thenakedpage

Your opinion counts for 10 years of experience so it is worth something. Just wondering though, if you dedicated more time to perfecting your kata, how many could you perfect in a lifetime. I mean, how did you arrive at a nice round number of 30?

The most insensitive post I have ever seen. Although you may not wish to fool yourself, have you ever felt that other people have different experiences in the dojo? I am sure that you are not the only one to feel the way you do smr, but I would hazard a guess to say that you are in a minority. I hardly see training alone as going through the motions. You say you only understand two reasons to study karate? Two? You need to study harder, or get imaginative. I agree with you when you say that you have not learnt any values from karate, and hope that you do one day. Are you sure that you could join your nation's finest? I doubt it. You are clearly not one of them. Sorry to flame.

Sometimes I look at myself in the mirror and my veins wanna pop out. But that's a whole other story...

If your thumbs are too weak, or are subject to dislocation at the slightest provocation, don't try this... Thumb pushups. Assume the normal push up position, but with your knees on the floor. Make sure your fists are closed, but your thumb is sticking out. Do a push up, making sure that your thumbs are bearing a little of the workload. Do 10. Do this each day until you are able to add 5 more comfortably. The next day, start again at 10, but take your pinkie out of the equation. Roll your knuckles so that the pinkie bears none of your bodyweight. Again, do this until you can comfortably add another 5. Then keep taking each successive knuckle out of the equation until you can do push ups on your thumbs alone. Once you have acheived this, it's then time to take your knees off the floor and start at the beginning. Oh, and do them slowly. Just make sure to overcompensate for these slow pushups by doing 100 normal fast ones.

Stop jogging and take up sprinting. Jogging only increases your ratio of slow twitch muscle fibres. It is not beneficial for martial arts. It is not conducive to throwing fast kicks. It will increase your cardiovascular endurance and kill your anaerobic (explosive) endurance. Also, cardiologists state that aerobic athletes (middle distance runners, marathon runners) have weaker heart musculature than anaerobic athletes (sprinters). Your choice, but I say speed up and go shorter distances for more benefits. Intensity favours you in the long run (no pun intended)

Don't run too much. It's of no use to you in martial arts, but great if you are a triathlete or marathon runner. To increase your anaerobic endurance, shadowbox, shadow kick, and shadow block. Always move, and make sure that your intensity level is high. Do it in three minute rounds. Or do more sparring in the dojo, preferrably against partners who wish to go full tilt (do not read full-contact, injuries are no good for grading). Whatever you do, make sure it is not aerobic endurance that you are building. Anaerobic endurance is the key. Evander Holyfield rocked the boxing world when he stopped all roadwork for his title bout against Buster Douglas, and took up weights and plyometric training. At the weigh in, he was ripped and jaws dropped. The dinosaurs of boxing thought that he was too musclebound to fight. Ha ha... ideas have changed since then. Focus on explosive stuff, and you will see an improvement in a matter of weeks.

Yeah, I went vegan for a while, but got into protein trouble. No energy! It wasn't a great attempt though, I must admit. It was more a diet of restriction than anything else. People told me that I should eat white meat like chicken and fish, but I could never hold them still for long enough to bite them. Cows, on the other hand, are quite slow...

This would be a good subject to make sticky I think, but alas, I lack the power. I'm looking for new ways to train for speed in all aspects of the arts - strikes, kicks, blocks, footwork. Could people please share?

I once did this, but it had nothing to do with perspiration. My girlfriend thought it was weird too. And as for the guys at the dojo, well, they said that if I wouldn't wear a gi, then could I please at least put on a jockstrap...

A broken finger, my own stupid fault. Blocking a front kick with an open hand. Worse thing is that I was three weeks out from a tournament and I could not compete in the kumite, in which I perform better than kata. The State Championships and I had to watch from the sidelines. What a cold, cruel way to learn a lesson.

Good point retsu. But I wouldn't say rough, I would say downright inaccurate. I can't see doctors or health professionals diving for the BMI chart any time they come into contact with an obese or overweight individual though. One glance should suffice. Health issues aside, I think it has more to do with self-image than numbers on a chart. Some people would rather be dead than fat (strange, but true). Other people wouldn't want be skinny for all the money in the world (also strange). As long as we are happy with who we are, and our behaviour doesn't harm anybody but ourselves, what good is a BMI?

