SevenStar

both. that's why they are champions. mindset alone won't make you a competitive level fighter, however. when you are fighting in the ring, mindset is pretty much the same - beat your opponents to a pulp. The question is whether or not you have the ability to do it. This is where training methods become important.

that's the thai influence on kyokushin... shdaowboxing is part of the training, he just didn't mention it. this can be done in the form of shadow boxing, or just line drills. however, the benefit of pad and mitt drilling as that you ARE drilling the technique while you are doing the drill. We always try to pair newbs up with more experienced guys so that the the guy with experience can give the newbie corrections. Also, there are always two of us walking the floor making corrections that the more experienced partner may have missed.

exactly. In addition, the object thrown only has that one chance of hitting you - so you can move way too early, and you don't have to worry about follow up attacks, feinting, etc.

anytime, bro. Yeah, you can definitely lose weight. you sound like you're on the right track. Something else that may be helpful is keeping a journal. record your current weight, training regimen, etc. and update it religiously. It helps some people psychologically, because it keeps them motivated. When you get discouraged, you can look back a few months and see how much you've progressed.

you say your aim is to gain strength - but it's geared more toward endurance. strength training involves few sets and reps with maximal weight. Do you have access to any heavier weights? If not, I'd train for endurance and intensify the workout a bit more. As for the lack of back and leg work, hudson said pretty much everything I woulda said (except that I love leg training) for your diet, fruit is great. you'll want to make sure you sonsume enough protein as well, preferably from "clean" sources like chicken, fish and the leanest red meats you can pick up.

I'm headed out to class right now, but I'll make some suggestions later. by imcomplete, I mean your workout doesn't include any back or leg work...

when you do high rep exercise, your muscles always feel bigger - that's because of the blood flowing through them after being worked out. You have a pumped up look for an hour or so, then return to normal. you workout isn't bad for you, but it's kinda incomplete, and some of the work seems lacking. What goals are you trying to achieve? capoeira is an excellent workout, you'll love it.

http://www.geocities.com/kalistawarrior/sevenstar.jpg that's a pic of me. I usually weigh around 220. I squat 405, bench 285, deadlift - I'm not really sure... I usually do them with about 250, and I know I can get more than that. I just recently added some o lifts to my workout - cleans and clean and press, so I am keeping the weights light with them until I get the form well enough. I am cleaning 155 and clean and pressing 100.

Nah, I don't think you're over training. 10 sets total for the chest is not bad. How many reps are you doing per set? Sticking with the 10 sets, I would do 10 sets, 4-6 reps of flat bench press only. if you prefer, you can keep inclines in there, for variation. Just remember that it's all working the same muscles, not upper, inner and lower...

When I was training karate, "ohayo gozaimaus" is what we had to say - and my teacher was japanese. Dunno if he preferred that to osu for any particular reason or anything though.

you can and should add fruit to your diet, but to only eat those things is not smart. you are lacking protein, which means in addition to losing fat, she also lost muscle. Consequently, she may have still looked fat in some areas even after losing the weight. Also, when you crash diet like that, guess what usually happens when you start eating regularly again.... you gain it back. Not only that, but when you crash diet, it's possible to gain weight. When you don't eat enough, your body can go into starvation mode. it says to itself "holy crap, I'm starving - we're gonna die!" and it goes into conservation mode - it drops excess muscle - because muscle is more dense than fat and takes more energy to maintain - and your metabolism SLOWS DOWN. Also during this process, your fat cells begin to split, as the body is trying to find some way of nourishing itself. When this happens, you may actually gain weight. This is why you see people who go on a crash diet and gain 5 pounds.

eating meat is fine, don't eliminate it if you don't want to. The biggest problem that most people make is that they try to make too many drastic changes too quickly. It's like quitting smoking cold turkey - you have withdrawals and temptations to go back to it. make the cutting a gradual process. This is extremely easy to do these days, as everyone has a low fat alternative to everything. For example, if you are used to eating big, juicy t bone steaks and you love steak, cut back to a leaner sirloin. Still tastes good and has less fat. If you like whole milk, you can gradually use less and less of it, 3 days a week have whole, 2 days have 2% and gradually get to the point where you are drinking 2% daily. Next, make the change to 1%. You said you were at one time living off of greasy food. If you are used to eating whoppers, cut down to a regular bk burger. After that, switch to a Mcdonald's burger, which has less fat than bk's. The taste buds are sensitive to change. It can take a person up to six weeks to get used to the taste of a different type of food. Make the change gradually, and you will find it a lot easier and more enjoyable. And the results will be more permanent.

Actually, some people (like pavel tsatsouline) do advocate lifting in the dark or blindfolded on occasion. instead of relying on your eyes to correct your form, you have to feel the proper form. the same can be said of MA. having to adjust your stance, do footwork, etc. while you are unable to see can help you feel proper body mechanics better.

