AnonymousOne

http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/strengthvsconditioning.html About the Author - Ross Enamait is an innovative athlete and trainer, whose training style is among the most intense that you will find. Ross is committed to excellence and advancements in high performance conditioning and functional strength development. He has a sincere interest in helping today's athlete in their quest for greatness."

Sometimes you just flat run out of energy, strength and endurance. To me when I am weak I know I am on track. As Funakoshi said "You must become weak, not strong" I remember when I was living in Japan in the early 80's I got so frustrated with myself I had tears in my eyes after training. One Sensei noticed it and said "You extra sweat today" I laugh about it now, but didnt then LOL

I dont do weights like bar bell jockeys. I dont need slow lifting power I need explosive functional strength. Its far better for a fighter to do 100 pushups than bench press 200 lbs slowly. Most people who lift heavy weights cannot do 100 pushups because it takes endurance. I have challenged many people who can bench press 250-300 lbs to do 100 pushups (proper ones) and they cant do it. Bar bell jockeys? Guess that includes Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Bruce Lee, Lennox Lewis, Matt Hughes, and Georges St Pierre. I hear they've dabbled in the iron game a bit themselves. FYI, strength training with heavy load free weights is recognized as one of the best ways (along with plometrics) to train fast twitch muscle fibers, which are of upmost importance to martial artists interested in speed of movement. I would rather bench 300 than waste my time doing lots of pushups. I know, because I've done both. Perhaps we should call the National Football League and warn them that their athletes are getting slower because they are wasting their time doing 500 lb bench presses and 700 lb squats. Certainly they should be doing pushups and burpees instead... With respect, Sohan Perhaps I didnt explain what I meant properly. We use the term bar bell jockeys for body builders who are only interested in developing mass and not functional power. Big loads and very low reps. I have used weights for years. Properly designed for fighters.

"First of all, most amateur boxers are kids who often live at home and just go to school. " Not what I mean. I am talking about amateur boxers who are adults that train 6 days per week and enter competitions. As for fitting in training, its a matter of priorities and goals. I have fitted in that kind of schedule and maintained it for over 20 years. Its a matter of time planning and organisation. When I do my road work in the morning often my wife will come with me and ride a cycle along side me. Not far from us is a lagoon with a running track around it that is 2 miles long. Every 200 metres there is exercise equipment to do chin ups, situp ups, stretches and agility ladders (if was made by the authorities for local football teams). In summer we will park under a tree and have a picknick. The family rests, enjoys the sun while I work out. In my dojo at home in one corner we have a desk with a computer and when I train my wife often gets on the net and of course a couple of times each week my wife works out with me. If we are creative we can find ways to involve our families. I am blessed with a very understanding and easy going wife who whole heartedly supports my goals and is happy to think of ways to involve her. Often she will suggest an outing that involves a means for me do train if I am due at that time. When my son was just a kid I would take him to a football field and run around with him chasing a ball. While he ran to get the ball after I kicked it, I would do burpees and pushups. Instead of driving to the store to get milk and bread I would run or do some intervals of sprints and walk (active rest). When we go shopping for groceries instead of putting everything in the cart I would carry the heavy stuff (like bags of coal etc). If we constantly look for ways to do training we will find it. Right now I am at my computer standing in a deep kiba dachi Apart from this, we can always fit in a hardcore 20 minute plyometric sequence somewhere

If people need exercise they could just go for a walk or run, join a gym or go hiking. I cant understand anyone taking up martial arts and not being interested in fighting. Thats the whole point of it all. Its a warriors art not a knitting club

By comparison, the average amatuer boxer will spend one hour doing road work in the morning often at 6am and 2 hours every evening in a varirty of training with a customised training schedule for that individual. They do this 6 days per week. Thats 18 hours per week. Over a 3 year period it takes most to get to Shodan level, the amatuer boxer would have completed 1872 hours of training compared to the Karate-ka doing 624 hours Thats a huge difference.

Please understand the context of what I meant. Compared to the side snap kick, the side thrust kick is slower. Speed is determined by the commitment and training of the student, that is a different issue altogther

The first thing you should do is get some medical advice, X-Rays etc. Maybe its muscular, maybe its skeletal. Training without knowing what it is could be quite dangerous

I absolutely disagree that any technique cannot be used in a self defense situation. It all goes back to the competency of the individual. If you have spent years in arduous training and have developed sufficient power and speed, there isn't anything you cannot use. You have to develop all of the techniques, each and everyone of them to be a dangerous weapon. Think of your arms and legs as swords Azato said and he is 100% right. If you think you can't use something its because you haven't trained enough on that technique. Plain and simple.

Have a read of these: http://www.tokitsu.com/en/presentation/articles.html Scroll down to the articles on Karate Kata Some interesting observations

Personally I am not a fan of the two methods of yoko geri kekomi and keage as taught by our school and many other schools. One lacks speed and the other lacks power. In about 1975 I was reading a book written by Bruce Lee where he talked of his method of combining the two kicks into one for speed and power. So I started practising it. It took me some time to get the hang of it but I have practised it outside the dojo ever since. (Except when I am sparring in the dojo). Basically you launch the kick in the same manner as a snap kick but at the very end of the kick you suddenly drive your hips into the kick for power. That way you achieve the speed of a snap kick and power of a thrust kick. I really dont know why traditional Karate schools dont incorporate this technique because it is, without doubt, a far more effective way of performing the kick. An excellent way to develop kicingk speed and power is to do a lot of bag work. I would recommend this workout on a bag for kicks. 3 minutes of non stop kicks - right leg Rest one minute 3 minutes of non stop kicks - left leg Rest one minute Thats one set. Do as many sets as you can until complete exhaustion. Rise again the next day with the same strict regiment. Build this into your planned training schedule and it will work wonders. In addition to this you need to develop explosive leg power. Use these exercises to do so: Running up hill sprints Squat jumps Lunges Burpees Wall squats Body weight squats Duck walks Knee ups

Have you tried Bas Rutten's MMA DVD series?

See this http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/hardcore.html "The Hardcore video was filmed at the conclusion of an experimental mass-building program. During this time, I set out to gain mass, without sacrificing other athletic attributes such as speed, agility, mobility, endurance, and power. This video clip demonstrates the results of the experiment, shows some of the movements that I used, and offers readers ideas to spice up their own routines...."

Firstly, what are your training objectives? Body building or proficiency in the martial arts? I ask this because both of those need a different type of training regiment.

Any type of fighting technique needs to be performed in a way that simulates actual conditions of use. In all sports for example; they train to meet the conditions of actual competition and many spend a lot of time developing over speed capability. A movement must have correct form and then be applied with as much speed, power and focus as you can humanly muster. You need to train your muscles and mind to replicate actual battle conditions. So you have to imagine to yourself what conditions a real battle would require and train to meet those conditions.