Speed, acceleration and quickness

[mastercole]

How do the Taekwondoin who are reading this train to develop the following, in regard to;

Stepping/footwork skills:

- speed
- acceleration
- quickness
- agility

Kicking skills:

- speed
- acceleration
- quickness
- explosiveness

 

[Cyriacus]

Repetition.

 

[bugatabugata]

On "Kicking skills" -- squats, a whole big bunch of squats. 100 every other day (2 sets of 40; 1 of 20), trying to slowly work my way up to 4 sets of 50 daily. Helps with all four sub-points.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I use resistance bands, plus drills like this (but without the target at the end...). Length of the dojang, turn aroud and repeat.

[YT]TON3QVvdi7M[/YT]

 

[ralphmcpherson]

I agree with cyriacus, repetition is key. We also do a lot of work on core strength and do sprint work and some fast stepping patterns around markers, backwards and forwards. For punching we do a drill where someone holds a pad at head height and the attacker has to start with hands at their sides and try to hit the target before the guy holding the pad has a chance to move it, this one teaches speed as well as not telegraphing something is coming.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I agree with cyriacus, repetition is key. We also do a lot of work on core strength and do sprint work and some fast stepping patterns around markers, backwards and forwards. For punching we do a drill where someone holds a pad at head height and the attacker has to start with hands at their sides and try to hit the target before the guy holding the pad has a chance to move it, this one teaches speed as well as not telegraphing something is coming.

Sounds a lot like the "slap hands" game we played when I was a kid.

 

[Archtkd]

How do the Taekwondoin who are reading this train to develop the following, in regard to;

This are some of the things we do in our dojang in addition to drills on basics and sparring:
Stepping/footwork skills:

– speed – Indoor foward and backward solo sprints, foward and backward partner sprints, rope work,
- acceleration – indoors stair running, outdoors hill sprints
- quickness – repeated solo and partner footwork drills - step foward, step back, slide foward, slide back, side to side, half-step foward, half step back, etc.
- agility - foward and backward figure-of-eight runs around obstacles, floor ladder drills

Kicking skills:

- speed – paddle work at stationery and moving target, kicking x-ray paper, partner on the spot exchange kicking drills, partner movik exchnage kicking drills (foward, backward, side to side)
- acceleration –
- quickness – partner hogu drills, moving kicking shield drills, sparring
- explosiveness – repeated paddle and bag work from squats, back and forth feet-together jumps over 3 to 4 feet obstacle, jumps from squats. Signal paddle drills

 

[Earl Weiss]

First I define certain terms which may be different than how some define them.
Speed is viewed different ways lets use kicking as an example:
1. Speed of the foot at impact. How fast is the foot actualy moving.
2. Shortest elapsed time. ("quickness"?) How long does it take from initiation of move to impact.
3. Percieved speed ("Quickness"?); How long does it take from the time someone can tell what you are going to do and impact.

I do a couple of things depending on what we are working on. They are not exclusive vis a vis only using one and not the others.

Percieved speed is important. The first thing that should move is the kicking foot. A noticeable weight shift or prepatory motion will increase the perception time making the technique slower and easier to defend against. Stance alteration and knowing how you do something as well as third party observational analysis is used to overcome this.

Speed at impact and shortest elapsed time are mechanical issues resolved thru analysis and correction. A common correction is to require the person to have the rear foot on the ball of the foot, knee bent and initiate the real leg kick with a push off (Like a sprinter from a starting block0 rather than a weight shift and lift. ) Perhaps easier to show than explain.

 

[puunui]

A common correction is to require the person to have the rear foot on the ball of the foot, knee bent and initiate the real leg kick with a push off (Like a sprinter from a starting block rather than a weight shift and lift. ) Perhaps easier to show than explain.

The push off is with both feet, not just the back foot...

 

[Earl Weiss]

The push off is with both feet, not just the back foot...

Well, I have to admit I am lost on this one without a better or visual explanation. I can see how the lead leg push ads to distance to a rear foot kick, but not a shorter elapsed time.

 

[oftheherd1]

Well, I have to admit I am lost on this one without a better or visual explanation. I can see how the lead leg push ads to distance to a rear foot kick, but not a shorter elapsed time.

Same for me. When I studied TKD, we were taught to have some 70%, more or less, on the rear foot. That made it much easier to kick with the lead foot without signaling. Joon Goo Rhee did a few times demonstrate a jump from that stance, of 3 to 5 feet, landing in the stance, and continuing forward several jumps that way. At any point of landing, the balance was such that he could stop and deliver a kick. Incredible to watch. I don't think any of us could duplicate the speed, balance, and continuance of that.

One thing I do think is important, is what he constantly told us. Always strike with maximun power (speed), always look for a new maximum. We heard it often. I think that mind set is important and should not be overlooked along with the strength and speed training.

EDIT: Another thing we learned was to try to increase our speed and power at the end of the strike. Then as you increase the speed over all, the end becomes even faster. It tends to throw off the timing of your opponent's block, increasing the probability of a successful hit. One should of course try to focus maximum power at the point of the hit.

 

[andyjeffries]

Same for me. When I studied TKD, we were taught to have some 70%, more or less, on the rear foot. That made it much easier to kick with the lead foot without signaling.

