According to my teacher Guro Dan Inosanto, the number one most important attribute in combat is speed. Not strength. Not power. It is speed. But more specifically, he was referring to reflex speed, which I will explain in the blog. He always said that the ultimate goal of all the many techniques that we learned, perfected, and drilled for hours and hours every week and every month during class was to make the techniques reflexive. But what exactly does that mean? In this blog, I will explore what Guro Dan's words of advice meant in detail and why you would be smart to heed his advice. Let's go!
First, let's understand that there at least ten types of speed in the world of physical movement. But there are two that we emphasize more than the others. These are reaction speed and movement speed. Reaction speed is defined as "how fast do you react to a stimulus that is coming your way." This type of speed is based on a visual stimulus, such as a fist rocketing towards your nose, a kick flying at your leg, or a sharp knife thrusted at your stomach. You see the movement, then you react to the visual action. The time it takes from the second you see the stimulus to the second you react is your reaction speed. However, the other type of speed, which is movement speed, is defined as "how fast does your body physically move?" As you can see, these two speeds combine together to form what we commonly refer to as reflexes.
But consider this. If you have good reaction speed, but lack movement speed, then you have a problem. For example, let's say an older man crosses the street. He's old, but still has decent reaction speed. As he walks across, all of a sudden he sees a car screaming down the street coming straight at him. He sees the car coming a mile away, and his senses react quickly. However, because of his age his body is stiff and slow. His joints are creaky. His movement speed has compromised him. He doesn't have the speed to run or jump out of the way, even though he sees the car coming at him. The moral of the story is that you want to possess both excellent reaction speed and excellent movement speed to have the most reliable reflexes in the world.
What does having excellent reflexes have to do with techniques? Everything. The purpose of learning, training, and drilling techniques in the martial arts is to get to the point where you can execute the techniques in a real fight without thinking. That means you want that technique, let's say a backfist, to be so ingrained into your muscle memory that your body automatically fires a backfist without you opening up a thought bubble. As Bruce Lee once said, "I don't hit. It hits all by itself." When you have trained that backfist so much that is comes out of you without conscious thought, then you have it. You have now the true meaning of reflexes. Here's the explanation of the process:
You see the fist coming at your face (attack stimulus) > Your body reacts automatically with counter-punch to the groin (reflexive technique)
After the troublemaker drops to the ground in agony, your brain says, "What happened? I don't remember what I did to knock him down. It happened so fast, I didn't have time to think. I just reacted." Exactly.
My teachers always said that if you had to think before you reacted to an attack, you'd be hit already. IMPORTANT ADVICE: If you have to think before you act, you're going to get hurt. When a fight happens, react and move first and stop thinking. Thinking will slow you down. Why?
Because Fast Reflexes and Conscious Thought are OPPOSITES of each other. When he makes a move on you, react. When he gives you an opening in his defense, hit him immediately without thinking. Remember: he who hesitates is lost. That's the same rule in combat.
The next question I get is, "How can I get fast reflexes?" The answer is simple. You have to drill that technique, let's say a Side Kick to the knee at least 5,000 to 10,000 repetitions! And I'm not talking sloppy or lazy reps. I'm talking good form and attention to every detail and making sure you're using proper body mechanics on every rep. That way you drill perfect technique and form every single time. Your body will do only what you program into it. If you do this the right way, you'll be able to pull of any techniques with ease.
One more area of advice I'd like to offer. It's very common for me to have students come up to me after a skill or technique demonstration and say, "But if you do that technique, couldn't I just do this to stop you?" or else they'll say, "That won't work. When you do that technique, I'll just do XYZ and you won't be able to pull it off" or some say, "If I do that technique, couldn't he just use his strength to overpower me and stop me?" Every single time anyone says these variations of skeptical, challenging questions, here is my Golden Response:
"How do you know what I'm going to do to you during a fight?"
Then I proceed to rapid-fire surprise techniques he's never seen before. He is overwhelmed and spasms with failure. He can't stop me at all. The doubter had proven a TRUTH that I teach to all my students:
If your opponent doesn't know what you're going to do, he cannot defend against it.
The only reason someone believes they can defeat a technique in class is because he knows what technique is being used against him. The technique is being practiced in isolation. If you throw five techniques at him with speed, he will fail in defeating them.
The last piece of advice I have for you is this.
IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT HE KNOWS.
IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU KNOW.
WHAT MATTERS IN IS WHO GETS THERE FIRST.
HE WHO LANDS THE FIRST SOLID PUNCH OR KICK OR KNEE OR ELBOW? THAT'S WHAT MATTERS, NOT WHAT TECHNIQUE IT IS.
So in the end, we return to the beginning. Speed is the number one attribute in combat. The faster you are, the faster you get the first solid blow. The faster you are means you can avoid getting hurt. In a fight, you have to react and move, move and react. There is no time to think. In Jeet Kune Do and Kali Escrima training, speed and reflexes are extremely important to making progress. We emphasize speed and reflexes above all else when we train and drill for combat. You should too.
If you're interested in training Jeet Kune Do and Kali Escrima martial arts, please contact the Warrior Combat Arts Academy in Mountain View, California: 408 373 0204 or email us at CONTACT@WARRIORCOMBAT.NET
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