What are the best ways of increasing speed? I’m mostly referring to hand speed, but as I do MT I would love to get my kicks as fast as possible.
Is it punching with a Pilates/resistance band? Shadow boxing with weights? Just doing as much pad/bag work as possible? Is the most important thing not telegraphing rather than actually being fast? Is it core strength?
I would like to know what exercises I can do to help. I don’t think I’m slow by any means, but I’m not Roy jones jr either.
Personally I think speed is largely genetic, and I’m not a big believer in shadow boxing with weights and all that other shit. If you aren’t born RJJ, Floyd etc, then you’ll never get that quick.
That said, you can always improve your efficiency and your ability to set up shots, which can have a significant effect on the perceived speed of your punch. Refining your technique to the point that each punch always travels the shortest distance to the target, working on your footwork and positioning, so that you are fractionally better placed for each shot you throw will again have a significant impact on the perceived speed of each shot.
Economy of upper body movement, and the effectiveness of your movement, is another big one. If you slip, and the punch brushes your ear, then you have bought yourself a few milliseconds worth of speed potential, if your delivery of your counter is then flawless (as far as possible. Moving your upperbody with purpose is also a good way of improving your perceived speed.
One of the reasons Tyson always appears so quick is because he uses his upper body so well (in time with his lower body obviously). Each bend as he worked his way in was judged to perfection, aggressive, and set him up to snap back to the opposite extreme. If the punch comes with the body like Tyson’s always did, it is harder to pick up instantly, again giving you a bit more perceived speed.
Just a few thoughts. But this is why I always get so pissy with the lift weights to be a better sport fighter crowd. There are so many damn things you could be doing even at top level to improve tiny details that give you an edge in a certain position. Weights are rarely the answer to becoming a better boxer, unless you are injury prone from fighting at a light weight (for your body).
X2 weights are not the answer, especially biceps. You want to be fast never do curls its counter productive. Chin ups instead of pull ups. Also work on your movement and set up, speed comes from your contact with the ground ( keep those feet grounded). Relax Relax and O I forgot Relax, you can’t throw speed if you tight. A couple times a week set up on a heavy bag to work speed , that bag should move very little, watch your weight shift during the punch. When it starts working you will know it and a lot of the coaches heads will start turning. The bag makes a unique sound when being struck with lighting shots, coaches recognize it. I worked on speed for a long time before I got the mechanics right. Remember the rule “Speed is Power”. Have a good un.
Good stuff from London. I lack his pedigree, so FWIW.
I was always taught that relaxation was a key component of speed. For this reason I’ve never really bought into the whole shadow boxing with weights/bands thing as practicing a skill slow and tight which you want to perform loose and fast never made sense to me (that and I’ve never had a coach/teacher suggest it to me).
Your top speed is probably largely genetic, however if you’re too tight (which I find happens when people really “try” to throw hard or when they get stressed) you’ll involuntarily fire your antagonistic muscles and put on the breaks thus disrupting your coordination and never reaching whatever that genetic limit is.
Weightlifting is all about generating the maximum amount of total body tension. Striking is about quickly generating the maximum amount of tension in the necessary muscles while creating the maximum relaxation everywhere else and doing so with perfect timing in fractions of a second. Not saying don’t lift, just saying I don’t think it’ll make you hit faster.
Practice staying loose and fast until the moment of impact when everything snaps tight and in line to transfer the maximum possible force. I’ve benefited from bag work where I exaggerate this relaxation a little in the understanding that when there’s a dude in front of me throwing back, it’ll tighten up some all on its own.
Another thing I was taught (that London touches on above) which I found more noticeable with round kicks but still very much applicable with punching was the notion of how properly timed trunk/hip rotation can generate momentary elastic tension in your core thus allow the stretch shortening cycle to produce a quicker, snappier more forceful contraction of those same muscles. This is a timing/coordination thing, IME and not really a strength thing. Again, any undue tension will prevent this from happening.
