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Speed is not enough in combat sports.
Speed in martial arts is very important but it’s not just how fast you move your arms and legs to hit and move while remaining an important and fundamental aspect for any martial arts and combat sports.
It’s actually not enough.
What makes you look really fast is a combination of two factors, your speed and timing.
In my experience I have seen very fast people who are a great quality for those who practice martial arts but the most insidious ones were actually those who had normal speed but a sense of the highly developed timing,which as a result appeared as if by magic fast always in the right place to hit.
Now there are trainings for both of these aspects that you can do.
It’s Interval Speed’s workouts.
In the case of combat sports (Boxing, Savate, Muay Thai, etc.) and in traditional martial arts, which include both kicks and punches but this speech is also valid for Filipino Kali but in general in stick fighting therefore with the use of weapons and knives you can carry out series of arms and legs in the same training session, or in different sessions at maximum speed.
Your training depends a lot on where you want to focus and the techniques that emphasize your martial art plus your characteristics and possibly the characteristics of your opponent (if you prepare a match).
Depending on your choice, the serial number and repetitions will have to be adjusted to the specific situation.
In the card proposed in this article refers to a work of arms, legs and displacements, but you can change at will: in case you want to make only arms or only legs in two different seats just increase the number of series.
Dedicate at least one training session a week to this type of exercise, for me the training is 6 days a week but I understand that there are people who train 3 times a week an hour, then I think it serves either increase your workouts or otherwise enter the workout
The same card below can be performed several times due to adaptation to the training load, and then move on to a different session varying the working time and recovery time in difficulty progression.
These are important choices, which the trainer or teacher or the athlete himself must make according to the degree of training achieved, the specific level of performance or the period of the macro cycle in which you want to introduce the speed resistance training method.
But how and what do you need to do to train speed resistance?
Speed resistance is the ability to perform the most shots in a certain time, which allows you to prolong faster actions by the athlete for longer.
In a combat action usually the action lasts for several minutes, but during the attack that lasts a few moments you have to be able to pull a high number of shots in combination, indeed these must be different from each other, some powerful, others lightning, etc.
YOUR SESSION OF THE TRAINING to train the speed must be STRUTTURATA!
The first fundamental phase is the heating that must be 10-15 minutes and that must be focused on the part of the body that you want to involve.
If you have to do interval speed of arms you have to warm up the upper area well
Now you can do two types of exercises such as interval speed:
- With a partner holding the hitters or the pao.
- Alone in the bag or with a companion who holds it and counts your shots.
Although they may look similar as workouts actually aren’t because while the bag stands still the mate holding the hitters or the focus moves making the workout more effective.
If you run them in the bag, it works in multiple series, each of which consists of multiple repeat shots of duration that can be 30, 15, 10 seconds performed at maximum speed, seamlessly.
Breaks between repeated periods may be equal to or slightly longer than working time, i.e. between 30 and 15 seconds, etc., while rest when changing exercise is greater: 3 to 5 minutes.
Now below I want to give you a table with some examples of work in interval speed.
These are some cues but you can create different combinations even by combining hand and foot shots together.
Two-shot, three-shot, four-shot series (Jab Low Kick, Jab Cross Low Kick, etc.)
You can also make the most shots with one hand or one leg but never resting the foot that hits the ground.
This is an exercise that also builds the musculature that serves during the execution of kicks.
To help you do the Speed interval you need to have an Interval timer, there are professional ones but today you can find many applications for iPhone and Android that have the same function.
These tools allow you to divide intervals by setting repetitions and the times that signal the start is the end with a sound signal.

Important!!
This job is for speed so it needs to be done at the maximum possible speed.
The stylistic technical execution is in the background, your goal is to pull as many shots as possible in tot of seconds.
Ideally, the partner counts the number of shots performed in the 10 or 30 seconds and in the next run you can make a few more shots.
Ps. This is not for training but if you have a very fast opponent do not start to be a sprinter unless you know you are really so much too, but even if you are, do not play in its territory.
Now the work on timing is something that has very important aspects because it allows you to anticipate, dodge and hit, but in general and place your shots between your opponent’s shots and dead times.
The concept of timing is related to the accuracy that you can consider the accuracy and how many of your shots go to target.
Timing and precision are what separates professionals and experts from amateurs and inexperienced.
You have to learn to watch how often the big fighters win matches with fewer shots and therefore also less energy.
Timing and accuracy in combat translates into efficiency and effectiveness of strokes
If you improve your timing and accuracy, you increase efficiency and effectiveness in your combat system.
