

Thanks in advance for that info, KempoGuyt—I haven't encountered that piece of equipment but it sounds like a great training tool!

As for book issues—you might be able to get your library to get it on interlibrary loan if they don't have it in; if you like it enough as you read it to see that you want it as a reference book you always have at hand, Amazon might be faster than a special order at B&N or Borders...

Thanks again! :asian:

[Infinite]

Thanks in advance for that info, KempoGuyt—I haven't encountered that piece of equipment but it sounds like a great training tool!

As for book issues—you might be able to get your library to get it on interlibrary loan if they don't have it in; if you like it enough as you read it to see that you want it as a reference book you always have at hand, Amazon might be faster than a special order at B&N or Borders...

Thanks again! :asian:

Oh and for balance seriously don't laugh... Yoga.

That stuff puts you in positions that you never knew you had.

[KempoGuy06]

Exile here you go http://www.performbetter.com/detail.aspx_Q_ID_E_3510_A_CategoryID_E_438

it is a little expensive but it does work.

they also have a smaller one http://www.performbetter.com/detail.aspx_Q_ID_E_4747_A_CategoryID_E_438
B

[LawDog]

Soft Vison vs Hard Vison.
Most non-professional fighters / trainers never work on their or their students vison - soft vs hard.
Hard vison is when you look at a point directly and you can see very little around this point.
Soft vison is when you look at a point and, still while seeing this point can see a large area around the point.
In a confrontation soft vison is extremley important. You must be able to see your opponent in his entirity and his / your surroundings with very little eye movement.
To help develop this soft vison when in training, doing presets or even training sparring you should never think about what you are going to do in words, you should picture you motion before doing it.
If you read a book you are reading words, when you first start reading you probably can see your entire book page and part of your desk top. As you contine reading these words you vison becomes very narrow until you can see a paragraph or so. This same effect happens if you think about something in words for a period of time, narrow vison. This will cause you to develop stall time in your motion. this happens because your mind usually has to anayse these words and then convert the words into motion.
Whit an image this will not happen, it converts directley into motion. Example, you are driving your can, a dog runs out infront of you, you see the image and you then will respond correctly in an instant.
With soft vision,
1) You see your opponents entire body,
2) See his motion with little or no additional eye movement,
3) See your/his surroundings so that you can use the area like a chess board,
4) See your motion prior to you attacking with little or no stall time and get an instant response from you body.
I would write more in detail on this subject but it would require to much thread space & my time.
Think about it.

[King]

After reading your post and some of the advice posted, I don't think your problem is speed. On the first page Blindside mentioned something about range and you admitted being over 6 feet tall. Just one question, how tall are the people you spar with? I mean are they shorter than you or just about the same height?

You see my point is tall people should fight like tall people and short people should fight like short people. But if your instructor and your peers are all short... Then you kinda learn how to fight like a short person. Meaning you rob yourself of your natural weapons which is your range. Strategy wise a tall person should pummel his opponent with from far while a shorter person would rush in to nullify this advantage. Let us put is this way, who would win in this fight - a person with a long sword or a person with a dagger who is locked up in a small closet?

I'm just saying at close range you are at a disadvantage. You can't swing your weapons properly that is why they all seem so fast. Speed is an illusion my friend, it's all about strategy and timing. Learn your distance, force your opponent there, push them off when they get close then punish them. Footwork, footwork, footwork! :) Goodluck with your training.

[dragonrl]

After reading your post and some of the advice posted, I don't think your problem is speed. On the first page Blindside mentioned something about range and you admitted being over 6 feet tall. Just one question, how tall are the people you spar with? I mean are they shorter than you or just about the same height?

You see my point is tall people should fight like tall people and short people should fight like short people. But if your instructor and your peers are all short... Then you kinda learn how to fight like a short person. Meaning you rob yourself of your natural weapons which is your range. Strategy wise a tall person should pummel his opponent with from far while a shorter person would rush in to nullify this advantage. Let us put is this way, who would win in this fight - a person with a long sword or a person with a dagger who is locked up in a small closet?

I'm just saying at close range you are at a disadvantage. You can't swing your weapons properly that is why they all seem so fast. Speed is an illusion my friend, it's all about strategy and timing. Learn your distance, force your opponent there, push them off when they get close then punish them. Footwork, footwork, footwork! :) Goodluck with your training.

I agree. I used to spar with a buddie of mine who is 6'5" and I am 5'10". If I stayed out of range, he usually worked me. But if I got on the inside, the only thing that he could do was head shots and shots to my back while I handled him on the inside.

[dragonrl]

How is your breathing? My taller friend always had problems with "airing up" and that put both his balance and his speed down. Try breathing lower, from the diaphram.

As far as building speed, I used to sit in a horse stance and practice basics. I would then go faster and faster and eventually it seemed like my enviornment had slowed when I had actually gained speed. It made sparring a little easier =).