As you both mentioned economy of motion/lack of telegraphing/efficiency are things any fighter can work on to decrease the amount of time between when a shot is initiated and when it lands if not the speed at which it travels from a to b. The simplest example I can think of and one that my most recent coach harped on to no end was the idea of throwing your lead from where it is in your guard, with no wind up. This sounds obvious but there is a real tendency for most people to draw it back, usually a little but sometimes a lot, on initiating the shot. They usually don’t even know they’re doing it. My coach described this as a three beat jab as in: in your guard “here”, pull back “it”, throw “comes” as opposed to a two beat as in: in your guard “here”, throw “comes”. Naturally one gets there more quickly and unexpectedly than the other. As an aside, I am firmly of the opinion that a stiff jab that the other guy can’t really see coming is a very effective offensive weapon.
Yeah, no “exercises” I can really recommend from experience of, just good practice, preferably with a good coach who can see what you’re actually doing as opposed to what you think you’re doing and break it down for you.
My own humble opinion:
What all the posters have said before is right. Relaxation/economy of movement are the real keys; i.e., technique.
That being said, l do believe lifting weights can help you move faster to an extent. At a certain point, maximal weight training is about increased intramuscular coordination and CNS-efficiency. If your muscles learn to fire faster at the same size, it makes sense to me that you’d move more quickly, too. Not saying it’s a cure all, but I still think it can be helpful.
But timing, intelligence, and technique are by far the most important aspects of being a good fighter. Even if you move rather slowly, you’ll look light a lightning bolt if you have good timing and movement efficiency.
[quote]Kirks wrote:
What are the best ways of increasing speed? I’m mostly referring to hand speed, but as I do MT I would love to get my kicks as fast as possible.
Is it punching with a Pilates/resistance band? Shadow boxing with weights? Just doing as much pad/bag work as possible? Is the most important thing not telegraphing rather than actually being fast? Is it core strength?
I would like to know what exercises I can do to help. I don’t think I’m slow by any means, but I’m not Roy jones jr either. [/quote]
Do punch-outs and kicking for 10-20 repetitive punches and kicks.Let someone time you with a stopwatch every few weeks.When you know the number,you ll be more motivated to beat it.Repetitive kicks will make you faster at throwing a single kick.You have a long way to go until you hit you genetic ceiling of speed.
First some good posts so far.
There are actually several types of speed when discussing striking:
Perceptual Speed- how quickly do you recognize the incoming attack or opportunity/opening to land your strike
Starting speed- how quickly can you get everything moving once you recognize the opportunity
Miles Per Hour Speed- how fast is the hand/leg/etc…moving during the strike
Timing speed- similar to perceptual speed but more specifically refers to your ability to time your defensive/counteroffensive movements at the precise right time to create the maximal effectiveness
Put right speed- how quickly can you adjust if things change midway through an attack/defense
I agree with others who said that your ultimate limits in any type of speed are genetically determined, but the same can be said of any human activity. That doesn’t mean though that you cannot develop each type of speed to your individual potential through proper training.
Like Batman said, efficiency, economy of motion, correct mechanics, and learning to turn off the brakes/relaxation are going to go a long way in terms of how quickly your opponent will perceive you as being. I do believe that up to a certain point, getting stronger/more explosive, will improve miles per hour speed and starting speed. After all our muscles are what move our bodies through space, and the stronger your muscles are (especially the muscles responsible for the explosive footwork needed to close the gap) the faster your attacks will be.
I agree with all the other guys. Where I come from they say “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast”. We use that catchy phrase in shooting. But it applies for fighting or anything else that you need speed.
The guys that shoot fast aren’t the one that pull (ok squeeze) the trigger the fastest but the ones that do everything else as smoothly and as effeciently as possible. The guys that tries to do everything as fast as possible are the ones that aren’t the smoothest one and in the end are the slowest (and also miss the target-s).
If you can’t do something perfectly slow, why would you be able to do it perfectly fast?
But then, I knew this guy who always was saying “F*ck this shit slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Fast is fast”… well he was the expection.