Whoah! That would feel weird. We've always been taught that it's 50:50. No bias towards attacking or defensive footwork. No bias towards front or rear leg.

I guess it's the nature of competition differences between ITF and WTF. In ITF more strikes landing scores more (so having a light/quick front foot helps), in WTF only powerful strikes score (so you don't want to have a bias to only be able to use one leg powerfully).

 

[Cyriacus]

Whoah! That would feel weird. We've always been taught that it's 50:50. No bias towards attacking or defensive footwork. No bias towards front or rear leg.

I guess it's the nature of competition differences between ITF and WTF. In ITF more strikes landing scores more (so having a light/quick front foot helps), in WTF only powerful strikes score (so you don't want to have a bias to only be able to use one leg powerfully).

Close - I find that its an inherant trait. When I trained ITF, I learnt 70% on the back leg, but it wasnt for that purpose. I do, however, know exactly how You came to figure that conclusion, since I used to hold it as well.
The reason is because Traditionally, Youd start with the Hands, then follow with the Feet. Even if it was just moving the Hand Positions. Having weight on the Back Leg helps chamber Kinetic Energy, or something like that. It isnt as fast, but it hits hard and pushes hard. It also makes it easy for you to switch to a forward stance at a moments notice.
In ITF Sparring, People tend to develop a variation of a 'Sparring Stance', which in many ways resemble WTF Sparring Stances. The biggest difference is, WTF Competitions tend to lead with the legs. So do ITF Competitions. But if Youre using a back-foot-weighted backstance, more than likely in a not-point-based-bout, try leading with the Hands, then using the Rear Leg. It makes sense to Me, anyway.
I guess its similar to how some Boxers weight down their front foot, so as to lunge easier, only in reverse. A Boxer would shuffle, a TKD Practitioner would step out into a different stance.
Additionally, WTF Sparring tends to involve trickier footwork, where these more weighted stances are meant for simpler movement. The same goes for ITF Sparring of course, but in a different way.

Its 1:43am, and if that doesnt make sense, Ill gladly reply again tomorrow, with what will probably be one short sentence thatll make a ton more sense than all that

 

[ETinCYQX]

Sport specific training for me is resistance bands, lots of reps. 200 every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I also use isometric squats (Korean chair) and lots of plyo drills. If my athletes weren't so young (thirteen) I'd have them on a 3x5 strength building program as well.

Of course nothing beats repetition. They do a lot of kicking as well. I would say my competition classes focus more on conditioning than sparring, or at least 50/50.

 

[RobinTKD]

Whoah! That would feel weird. We've always been taught that it's 50:50. No bias towards attacking or defensive footwork. No bias towards front or rear leg.

I guess it's the nature of competition differences between ITF and WTF. In ITF more strikes landing scores more (so having a light/quick front foot helps), in WTF only powerful strikes score (so you don't want to have a bias to only be able to use one leg powerfully).

This is mostly true from my experience of ITF sparring, but I will say it depends on the fighter. I like a 50:50 split between each leg, so that's what my instructor helps me with, the second Dan at the Dojang is more like a 60:40 split front:rear because he says it helps him jump higher, which he loves to do.

 

[ATC]

The one attribute that I don't see that is as equally as important if not more so is, timing. I have seen some super fast guys get beat pretty badly by slower guys because of timing. The slow guy would have better timing and the faster guy would have no timing at all. Fast guys tend to rely on speed for everything and lack timing. Also distance plays a major part as well. Timing plus distance will beat pure speed every time.

I have the people I train work on footwork for distance and timing more than any speed drills. I tell them that I could care less how fast you are, If you are at the wrong distance then what good is all that speed. Also if you don't understand the timing of an attack or counter then what good is the correct distance. Foot work for timing and distance will make you look faster than you are.

 

[Zenjael]

I attempt to do as many cleanly executed kicks as possible in a minute, and beat the amount each attempt. Repetition and stretching will help.

 

[puunui]

The one attribute that I don't see that is as equally as important if not more so is, timing. I have seen some super fast guys get beat pretty badly by slower guys because of timing. The slow guy would have better timing and the faster guy would have no timing at all. Fast guys tend to rely on speed for everything and lack timing. Also distance plays a major part as well. Timing plus distance will beat pure speed every time.

Timing and distance can be taught. Speed, just like heart, cannot be taught, although it can be enhanced, to a certain degree. If someone has timing, distance but no speed and he faces someone with timing, distance and speed, the speed guy will win every time.

I have the people I train work on footwork for distance and timing more than any speed drills. I tell them that I could care less how fast you are, If you are at the wrong distance then what good is all that speed. Also if you don't understand the timing of an attack or counter then what good is the correct distance. Foot work for timing and distance will make you look faster than you are.

Wait until your kids reach the senior black belt divisions. I would like to know if your ideas about speed still hold at that level.

 

[puunui]

Well, I have to admit I am lost on this one without a better or visual explanation. I can see how the lead leg push ads to distance to a rear foot kick, but not a shorter elapsed time.

Hard to explain in words. But pushing off with both feet is a key concept in kicking in both hapkido and kukki taekwondo.

 

[ETinCYQX]

Hard to explain in words. But pushing off with both feet is a key concept in kicking in both hapkido and kukki taekwondo.

I have an awful time teaching this sometimes, seems like a hard concept to grasp.