How can I react faster in Taekwondo Sparring? I mean counter attack wise. When I see an an opponent move his leg to kick me, Im always a bit slow and he gets a point. Does anyone have any drills, to improve reaction time so I can get that hit in faster than my opponent? Thank you in advance.
When I was training taeqwando my teacher told me to empty my mind and soften my eyes. If your mind is not clear, you will be too busy thinking to notice your opponent’s moves. If your eyes are not soft and if you concentrate on any particular part of your opponent’s body you will lock on it and miss everything else. To empty you mind means to stop thinking, planning and expecting. Just be there. How do you practice this? See if you can go through the whole practice pattern without thinking about anything. Feel your breathing. Feel your body, your feet in particular. Can you feel both of your feet touching the ground and then at every point during the step or the kick? You should be able to do the same with your hands? Feeling is the best way to switch your mind off. To soften your eyes means not to focus on any particular part of the opponent’s body. Basically you want to be able to see the whole opponent’s body and the rest of the room as well all the way from the ceiling to the floor. This allows you to see even a slightest move as you mind has switched from processing static details to processing dynamic change in the static picture in front of you. How do you practice this? Stand opposite your training partner. He should make tiny moves with any part of his body and you should tell him if you saw it or not. So don’t do the punch, think about doing the punch and then make just a tiny move as if you are starting to move your arm into a punch. Do the same with kicks. This trains you to detect the intent and move in before the intent becomes an action.
Watch the turbines. Unless you are fighting a real expert I bet there is some get set movement, or tell, that the opponent gives before he/she strikes. Even if your sparring partner is very fluid in their motion they will show a mental sign of getting ready to hit. This gives you the opportunity to hit, intercept or move. When the opponent is getting ready to hit I tell my students that the turbines are starting to wind up. As soon as the turbines wind up you act, before the punch or kick sets off on its way. As soon as the turbines (even the mental ones) start, you hit, angle or jam the opponent. Don't watch your opponents hands or feet, stare straight down the barrell. Fix that gaze and you will be surprised how much more of the opponents movement (actions) you pick up on. As soon as you avert your gaze, bang, you get tagged. You don't have to have a faster kick than the opponent, seeing first is what is important, perception speed. Once you can see his/her kicks you can move, angle off, block or parry. Good luck and hope that helps a bit.
Q.- How can I react faster in Taekwondo Sparring? A.- For any type of training, be it Taekwondo, or Karate, or Kungfu, I would recommend getting yourself conditioned to be attacked off-guard. Get with someone you trust, and ask them to help you develop sensitivity drills which can be used to enhance your natural instincts and reflex actions. Do a lot of hand-eye-coordination and periphreal awareness drills. You might not like it, but I've found that one of the best ways for me to train my reflexes is by constantly keeping your guard up and having to deal with a friend who spontaneously smacks you in the stomach whenever you're not expecting it. It's kind of like the Lion King analogy, if you've ever seen it. Trust me, after so long of getting smacked in the stomach, your natural instincts will kick in. At that point, you won't do anything. It will happen all by itself. But don't cheat yourself, either. The best way to train your reflexes is just a little bit of pain when you least expect it. That's what helped me, at least. Q.- Does anyone have any drills to improve reaction time so I can get that hit in faster than my opponent? A.- Instead of trying to hold your defense, try playing offense. Don't even give your opponent time to kick. It seems to me like you're trying to focus too hard on counter attacking, instead of just going with the flow. Don't think about what the opponent is going to do, or how you are going to react, just go with the flow. My best advice to that is just to attack him before he attacks you. Make him worry about how he's going to react. That's the strategy I would try to use in that situation.
Just spar more. You'll learn to both read people and react without second guessing what you're doing as you get more comfortable with it. Those two things will outpace any pseudo-mystic mumbo-jumbo every time and the only way to make it happen is to spar.
Try to read your opponent's intention. When you detect that your opponent intends to attack, you move in right way. This way when you get closer to your opponent, you opponent just opens himself up for your attack. In order to do so, you will need fast footwork. If you can blend your footwork training into your daily walking, it will be helpful.
In addition to "spar more" play first person shooter video games. You want one which requires twitch reflexes like Call of Duty, or my personal favourite Unreal Tournament. In the original version you could increase the speed of the game. Several psychology studies have shown that doing this regularly increases your reflexes. It won't teach you how to spot that kick but if you can get that bit down it will allow you to initiate your counterattack faster.
This helps me I do karate, but the sparring has similarities. Always keep your eyes on middle of their chest. Everything the opponent does starts from the center. You will learn to figure out which part of their body they are going to move by watching their center. Practice defending a lot. I don't know if you're an aggressive fighter or not, but it requires better reflexes to defend than to attack. Use your forearms to deflect attacks. Deflect with one arm, and strike with the other. In most cases, counter-attacking means that you will have to stay very close to them, otherwise they will be out of your range by the time it's time for you to counter. People who specialize in countering like to play mind games. They like to make you feel more safe than you really are.
