Training For Speed, Strength or Technique (tactical/self-defense/martial arts)?

?I'm a firm believer that one should train as much as possible. However, what and how you train is extremely important. Are you training for speed or strength or technique? Have you ever considered that training slowly has the possibility of not only increasing your speed and strength but more importantly your technique? Read on and let me know your thoughts...........

Training, training, training. Always training. Training is great!!!! Don't get me wrong. I train nearly every day. It keeps us sharp. Both mentally and physically (some may even say spiritually). BUT what type of training are you including?in your routine? Do you mix it up or have you been training the same way for years? I am going to relate this specifically to self-defense/martial arts/tactical training since this is what I know. But I would suspect it would crossover to most other types of training as well. Training without a purpose?or goal quickly loses its effectiveness and creates a stale, slow moving, unenthusiastic and dull trainee who will dread the next training session. Loss of focus is the number one reason for injuries. I believe that to be especially true for law enforcement.

?With that being said I have a few questions about your training. How fast are you training? Is it full speed? Are you training for instincts or muscle memory and to get through the motion? At the end of the day, I believe training for speed and instincts are the most important.

?However, constantly training for speed can kill your technique AND your speed!!! Remember, it's NOT always about force and/or strength. Very often, it comes down to technique. In my many years of teaching the biggest mistake and the one I see most often is that strength replaces technique. Why? Because the technique stinks. So, in order to make up for the bad technique more strength is used. That may work for some (and not always). It does not work for us on the smaller/average size like me (5'8"/160). With regard to those that are much bigger and who usually rely on their strength and/or force I have a theory. I believe everyone that gets poked in the eye has the same reaction regardless of the strength that’s used. Some just hit their mark faster - yes??? Ok, so what am I getting at with all?of this??

?Constantly training only for speed covers up subtle errors that can cause injury or death. I believe there's a more efficient and practical way to train for both speed and instincts. And that way is to train….. S-L-O-W. Slow??? Are you out of your mind??? Nope...... Well, I guess if you ask the right people, you’ll get a different answer (lol).

?Seriously, training slower will magnify the errors being made which when performed under faster conditions are lost because well, its?performed faster and therefore more difficult to see. Additionally, bad technique and strength are often used as an additional cover up. Beginning to see the problem?

?While performing Instinct Drills (at a fast pace) all faults/mistakes/errors are dramatically magnified. My experience has been that the faster the drills, the more the student tenses up thereby actually making them perform much slower, using more strength and less technique. This often results in more injuries?or "deaths" during the attack exercise. And the mode of attack seems to be irrelevant. Meaning whether these fast-paced instinct drills are frontal attacks or rear attacks the results are very often the same. More speed equals more errors. And quite often those “errors” again result in “deaths”.

Training slower exposes technical weaknesses. By implementing slower training, you will be able to see mistakes and make corrections that would normally be lost under faster training conditions. This will in turn make your technique smoother. Which will allow you to actually increase your speed and perform better instinctually.

?Better instincts, increased speed, and better technique? All from training slower? I’ll take it!

?What are your thoughts?

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