Alertness drills?

Sihing KwaiChangCaine humbled me in class last night.

Any tips on how to improve alertness with solo drills or is this only something that can be worked with a partner? I mean...how exactly can one surprise him/herself? :confused:

Only drill I read about was hanging tennis balls at face, fist, leg height and get them moving and attempt to dodge or perform techniques. Haven't tried it yet but would like to know if anyone else has and if it worked...

Any other suggestions are most welcome.

i usually become more alert after i get hit by a student who has started after me....;)
the tennis ball thing seems like a good idea, but working in two seems to be the best way

Another thing you can do is dot drills.

Imagine, if you will, 4 dots placed on the ground about 3 feet apart in the shape of a square. Now imagine a fifth dot placed in the middle so the dots look like a 5 on dice.

Now stand on one dot with your feet together. Get a friend to time you for 30 seconds or a minute. Now jump with both feet together from dot to dot around the square. At "random" intervals have your friend yell "switch". When you hear switch, change directions. Go as fast as you can.

That one is called the square drill because you're jumping around the square.

This next one is called the "X" drill.

Use the same dot pattern. But now put your feet on seperate dots at the bottom of the square so they are apart. Have your friend time you again. Jump from the bottom, feet apart position, to the middle, feet together position and then to the top feet apart position. Making an "X" shape. Hve your friend yell switch at random intervals. When you hear switch, change directions. Go as fast as you can.

Both of these drills will improve your quickness, your agility and your alertness.

Try them out, you'll be fried after three sets.

Thanks for the tips chief.

Any ideas for hand drills? I need something to help me react quicker (and keep my hands from dropping)

PRM: Unfortunately no one to pair up with outside of class.

we have a drill called "The Wall". stand with your back against the wall, and keeping your hands in front about face hieght, elbows bent, with your partner facing you in fighting on guard stance.
First, have him "feed" you straight punches, which you will pak-sao, right left,right left, etc Stare directly into his eyes, to develop the peripheral vision, and to also develop the chuen sum=heart penetration.
When you get comfortable with the straight punches, have him start to feed hooks. You will intercept these with tan-sao, or jiew gang sao.
Next is uppercuts, which are met with gaun-sao.
Then mix them up. Eventually you will get faster and faster until you feel like Neo in Matrix. This is also alot of fun and a great drill for beginners as it instills confidense.

The next step is add kicks-if they are upper gate, use your arms, middle or lower, raise a knee to centerline-doesn't matter which, just develop the reaction.
Then you can play "Find the holes" Your partner wears chest gear (or not) and you strike in between his strikes, all the while continuously interceopting the strikes.
Then you can move around and make it almost like sparring.

I worked with a trainer for a little while and he had a similar idea about alertness.

Here is his solution.

Stand with a small ball on the ground between your legs.

Hop to the left and touch the top of the ball lightly with the toes of your right foot.

Hop back to the right and touch the top of the ball lightly with the toes of your left foot.

Hop back and forth.

After you get pretty good at this. Have a friend throw a tennis ball to you. Now you're playing catch while hoping back and forth.

After you get pretty good at this, have your friend ask you questions that require some thought.

Now you're hoping back and forth, playing catch all while your mind is trying to retrieve data.

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” - Buddha

I found this on a quotes site a while back, and I believe it holds true. You have to get out of your head and into the moment.

"Get out of your head! Get out of your head!!!"

-sorry, I'm still on a "Personal Dynamics" high
LP43!!!!!:D

If you remain in a state of humility you can never " be humbled".

Also you have the added bonus of suddenly being open to learning from the strangest of places, from children, from younger brothers and sisters, from those you respect and from those you do not.

Pride leads to errors in judgement and often a false sense of accomplishment.

Lose pride completely.

Now as for the drills (and this is just my humble opinion and nothing more), I like to do the drill slowly first a number of times so my body learns the movement and I can concentrate and not feel overwhelmed by the attack (There should not be competition between partners). Slowly build up speed until it becomes more realistic. For me this has meant going slow with a drill for most of the session sometimes. It does not mean I can't be fast eventually and frankly I don't care what anyone else might think if they are moving faster.

Staying cool in the midst of a barrage is a skill that comes with time and one that for me is learned gradually.

Stick with it.