In martial arts, how do I improve my speed when performing kicks & punches, particullarly during sparring?

Answer 1

practice. Practice your punching with weights. do like 500 reps of each technique you want to speed up a day. start out at like 2 pounds per arm and 5 pounds per leg, and move up to 3 pounds an arm 7 pounds a leg, than from there 5 pounds an arm and 10 pounds a leg. and go up as you will. but when you take the weights off you'll notice not only your power but speed has increased. That's the best way i know to do now. but if you can't afford weights you can do what we had to do when i first started kung-fu. Stand in one spot and practice the move thousands of times. it works to but is tedious but hey if you got no money you gotta work with what you got right. any ways have fun and good luck!

Answer 2

There are already some great answers here, but I'll throw in my hat anyway cuz I love sparring and sparring training!

Two things that I don't think were mentioned yet were plyometric training and resistence band training.

Plyometrics refers to exercise that enables a muscle to reach maximum force in the shortest possible time. The muscle is loaded with an eccentric (lengthening) action, followed immediately by a concentric (shortening) action. The link below has some good exercises--they are things like tuck jumps, clap push-ups, etc.

I also use an elastic band that can be fastened to the ankle and do several reps of kicking drills in that manner.

Someone already mentioned correct form, and that is what you absolutely must have before you can benefit from any additional training. A tip for kicking: make sure that your feet pass in as close to a straight line from the ground to the target as possible. A great drill for this is to stand in your sparring stance next to the wall with your kicking leg next to the wall and kick straight forward w/o hitting the wall. This will help eliminate any wide swinging movement that could be costing you that additional split second.

Answer 3

Get a heavy bag (or wrap foam around a pole) and an egg timer. Set the egg timer for 1 min and hit the bag as many times as you can. Do this two times a day, not in a row, and you will find that over a couple of weeks, you will be able to throw more punches in a min. After a while, increase it to 1 1/2 min and just keep going.
This will develope the muscles you need in your arms and increase your speed.
With kicking you should start out getting your aim perfect on ALL of your different kicks. Accuracy is much more important than speed when starting to train your kicks.
Good luck and have fun!

Answer 4

I have found that the best way to improve speed is to train with excess weight (not actually body weight but with a form of weights).

For punching, practice holding a small bar-bell weight. Start out at 2-3 pounds of weight for each hand and increase or decrease according to your strength. After training with the weights in your hands, you will notice a difference when you punch without them. For kicks, use those ankle weights...3-5 pounds each should be good.

Basically, when you practice with the extra weight, it slows you down. Over time, you will increase your speed (this is the training paying off). Then, when you spar or train without the extra weight, you will be amazed at how much faster you have become.

I used this technique when I was actively training and saw a dramatic increase in my striking speed.

Answer 5

practice is a big factor... have you worked with a speed bag.. they're great for learning acuracy and timing, which in most cases is a lot more important than speed...

practice your punches in combinations, throwing one punch fast, doesn't compare to throwing a flurry of punches acurrately... this will benefit you in sparring as well...

a neat trick to improve your speed is to buy some ankle weights, nothing too heavy to avoid injury but 3-5 lbs is perfect.. do your kicks and punches with the weights on for the first half of your workout and then take them off for the second half of your workout, you'll really be able to feel the difference, the added weight will build resistance which isn't present when you are throwing kicks normally and your muscles tensile strength will improve in turn giving you faster kicks and punches..

good luck and i hope this helps!

Answer 6

In dragon kung fu, speed is built in to the punching and kicking techniques. Being relaxed in doing the technique is key. Relaxed muscles allow for faster movement, because there are usually pairs of muscles that counteract each other. If they are both tensed, then they fight each others efforts, making you slower and tired. Relax the fist and tense it up only at athe last moment before impact. Combined with proper weight shift, twist of the hips and a stable and strong stance, the strike will have devastating effect. The stable stance is needed so you don't lose your balance allows you to execute a combination of your choosing. The same relaxed disposition makes your defense even more unpenetrable. Being able to evade kicks and punches like the wind or withstand them like water is only possible if you are relaxed. Forget about weight training. It will slow you down. Proper knowledge and practice makes it possible to easily overcome any strength disadvantage.

Answer 7

Practice speed punching and speed kicking. Punch as fast as you can for about 10 seconds. Do the same with kicking. You also have to practice control, so you are able to use speed in sparring without knocking them out. Practice throwing punches and kicks at your bag as close as you can without hitting it.

Answer 8

Speed is dependent on how much you practice. You see martial arts is all muscle memory, is an easy way to think about it. The more you practice with your forms your muscles will remeber the movement. Think about it when you are sparring you do not have time to think. Your muscles are just reacting to your opponents movement. So practice, practice and more practice.

Answer 9

For punching, 2-5lbs wrist weights. Then, sitting on your heels one punch at a time, then rise slowly until you are on your knees hitting the makiwara or punch bag until knukles bare and red.
Kicks, same but do it in water, go to the ocean waist high, kick agains the surge or waves forming. Balance and strenght. Cold strenghten your skin for the oncoming punches and kicks.
Commited or not??????

Answer 10

Use a kickboxing bag or a partner with pads and do a set combo e.g. cross-jab-left roundhouse-right roundhouse.. do this combo once (1 combo) then twice (2 combo's) then three (3 combo's) times as fast as you can till you get to ten and then do the combo back down to one again.. You will be buggered but keep doing this a few times a week and time yourself each time and keep trying to break your own personal record.. I have found this extremely helpfull to get the moves out quicker, increasing hight and strength and its a great workout too..