AnonymousOne

Hmmmm Any good MA is combatitive, it all goes back to the students ability to apply what is taught in a real life situation

Now thats what I call a good deal but it isn't that close which is a little bit of a bummer though. Just Wondering but does that club teach good even though it's not very expensive??? We have over 2000 students nationwide. So thats $40,000 per month income.

You might find this interesting Training Strategy for Evander Holyfield The time-honoured -- but unfortunately ill-conceived -- practice of long, slow distance work as a conditioning regimen for boxers is what Evander learned from the training dinosaurs of his youth, and had continued with for years. When I was brought aboard his team, prior to his fight against Buster Douglas in 1990, Evander was in sad physical condition considering the specific demands of his sport. I immediately tested Evander's responses to three minutes of boxing specific total body work (see the 3-minute drill description below), which brought his heart rate above 180 bpm. He needed a full 7 or 8 minutes to recover back to 120 bpm after this single bout, analogous to one hard boxing round. What was worse, after doing five of the 3-minute drills with a one minute rest between, his heart rate remained above 150 between bouts. In short, he did not have the capacity to sustain a high performance level for even half of the duration of a professional fight. My responsibilities were limited to the physical conditioning component of Evander's training, which had to be integrated into his skills and sparring training. Boxers require not only agility, speed and strength in short, explosive bursts, but also a high level of anaerobic strength endurance in order to perform these bursts over and over for ten rounds or more. I designed Evander's training regimen and nutritional protocol to reflect these all-important elements. The road work ended promptly and completely. After the 12 week cycle described below, Evander recovered quickly from intense activity, even after a series of ten, 3-minute drills. His agility and limit strength levels increased, and his lean Baudot increased from 208 to 218. The conditioning program described below was the program I personally supervised Evander through prior to the Buster Douglas fight. He also used the same training cycle in preparation for his most recent fights against Mike Tyson, but I was not there personally to oversee his training. This preparation was supervised by a friend of mine in the strength coaching profession who assures me the Evander followed the prescribed program precisely. General Points of Conditioning for Boxers There are several general concepts which helped to shape the specific program that I designed for Evander. First, the work profile of boxing is repeated 3-minute rounds of activity, often with very high intensity bursts within a round. The rounds are separated by one minute rest intervals. Thus, the relative contribution of anaerobic energy release pathways is considered extremely important, with aerobic capacity playing an important role in terms of facilitating rapid recovery. Extreme conditioning is required to fight effectively for ten intense, 3-minute rounds and anaerobic endurance is a key aspect that cannot be overlooked. Short of an early round knockout, boxers cannot afford to win only the early rounds of a fight. They must maintain an intense, but measured pace throughout a long and competitive bout. So conditioning counts almost as much as skill for boxing success. Optimal physical conditioning provides the platform from which the skills can be used. The best way to simulate the demands of boxing is to use conditioning methods which mimic the work/rest ratio and integrated bursts of power that typify boxing. Boxing is a highly individual sport. Fighters possess unique styles that create specific physical demands. Some rely on explosive strength ("power"), for others it's starting strength ("speed"), and for most a combination of the two ("speed-strength"). True champions alter their style in a way that will make them more able to attack the weaknesses of any given opponent. Improvements in specific capacities can be made, but they are only helpful if integrated into the fighter's style. For example, extensive footwork exercises may not benefit the power puncher who fights stationary and looks to deliver a blow that starts with the legs and drives right through the opponent (and wins that way). Similarly, a fighter who relies on punching speed and fast footwork should not put all his training hours into heavy bag work and muscle mass development. So, the program designed must not only be specific to boxing, but also specific to the boxer. Ideally, the boxing punch consists of a synchronization between arm, leg, and trunk actions. The punching movement of a boxer consists of leg extension, trunk rotation, and arm extension, in succession. The more effective the coordination between arm, leg and trunk movements, the greater the impact force of a punch. The leg muscles play