“Perfect” Timing explained
I was asked by a gentleman to explain my theory of “perfect” timing further than I did in my article “Secret #4 for Fighting Superiority”.
Timing is based on landing the attack in the right place at the right time. As I state earlier, there are other factors, such as distance and power that are also essential, but most of those things mean nothing if the attack misses its target. In the martial arts, we have several ways to train:
- train for movement (agility, coordination, speed, accuracy) – shadowboxing, bagwork and solo practice
- train for power and destructive ability – bagwork and other methods
- train for strategy – sparring and using the “drawing board”
- train for application – competitions and sparring
None of these methods are more important than the other, and they all lend effectiveness to a different factor–important factors–in our ability to defend ourselves. The last method, application, is a combination of all three previous methods, and it can only be done on an unfamiliar opponent. What many martial artists have done is limit themselves to only one or the other, or a combination of two or three. But in order for your skill to reach its potential, you cannot neglect any of the four methods.
Timing is an understanding of your movement, and how it relates to your opponent’s movement. You cannot practice timing alone, just as you cannot test skill alone. I consider the use of timing to be an intermediate skill, since the beginner level is spent developing tools; the intermediate level of skill is spent learning to use those tools. The advance level of skill, then, is to use those tools to such a high degree that it negates size, strength or speed. And this is where perfect timing comes in: we want to not only win fights without needing to push our speed and strength to their limit–we want to do so with as little effort as possible with as fewer movements as possible.
At the root of perfect timing is the mastery of one’s fighting skills. We must have weapons that can be deployed at any moment from any position. This is a skill that is developed while in motion under duress. In saying this, I mean that it cannot be developed while practicing alone. We must drill (Gawd I hate this word) our punches, kicks and strikes to a high degree of proficiency, so that using them is easy and does not tire the body. As your skill level increases, your ability to utilize them with perfect timing will then come from sparring practice as you start to eliminate movements from your application.
Let me explain that one.
Eliminating unnecessary movements from your application means that we do not make any movements that are unnecessary in order to execute the attack or defense.
Example. The opponent attacks with a hook from the rear hand. Defender steps off to the side, blocks the punch, and then counters the opponent by striking back.
With perfect timing, the defender could eliminate the angled step AND the block, and simply move towards the opponent and initiate the counter attack because he executed the counter before the hook came close to landing.
I know that this way of fighting is difficult to achieve, but that is why there is hierarchy in the ranking system, and why there is a such thing as a good martial arts fighter and a great one. As so-called “experts”, we must strive for this kind of skill. Many teachers are satisfied with mediocre skill and knowledge, and few others rise to the top of the pool. I believe the question posed to me is to find a shortcut to this type of ability, and there isn’t one, besides to understand the principle and then get in front of as many opponents as possible, as soon as possible. There isn’t much else to this concept besides knowing what it is, and making it happen.
Thank you for reading my blog. Please tell your friends about it!
Loading...