[quote]nocoolnick wrote:
I agree with all the other guys. Where I come from they say “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast”. We use that catchy phrase in shooting. But it applies for fighting or anything else that you need speed.
The guys that shoot fast aren’t the one that pull (ok squeeze) the trigger the fastest but the ones that do everything else as smoothly and as effeciently as possible. The guys that tries to do everything as fast as possible are the ones that aren’t the smoothest one and in the end are the slowest (and also miss the target-s).
If you can’t do something perfectly slow, why would you be able to do it perfectly fast?
But then, I knew this guy who always was saying “F*ck this shit slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Fast is fast”… well he was the expection.[/quote]
Yeah, great mantra to get people to focus on perfecting the technique. I’ve heard Remy Presas credited with that saying, but the quote goes, “slow is smooth, smooth is fast, therefore slow is fast”. Obviously the goal isn’t to always move slow, or to actually think that slow is fast, but instead to realize that you need to do it right slow first, then try to get it smooth, and then slowly let it speed up which will ultimately lead to fast execution of the skill.
Like you said, some individuals are just naturally fast or pick certain skills up very quickly, so for them they may not need a method to be fast, but they cannot pass their innate skill to others and therefore aren’t great people to listen to on how to get faster at something.
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]nocoolnick wrote:
I agree with all the other guys. Where I come from they say “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast”. We use that catchy phrase in shooting. But it applies for fighting or anything else that you need speed.
The guys that shoot fast aren’t the one that pull (ok squeeze) the trigger the fastest but the ones that do everything else as smoothly and as effeciently as possible. The guys that tries to do everything as fast as possible are the ones that aren’t the smoothest one and in the end are the slowest (and also miss the target-s).
If you can’t do something perfectly slow, why would you be able to do it perfectly fast?
But then, I knew this guy who always was saying “F*ck this shit slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Fast is fast”… well he was the expection.[/quote]
Yeah, great mantra to get people to focus on perfecting the technique. I’ve heard Remy Presas credited with that saying, but the quote goes, “slow is smooth, smooth is fast, therefore slow is fast”. Obviously the goal isn’t to always move slow, or to actually think that slow is fast, but instead to realize that you need to do it right slow first, then try to get it smooth, and then slowly let it speed up which will ultimately lead to fast execution of the skill.
Like you said, some individuals are just naturally fast or pick certain skills up very quickly, so for them they may not need a method to be fast, but they cannot pass their innate skill to others and therefore aren’t great people to listen to on how to get faster at something.
[/quote]
Nice, didn’t know where it came from or who said it first.
I guess that saying is good for everything that requires speed and accuracy.
[quote]SKELAC wrote:
[quote]Kirks wrote:
What are the best ways of increasing speed? I’m mostly referring to hand speed, but as I do MT I would love to get my kicks as fast as possible.
Is it punching with a Pilates/resistance band? Shadow boxing with weights? Just doing as much pad/bag work as possible? Is the most important thing not telegraphing rather than actually being fast? Is it core strength?
I would like to know what exercises I can do to help. I don’t think I’m slow by any means, but I’m not Roy jones jr either. [/quote]
Do punch-outs and kicking for 10-20 repetitive punches and kicks.Let someone time you with a stopwatch every few weeks.When you know the number,you ll be more motivated to beat it.Repetitive kicks will make you faster at throwing a single kick.You have a long way to go until you hit you genetic ceiling of speed.[/quote]
how does this help?
drilling in specific and general situations helps a lot, but just throwing speed for speed’s sake doesn’t really apply when sparring, IMO.
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]SKELAC wrote:
[quote]Kirks wrote:
What are the best ways of increasing speed? I’m mostly referring to hand speed, but as I do MT I would love to get my kicks as fast as possible.
Is it punching with a Pilates/resistance band? Shadow boxing with weights? Just doing as much pad/bag work as possible? Is the most important thing not telegraphing rather than actually being fast? Is it core strength?
