“Speed is inconsequential if you are headed in the wrong direction.”
-Matshona Dhliwayo
While that quote is meant for life itself, and not specifically for martial arts, it is easily applied to our training. In my years of learning, many things have stood out to me as keys to effective self Defense. One of those things has always been speed. My folly is that I believed that you can actually train your body to be faster. This is not entirely accurate. When we do speed exercises and training, what we are actually doing is teaching our minds to respond to certain stimuli with a specific activity.
Like the quote says, it doesn’t matter how fast you are, what matters is what you do with it. When a punch is sailing towards your face, but you are unable to block or dodge in time, it is not because your reaction time is slow, it is because your mind doesn’t know what to do in that time you have. Some research that I’ve read is that the human’s actual reaction time, from stimulus to action, is approximately the same in all of us. It’s the time it takes for your mind to realize what is going on, make a decision and act upon it. The problem is, if you don’t know what to do, it will appear that your reaction time is much slower than the other person’s.
When we train our speed drills, we need to focus on the idea that we are making those decisions before we have to make them. We are training our mind and body to react to certain stimuli based on how we work. That way, when that punch comes in, the decision is already made and your mind doesn’t have to work as hard to respond.
One of the drills we work on in our classes is the basic blocking and punching drill. One person punches in a prescribed sequence, while the other blocks. Then they change sides. While the techniques are prescribed, it is the inevitable mistake of memory that causes an error that we will have to react to in order to not get hit. This exercise also trains us to not get so stuck in a pattern that you are unable to react to changes in it.
When working on your speed, you are also building explosive strength in your body. The ability to generate power with the speed of your movement. While doing this, think about creating those neural pathways that tell your body when you perform the technique, this is how fast and how strong it needs to be. If you want to be able to hit fast and strong, you need to practice fast and strong.
That said, always start slowly at first, allow yourself to make mistakes because you do not want to train yourself in making mistakes faster. Smooth out the mistakes and the speed will come with it. Once there, the strength will follow and soon each and every block and strike will be done with precision, speed and power.
Train hard,
-Head Instructor Shawn Morris