Agility

[Snowbat]

So I think we can all agree that agility is an important part of karate. Being able to quickly react and quickly adapt is a big asset. Agility also includes having good reflexes.

The question is, how do you train this, solo, at home? I already know about the good old

(just a quick youtube search) which seem to train the coordination and stuff, but I got the feeling this only trains the legs and feet agility.

Hand and arm agility is important too right? How do you train those? Or do these ladder workouts train overall body agility?

Any tips are welcome.

I searched the forum for this, but didn't really find anything relevant to my specific question. If a thread about this already exists, please link me to it

Thanks

[Kuma]

Agility is more changing your body's position and balance. If you mean hand eye coordination, there's lots of interesting things you can do. Hit a speed bag or double end bag, juggle, play handball, etc.

[DWx]

You can do ladder workouts for your arms too. All sorts of variants on crawling on all fours:

I agree with the above in that you probably mean more coordination as agility is about your body positioning and movement. For that, mitt work is great but if you're solo you can't really do that so shadow boxing is a good alternative. Or if you can hang a target that will swing or move, that's great for developing coordination and accuracy.

[Sheephead]

Start dancing... Any kind will do but some faster ones like Jive, rock n roll and such will definitely improve all areas (of your karate).

[Snowbat]

I did some shadowboxing yesterday and tonight and it's really fun to do actually. I did 2 sessions of 3 minutes and I was out of breath.

I suppose this trains speed as well. Especially since I really tried to do combos of several techniques.

I heard there doesn't seem to be a conclusive opinion on wether it's good to wear wristweights and ankleweights when doing this though...

I'll also buy myself one of these reflex bouncing balls. When you drop it, it bounces in a unpredictable way. it's cheap so it's worth trying.

Thanks for the advice

[LittleW]

That agility ladder is great, thanks.

[bushido_man96]

There are some books on agility you could look into that might give some ideas on training. Then, you can adapt the exercises to a Martial theme, and there you go. I've got a few on agility, but haven't been through them in a while. Like others have said, agility is about controlling your body position and movement while in motion, especially when interacting with outside forces. For example, football players when they are trying to fend off tackles. That's the kind of thing you want to think about.

[gatorgrasshopper]

For me, plyometrics. I am not a young buck anymore. I did not do plyo when I was younger/dumber and took things for granted or thought I knew it all.

Many mid aged athletes use plyo as a way to fend off the aging process, enhance balance/core muscles and try to enhance fast twitch muscles.

It also will work push your cardio/endurance. Do some research on it.

[sensei8]

Agility is in everything we do. Without it, one couldn't have learned how to walk without agility.

My only true answer is this: PRACTICE until you're sick of it and then PRACTICE some more.