Just a bit? I wouldn't sign a contract. That's more about martial arts as a business than anything else. While in the modern world this must be an aspect, contracts are not the smartest way to keep students in your dojo. Great training and respect are the way to go IMHO. Just wondering, do these contracts give you the option to pull out if you are dissatisfied with the training methods, or if the style doesn't prove to be effective outside of the dojo or tournament ring???

Nope. Just more blood. It is increased vascularity from a higher blood volume going to the muscles (more blood in the muscle is what causes the pump as you lift weights). Correct! In fact it's rare to see outside of bodybuilding or strength training circles. Check out this article, with a cool title of "You're So Vein", for examples of exercises that will help you acheive your desired look. http://www.planetmuscle.com/articles/5_4/f_st.html

Why is it that aerobics is the only sport where men wear those nice tight little halter tops? Back to the original question. What do you want stamina for? Martial arts are not sports that you need a lot of aerobic conditioning for. Energy is used in short explosive bursts, and the energy system called into play is the anaerobic system - which makes anything less than general endurance work a waste of time. Jogging is worthless to the martial artist, unless you belong to a school where you must run as a part of a grading. If you want stamina to last the distance in a martial arts class, I would suggest that you take more classes, and that will come of its own accord. If you are puffing too heavily durring sparring work, do some rounds of shadow sparring, or just increase your sparring load / intensity. The energy system used in sparring is ONLY anaerobic, so anaerobic endurance, or local muscular endurance, are what you need to develop most. Sprints, plyometrics, and lifting light weights at high reps and high intensity (20 to 25 reps) is what the martial artist needs. Also, do a few rounds of skipping rope each day to build on this endurance (not for any longer than 3 minute rounds). Or some fast cycling for five minutes at a time (take a rest, then go again). Long aerobics sessions are not desirable. Jogging is even less so. And to those who are starting to flame up and defend jogging, I only have this to say - why would you spend hours, days, months, years, and lots of dollars, to make your kicks faster and more powerful, only to turn around and create loads of slow twitch muscle fibres in your legs from jogging, or risk injury from the repetitive strain of roadwork / treadmills? The best choice of training method for martial arts is anaerobic conditioning.

C'mon! He's a 13 year old white belt! He ain't tried much!

Has anybody used plyometrics as part of their martial arts training, especially as a preparation for tournaments? If so, how did you find it?

Sorry to correct a fellow Aussie, but holding a stretch for a longer period of time does increase flexibility. Studies have proven this to be the case. I can't recall the references right now, and will try to find them, but holding a static stretch for 60 seconds will increase flexibility by 20%, as opposed to holding a stretch for 30 seconds. Alas, this is only really good for general flexibility or cooldown exercises, as static stretching is not martial arts specific, unlike ballistic or dynamic stretching, which will aid kicks more.

Owing to the physics of a strike, you couldn't be further from the truth Reklats. At full stretch, a basic straight twisting punch has far less force than a punch from an arm that is only 75% extended. In fact, maximum velocity in a punch is reached at 75% of an arms extension. Once an arm begins the process of acceleration, it also begins the process of deceleration. At full stretch the fist is inert, and no force, mass, momentum or whatever is going forward or can be transferred. Any target must be within this range of 75% to 100%. So your point of imaginary impact while punching air is reached well before you would fall over or lose balance. There is no man alive, nor will there ever be, who can force a punch to accelerate through anything quicker than through air. Air offers no resistance. And, unlike a bag, you can hit through an imaginary target at full tilt. But enough of the facts. I think that the crux of the matter is being overlooked. The three main tenets of most martial arts styles are kihon (basics), kata (forms) and kumite (sparring). Takbulldog didn't say how long he had been training for, or even whether he was allowed to spar yet, but there is a natural progression in all martial arts. Basics, or standing in lines whilst punching or kicking air, are not designed to make you a better fighter in the short term, but allow you to perfect something that has not previously been mentioned in this discussion - technique. Without proper knowledge of technique, sparring is useless. Without a proper foundation (basics), or strong walls (kata), you cannot have a roof (sparring ability). To be a good martial artist, you must build from the ground up. And you shouldn't leave training to the dojo alone. Do some push-ups at home, get yourself a punching bag, some weights, whatever - but you should make an effort to take some of your training into your own hands - anything less is a failure on your own part to take responsibility. Bruce Lee put in at least four hours a day to get where he was. Natural ability alone could not have taken him there. You are no different.

Awesome

Instead of a typical sweep (brushing them off balance with your foot), you could try a hooking sweep, by dragging your leg back towards you after you have hooked your heel just behind their ankle. Harder to pull off, but damn near inescapable once the foot is dragging them ever further off balance.