what can and what cant be trained?

[Crouchtig]

i havnt posted a new thread for ages so dont expect this one to be particularly good.

you can increase strength/endurance(weight training) and technique(pads/bag/shadow boxing) and weight(eating)

i think you increase bone density from doing pretty much any physical activity.

there are probably ways of increasing aggresion

you cant increase height, leg length or hand size.

can you increase speed?

i have a friend who is very fast (fast punches) he has never trained his punches. his speed seems to be natural. I want to be fast, can speed(movement speed/reactions) be improved through training?

natural ability: im already tall, my hands are probably medium sized and i have bony elbows and knees.

plan:weight training,pad training,sparring,eating,increase:bone density,speed,agression

then i will be the ultimate fighter! hahahaha

[yenhoi]

Sounds good.

Attributes are everything.

You forgot sensitivity and any sort of mental focus or related type attribute (aggression isent everything, and mental focus is different from artist to artist ex - some train for "the street" and others "the ring"), but yeah!

[retired]

try training on the pads with 16 or 18oz gloves and see how your hands speedup with the weight drop when coming back to bag gloves at intervals, this is how you should train for the ring when your fighting with 12oz gloves & when holding the pads dont drop them down to your sides inbetween techniques thus strethening your shoulder muscles.
try jumping jacks but keep your arms out to the sides at shoulder level with your thumbs facing down for 3 mins or more.

[Crouchtig]

jumping jacks? what is that? what will it improve

i already keep my hands up when holding pads because there is no time to drop them, we do the combo then start again at the begining until the time is up.

[Lost Ronin]

Speed is something that is innate in some, but can be improved by anyone with the right training. Your technique has a great effect on your speed, learning to make your moves crispier and more economical can make your moves faster. You also have to be relaxed because tension acts as a brake for speed. Try to focus on relaxation when you practice, to be fast you have to think " fast", pool training ( going into water and practicing your techniques ) and shadow boxing with dumbells in your hands and leg straps on also helps.

[K i o n]

this is gonna sound totally crazy i know... hehe

but when i first started muay thai (waaay back in july of last year) i took some advice from this dood on testing my punching speed by trying to "punch" out a candlelit flame... basically you just try and throw a punch from like an inch away from the flame, if the motion of your arm is quick enough to blow it out then move back a little bit, say another inch, and try it then... if you can't blow it out, let the fire recoil back and throw another one

whether or not this technique is truly effective remains to be seen, but for comparison i couldn't do it from an inch away when i started even after like 20-30 tries, now i can knock it out first time, every time from about 2 inches away... again, just a crazy idea hehe

[retired]

you forgot stretching (unless your planning on fighting midget's), & whatever you do dont BOUNCE when you stretch even if youv'e seen it in video's as all this cause's is compound tears in the tendons which can turn nasty.

[Crouchtig]

i dont see how stretching is so important. im not going to attempt a kick to the head or anything.

anyway, perhaps i want to go to africa and fight pygmies, its my choice. you cant stop me. ill get those stupid midgets, "oo look at me im a midget, isnt crouchtig stupid" thats what my invisible tormenters whisper. all day all night, then they pick a fight with some poor defenseless pink elephant, all HE does is advise me to burn things, he says ill be happy if i burn things...no more pygmies if i only burned things...

what? stop looking at me as if im mad.

[Cain]

stretching

Stretching imporves speed beacause it lessens the tension and the antagonistical effect of the muscles.. it lets you move faster without problems!

[Lost Ronin]

Gotta agree with Cain here. Stretching is very important. How are you gonna move fast if you are tense? Tension is the opposite of speed, it acts like a break on your muscles, if you want speed, get limber. Not only do you get faster, you also get injured less, take it from me, I'm still healing from an injury caused by being too tight.