With Kumite, it is not always the case where one can thrust
a technique in a balanced position.
We are practicing to perform techniques accurately
and effectively in an unbalanced position.
Shown in the video are 2 girls who will be participating
in a tournament at the end of March.
They are working hard at it!
[Key Points For Image Training]In the professional athletic industry,
many athletes practice image training.
Between those who practice and those
who don’t, the results speak for themselves.
At our Dojo, the way I instruct
image training is as follows:
– Observe an advanced level or top athlete’s movement repeatedly.
– Replace that image with your own, as if you have mastered that movement.
– The image must be created and imagined within yourself
(For example, you watch it with your own eyes or you
use your other bodily senses to understand it)
– Attempt the movement and analyze the differences
between your own and the image you watched. Edit and refine to get closer to it.
– Repeat this until your body remembers
the new movement you have been attempting.
By including image training into
your training menu, you can master techniques faster.
In order to increase performance,
I encourage my students to find and
grasp the feeling of being refreshed and being present.
By “refreshed”, I am referring to a state of good feeling
with no hold backs.
I also train the students to practice thrusts and kicks
with a comfortable strength, instead of putting in too much power.
This is to avoid excess strength. When the body is relaxed
and the person feels calm, he/she can perform their best.
When he/she can perform without feeling
fatigue during long trainings,
it leaves the body feeling good and the body remembers
this as its best performance level and skills begin to improve.
If one feels tired, the body only remembers the overburden
and it does not lead to an improvement in skills and techniques.
Frequent injury is due to excess strength and an overburden on the body,
so those who are burying their heads over this should tune
themselves with their body and find the feeling of being
refreshed and being in the present moment.
I call this feedback training and recommend this to all my students.
In order to increase the speed when carrying out a technique,
one must improve the nervous system – the speed
at which information is transmitted from neurons to neurons.
This causes the contraction of muscles to increase speed
as hence allowing for faster movement.
Also, it’s important to only focus on the target
and remove random thoughts from the mind,
because this decreases the brain’s ability to handle information.
This causes a delay at which the brain transmits signals
to the muscles, and in effect, the person’s movement is slower
or he/she cannot gain speed.
What we do at our Dojo to put this to practice:
– An exercise to increase the mind’s ability to focus.
Also effective in reducing overthinking.
– Ladders and steps to train the legs for faster movement.
– Listen to the sound and rhythm of
advanced level students’ quick movements.
These are just a few examples to name a few.
Some others include speaking in fast tongue or listening
to something played with speed. They are all effective
in improving the brain’s function to organize and handle information.
At our Dojo, the students engage in practices through
a step by step program in order to master the techniques.
1. Image Training
Observe an ideal advanced level professional
or a top class athlete’s movement/technique.
2. Image Overlapping
Overlap that image with yourself, picturing yourself
carrying out that movement/technique over and over again.
3. Engage in Practice
Without thinking about control, practice
with that image of yourself in mind.
4. Listen and Expeirence the Motion
Feel the surface when you hit with your hands and legs,
listen to the hit and feel it with all your senses.
*Try to distinguish the “good” and “bad” sounds,
sounds that make you feel good and otherwise.
*Feel the vibration when you hit, feel it
and understand the touch with your hands and feet.
5. Feedback
Understand the accuracy of the hit, for example,
know with your body, from all the sound and touch
when the hit is effective and when it’s not.
When you repeat this image-engage-feedback,
the mind understands the pattern and remembers.
Hence an accurate technique can be mastered.
From here, we move onto actual practice
and polish it even more.