a vital role in the power developed in this sequence. Increasing leg force development and coordinating it with trunk and arm action is probably the most effective way to increase punching power. Because boxing is an explosive sport, ballistic training methods are especially effective during weight training for boxing. This kind of training method requires the athlete to perform each repetition explosively, with maximal intended velocity. Finally, in my view, the best way to weight train for competitive boxing is via a cycled training schedule. This type of training schedule integrates workouts and exercises that will meet all the basic performance demands of boxing, strength, power, speed, agility, and strength endurance. Evander's Conditioning Plan The twelve week macro cycle was broken down into four mesocycles of three weeks duration. Each 3-week period had specific goals, and each subsequent 3-week period built upon what was established in the preceding periods. The conditioning goals for each mesocycle were as follows: Weeks One, Two and Three 1. Maximize muscle mass -- Evander needed to increase his body mass from under 210 to 220 pounds. 2. Minimize fat accumulation during hypertrophy phase (dietary strategies including "zig-zag" diet were employed). 3. Improve general strength and fitness foundation, including moderate aerobic threshold intensity training. 4. Begin training to increase anaerobic threshold. 5. Introduce light plyometrics. Weeks Four, Five and Six 1. Maximize limit strength of muscles/movement used in boxing (emphasis on legs). 2. Increase anaerobic strength endurance (maximum force output time after time). 3. Begin training specific skills (weaknesses) in earnest. 4. Concentrate on between-workout recovery. 5. Introduce explosive strength and starting strength with moderate plyometrics. Weeks Seven, Eight and Nine 1. Maximize explosive strength. 2. Specific event skills must predominate all skills training sessions. 3. Continue anaerobic threshold training. 4. Maximize between-workout recovery. 5. Incorporate weighted plyometrics and hill/stairs running. Weeks Ten, Eleven and Twelve 1. Maximize ballistic strength (starting strength) using "shock" plyometrics (built on a 9-week base of plyometrics progression). 2. Heavy emphasis on anaerobic threshold. 3. Maximize between-workout recovery ability. 4. Heavy emphasis on skills. 5. Emphasize speed, agility, ballistic movements. 6. "Overspend" drills in final preparatory period. 7. Begin "complex training" (description below) as a replacement for normal weight training. Evander's Training Techniques and Sequences (abbreviated terms are described after the table) Mesocycle One Session Training Mode Frequency Morning workouts Boxing Skills Daily LBE Mon, Wed, Fri UBE Tues, Thurs, Sat Versaball Mon, Wed, Fri Noon workouts 3 Minute Drill (4-6 sets) Mon, Wed, Fri Plyometrics Tues, Thurs, Sat Evening workouts Weight Training Mon-Fri Mesocycle Two Session Training Mode Frequency Morning workouts Sparring/IE Daily/twice weekly LBE Mon, Wed, Fri UBE Tues, Thurs, Sat Versaball Mon, Wed, Fri Noon workouts 3 Minute Drill (7-9 sets) Mon, Wed, Fri Weighted plyometrics Tues, Thurs, Sat Evening workouts Explosive weight training Mon-Fri Mesocycle Three Session Training Mode Frequency Morning workouts Sparring Daily LBE Mon, Wed, Fri UBE Tues, Thurs, Sat Versaball Mon, Wed, Fri Noon workouts 3 Minute Drill (10-12 sets) Mon, Wed, Fri Shock plyometrics Tues, Thurs Evening workouts complex training Mon-Fri Explanation of Training Terms and Details Boxing Skills & Sparring Evander's personal boxing skills regimen is up to him and his coach. However, Evander's coach and I communicated to establish precisely what physical and mental capabilities this form of periodized conditioning would provide Evander. In this way, Evander's boxing skills were in perfect sync with his fight strategy and his conditioning efforts right up to the fight. Use of the heavy bag early in the 12 week macro cycle was carefully monitored due to the severe ballistic nature of this training medium. IE Impulse/Inertial Machine. This machine is used to develop starting strength in jabs, uppercuts, hooks. It is tough and requires total body coordination. Evander's problem was that he did not use good total body coordinations in his punches. He tended to be an "arm-puncher." This training apparatus was employed to help Evander develop this motor sequence and use his legs more when punching. UBE Cybex Upper Body Exerciser (upper body exercycle) UBE load setting/intensity Work Duration Rest Duration Repetitions Mesocycle One max 1 minute 1 minute 5 Mesocycle Two max 90 seconds 1 minute 8 Mesocycle Three max 2 minutes 1 minute 12 LBE Lower Body Exerciser (exercycle) UBE load setting/intensity Work Duration Rest Duration Repetitions Mesocycle One max 1 minute 1 minute 5 Mesocycle Two max 90 seconds 1 minute 8 Mesocycle Three max 2 minutes 1 minute 12 VersaBall This is a more comfortable variation of the old medicine ball. Upper body plyometrics teaches explosive and starting strength in all