Thread: Speed issues
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Old 12-10-2004, 08:39 PM   #18
L. Camejo
 
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Dojo: Ontario Martial Arts
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Join Date: Aug 2001
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Re: Speed issues

Donovan,

My students also tend to have questions regarding speed. Most times what they are really referring to is timing or elimination of waste movements that give the effect of slow speed.

What Peter R said is possibly the best advice for speed training (conditioning your nerves and muscles for explosive entry) and those who indicate that it is best to train slowly and correctly before worrying about speed are also correct. However, the latter is focused on during kata practice in the way we train, that is the time for slow movement and internalising. From your post I get the feel that you are thinking about speed in randori the way Tomiki/Shodokan folks do it. In this regard the hontai no tsukuri and hiji mochi drills are your best options based on the method you are studying. There are times in the very beginning where we go slowly in kakari geiko or tai sabaki practice until one gets accustomed to the types of movements required (usually for rank beginners of only a few weeks if so much), but as soon as one understands the basic principle attacks quickly speed up to a point where one is continuously challenged though not totally out of one's range of reaction.

I'd think though that the best person to ask this question would be your Sensei, since he/she could actually obseverve your movements and instruct what needs to be adjusted to get the most efficient results from your body. I've found a lot of folks who have speed or reaction problems do so because they have not yet learnt to eliminate waste reflex and muscular twitch reactions (often a result of pent up mental or muscular tension or energy). These things can only be truly dealt with by a 3rd person who is looking at you, since we are often not aware ourselves that we are doing these slight, almost undetectable waste movements that inevitably slow us down in randori and can throw off timing as well.

Ask your instructor and get his views.

Just my 2 cents.
LC

--Mushin Mugamae - No Mind No Posture. He who is possessed by nothing possesses everything.--
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