timing & distance

anybody have any good drills to teach / practice the use of timing and / or distance in kumite?

Simple jogging. While jogging comfortably and loosely, every ten or twenty yards spot a conspicuously low hanging leaf or branch from a tree or bush. A telephone pole or traffic sign post also serve as good targets (don't strike them with impact: stop short or just at the target with a very light touch to practice your control, and to not injure yourself). As you approach this target in your jogging stride, execute any one attack you wish to practice (reverse punch, lunge punch, side kick, round kick, hook kick, whichever) at such a distance that you think will be effective for that technique. What your body will discover and develop is a natural intuition for judging the perfect distance that your lead foot should plant itself on which you will pivot to kick with ease and fluidity (without the rigidity and hesitancy that beginners often experience) everytime.

This is my tip for you. Have patience. Have fun. And enjoy the jog.

apart from the obvious sparring

use give and take drills

Practice, practice, practice!

Timing and distancing is an art that is learned over time and with repetition.

One tip: when sparring, try to let the attacker come as close to you as possible without hitting you. This will quickly give you a feel for distances. But, remember that all opponents are different (height, weight, reach, etc.) and we have to learn to judge these measures by looking at them while they are standing or sitting. Size your opponent before you spar and distancing will be much easier.

Happy Training!

Thanks to those that replied, great tips.

Otherwise the lack of response is disappointing. I guess nobody gets into a topic unless it's "what would win in a fight: an alligator or a grizzly bear?"

Anyway, I spar regularly. I'm really looking for other ways to train specifically in timing or distance. Supplemental drills, to really isolate those skills.

Can you give a little more information on the art that you practice, and perhaps I can give you some more information on practice drills? I just don't want to give Taekwondo techniques to a Karate practitioner, and vice versa.

Happy Training!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by WiseTiger:
Can you give a little more information on the art that you practice, and perhaps I can give you some more information on practice drills? I just don't want to give Taekwondo techniques to a Karate practitioner, and vice versa.

Happy Training![/QUOTE]

I don't see why this actually matters to the discussion. But regardless, I train karate, not TKD.

Don't hold back suggestions based on this. I have informally practiced and sparred with TKD folks and am open to all perspectives.

Besides, don't we all train the "two arms two legs" style anyway?

sweep,

It only matters because I don't really want to use TKD terms when they may not be applicable to your art. I have trained in both TKD and Karate, so I had hoped to use terms that might fit your art and make things a bit easier to relay through this thread. It was truly not meant to be degrading in any way, I can assure you!

With that said, here we go!

Drill #1:
1) The two fighters stand in an open stance
2) The attacker throws a roundhouse kick to the chest of the defender
3) The defender immediately counters with any one of the following kicks without moving away from the attacker - roundhouse kick, back side kick, or back spinning kick (aka - wheel kick or hook kick - and be careful with this one as it is usually a knock out shot!)

This drill accomplishes two specific things. One is timing - it allows you to feel your opponent attacking and get used to their body movement, as well as learning how to not anticipate but feel the attack. The other is distance. You will quickly learn how far away you need to be to throw each of the kicks. I actually recommend you letting the attacker kick you once or twice to get a feel for the distance and attack style of each attacker, then ease into the drill.

Drill #2:
1) The two fighters stand in an open stance
2) The attacker throws a roundhouse kick to the chest of the defender
3) The defender immediately couters with a back side kick
4) The attacker follows up immediately with a countering back side kick of his own

This drill also accomplishes two major things. One is obviously timing - which is everything in sparring. The second is reaction speed. The attacker must be right on the ball to be able to counter a back side kick with another back side kick, and do so accurately. The back side kick is a great trapping kick - by this I mean that you sucker the attacker into throwing a kick by baiting them, and then counter their attack quickly. It is this countering style of response that will quickly frustrate a lot of sparring partners and make them think twice about attacking.

Drill #3:
1) The two fighters stand in a closed stance
2) The attacker throws any kick that comes from the rear leg
3) The defender slides back enough to avoid the attack (if necessary) and immediately counters with a roundhouse kick

Again, this is timing and distance in its most rudimentary form. The most important thing about these drills is that you have to avoid anticipation at all costs. Do not let yourself slip into a routine with these drills. I could set a watch by some of my students when they do these drills - and this just leads to anticipation rather than reaction. You have to see and feel your opponent move rather than know that they are going to attack again in exactly two seconds.

I have a lot more! These are just a few. If you are interested in more, please feel free to email me, and I will be glad to pass on some things that I have learned, as well as some of the drills that I teach.

Gambatte!

Tried your jogging technique Andrew and it works great!
Plus it makes jogging 500 times more fun cause now I pick out targets instead of focusing on the pain.