TV time to timing

 Have you ever spent some time in front of TV or Youtube and later reprimanded yourself for not having spent that time training? Yeah, sounds familiar... But let's see if that time itself could be made into training. As the matter of fact, one of the tougher aspects of fighting to develop on your own, through solo training is timing, i.e. faster reaction. 

Well, the next time you are in front of the screen, try using it as the "feeder"! Prior to starting this session, pick at least two elements you will be working on - different types of footwork, different combos, maybe just two different individual techniques/maneuvers, or work on the same thing but switch sides...whatever needs to be addressed in terms of reaction time. Once that is set, things are simple - just do the switch every time there is a new shot in the video! For those unfamiliar with film work terms, every time the lens of the camera closes, it is the end of the shot. In other words, every single time you see a new view on the screen, that is it. If you are more of a comic-book type, see what is the parallel with a new picture/frame in the story. 

If you really want to go for intensity, music clips and various ads are excellent, because they are rather quickly paced. As an example, there is 40+ shot changes in the first one minute of this video:

Naturally, if you don't dig this kind of music (shame on you!), just pick your favorite type. Ads also lend themselves really nice for the same purpose. Say, the first one in the following compilation has 8 different shots in the 30 seconds that it lasts...and it is not the busiest one of them!

So, next time, turn the guilty pleasures into satisfying pleasures, or start looking at the commercials as the most useful portion of your time in front of the screen, instead of the most annoying.