Is Reflex Training Beneficial For Combat Sports?
Article by Jason Lau
2 minute read
The world of combat sports is a game of millimeters that calls for decisions made within milliseconds. For both coaches and fighters, honing reaction times can be the difference between victory and defeat. While traditional skills practice is crucial, there is a popularity with supplementing a fighter’s reaction training outside of regular skills practice. Certain professional fighters can be seen utilizing this supplementation within their training regimen. Can reaction training supplementation be beneficial to a fighter’s development or is it another trend within the world of combat sports?
Response time within Combat Sports
Combat sports requires fast reaction times, it is a critical component that can determine the outcome of an exchange or match. Response time comprises of several key phases:
Identify the stimulus - This can be in a form of an action or response an opponent (a visual cue, postural change, telegraph etc.).
Making a decision - Identifying the best course of action to take within the given situation the fighter is in.
Executing the response movement - This is where the fighter takes action based on the visual stimulus and decision made. This falls within the realm of reaction time transitions to movement time, where athletic ability comes into play, guiding the response to the given situation.
A study regarding tennis player’s coordination within dynamic events, states that tennis players use an estimation of distance and speed to determine the Time to Contact (TTC) (TTC = d/ v). Using this information, the players estimates the TTC as twice the time it takes the ball to move from the serve line to the net line then moves accordingly. Similar to combat sports, distance, position of opponent, anticipation of the opponents actions are other factors that may play a part.
While athletic ability significantly influences the effectiveness of a response, it is only part of the equation. Decision-making, knowledge of potential response options and self-organization is all equally critical. Effective response to a situation is also dependent on the fighter’s ability to perceive stress. A fighter’s pre-programmed responses are developed through extensive drilling. These skills are created through well-structured drill designs ranging from simple to complex design. By providing a layered approach, a fighter can then bridge the gap from constrained drills into live sparring environment.
For drill design recommendations, read my article “Muay Thai Series: General to Sport-Specific Conditioning” where I cover drill design periodization.
Is Reaction Training a Requirement?
Supplementing reaction training is used within combat sports and seen amongst professional fighters training regimen. Often seen within a fighter’s training highlights and within skills and S&C sessions. Though it is a low-stress, low-impact training modality, it should not be the bulk of training for a fighter. Training reaction and response timing is mainly done through skill sessions NOT via supplementation. However, reaction training can come in many forms and may be beneficial as a warm-up primer at the beginning of a session (see the beginning of the video below of UFC’s Light Heavyweight Champion, Alex Pereira, S&C session).
Ending Thoughts
Reaction training may not always require supplementation outside of skill sessions. The bulk of training a fighter’s reaction and response should come from practice, not outside. Reaction training is a cherry on top of all the other work a fighter has.
Is reaction training a requirement for fighters? Again, context and situation matters. if the fighter is severely lacking reaction times or is a beginner, it can be included within a session in small doses. For professional or seasoned fighters, this can be a primer option at the beginning to keep them sharp with little to no repercussions.
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