IMO, training in the forest is almost pointless. It's more of a fantasy training perpetuated by those who wat to live the fantasies they see, read and hear about. There was a 5 page discussion about is on the general froum, and I posted all my thoughts there: http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=16331 since taku is talking from an internal perspective, he derives more benefit from the quiet of the forest - however, it's still not necessary for qi development. you can do qigong in the forest, in the training hall, in your living room... I definitely disagree about efficiency. being in the forest is WAY less efficient. Why do you think it's more efficient?

do the one I posted above - the periodization cycle...

all of you guys are lucky... when I was training longfist, I had to spar everyone in the class TWICE, then spar the instructor, THEN grapple them and then grapple the teacher... and that was for my yellow sash. He would vary the testing from student to student so it was never predictable. The lower level tests weren't meant to test your skill (as someone mentioned above) they were will power tests. at yellow sash (which was the second rank) you could have sucky technique and pass, provided you didn't give up.

really? I've never been taught that...

you may be one of those people that just don't sleep much. I am one too. I am up until about 3am, then go to sleep, and wake up at 7:30 to get ready for work. most people can't live on 4.5 hours of sleep, but it's normal for me. Or, you may be suffering from insomnia. Ask your doc about insomnia and treatments.

In response to the routine you posted, it's decent. I'm not a fan of working a muscle group only once per week though, so there are some things I'd change. first, you don't need to to incline bench, flat and dumbell - I'd only do flat. for the back, I like what he's got, but I'd kill the shrugs (big traps aren't a necessity for fighting), and I'd do pull ups instead of chin ups. for legs, eliminate all of that stuff except the normal squat, and you can keep the calf raises. his bi and tri stuff is great. the shoulder stuff is good, but I would drop the lateral raises and only do presses. it's a decent regimen - geared toward putting mass on you.

the best way to get a stronger punch is to punch. Check your mechanics and strike the heavy bag alot. strength training will help, as you are training your muscles to output more power, but look to proper technique first and foremost.

don't equate size to slowness. When you train properly, it's not the case. Look at tyson, for example. he's a big guy. Can you punch harder than him? not a chance. Are you faster than him? possibly, but if you are, are you so fast that you can hit him without him hitting you? highly doubt it. Size isn't necessarily a hinderance to speed.

technically, there is no such thing as "toned" - it's a misnomer. Flex your bicep. see how it bulges? it bulges and you can see it through skin and bodyfat. That's what tone is - residual tension in a relaxed muscle. The muscle is always half-tensed because of weight training. the way to achieve the "toned" look is to have low body fat. If your muscles are constantly tensed and you have too much fat on your body, you will never really see it. The abs are a perfect example. There are people who do hundreds of crunches per day, but never achieve a six pack - because they have a layer of fat over their midsection that they are not getting rid of.

not really, it's just a matter of grouping things logically. the back, biceps and lats all perform pulling motions, so why not work them on the same day? shoulders, chest and triceps push - why not work them on the same day? Some people split the body in half - upper one day, lower the next. Some people do loegs on a separate day all by themselves. It depends on you. Find something that works for you.

strength without mass - look into pavel tsatsouline's "power to the people" - heavy training on a periodized schedule. compound movements - deadlifts, squats, bench presses. That's it. However, if you want you can add some form of press, like the military press. These exercises will hit every workable muscle in the body to some extent. Heck, the deadlift alone will hit most of them. Heavy weights, low sets. 1-5 reps, 1-3 sets. that's all. very quick and to the point. This is done daily. Set a cycle for yourself - for example, 10 workouts. Never, however, set less than 8. Next, find a weight you can comfortable do 10 times. This will be your starting weight. Perform one set of 5 with this weight. Next, decrease the weight by 5-10% and do another set of 5 - that's it. Do this for each of your compound exercises. Every two sessions, add 5 pounds. after your cycle ends, begin again, but your starting weight will be 5 pounds heavier than the last cycle. Here's a sample: session#--- weight--- reps 1--- 180 / 170--- 5 / 5 2--- 180 / 170--- 5 / 5 3--- 185 / 175--- 5 / 5 4--- 185 / 175--- 5 / 5 5--- 190 / 180--- 4 / 4 6--- 190 / 180--- 4 / 4 7--- 195 / 185--- 2 / 2 8--- 195 / 185--- 2 / 2 second cycle will look similar, but you will start 5 pounds heavier: 1--- 185 / 175--- 5 / 5 2--- 185 / 175--- 5 / 5 3--- 190 / 180--- 5 / 5 4--- 190 / 180--- 5 / 5 5--- 195 / 185--- 4 / 4 6--- 195 / 185--- 4 / 4 7--- 200 / 190--- 2 / 2 8--- 200 / 190--- 2 / 2 periodization is a means of continually making progress. When you stick with maximal weights constantly, it's harder to raise your poundages. by cycling, you are allowing your body a progressive means of increasing your max 5RM bench every few weeks. This routine should be done 3-5 days per week.

best approach? No. But everyone's genetics are different, so it may work for some. Definitely not the best approach, however.