increasing speed,

jobo

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a new lad turned up at the dojo last night, and he was quick, really really quick. Very possibly a good bit quicker than I was at his age( late twenties), however it made me feel really really slow, he could hit me twice before I could react to, never mind block the first strike.

so,,,, I need to work on my speed.

what drills or exercises do other do to build speed of movement and reaction time?
 
a new lad turned up at the dojo last night, and he was quick, really really quick. Very possibly a good bit quicker than I was at his age( late twenties), however it made me feel really really slow, he could hit me twice before I could react to, never mind block the first strike.

so,,,, I need to work on my speed.

what drills or exercises do other do to build speed of movement and reaction time?
Reaction time is mostly about pattern recognition. There's little that can be done to change the actual time it takes to physically react, but we can dramatically reduce the amount of time needed to start that reaction. The first thing I'd want to figure out is whether he's actually that much faster, or is there something odd about his movement that's making it harder to recognize? If he's presenting a pattern you don't yet unconsciously recognize, your reaction to him will be slower than to others. Are others having the same issue? Perhaps some you already know are a bit faster than you - and when you watch, do they seem to be responding with their normal "speed"?
 
Reaction time is mostly about pattern recognition. There's little that can be done to change the actual time it takes to physically react, but we can dramatically reduce the amount of time needed to start that reaction. The first thing I'd want to figure out is whether he's actually that much faster, or is there something odd about his movement that's making it harder to recognize? If he's presenting a pattern you don't yet unconsciously recognize, your reaction to him will be slower than to others. Are others having the same issue? Perhaps some you already know are a bit faster than you - and when you watch, do they seem to be responding with their normal "speed"?
he was a blur, you couldnt recognise the pattern as he had all ready hit me twice, before I had even register his movement, I did speed up after a while, but nowhere near enough to match him,
 
Good way to help improve your speed....stop sparring with 9 year olds and work with adults instead...



P.s don't take the comment seriously it's meant as a joke :)
 
Good way to help improve your speed....stop sparring with 9 year olds and work with adults instead...



P.s don't take the comment seriously it's meant as a joke :)

the nine yo is in his twenties now, and id be very wary of taking him on at all, he was very fast when he was nine might have my hands full now
 
he was a blur, you couldnt recognise the pattern as he had all ready hit me twice, before I had even register his movement, I did speed up after a while, but nowhere near enough to match him,
How about the other skilled people in the room? Were they moving normally, but being outsped, or were they having trouble reading the punches?
 
How about the other skilled people in the room? Were they moving normally, but being outsped, or were they having trouble reading the punches?

Yes he was far faster than everyone else, including the instructor, I'm not realistically expecting to be able to match him ,he is,30 years younger, but it made me conscious of how slow my movements are by comparison.

so got to speed them up
 
a new lad turned up at the dojo last night, and he was quick, really really quick. Very possibly a good bit quicker than I was at his age( late twenties), however it made me feel really really slow, he could hit me twice before I could react to, never mind block the first strike.

so,,,, I need to work on my speed.

what drills or exercises do other do to build speed of movement and reaction time?
if i remember correctly your big into fitness weight training...yeah dont do that. if you have been into traditional exercise you have pretty much trained your muscle tissue to be slow as molasses.
 
if i remember correctly your big into fitness weight training...yeah dont do that. if you have been into traditional exercise you have pretty much trained your muscle tissue to be slow as molasses.
Strength training isn't entirely contrary to speed training. The two can be put together (you see this a lot in team sports). But you make a decent point - it may be useful for the OP to look at his workout and make sure there's enough explosive work in the right areas.
 
we all need strength training but the old school methods are the not beneficial for fast twitch muscles. so i would start by looking at what you do for workouts. i will have to find the info to link it ,but there is a school of thought about doing less weight but making the motions faster this is something i use to do. the gyms never really liked me doing it and people would give funny looks. :) i believe you really need to work the muscle with plyometrics. i liked throwing the medicine ball back in forth with a partner but you have to concentrate on the muscle going from 0 to 60 as fast as possible. i would want to train that explosive action. kettle bells might be good.
 
if i remember correctly your big into fitness weight training...yeah dont do that. if you have been into traditional exercise you have pretty much trained your muscle tissue to be slow as molasses.