I would like to know what exercises I can do to help. I don’t think I’m slow by any means, but I’m not Roy jones jr either. [/quote]
Do punch-outs and kicking for 10-20 repetitive punches and kicks.Let someone time you with a stopwatch every few weeks.When you know the number,you ll be more motivated to beat it.Repetitive kicks will make you faster at throwing a single kick.You have a long way to go until you hit you genetic ceiling of speed.[/quote]
how does this help?
drilling in specific and general situations helps a lot, but just throwing speed for speed’s sake doesn’t really apply when sparring, IMO.[/quote]
I agree that drilling specific and general situations is very beneficial. Just throwing speed for speed’s sake could be useful when throwing in the occasional flurry though.
Thanks guys. I’m always conscious of trying to stay as loose as possible, though it’s much easier said than done.
Any other tips? Or has it all been covered? I’m always interested to read up on as many opinions as possible. It can only help.
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]SKELAC wrote:
[quote]Kirks wrote:
What are the best ways of increasing speed? I’m mostly referring to hand speed, but as I do MT I would love to get my kicks as fast as possible.
Is it punching with a Pilates/resistance band? Shadow boxing with weights? Just doing as much pad/bag work as possible? Is the most important thing not telegraphing rather than actually being fast? Is it core strength?
I would like to know what exercises I can do to help. I don’t think I’m slow by any means, but I’m not Roy jones jr either. [/quote]
Do punch-outs and kicking for 10-20 repetitive punches and kicks.Let someone time you with a stopwatch every few weeks.When you know the number,you ll be more motivated to beat it.Repetitive kicks will make you faster at throwing a single kick.You have a long way to go until you hit you genetic ceiling of speed.[/quote]
how does this help?
drilling in specific and general situations helps a lot, but just throwing speed for speed’s sake doesn’t really apply when sparring, IMO.[/quote]
I agree that drilling specific and general situations is very beneficial. Just throwing speed for speed’s sake could be useful when throwing in the occasional flurry though. [/quote]
i think those drills are more useful in conditioning than in speed. seems to me that since people don’t “set” right when doing them (due to the emphasis on being done rapid fire), developing speed is at a minimal, because technique isn’t improved and fatigue accumulates.
I agree with Cyco . In fact today while coaching a younger officer ( working his jab and startle reflex) I had him do about 5 mins of speed work, I told him to only throw the jab and to pick when and he would only get to throw 5 times per side per minute. I wanted 5 of his best each side. ( I only train LEO and family ) The idea was to get those neuro tractways firing right in warm up and then to give me only the fastest, well set up, and non telegraphed punches. Meanwhile I was doing a assortment of offensive feints calling him 4 letter words and insulting his heritage. I had to block about a third of his shots. The end results I saw him throw 2 of the best jabs he has ever thrown.
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]SKELAC wrote:
[quote]Kirks wrote:
What are the best ways of increasing speed? I’m mostly referring to hand speed, but as I do MT I would love to get my kicks as fast as possible.
Is it punching with a Pilates/resistance band? Shadow boxing with weights? Just doing as much pad/bag work as possible? Is the most important thing not telegraphing rather than actually being fast? Is it core strength?
I would like to know what exercises I can do to help. I don’t think I’m slow by any means, but I’m not Roy jones jr either. [/quote]
Do punch-outs and kicking for 10-20 repetitive punches and kicks.Let someone time you with a stopwatch every few weeks.When you know the number,you ll be more motivated to beat it.Repetitive kicks will make you faster at throwing a single kick.You have a long way to go until you hit you genetic ceiling of speed.[/quote]
how does this help?
drilling in specific and general situations helps a lot, but just throwing speed for speed’s sake doesn’t really apply when sparring, IMO.[/quote]
I agree that drilling specific and general situations is very beneficial. Just throwing speed for speed’s sake could be useful when throwing in the occasional flurry though. [/quote]
i think those drills are more useful in conditioning than in speed. seems to me that since people don’t “set” right when doing them (due to the emphasis on being done rapid fire), developing speed is at a minimal, because technique isn’t improved and fatigue accumulates.[/quote]
Agreed, they are conditioning drills, but conditioning and speed are far from mutually exclusive.
