The “Secret” System That Builds Fight IQ in Motion
By Leroy Saunders | Strength & Conditioning Coach, Fight by Design
There’s a reason some fighters move like they’re wired differently.
They don’t overreact. They don’t flinch. They don’t waste motion.
They just know exactly where they are, and exactly what to do, without thinking.
Most think its luck, it’s not. It’s proprioception.
Whats Proprioception?
At its core, proprioception is the body’s ability to feel itself in space, to know where every joint, limb, and segment is, without needing to look.
It’s the reason you can close your eyes and still touch your nose.
It’s what lets you pivot, sprawl, slip, or recover base in a scramble, instantly.
It’s how elite fighters move clean, smooth, staying balanced, and make split second corrections before the brain has time to process.
Proprioception doesn’t wait for your conscious mind.
It’s faster than thought. And in the madness of a fight, that means everything.
You can be fast.
You can be strong.
But if you can’t feel where you are, and adjust in real time, you’ll always be a step behind.
Here’s what proprioception gives you in a fight:
Smarter Reactions
You don’t need to see to know. Your body feels the angle. It shifts before impact. It corrects the second balance is lost.
Better Movement Control
You hit your stances without overcorrecting. Your hips don’t wobble on pivots. Your foot placement is automatic.
Fewer Injuries
Most injuries happen in milliseconds, slips, tweaks, missteps. Solid proprioception gives your joints a chance to catch themselves.
Faster Recovery
A fighter with proprioceptive awareness doesn't just move better, they reset faster. They return to structure quicker.
How It Actually Works
Proprioception is handled by a system of receptors throughout the body:
- Muscle spindles (in your muscle tissue)
- Golgi tendon organs (in your tendons)
- Mechanoreceptors (in your joints and skin)
These constantly send signals back to your spinal cord and brain. not for decision-making, but for real time adjustments. It’s a loop. A reflex. A hardwired system you don’t have to think about.
And just like S&C, this system can be trained.
So Why do Most Fighters not Train It, and Why They Should.
Because it’s invisible. You can’t see it. You can’t post it. And it doesn’t make you look jacked.
But the fighters who train it:
- Slip cleaner
- Move sharper
- Reset faster
- Get hurt less
- Stay composed under chaos
This is a separator of athletes who “look strong”and those who move like absolute killers.
How I Program Proprioception for Fighters
You won’t see balance boards or circus drills in my gym.
We don’t waste time standing on Bosus throwing punches into the air.
Instead, we train proprioception the way it shows up in a fight, under fatigue, under load, under speed, and under control.
1. Controlled Tempo Lifts
Movements like tempo split squats, slow RDLs, and paused presses teach fighters to feel tension, alignment, and position through the whole rep, not just bounce through range.
Tempo teaches awareness. Awareness refines control. And control is everything under fatigue.
2. Unilateral & Split Stance Strength Work
This is actually where the real proprioceptive gains are made:
- Landmine presses
- Single-leg hinges
- Offset carries
- Split-stance squats and lunges
These movements demand coordination through the hips, ankles, and spine, exactly what’s required in combat sports.
3. Reactive Jumps & Plyos
Not just “jump high” drills, but real, reactive drills that teach your body to absorb, redirect, and reload in split seconds.
Think:
- Depth jumps
- Kneeling jumps
- Seated broad jumps
- Single leg land and hold drills
These teach your nervous system to snap back under pressure. It’s how you build that second effort explosiveness during the fight.
4. Med Ball Rotational Work
You can’t talk about proprioception without talking about rotation.
- Landmine rotation
- Lateral rebounds
- Split stance side tosses
- Med ball slams from different angles
These drills connect the lower and upper body in dynamic, high speed patterns, again exactly what is needed from fighters.
5. Contrast Training Under Fatigue
This is the final layer, my favorite way to do this, and the most important in my opinion.
When i’m doing this with fighters or athletes, I don’t just train proprioception fresh.
I program or coach them through it after heavy lifts, during circuits, in low rest formats. Why the hell would i do that?
Because in a fight, proprioception breaks down under fatigue.
So we train it that way, with intention.
Think:
- Trap bar deadlift → Depth jump
- Split squat → Lateral bound
- Isometric hold → Rotational slam
The goal is nervous system resilience, not just movement quality.
Honestly, This Isn’t Optional. It’s Foundational.
If you’re a fighter, and you’ve never thought about proprioception, you’ve probably already felt it.
That moment where you slipped just in time when some guy was about to smash your head.
When your foot reset perfectly without even looking.
When you caught your balance somehow off a bad angle.
That was your proprioceptive system, not your eyes or thoughts.
The problem is, most fighters unfortunately only realize how important it is after an injury or a blown exchange.
Proprioception is like the invisible armor that keeps you moving smooth and on point when things fall apart.
You Can’t Think Your Way Through Chaos
You can train harder. You can get stronger. You can spar more. You can eat and sleep perfectly.
But if you don’t train the system that holds it all together, you’ll always be that little bit extra vulnerable when things get messy in the fight.
The best fighters feel the fight, not just think through it. Watch any 2 elite fighters in the ring, study how they move, they fight with feeling.
They don’t over correct, overreact, or fall apart under fatigue, 99% of the time.
They move like they’ve been there before, because their body knows where it is.
If you want to move with more control, react with more confidence, and recover with more fluidity, you need to train the nervous system, not just the muscles.
Take a look at your current training program or ask your coach, If it doesn’t challenge your balance, reaction, rotation, or position under fatigue… you’re not training proprioception. You’re just lifting weights.
Here’s a quick checklist to audit your current program:
✅ Do you train unilateral or split stance movements weekly?
✅ Are you doing any tempo work (slow eccentrics or paused reps) to build positional control?
✅ Do you include reactive jumps or land based plyometrics more than once a week?
✅ Do your drills challenge balance or demand coordinated movement under speed?
✅ Are you exposing your body to dynamic rotation, not just linear strength?
✅ Do you train under fatigue and still require quality movement? (not just volume for volume’s sake)
If you answered “no” to more than a couple of those, you’re leaving out real performance gains.
Here’s a simple example blueprint of additions to an S&C program, where you can train with intention, with real carry over and performance:
Day 1 (Lower focus)
A1: Rear foot elevated split squat (3030)
B1: Depth jump to lateral bound
C1: Sled pushes or single leg RDLs
Finisher: Core control drills (Deadbug, pallof press)
Day 2 (Upper focus)
A1: Landmine press or half kneeling DB press
B1: Med ball rotational throws / slams
C1: Single arm farmer carry
Finisher: Band anti rotation holds or carries
Day 3 (Reactive/contrast work)
A1: Trap bar deadlift
A2: Depth jump or seated jump
B1: Landmine clean & jerk
B2: Kneeling squat jump to lateral shuffle
Finisher: Banded core rotations or DB pull throughs
If you want to move like a pro, recover like an absolute beast, and stay on point when everything’s breaking down around you, check your program.
Because the fighters who move with feeling, win with less effort.