punches and requires total body coordination. VersaBall throws were made from the following positions. · right and left jab positions (single arm) · between legs (double arm, for back) · overhead (double arm, for midsection) · chest pass (double arm) Weight Training Initially (during mesocycle one), Evander followed a modified bodybuilding and basic strengthening program using a "variable split" format. A, B and C specify whether the workout is to be a very easy one (A), a moderately difficult one (B), or a high intensity one ©. This part of Evander's program was monitored by Lee Haney, multiple "Mr. Olympia" bodybuilding champion, and a former student of mine. Evander's Variable Split Exercise Listing The precise schedule of when to do an A, B or C workout was matched to Evander's recuperative abilities. Chest A workout bench press B workout add dumbbell bench press C workout add incline dumbbell bench press Shoulders A workout seated dumbbell presses B workout add frontal dumbbell raises C workout add lateral raises Back A workout bent rows, back extensions B workout add modified pull-ups C workout add pull-downs Arms A workout EZ curls, pushdowns B workout add hi, moderate and low rep system C workout add dumbbell curls, dips Legs A workout safety squats, keystone deadlifts B workout add lunge walking, glute-ham raises C workout add twisting squats, leg curls Midsection A workout Russian twists B workout add pre-stretched crunches C workout add sidebends In mesocycle two, Evander switched to a sports-specific weight training program. In mesocycle three Evander switched to "complex training." This form of training targets limit strength, explosive strength and starting strength/amortization in one "set" of exercises. The exercises are performed back to back and include jumps, bar exercises, and depth jumps--in that order. The function of the complex method is to peak the athlete. My experience has been that it is a better peaking program than simple bar exercises or plyometric exercises alone. 3-Minute Drill: 3-minutes of combinations of forward and backward sprints, skipping, hopping, jumping and "carioca" (football) drills for both upper and lower body. Start out with only three, 3-minute drills with one minute rest between each gradually (over the first mesocycle) work up to six 3-minute drills with one minute rest between Take pulse after each drill (target: 180 bpm), and again after one minute rest (target: 110 bpm). Below are the instructions given to the trainer responsible for monitoring Evander's 3-minute drill training and plyometrics sequences. Bear in mind that this drill is NONSTOP -- pushing him to the absolute limits of his anaerobic tolerance. Keep pounding it into him "CHECKMARK! CHECKMARK!" on all of his movements, including every step he takes, every jump, hop, skip and start/stop. "Checkmark" is a phrase known to all of the athletes I work with. It reminds them to keep the amortization phase (transition from down to up or backward to forward) of each movement pinpoint sharp, the way a "checkmark" looks. The 3-Minute Drill Sequence: Jog or step-ups to warm up, then · sprint 40 yards · stop and sprint backwards · stop and sprint backwards · jump in place high ten times · get in a pushup position and give me your legs · run forward on your hands · run backward on your hands · run left · run right · jump up and down on your hands 10 times · stop... get up... carioca left 40 yards · carioca right back to me · skip 40 yards · skip backwards back to me Each 3-minute drill is performed on verbal commands from the trainer. Evander must go for a solid 3 minutes at a heart rate of 180 beats per minute (minimum). After a one minute rest (getting his heart rate back to 110-120) repeat, rest, and repeat again. Notice that jumps, hops and skips should be performed with "checkmark" intensity, as should every single move Evander makes -- POUND that thought into his head every minute of these drills. Always tape Evander's wrists and wear gloves (protection from debris and potholes)! Plyometrics This is a way of improving starting strength, explosive strength and amortization (the "checkmark") through total concentrated force output in every move Evander makes. On days where the midday workout is limited to plyometrics, they should be relaxed, with much rest between bouts, with each bout only lasting 10-20 seconds. The Plyometrics Sequence 1. jog or do stepups to warm up 2. easy (not "all-out") jumps, hops, skips, and then 3. do 20 yards of skips 4. again 5. hops like a kangaroo 6. again 7. repeat 3, 4, 5, and 6 backwards 8. one-legged hops 30 yards (both feet) 9. hops on hands 10 yards 10. repeat 9 backwards 11. repeat 9 left and right In second mesocycle, do all of the above with a weighted vest. In third mesocycle, incorporate bench hops, 10 reps. In third mesocycle, incorporate twisting skips 40 yards, and twisting the other way back 40 yards. sorry forgotten who the author was _________________ Karate begins and ends with courtesy [ This Message was edited by: AnonymousOne on 2002-03-03 17:56 ]