If we are talking about developing the maximal non telegraphic technique thrown when completely fresh, then no SHELAC’s drill is probably not going to be the best use of one’s energy. But such conditioning drills can be very useful hen taking about the ability to sustain speed when in a fatigued state, such as throwing in a flurry at the end of long round.
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]SKELAC wrote:
[quote]Kirks wrote:
What are the best ways of increasing speed? I’m mostly referring to hand speed, but as I do MT I would love to get my kicks as fast as possible.
Is it punching with a Pilates/resistance band? Shadow boxing with weights? Just doing as much pad/bag work as possible? Is the most important thing not telegraphing rather than actually being fast? Is it core strength?
I would like to know what exercises I can do to help. I don’t think I’m slow by any means, but I’m not Roy jones jr either. [/quote]
Do punch-outs and kicking for 10-20 repetitive punches and kicks.Let someone time you with a stopwatch every few weeks.When you know the number,you ll be more motivated to beat it.Repetitive kicks will make you faster at throwing a single kick.You have a long way to go until you hit you genetic ceiling of speed.[/quote]
how does this help?
drilling in specific and general situations helps a lot, but just throwing speed for speed’s sake doesn’t really apply when sparring, IMO.[/quote]
I agree that drilling specific and general situations is very beneficial. Just throwing speed for speed’s sake could be useful when throwing in the occasional flurry though. [/quote]
i think those drills are more useful in conditioning than in speed. seems to me that since people don’t “set” right when doing them (due to the emphasis on being done rapid fire), developing speed is at a minimal, because technique isn’t improved and fatigue accumulates.[/quote]
Agreed, they are conditioning drills, but conditioning and speed are far from mutually exclusive.
If we are talking about developing the maximal non telegraphic technique thrown when completely fresh, then no SHELAC’s drill is probably not going to be the best use of one’s energy. But such conditioning drills can be very useful hen taking about the ability to sustain speed when in a fatigued state, such as throwing in a flurry at the end of long round.[/quote]
i coulda swore this whole thread was about developing speed…
EDIT: i have to point out that speed and strength have a better correlation than speed and endurance, so again, i disagree that conditioning drills really help speed.
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]SKELAC wrote:
[quote]Kirks wrote:
What are the best ways of increasing speed? I’m mostly referring to hand speed, but as I do MT I would love to get my kicks as fast as possible.
Is it punching with a Pilates/resistance band? Shadow boxing with weights? Just doing as much pad/bag work as possible? Is the most important thing not telegraphing rather than actually being fast? Is it core strength?
I would like to know what exercises I can do to help. I don’t think I’m slow by any means, but I’m not Roy jones jr either. [/quote]
Do punch-outs and kicking for 10-20 repetitive punches and kicks.Let someone time you with a stopwatch every few weeks.When you know the number,you ll be more motivated to beat it.Repetitive kicks will make you faster at throwing a single kick.You have a long way to go until you hit you genetic ceiling of speed.[/quote]
how does this help?
drilling in specific and general situations helps a lot, but just throwing speed for speed’s sake doesn’t really apply when sparring, IMO.[/quote]
I agree that drilling specific and general situations is very beneficial. Just throwing speed for speed’s sake could be useful when throwing in the occasional flurry though. [/quote]
i think those drills are more useful in conditioning than in speed. seems to me that since people don’t “set” right when doing them (due to the emphasis on being done rapid fire), developing speed is at a minimal, because technique isn’t improved and fatigue accumulates.[/quote]
Agreed, they are conditioning drills, but conditioning and speed are far from mutually exclusive.
