First off, I don’t like to use reaction time when it comes to someone as highly trained as you. Reaction implies a lack of control. Lets call it RESPONSE time, because you are trained to the extent that you respond, not react.
I have no business talking about what appropriate or best practice responses are – so I won’t. Instead I want to speak to you about what is involved in having the fastest response time as possible.
3 things need to happen:
1. Your sensory systems have to receive an input and send that information to your brain.
2. Your brain has to process that information to determine the appropriate response.
3. You respond.
You’ve got #3 covered, lets talk about #1 and #2.
#1 involves your 4 situational awareness systems. At least one, maybe all 4, are receiving information from your environment and sending that information to your brain. You want those systems to be functioning and utilized at their highest and fastest level so that the information is received and sent to the brain as quickly as possible.
#2 requires fast processing speed of your brain. The brain needs to receive and sort through the information sent to it to determine what the best response is. Your training is what lets the brain know what the correct response it.
When a lot of information is being sent to your brain, and you have a high number of subconcussive exposures, the processing speed can slow down. That’s why we also train to add chaos – to ensure that the processing speed remains at a high level even in the most extreme and unpredictable conditions.
When you have trained #1, #2, and #3 to your maximum capability, you create next-level performance and an edge in any environment.