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Striking accuracy: work with X and Y axes

During a dynamic fight, striking precision is a crucial skill but without specific conditioning, the targets we reach do not always perfectly coincide with those we want to achieve.

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

It is for this reason that, in 6 Dragons Kung Fu, we focus on reaching progressively higher levels of accuracy with practices like the one are going to see: the Octagon.

The Octagon: a simple exercise to “calibrate” our limbs

A note by Master Kongling – Let’s read the entire explanation before starting.

What we need

A free and resistant wall (that we can dirty or damage without problems)
A more or less soft panel to fix to the wall (the simplest choice is smooth-surfaced polystyrene foam tatami squares but if we are extremely conditioned we can even hit the wall directly, read Martial arts conditioning: improve resistance)
A colored adhesive tape (rather resistant) to trace the guidelines
Some strong tape or glue to fix the panel to the wall

How to position the target panel

The size of the panel depends on our body and on which limbs we want to train (but it should always be a square)
If we want to train upper and lower limbs, the side of our panel (a square) should correspond to the height that our arm reaches when extended vertically while we are standing (with the fingers stretched)
If instead, we want to train upper limbs only, the side of our panel must correspond to the length of our elongated arm (with the fingers stretched, shoulder included)
We need to fix the panel to the wall in a very stable way (no vibrations, no strange inclinations)
Unless they are virtually unreachable by our blows (eg. covered by a wooden frame), let’s avoid using metal nails (both for hanging and on the four angles)
If the wall allows it, it is better to use glue or double-sided tape (covering the entire back part of the panel)
In the full body version, it is reasonable to leave a small space from the ground, in the upper-limbs-only version we have instead to align its lower base at the height of our groin

Trace the guidelines

Using an erasable pencil (and the image of this tutorial as a reference), let’s start by dividing the entire panel into a 5×5 grid of identical squares
Leaving a line of free squares on top, bottom, left and right let’s trace with our colored sticker only the cells that make up the central 3×3 part
Done this, let’s overlap another identical 3×3 area above the past one but this time, rotated by 45°
This way we have automatically identified where to place the lines to trace the external octagon (they are in fact located at the distance of a small square from the two 3×3 areas that we have already defined)

A note by Master Kongling – In any case, unless we want to build a stable structure, there is no need to be maniacally precise.

How to perform the exercise

Let’s see how to execute this practice:

The exercise consists of throwing sequences of strikes against the panel; we can implement all the parts of the body we normally use to attack (hands, feet, knees, elbows, etc.)
Let’s not stand still, we must move freely but trying to explore as much as possible different heights, directions, angles (etc.); let’s try to be as dynamic as possible, we can rotate, approach, move away, jump, roll, bend, go to the ground (etc.)
At each blow, the primary goal is to match (as much as possible), the A point that we want to reach with the B point that we actually get (most striking exercises do not allow us to see so precisely our spatial errors, this is our occasion to correct them)
Exploiting the grid, at each blow, we have to choose a specific area to hit; our focus must be on improving our ability to achieve smaller and smaller targets (eg. pressure points)
Substantially we have to “calibrate” our spatial intelligence (read The most important skill in combat) first at a slow speed and then, gradually, increasing it but always with the aim of maintaining the same accuracy level
We can increase the speed and complexity of the targets (height, size, distance, etc.) as long as we can hit them flawlessly
The second goal of this exercise is to work on our flow and on our capability to connect effective striking sequences, for this reason, the rule is to concatenate all our blows without interruptions

Execution tips

Let’s try to hit avoiding repetitiveness as much as possible (let’s alternate right, left, high and low, insert repetitions, etc.); we could even imagine hitting drawing alphabet letters
This is not strength training, applying full power strikes is optional (and not recommended for those who face a hard surface and have not conditioned limbs)
Whatever our level, at the beginning of the exercise we have to start very slowly to increase then the speed (gradually but never decreasing it)
We have to create linked, harmonic and sequential movements (involving as many body elements as we can)
As always, let’s imagine addressing a real opponent, we are not dancing
As regards the duration of this practice we can even start with 1-5 minutes but at an advanced level, we can also do 60-90 minutes sessions (in any case, avoiding as much as possible interruptions)
When we identify an inaccuracy that we struggle to correct, let’s focus first on the horizontal precision (X-axis) and then on the vertical one (Y-axis)

The variants

Above the grid, we can also draw the perimeter of a standing human body (by passing a pencil around our own shape with limbs opened in various directions, for example, like the Vitruvian man)
Once reached a certain level of precision we can even work on continuously altering our pace, making it tactically faster or slower
At a more advanced level we can also practice blindfolded and check the precision of our action by leaving traces of our hits (eg. by passing chalk dust on our panel with a chalkboard eraser, this way our attacks will leave a sign)
With a projector (even a low-quality one) we can also project videos onto the panel with targets to hit (or adversaries to avoid)
If we put an Octaagon panel on the ground we could even work on footwork reactivity, rapidly moving our feet on specific squares or crossing lines (the focus in this case is on maintaining a good balance)
The exercise, with a suitable choice of targets, can also be run with fingers (expert level), rigid / throwing / flexible weapons

Final notes

A few conclusive thoughts:

The Octagon panel is included in the Poles Training variants (read Basic Kung Fu exercises: Poles Training) and is good for both beginners and more experienced practitioners but despite having an essential calibration function, it is not included among our fundamental exercises (read /// Subscribe (it's free!) or Login to see this content ///)
In the economy of good preparation, this practice is important but it is not a good idea to dedicate more than a periodical time to it (the reason is that it is, intentionally, “static” and devoid of three-dimensional depth)
In conclusion, let’s not confuse training and real fighting; what we do to improve the performance of our body has nothing to do with what we have to do in a real situation; in the preparation phase we try in fact to work harder and expand our options, in a real combat scenario we have to do exactly the opposite (save your energy and use only what we fully master)
…

In-depth video courses

Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu exercises – All the basic practices to build real martial skills of our school
Advanced speed and reflexes training – How to build real speed of execution for combat
Basic free hand fighting techniques – How to execute the core techniques of our combat system
Diamond Finger conditioning – How to acquire one of the most advanced conditioning skills
Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu weapons – A step-by-step path to our fundamental martial weapons
Upper limbs training for combat – Methods and exercises to optimize arms’ mobility / reactivity
The basics of the knife – How to build a functional fighting capability with the knife

In-depth articles

Martial arts: why speed and power are not enough – The concept of Precision Control
Speed and quickness – The crucial difference between these 2 terms

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

Can you maintain a stable combat flow?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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