Reaction Drills
Vision, speed, and reaction drills have a high degree of overlap, as do many things in Krav Maga. Reaction drills include exercises that require you to perform certain tasks based on outside stimulus or cues from a trainer or training partner. These drills will sharpen your ability to react without hesitation, whether it's a ball thrown toward you, a car pulling in front of you, or a violent situation in which you need to defend yourself.
The use of loud audible cues is good for reaction drills. There are a wide range of possibilities when it comes to the cues you use. Try having your partner slam something down or smack a pair of focus mitts together, anything that causes a sudden loud sound. Audible cues are excellent since they help you to pinpoint targets more quickly by using your hearing.
Reaction drills work somewhat on the principle of give and take. For example, you throw a punch and your partner blocks it, or your partner presents a focus mitt and you strike it immediately. The cues of your reaction drills can be visual (seeing a punch being delivered.), audible (a word, whisper, scream, or sound), or tactile (being pushed or grabbed).
What You'll Need:
Partner
Punching/kicking shield
Start out in Neutral Stance. Your partner stands directly in front of you with the kick shield held tight to his or her chest. Wait for your partner to move the kick shield in front of you at the same time they yell a cue, such as “go!” When you see the shield and hear the cue, deliver a proper front kick to the pad.
To build from here, your partner will randomly move the bag slightly to either side of him instead of just in your direct front. Your goal is now to kick the shield with your same-side leg that the bag moves to (this will add a component of recognition to your drill).
Reaction drills can be done with an almost unlimited number of combinations of combatives and cues. Some combinations might make more sense than others, so find combinations that you can relate to your own reality or that you feel flow well together.
To add even further difficulty to this drill, your partner can also move the shield into positions for Round Kicks or pick up the pace.
For more advanced training, have your partner move around with the bag. This will force you to add movement to your combatives. Another added difficulty is to have your partner begin calling out numbers from one to nine (or to as high a number as you desire). Your goal is to throw the number of kicks that your partner calls in rapid-fire succession.
If you do not have a kick shield there are other ways to do the same type of drill. With focus mitts your partner can slap them together and call even numbers two through ten. When you hear the number and see the mitts, you send that many Straight Punches (see Chapter 13) to the mitts. If you only have a heavy bag, your partner can call out the numbers while you react to her cue and send that many punches to the bag. Be creative with the equipment you have. The same drill will work while shadowboxing.
