Independent Body Control

During your training you are taught to be relaxed during a strike and tighten up at the point of impact. The same suggestion goes for blocking. What is next after you are able to do this?

Those that have begun fighting realize that it is not as easy to do during a fight as it is to do during practice of forms. First of all, students seem to tighten up during sparring because it is an uncertain situation. The real interesting trick comes from independent control of the different body parts. Can you be tight with a hand/arm that has just blocked but at the same time continue to be loose with the other hand or leg that is trying to throw your counter attack? Try to separate your different body parts during your fighting and you will gain a bit of a speed advantage over those that are not developed the same way. An interesting exercise may be to hold yourself in a push up position with one hand while using your other hand to try and block strikes thrown by a partner.