What You Didn’t Know About Speed (3 Skills You Need To Master First!)

Growing up, I didn’t want to be a dragon. I wanted to be THE Dragon! I mean, what martial artist doesn’t want to move like Bruce Lee?! I’m not saying that you need to leap in the air and learn how to let loose an ear-piercing cry like the legend himself, however simply imagine how incredible your techniques would be if you could move as fast as Li Xiaolong!

Do you want to attain the Chuck-Norris-conquering speed Bruce had?

If you want to get faster, you first need to focus on improving these three attributes: Perceived Speed, Movement Speed, and Reaction Speed. Speed, as it is typically identified, is the culmination of these three concepts. If you improve each of these, you will see dramatic results in a short amount of time.

Perceived Speed

Let’s place bets.

Imagine there are two guys about to have a foot race.

Person A, let’s call him “Homer”, hasn’t trained anything except his stomach--to eat cheese burgers and drink beer.

Person B, let’s call him “Usain”, is a Jamaican athlete who has trained running for his whole life.

Who do you think is going to be able to run a mile and get to the finish line first?

Let’s place bets.

Imagine there are two guys about to have a foot race.

Person A, let’s call him “Homer”, hasn’t trained anything except his stomach--to eat cheese burgers and drink beer.

Person B, let’s call him “Usain”, is a Jamaican athlete who has trained running for his whole life.

Who do you think is going to be able to run a mile and get to the finish line first?

Ah! I forgot to mention something. Usain is a mile away from the finish line, however Homer is only a few feet away.

Yeah, my money is definitely on Homer, even despite his poor dietary choices.

How quickly something gets to its target depends on how close it already is. More importantly, how quickly something is perceived depends on how close it can get without being noticed. If your spinning back kick is disguised with a jab as you place yourself in a position to easily rotate, the kick itself will seem that much faster.

Herein lies the genius of magicians and pickpockets. Quickly stealing a watch off of an unsuspecting victo--er, volunteer is about more than just moving fast, it is about moving in a nimble way that obscures your true intentions. By the time they realize their watch is gone, it is too late.

The same should be said for the person receiving your attack--by the time they see it, it is too late. Strive to move in a way that your actions are felt, not seen.

You can cultivate this by rehearsing various entries to your go-to techniques. Do you struggle to land leg kicks? Get your opponent’s attention high before striking low. Having trouble landing your lead hook punch? Throw linear attacks to encourage them to cover their centerline (and possibly clear sight line) before exploiting that new-found opening in their guard.

Set yourself up for speedy success. 

Movement Speed

Of course, we still have to improve our movement itself. We can actually break Movement Speed down into two sub-components however: efficiency and fast action.

Your techniques are a mound of clay waiting to be stripped down to a beautiful sculpture. Once you have the gross basis for your technique, your responsibility is to make it more efficient. Anybody can hit hard by winding their punch up first and gaining a running start. We are training so that we can deliver a punch that is just as effective--if not more so--from a much more natural beginning.

Become hypercritical of your technique! Look to see if you are flaring an elbow out as you strike or if you are taking an extra step prior to launching your kicks. Beyond that, see if you are tensing up a deltoid prior to punching or engaging your hammies too early on a front kick.

Once you are sure that there aren't any places where energy is leaking out unnecessarily from your movements, you can work on developing a quick-twitch start. This is the phase of repetitively drilling your movement as a plyometric exercise. Work on quickly initiating your motion as explosively as possible.

Take a moment to breath.

Unclench your jaw.

Ease your eyes.

Release the tense crinkles in your forehead.

Let your shoulders fall.

Relax...and then quickly contract your muscles! It’s going to sound gross, however it should be similar to the way you sneeze. Sudden and explosive.

Just, uh, maybe not as messy.

Reaction Speed

Do you remember our earlier race bet on the lazy Homer and athletic Usain?

In case you forgot, Homer won because he was closer to the finish line. Let’s replay the scenario and put both of them the same distance away from the goal this time.

Annnnnnd...RACE!

Looks like the out of shape Homer still won. Maybe it was because Usain didn’t hear the call to start and didn’t start to run until Homer was a few steps away from the finish line.

Before you cough up the coins you owe for losing that bet twice, let’s look at how Homer is actually performing like a martial arts master.

It isn’t just about how fast you can move--or even look like you are moving--it is also about how soon you begin to move. Homer and Usain could have the same athletic background and the same single-mile PR, but if one of them starts even just a split-second sooner than the other, the results will be obviously one-sided.

It doesn’t matter how fast your parries are if your reactions don’t get you moving until your opponent’s jab is a few inches from your nose. If you are going back and forth with a partner to work on a drill, change the timing you go back and forth with. Ensure the drill is working reaction, not rhythm.

Of the many things that made Bruce Lee famous, his speed was one of the legendary qualities nobody can dispute. If you want to become fast enough to snatch the chest hair off of Chuck Norris too, be sure to put the work in on improving these each of attributes!

Before you know it, you’ll be a swift legend!