Tae kwon Do, reaction speed?

Question

How do you improve your reaction speed.
So that i can catch a punch or see it before it comes, what exercises can i do??

Answer 1

throw a ball against an uneven wall and try to catch it, you wont know where it is going so you need to react fast

Answer 2

TKD doesn't "catch" punches. What federation are you a part of? WTF ITF ATA ITA? Each is a little different but more often than not the same. As far as improving your reaction time, thats just practice. Get with a friend and lightly sparr to get the idea of hip motion and shoulder motion. Those are "tells" of movement to come. You are better off to slip punches in TKD anyway. You dont get points for grabs and you CAN'T grab anyway. Speed is the only thing that wins in that sport. If you want to get better at that sport you just have to train train train. Seeing a punch before it comes is not so easy, especially if you are trying to focus on 7 things going on. Just watch his general movement and form. Once something changes, BE READY and counter. You can't KNOW when someone is gonna punch all the time. And if anyone on here tells you you can. They are Ashida Kim.

The only way to get better is through live sparring or training. Static movement will only take you so far. Dynamic training is key. And before that ***** JA2 gets in here. I have trained for 5 years under a 5th degree dan from the Korean university. He was on the Korean Olympic team twice and knows his stuff. My school is one of the largest in Oregon. With that said, my opinion that TKD is ONLY a sport and is complete crap for self defense is irrelevant to this discussion, so I figure i would stomp him out there.

Answer 3

I practice with adjustable weight straps around my feet and wrists, and train with them for about a 3 week period, and then add more weight. once you train that way, your speed and striking ability will increase.

as far as seeing a punch or kick before it comes, keep a close eye on your opponents shoulders, never watch the feet or the hands, but try focusing on the shoulders, because that's where the technique will start from. your timing skills will improve on their own as you continue training, but this should help.

Answer 4

Practice with a partner. Take turns, 1 punches & the other blocks. Mix up the punches, don't get into a pattern. Use feints as well.

Answer 5

Trying to cath a punch is not a good thing to do, deflection and counter is the art. Try reading body positioning and movement to see the techniques coming at you.

Answer 6

If you want to avoid a punch before it comes, attack first. there is no better way to avoid damage than to damage them first. If you know you cant avoid a confrontation, forget about the law and attack them.

who the hell waits until attacked before attacking? only lame people. the street is not your dojo padawan. get real.
if its ring fighting you talk about, then once again, go crazy, attack and overwhlem your opponent. train for these blasts of attack and you wont be sorry, dont be a tit for tat fighter, in out in out... you are better able to win while fresh.

Answer 7

Before anything!!!!! research into how you react.... what processes occur when you actually "react"
A definition of reaction is "the amount of time taken between the presentation of a stimulus and the onset of a movement" in fighting or sparring etc. the stimulus is the attack or offensive motion of the opponent and the onset of movement is when you first move ((but what use if moving if you dont block/counter/evade/ etc.))....anyway...

therefore reaction time is the amount of time taken to evade/block/counter etc. and opponents attack.

obviously the block comes in 2 parts

part one - how long it takes for the signals to travel through your nervous system in order for you to start the motion of blocking etc.

part two - is how fast you actually block or evade etc.

**SPEED TRAINING WILL BE A BONUS FOR THIS!!! SPEED TRAINING IS NOT THE QUESTON AND THEREFORE SHALL NOT BE DISCUSSED IN THIS POST =)**

training your reaction time is actually very easy to do lol
i will list a few methods i would reccomend to improve your reaction time:

do the standard GCSE metre ruler drop and catch test with a partner (pick a point to start from eg. 50cm, have your partner drop the ruler and you try to react and catch it. the less didtance between your start position and where you caught it the faster your reaction.

if you have a dog or a pet which responds to things on impulse eg. if you put your foot infront of a cat it will./may attempt to claw your foot. jus tsit and do this place your foot infront of your cat (if you have one) and try to move your foot away from its reach each time it tries to claw you, can make this harder by trying to move your whole leg out of the way.

similarly if you have a dog, dangle a old towel, rag, one of its toys attached to a rope/ string infront of it, when it jumps/ moves to get it pull it away before it can reach. will be fun for the dog aswell

these are some very basic method of evaluation/ training your overall reaction time.

if your are looking for things you can do whilst training in martial arts ( MORE MARTIAL ARTSY things *for lack of a better word*)

try holding your hands out, palms facing each other, not too far out - and having partners who jab/ punch at different speeds jab at you, you then try to catch or at least make contact with their fist as the jab aproaches your face/body etc.

this will have 2 effects //

for the catcher - will work on his/her reaction time.
for teh puncher - willwork on control (not hittinghte catcher) and will work on their own speed, they try not to have their jab/stike caught

just a few little things that will make a difference.

these methods may be frowned upon by some people but I only think that the unconventional methods of training will be new to them.

i have tried these methods my self and noticed significant improvement in reaction time (not quite 0.18 of a second but it will get there)

***hope this helped, anyone feel free to email me to discuss martial arts/trainingmethods/philosophy of martial arts... or just anything in general really :) ***

Answer 8

Swat flies, chase chickens, get chased by mad bulls. Forget about catching a punch that might be coming, you'll be able to read his mind before he can even think.