If we are talking about developing the maximal non telegraphic technique thrown when completely fresh, then no SHELAC’s drill is probably not going to be the best use of one’s energy. But such conditioning drills can be very useful hen taking about the ability to sustain speed when in a fatigued state, such as throwing in a flurry at the end of long round.[/quote]
i coulda swore this whole thread was about developing speed…
EDIT: i have to point out that speed and strength have a better correlation than speed and endurance, so again, i disagree that conditioning drills really help speed.[/quote]
Is being able to move quickly for sustained periods not still increasing speed? What good does being super fast (and using tons of effort to do so) do a combat athlete if they burn themselves out by half way through the first round? And if you can still move fast when your opponent is tired or has slowed down, will that not make you appear to be very fast to him/her? And if you can be fast at the end of the last round of a fight, it’s going to mean that you can move really fast when you are fresh (since it signifies that you are extremely efficient with your techniques and have really mastered minimizing tension in your antagonistic muscles). What good does being super fast (and using tons of effort to do so) do a combat athlete if they burn themselves out by half way through the first round? Throwing lots of techniques fast will teach you how to minimize tension, and maximize mechanics/efficiency.
Again, it might not be the best way to increase maximal single strike speed, but other than a sucker punch, not too many fight end with just one strike. Speed doesn’t occur in a vacuum.
Strength and speed are correlated, but so are endurance and speed (just in different ways).
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]SKELAC wrote:
[quote]Kirks wrote:
What are the best ways of increasing speed? I’m mostly referring to hand speed, but as I do MT I would love to get my kicks as fast as possible.
Is it punching with a Pilates/resistance band? Shadow boxing with weights? Just doing as much pad/bag work as possible? Is the most important thing not telegraphing rather than actually being fast? Is it core strength?
I would like to know what exercises I can do to help. I don’t think I’m slow by any means, but I’m not Roy jones jr either. [/quote]
Do punch-outs and kicking for 10-20 repetitive punches and kicks.Let someone time you with a stopwatch every few weeks.When you know the number,you ll be more motivated to beat it.Repetitive kicks will make you faster at throwing a single kick.You have a long way to go until you hit you genetic ceiling of speed.[/quote]
how does this help?
drilling in specific and general situations helps a lot, but just throwing speed for speed’s sake doesn’t really apply when sparring, IMO.[/quote]
I agree that drilling specific and general situations is very beneficial. Just throwing speed for speed’s sake could be useful when throwing in the occasional flurry though. [/quote]
i think those drills are more useful in conditioning than in speed. seems to me that since people don’t “set” right when doing them (due to the emphasis on being done rapid fire), developing speed is at a minimal, because technique isn’t improved and fatigue accumulates.[/quote]
Agreed, they are conditioning drills, but conditioning and speed are far from mutually exclusive.
If we are talking about developing the maximal non telegraphic technique thrown when completely fresh, then no SHELAC’s drill is probably not going to be the best use of one’s energy. But such conditioning drills can be very useful hen taking about the ability to sustain speed when in a fatigued state, such as throwing in a flurry at the end of long round.[/quote]
i coulda swore this whole thread was about developing speed…
EDIT: i have to point out that speed and strength have a better correlation than speed and endurance, so again, i disagree that conditioning drills really help speed.[/quote]
Is being able to move quickly for sustained periods not still increasing speed? What good does being super fast (and using tons of effort to do so) do a combat athlete if they burn themselves out by half way through the first round? And if you can still move fast when your opponent is tired or has slowed down, will that not make you appear to be very fast to him/her? And if you can be fast at the end of the last round of a fight, it’s going to mean that you can move really fast when you are fresh (since it signifies that you are extremely efficient with your techniques and have really mastered minimizing tension in your antagonistic muscles). What good does being super fast (and using tons of effort to do so) do a combat athlete if they burn themselves out by half way through the first round? Throwing lots of techniques fast will teach you how to minimize tension, and maximize mechanics/efficiency.
Again, it might not be the best way to increase maximal single strike speed, but other than a sucker punch, not too many fight end with just one strike. Speed doesn’t occur in a vacuum.
Strength and speed are correlated, but so are endurance and speed (just in different ways).[/quote]
okay, by that logic, then literally every physical, mental or technical improvement an athlete makes improves speed. so with that being said, there are certainly many things that have a definitive increase in the actual speed an athlete can move with, and others, which might improve the athlete’s performance, but not this specific trait.
if this isn’t clear enough, i would refer you to a sprinter vs a marathoner, and the traits that they exhibit, and how that applies to the discussion here.
