Methods for training speed

[xiao yao]

Hope everyone had a good new year!

In another forum I post on, somebody asked me what specific drills we have for training hand speed in mantis. I've never heard of any specific methods to develop speed, except just doing your techniques gradually faster and faster..... does anybody practice any of these "speed drills"?

[Lee Chiang Po]

Hope everyone had a good new year!

In another forum I post on, somebody asked me what specific drills we have for training hand speed in mantis. I've never heard of any specific methods to develop speed, except just doing your techniques gradually faster and faster..... does anybody practice any of these "speed drills"?

Don't just shoot for speed. Go for perfection of technique and fluid motion. Water moves downward at a relatively easy pace, but is almost impossible to catch. That is because once it begins to move, it does not stop or hesitate.

[mooyingmantis]

Will,
I only teach one specific drill for hand speed. I am sure that little of what I say will be new to you, but here goes.

I believe the keys to hand speed are minimum motion and relaxation.

1. Minimum Motion: This consists of eliminating unnecessary motions from a strike and striking along the shortest possible path. I often videotape my students doing drills and sparring. We go over these videos individually and/or as a group. We look for things like: Did the student make an unnecessary short step before throwing a kick or punch? Does the student retract their hand before moving it forward? What tells does the student perform before initiating a strike? Does the student move the body before engaging the hands (a no no)? Do the eyes betray the student's intent as to movement or target? Do the student's hands move from their original position to the target or does the student raise the hands then strike toward the target?

2. Relaxation: After breaking the bad habits mentioned above, the student must learn to go from relaxation to full tension. Sparring is a very important training aid. It helps one learn timing and distance, among other things. Yet, it also ingrains the idea of striking from an on-guard stance. Street defense doesn't always offer the luxury of preparing from a fight by assuming an on-guard stance. I make my students practice striking from relaxed, hands at the sides, natural standing, sitting and lying positions. No pre-tensing is allowed. The whole body must be relaxed, not just the arms.

The specific drill we practice has the aggressor standing within contact range of the defender with both hands hanging loosely at his sides. The defender raises his hands, palms forward at throat level. The aggressor takes a cleansing breath, pauses his breathing, then strikes at the defender's suprasternal notch/jugular notch with his middle and index fingers (Immortal Points to the Road), while the defender attempts to slap the aggressor's hand away.

No, it is not rocket science. It may even seem very basic to the point of being silly. Yet, after many decades of practicing this easy drill, very few advanced practitioners have been able to stop me from lightly touching their throat when demonstrating this drill.

BTW, if striking the throat sounds too hazardous, change the target to the forehead.

[YouKnowWho]

Did the student make an unnecessary short step before throwing a kick or punch? ... BTW, if striking the throat sounds too hazardous, change the target to the forehead.

I like a similar speed training as you have described. Both persons will start from a "spring ready" position and stay outside of the kicking range.

If

- any of your opponent's hands can touch on your head (a light touch will be enough. It's testing for speed and not testing for power), he gets 1 point.
- both of your hands can pass through next to his head (since you are not striking any target, it will be safe for your opponent), you get 1 point.

The simple rule set is when one person moves in, the other person has to move in at the same time. If the other person moves back, he will lost 1 point. It's like the "Renaissance Festival spear fight". You and your opponent may only have one shot in that full speed commitment. You will either get 1 point, or lose 1 point.

Try this for 20 rounds, record the result.

[xiao yao]

Richard and John Wang,

When you mention things like that... I feel I am on the same level. It's when people talk about plucking leaves from trees I get perplexed.

[mooyingmantis]

Richard and John Wang,

When you mention things like that... I feel I am on the same level. It's when people talk about plucking leaves from trees I get perplexed.

LOL! Though plucking leaves from trees on a windy day would help develop speed, hand-eye coordination and timing. Much easier than chopsticks and flies!

Though I never pick on poor, defenseless trees. :p

[sanjuro_ronin]

There is speed, there is quickness and there is reaction time.
You need to train all 3 ( and any other you can think off).
Richard is quite correct when he speaks of relaxation and correct technique (minimum motion), they are crucial.
There are many drills but the key elements is how you then apply the attributes that you have built into fighting.
Of course the answer is: sparring.

One thing we MUST be aware of and that is: Follow-through
Many times when we train speed we end up "flicking" our techniques and lose impact force.
We must be very thorough in our development of correct follow-through (penetration) as well and that is where hard/full contact training comes in.

[YouKnowWho]

If you

- have intention to generate power, your arm will always have some tension. Your body will never be in 100% relaxation.
- don't have intention to generate power, your arms can truly be relax and move fast.

The question is how good is "speed without power". Where can you use "speed without power"? It may not have much usage in the striking art. But it has great usage in the grappling art. If we look at the octopus arms, it moves in fast speed but it doesn't generate any striking power. In the following clip, you can see that his right arm moves in straight line with no striking intention (no power generation intention). His striking intention is to use his whole body to strike.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYqF-H_1YUs

[mawali]

I would add that 'body positioning' is part of the equation in "finishing move(ment)". Of course, "entering move" is part of equation. I also add body placement in reference to speed (perhaps quickness/reaction time per one of the responses) and movement.

[xiao yao]

Thanks guys, some great answers here.

I hadnt really put much thought into specifically training speed, I naturally move quite fast, maybe due to my small build.

Having fast hands is easy, my fast footwork is much harder IMO

[china mantis]

Hope everyone had a good new year!

In another forum I post on, somebody asked me what specific drills we have for training hand speed in mantis. I've never heard of any specific methods to develop speed, except just doing your techniques gradually faster and faster..... does anybody practice any of these "speed drills"?

first of all, you should know how to push your power to flow in you body. if you want to move you hands faster, you should push your power to flow faster. only when internal qi flows faster, then exteral shape will move faster.