A very important and much neglected part of combat training is the training for reacting. We can have an arsenal of automatic riffles, but it won't help if someone gets the jump on us and we're not ready for that. And many carry a gun, but freeze at the critical moment. The key is training for reaction. I shall list several great methods that we use, and that work well. These are methods that go way back to the Ninja of feudal Japan and the Shaolin of China. They are well tested, and we have seen their effectiveness.
Firsts let's take the example given above. A person must stand in a natural stance and clear the mind. Breathe. Get lost in the breath. When your partner sees that you're ready, s/he shall strike with whatever attack is chosen, which the defender will not be aware of. The defence must be natural and not thought about. If it fails, it doesn't matter. Each time, return to that state of mindlessness and breath. Then do it again.
Also note the Geta (wooden sandals) on the defender's feet. They add to the difficulty and are very effective. They challenge balance a great deal. When you can do this easily while wearing those, you're well trained in reacting.
Right from the start, it would greatly benefit you to spend some time every day with this next simple exercise. It requires no physical effort. Only patience, and not much. Suspend a coin (a penny with a hole nailed into the center works well for this) on a string at eye-level. Swing it just enough that on the back-swing it almost touches you, but not quite. Let it swing back and forth. Try not to blink. Don't flinch. This will condition you to not do so in combat, which can cause your reaction to be very counter-productive. It also conditions your ability to sense the approach of something or someone. And though for a while no success will seem to present itself, eventually something will occur that shows how effective the practice has been. An example may be a friend trying to surprise you while you sleep, but you snap up and pretzel the attacker.
Now, let's get on with advanced forms of reaction conditioning. A blindfold shall find much use in the following.
While blindfolded, have someone stand an arm's reach from you. When the person decides, they should slowly reach toward you. When you sense it, raise your hand.
When good at that, have two people stand before you. One reaches. Point at the one you sense is reaching.
Next level, have a person stand behind you. They should have a focus mit or something similar on their hand. Or just hold a target. The objective here is that when the person reaches, you should turn and strike the target. It will come toward you at various angles, so as to not be predictable.
At a simpler level, swing a target on a rope forward, then let it swing back, and then strike as it comes back toward you from behind.
Sparring blindfolded really helps, once you're ready. And if you're able, wear a blindfold for a day every so often to really help get comfortable with sensing your way around without your sight.
Circle drills are great for developing reaction to attacks. You need several people for this. They all form a circle around you and attack at random, and you must defend. But the circle doesn't break. Each person makes a move and then steps back.
Rapid fire attacks are another great one. Stand with a partner within an arm's reach. One fires off rapid strikes while the other defends with just blocks. As skill increases, the attacks should increase in speed and force.