Not necessarily, it depends on how you do it. You can do power sets where you use a weight that you can lift ten times and lift it ten times and in each repetition explode and try to get the weight up as quickly as possible.
 
a new lad turned up at the dojo last night, and he was quick, really really quick. Very possibly a good bit quicker than I was at his age( late twenties), however it made me feel really really slow, he could hit me twice before I could react to, never mind block the first strike.

so,,,, I need to work on my speed.

what drills or exercises do other do to build speed of movement and reaction time?

Unfortunately, the only real solution is to de-age 30 years or so. With luck, when speed degrades timing and experience will compensate, but only so much.

Fighting is a young man's game.
 
a new lad turned up at the dojo last night, and he was quick, really really quick. Very possibly a good bit quicker than I was at his age( late twenties), however it made me feel really really slow, he could hit me twice before I could react to, never mind block the first strike.

so,,,, I need to work on my speed.

what drills or exercises do other do to build speed of movement and reaction time?
Points of reference help.
 
There's a few exercises, and fitness regimens, that can increase speed, yes, that's right, actually increase speed.

Let's start with hand/arm speed. Here's one of them -

Start a training regimen of clap push ups. Not clapping in front, clapping behind your back. Sometimes when we start someone on this, we'll have them put a pillow under their face. And encourage them to turn their face if they aren't going to complete the push up - and end up face planting. If you can't complete one, there's an easy way to build up to that.

Start with a push up. Now, do the push up with a blast and have your hands come up off the floor. Do it again and clap in front, again, blasting off the floor with the hands. You'll see how much time you have, which is more than plenty. Then - do the push up and clap the side of your thighs and catch yourself. To make it easier, start on your knuckles and land on your palms. This will give you and extra beat, as you're starting higher and landing lower.

After you've done the clap of the thighs, it's just a few more inches to clap behind your back. Once you get it, and again, it's a lot easier than it reads, work the hell out of it.

Think about how fast your hand moves when you accidentally touch a hot stove. That's how quick you can be with your hands right now, which is pretty quick when given the right stimulus. You can even get that natural reaction slightly quicker with a good regimen of speed drills.

Side note - I hadn't actually done a clap-behind in a few years. So I just tried a few. Despite a shoulder that I tweaked yesterday, it was fine, and I'm an old man. Give them a try. Work the hell out of them. You should see a difference in speed in just a few months.

There's several other exercises that compliment this, we'll get to them later if you're interested. And one of them is with weights. And it's a corker.
 
In order to be able to have fast punch, you will need to loose your

- shoulder joint,
- elbow joint, and
- wrist joint.

This way when you punch, your energy can go from your back all the way to your hand. When you can swing your arms around your body and you can only see shadow of it, you will have developed some speed.

An old friend of mine tested his kicking speed by

- get out of shower.
- while your body is still wet.
- kick your leg out.
- check to see whether your leg is completely dry or not.
 
I tell you what, back in the seventies, Joe Lewis was so fast that if you fought him and blinked - you died in the dark.
 
One day a guy challenged the preying mantis master Brendan Lai in his martial arts supply store, Brendan said, "Let's make this challenge fight simple. I will throw just one punch at you. If you can block it, you win, otherwise I win." When Brendan said that, Brendan moved his right punch toward the challenger's chest as if that would be his target. When Brendan asked, "Are you ready?" and the challenger said yes. Brendan punched on the challenger's face instead. I like that kind of civilized challenge fight.

IMO, he has some good speed.

 
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a new lad turned up at the dojo last night, and he was quick, really really quick. Very possibly a good bit quicker than I was at his age( late twenties), however it made me feel really really slow, he could hit me twice before I could react to, never mind block the first strike.

so,,,, I need to work on my speed.

what drills or exercises do other do to build speed of movement and reaction time?

Pre empt. Set him up better.
 
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