That is kind of the crux of the problem, isn't it? If I take the initiative of attacking, it doesn't work because of what you say about the ranges, i.e. before I can complete anything I am giving them a chance to attack me first. So generally speaking so far I've been mostly trying to stay slightly out of their range and wait for them to attack me first, and try to counter. But then, I still have to figure out how/what I am going to do for that counter, because I am still very far away at this point. So usually this ends up with me looking like I am merely trying to avoid the fight, and that is kind of a let-down in a belt test. Also note that while I am one of the fastest guy in the dojo when it comes to striking, the speed of movement around the floor is another matter. It's a fact that with their long legs it takes them one step to close up to me, while it takes me two steps at least to go from slightly out of their range to my own range. So I may be faster, but I always have a longer distance to cover. Good suggestions from all anyway, thanks a lot! I definitely think that working on diagonal movements is something to really try harder. Fakes are generally discouraged in our dojo, while we are still at such low level, but not completely forbidden. Otherwise, while my speed is generally good, my reaction times are not. Or perhaps it's not even the reaction times, but rather the ability to understand quickly what the opponent is about to do, and react accordingly. This has always been my biggest weakness in every sport, think about the proverbial guy who is fine with the ball everywhere until he's in front of the goalkeeper, then everything goes blank... This is a bigger, and much more general flaw of mine however, not specific to the case in this thread.