I have followed my goals programme for over 20 years now. And yes I have achieved and way surpassed what I ever imagined.

wow we only pay $20 per month US and it takes me 30 minutes to get to the Dojo

I would agree for a student that has had less than 5-10 years of intense training

I would not agree that Chinese arts are the oldest. History shows that the Mesopotanians had a martial art thousands of years BC. China got its arts from India and its thought that India got its arts from Greece because of the trading and sharing of cultures. The Gladiators had a highly developed art with and without weapons. Martial arts are far older than many think

Our school is not JKA but a Shotokan derivitive that started just after Funakoshi's death, so no it doesnt offend me

"Proper" weight training designed for MA can have a wonderful effect. But where possible one ought to include Plyometric exercises, with or without weights

Ever heard of analogies?

Dont burn your bridges, you may want to go back. Be honest and if its a problem, its their problem not yours. If it becomes a problem, would you really want to train where such silly things are a problem?

I agreee totally that regulations need to be set in place, but its a difficult one. Who says who can authorise what? I could suddenly say I have had a art of fighting that was secretly passed down to me in my family and it was developed in the mystical times in the boondocks by Uncle Rangi. Who can prove its not a real martial art? Practically every culture in history had its own form of martial art, with or without weapons. Some arts its really easy to trace authenticity like Karate, but theres many arts where the history and thus legitimacy is hidden in the mists of time. How does one test an art that has no governing body or ranking system (and theres many of them) to determine the skill of the teacher? Does a board of Karate teachers have a right to determine if an ancient Russian or Mongolian martial art should be taught? How does a government set standards?

In our school Dan grades are based on an adults ability to perform certain things. Its physically impossible for children to be able to perform what is required in our school. Thats why the age limit of 18 is set for Shodan. Children do not have a muscular strength to be able to perform the movements properly and also there is a contest component in gradings and a Shodan must be able to beat 3 1st Kyu Brown Belts (adults) in contest.

Because of where I live the best I can get is JKD books. I have studied some it it, practised some of it, retained some of it and disgarded some of it and this is what Bruce Lee thought was good. Opening your mind and exploring for yourself. But I think the thing I learnt best from Bruce Lee was in the area of physical fitness move over than anything. He inspired me to set goals, high goals and pay the price to achieve them.

Bruce Lee studied this extensively and in his book he gives some valuable insights to his research. Stances in Kata are designed to develop leg strength. When you are sparring one normally takes a higher stance. When I spar I take a stance similar to the rooted stance of Shotokan (Fudo-Dachi) but slightly higher. This is very similar to the South Paw stance in boxing. I am just as comfortable in the Othodox position.

Ummm far from it, hes healthy and is working for Air New Zealand

A good goal is what is important to you and excites you. Everyones goals are different

The purpose of training is to break the bodies muscles down and allow them to recover so they can take more load and perform the movement better. I have had many students complain about doing things repetitiously but they miss the principle of the need to wear the body out so it recovers stronger. This is why Funakoshi said "you must become weak not strong" Bruce Lee said you must come away from your training with a sore body. Repetition is the mother of learning. There is no cut off point where the training is ineffective. When your body is worn out its your mind that is getting trained. I, on a multitude of occasions, have trained myself on my own, so hard I was not able to even walk the next day. So what did I do? I then went to the development of my mind by practising eye-hand co-ordination via computer software or playing table tennis sitting down. I was still able to develop my eye-hand response rate. I think if one is serious you will take advantage of every opportunity to train no matter what state you are in. When I was in Japan in 1982, I trained full time and we trained for at least 6 hours per day. Some months we never got a day off at all! The human body can do amasing things. Look at 140 mile marathoners. Thats some kind if distance and people run them in between 30-40 hours. I know a lady that look up running at age 59 and now at 65 she can run 50 mile marathons. Heck if an older lady can do something like that, what is a younger person capable of? We should not limit ourselves.