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
[quote]SKELAC wrote:
[quote]Kirks wrote:
What are the best ways of increasing speed? I’m mostly referring to hand speed, but as I do MT I would love to get my kicks as fast as possible.
Is it punching with a Pilates/resistance band? Shadow boxing with weights? Just doing as much pad/bag work as possible? Is the most important thing not telegraphing rather than actually being fast? Is it core strength?
I would like to know what exercises I can do to help. I don’t think I’m slow by any means, but I’m not Roy jones jr either. [/quote]
Do punch-outs and kicking for 10-20 repetitive punches and kicks.Let someone time you with a stopwatch every few weeks.When you know the number,you ll be more motivated to beat it.Repetitive kicks will make you faster at throwing a single kick.You have a long way to go until you hit you genetic ceiling of speed.[/quote]
how does this help?
drilling in specific and general situations helps a lot, but just throwing speed for speed’s sake doesn’t really apply when sparring, IMO.[/quote]
I agree that drilling specific and general situations is very beneficial. Just throwing speed for speed’s sake could be useful when throwing in the occasional flurry though. [/quote]
i think those drills are more useful in conditioning than in speed. seems to me that since people don’t “set” right when doing them (due to the emphasis on being done rapid fire), developing speed is at a minimal, because technique isn’t improved and fatigue accumulates.[/quote]
Agreed, they are conditioning drills, but conditioning and speed are far from mutually exclusive.
If we are talking about developing the maximal non telegraphic technique thrown when completely fresh, then no SHELAC’s drill is probably not going to be the best use of one’s energy. But such conditioning drills can be very useful hen taking about the ability to sustain speed when in a fatigued state, such as throwing in a flurry at the end of long round.[/quote]
i coulda swore this whole thread was about developing speed…
EDIT: i have to point out that speed and strength have a better correlation than speed and endurance, so again, i disagree that conditioning drills really help speed.[/quote]
Is being able to move quickly for sustained periods not still increasing speed? What good does being super fast (and using tons of effort to do so) do a combat athlete if they burn themselves out by half way through the first round? And if you can still move fast when your opponent is tired or has slowed down, will that not make you appear to be very fast to him/her? And if you can be fast at the end of the last round of a fight, it’s going to mean that you can move really fast when you are fresh (since it signifies that you are extremely efficient with your techniques and have really mastered minimizing tension in your antagonistic muscles). What good does being super fast (and using tons of effort to do so) do a combat athlete if they burn themselves out by half way through the first round? Throwing lots of techniques fast will teach you how to minimize tension, and maximize mechanics/efficiency.
Again, it might not be the best way to increase maximal single strike speed, but other than a sucker punch, not too many fight end with just one strike. Speed doesn’t occur in a vacuum.
Strength and speed are correlated, but so are endurance and speed (just in different ways).[/quote]
okay, by that logic, then literally every physical, mental or technical improvement an athlete makes improves speed. so with that being said, there are certainly many things that have a definitive increase in the actual speed an athlete can move with, and others, which might improve the athlete’s performance, but not this specific trait.
if this isn’t clear enough, i would refer you to a sprinter vs a marathoner, and the traits that they exhibit, and how that applies to the discussion here.[/quote]
Yes, to a degree any improvement in technique should improve speed, but more specifically, trying to move quickly over, and over, and over even as you begin to fatigue will teach the body to minimize muscle tension, maximize efficiency, and build the ability to sustain speed (all of which will transfer to greater speed in the absence of fatigue).
Wait, so you are suggesting that sprinting signifies developing speed, but that throwing a series of strikes as fast as you can in succession does not? Explain to me how are those two things different.
How can you compare throwing multiple strikes as fast as possible (whether that means actual combinations/flurries, or just multiple strikes during a round) with marathon running? How are those two things even remotely comparable?