The perfect timing multiplies the output force while simultaneously dividing the required effort.
This means you can hit harder while you’re using much less energy!
Timing and accuracy greatly elevate your combat ability, it’s not just the simple goal of just being able to pull many hard and precise shots.
Consider that the stronger your opponents are, the more you are forced to hit a constantly moving target so that your opponent’s mobility with footwork and torso/head will be continuous.
What I want to explain to you is that if you want to improve your martial art prowess that practices beyond physical endurance techniques and training, you need to build some skills on timing and accuracy, to elevate your skills.
Every serious martial arts master knows that.
Look at all the great athletes and you will see that timing and accuracy are their greatest advantages over opponents.
A typical example of boxing is Floyd Mayweather, one of the few boxers undefeated to date.
Sure, he’s a speech aside, he’s got a great defense, he’s a talent, but if you look beyond that you see he has a great timing and accuracy ratio!
He doesn’t throw a lot of shots than his opponents, but he has the highest percentage of shots scored.
Aside from his high accuracy, you’ll also notice that Floyd always has shots with good power, but even if he doesn’t seem to be swinging wildly towards his opponents but is always placed on his legs with the weight ready to move and dodge the counterattack.
His timing is what allows him to maximize his attacking power while maintaining his accuracy as much as possible.
Floyd Mayweather’s timing and precision alone is what makes his offense so powerful and contributed to his greatness wouldn’t have been enough for his defense to make him so great.
Timing
is important because it’s that precise moment when you strike your opponent with the right angle at a normal angle to your target by increasing the penetration and stopping power of your shot.
Accuracy,
on the other hand, is your ability to strike at the point where you maximize the damage of your shot. If you hit in random points even with force it is not necessarily that your opponent feels it, but in precise points of the body your strength causes damage that stops your opponent and knocks him out.
How to improve times and accuracy in martial arts?.
With equipment:
Work for the speed bag and double-fine thicker.
These equipment are perfect to take your timing and accuracy to the next level! You’ve definitely seen this equipment and you’ve probably noticed that they’re tools that rely solely on timing and accuracy.
example:
OK – If you hit the ball well in the middle while it’s moving towards you, even if you don’t use a lot of force you’ll create a strong movement with a precise trend
ERROR 1 – You’re not accurate and you don’t take it in the middle it will move randomly
ERROR 2 – On the contrary, if you are throwing a strong punch while the ball is moving away there will be limited impact.
Simply put: if you hit the bag at the wrong time and/or in the wrong place, you will lose or your power will be diverted out to the sides of the bag.
The speed bag and the double fine elastic bag no matter how much power and strength you have.
Developing your timing and accuracy requires a sharp eye, a sharp mind and new skills. If you can’t hit an object like a ball in front of you at a precise point as you can imagine hitting an opponent who comes at you with blows!
With a coach:
The timing with a coach or a training partner consists of doing some important exercises, I’ll list a few:
- Dodge a shot and strike immediately
- Anticipate your coach’s shots
- Hitting Out
- et cetera.
Often in gyms you see most people working the heavy bag looking only for strength and power but never timing and precision, you only look for the knockout blow and great resistance not working on what would make them more effective and complete.
See how professionals fight and also how they work in the bag if you have the opportunity you will find that you do different but they are the professionals not you, so why do you want to do different??.
If you want to fight like a pro, I have to pay attention to what professionals do.
They work differently on the heavy bag looking for rhythm and some explosive shots and make a lot of speed bags.
With their coach they do not pull combinations to focus pads but simulate situations with dodged movements and movements.
DON’T JUST SEARCH THE POWER COLPI that they still have.
You want to spot a pro, he throws a few shots with more precision because he has learned to control and distribute his energy for the duration of the match.
It seems like they’re fighting at a slow pace but if you try to do that you’ll find that you take a lot of hits because actually slow pace doesn’t mean standing still but using a more active defense, it means increasing your defensive skills and adding effective timing and accuracy.
This allows you to grow your level of combatant.
It doesn’t seem strange to you that one fighter throws little than another yet it seems that you pull much stronger, it seems absurd but in reality it is because it strikes with a different timing and precision taking in the opponent’s time.
The secret is that you have to use an active defense and effective timing and accuracy to have your shots effective.
Fighting is all about timing and precision!
Train fast but in the right timing.
Stay Tuned!
Street Fight Mentality & Fight Sport
Andrea