reaction ball

[tdiedwards]

Hi, i have just discovered a great new toy...

Get a reaction ball. they are great fun. Throw it up in the air, adopt your normal stance (whatever it is) and try to catch the ball on the first bounce. keep proper footwork and it's really useful.

Also, play with weights until your arms are like lead. then get the reaction ball out and play. if you force youself to focus on correct posture and footwork, i think it's a brilliant drill.

have fun!

[beagstkd]

Are you in a fighting stance? How far away from your body should you throw it?

[DWx]

I've seen these adverised but I'm a bit dubious over how it'll translate to martial skills. Not really improving anything other than your ability to catch a funny shaped ball.

[bushido_man96]

I haven't seen these yet. What does it look like?

[DWx]

They're just like funny shaped bouncy rubber balls. Got like lumps on them so that when they hit the floor they don't bounce straight off but go off at an angle. To be honest I think they're more appropriate for people who play sports like basball or cricket, not really MA but hey they're probably pretty fun to play around with.

[tdiedwards]

Are you in a fighting stance? How far away from your body should you throw it?

I use it in a fighting stance, mainly for footowrk. Seems like they're not very popular on this forum, but I have found it useful. As far as footwork goes you can treat it like shadow boxing, but with an unpredictable element to which you have to respond. Just chuck it to land a punch length in front of you...however, you will find you may have to lunge forward, retreat rapidly, or react with a feint to the side.

Of course, actually catching the ball isnt' the skill, but the movements you need to put yourself in position to catch it are the real exercise. If you use it at the end of a workout, you will find youself having to dig quite deep to make the sudden explosive movements to grab at it.

It was actually my fencing instructor who introduced me to it. it really little to do with catching skills. It's all about reflexes and lower body movement

[DWx]

Well if it works for you then by all means use it . I suppose its great when you're training on your own for the things you've mentioned, but if you've got a training partner I'd rather do the same things but with a set of pads to hit too whilst concentrating on the stances and positioning.

[the beast]

Because of it's shape it doesn't bounce back in a straight line. I can definitely see where this could help with hand eye coordination.