Cheap Reaction Timer?

[parrythis]

I would like to be able to practice lunges, etc. with some kind of electronic reaction timer - something that would turn a light on after some randomly brief amount of time, start a timer, then stop the timer and display the results after you connect to the desired target at the completion of your lunge.

I have seen such devices for sale on commercial fencing web-sites, but they are a bit pricy. Being a a bit of a former electronics geek, I can't help feeling that with a circuit diagram and maybe $50 worth of parts from Radio Shack, someone handy with a soldering iron could build something.

Does anyone know of any circuit diagrams for such a device?

[oiuyt]

Hard part is likely to get a target that you can hit with a lunge a large number of times without massively damaging it.

-B :)

[hawaii kid]

I'll sell you my TARGETSPEED unit pretty cheap. It's only slightly broken and I bet your geeky skills would find it a simple job to fix.

email me?

[Teme]

FWIW, you can't improve your reaction time. Regardless of any form of training, it will remain pretty constant.

You can improve your execution time, though.
It has to do with choosing the right reaction to given stimulus. Therefore it's absolutely important for a fencing master to give correct signal when conditioning fencers reactions. The purpose is to 'program' the correct series of muscle contractions and extensions in fencers cerebellum, so on the piste, given the stimuli, a lot gets bypassed in the brain and synapses 'quick-fire' the execution. There still is the reaction lag between perception and passing the command to cerebellum, but from there on things move quicker. [Or something like that, it been a long time...]

Reaction exercises are, of course, exellent way to get pupils in alerted state of mind at the beginning of the class, preferably right after warm-up!

[TheArmourer]

For those who aren't familiar with anatonmy and neurology, the cerebelum a gery squishy lump that sloshes around in your head
I know it sounds kinda yuckie, but it's true.

For those interested in semantics, if your "execution time" gets faster and you therfore execute you action quicker, doesn't that mean you've REACTED in less time? (I'll get my coat ...)

For a circuit you could try looking at
http://www.saburchill.com/tech/elect.../elect038.html
or just Googling for something else.
For a resiliant target board, try mounting a piezo-electric switch behind an MDF board covered in foam