Do you train and I find yourself drifting along but deep down you know you want achieve a certain level, but havent reached out for it? Without going into a huge psychological analysis I would like to share somethings that has helped me immensely. 1. If there were no barriers to what you desire, how far would you go? 2. Can you describe in writing specifically and exactly what your technique would look and feel like if you reached your full potential? 3. Set a long term goal and then break it down into parts. ie 20 years then break it down to 10 yrs, 5 yrs, 1yr, monthly then daily. 4. Work out a personal training programme that meets your goals 5. Ardently desire your goals. Really grit your teeth and say "I really WANT that goal!!!". 6. Sit down and work out a time plan for all the things you need to do. Training and study etc. 7. Commit to your goals and never left an exception occur. e.g If your body is too worn out to do your daily running, walk for the same time 8. Get good advice from your teachers, senior students, doctor and physio therapist. 9. If possible find a like minded MA and train together and work out a training programme together and have a "healthy" competition between yourselves. Encourage each other. 10. Review and think about your goals daily. 11. Build in measuring devices to check your progress. 12. Remember failing in a training programme is not failure it just means you are in the game, you are doing what you need to do. 13. Use set backs to propell you forward. 14. Always do the most productive thing possible at every given moment. 15. If your full potential is 100%, what percentage score would you give your current level of performance? 16. Accepting the difference between the two scores, what are you going to do to make up the shortfall and when? 17. If you achieved your full potential how would that make you feel? 18. If you fail to meet your full potential how would that make you feel, would it worry you and if so why would it worry you? _________________ Karate begins and ends with courtesy [ This Message was edited by: AnonymousOne on 2002-03-02 20:02 ]

I dont think Zen Do Kai has much of a following here in New Zealand. If it does its very small.

I think many of the movements in Kata are significantly different to line work. The turns are different etc. Kata doesnt work in a straight line in the same way an opponent doesnt always work in a straight line. Also the variety of techniques practised are not usually done in line work. Line work has an important role and in our school its primarily used to practise one technique or a combination of techniques for the purpose of developing endurance. I feel it has a different role. Sometimes in a small dojo with many people its more practical to do line work. With many of the advanced Kata with sudden changes in direction its impractical to do this in line work and yet those movements are critical to the development of the Karate-Ka. Personally if I only was able to pratise Kata and nothing else, I would be happy with the well rounded training it provides. Some see it others dont. When I was young I thought it was pointless. Years later my attitude has changed significantly.

Performing a Kata like Gankaku properly takes years and years of training. Sure anyone can practise it, but performing it properly is another issue altogether I know its exciting to learn new and advanced Kata, I was like that when I was young. Our school would not teach them so I went and bought books and learnt them myself. Years later I see why they are not taught to less advanced students. It may not seem fair but I do see the reasons. In Nakayama's books he reiterates over and over "one must have a very mature technique to perform this Kata, otherwise it tends to just look like a dance (paraphraze)" Another very important issue is being able to properly execute all the Bunkai of a Kata. Its no use being able to do a Kata unless one can also properly apply the techniques in a real life situation. This is of paramount importance.

Jared my dear son, as I have told you many many times, that within Kata are many great truths. Kata is really the lost art of Karate and many seem to only pay lip service to it today. Within Kata are fighting techniques, methods that develop eye body reaction time, co-ordination, speed, power, endurance, anaerobic and aerobic development, balanced fighting skills, body shifting development, complete body muscular development, balance, poise, focusing and so many other things. For thousands of years Masters used Kata to develop their students and those students were some of the greatest fighters that ever lived. But many today are attempting to throw away or at least minimize the very thing the art was founded upon. This is a very sad state. When I teach I take a balance of basics, kata and kumite. To me it is inadequate to only practise Kata a couple of times or only a few times each lesson. How can a student ever see the benefits of practising Kata if they never get a chance to really learn the Kata properly? I would challenge any student to take one single Kata and practise assiduously every day for at least an hour and at the end of a year to measure the effect it has on them. Most wont stick to this so they never really get to see what true effect it will have. I am just repeating the same things the masters of old have said over and over. If one has an open mind and truly seeks to get to the bottom of the issue, I believe one will soon see it. Once you see it, you will never look back.

What are you the anti-christ or what... LOL You must become weak not strong - Gichin Funakoshi

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