Kante

I am very aware of this. But am on my own in this. Every kick is separate than the other and I make sure they are done correctly. Am already benefiting from this.

Well it's not called conditioning unless you peel your knuckle skin completely off. Now I've done that before but is the makiwara mentioned in the article any different or serves a different purpose? The thing is (I don't think I ever didn't say this part at some point in my posts) I want to strengthen my tsuki and condition my knuckles separately so I'd get a better result rather than hitting the makiwara 200 times both hands and stop for a while until I heal.

I was reading an article regarding the reverse punch and makiwara training, and at some point there was an explanation on how to build a proper makiwara: My makiwara is about 4 boards of wood nailed to a wall, with each board taller than the one before it leaving one area of wood with some space behind it to be hit. If you've read the article, do you know if it's possible to develop such technique on my makiwara without having any knuckle conditioning involved?

Alright heres my problem. At 1-20 - 1:40 PM I start my punching bag exercise. I'm usually done in 2:10 hours maximum. So by the time am done the time is usually 4:XX PM. The thing is, all those 2 hours consist of hitting the punching bag so by the time am done I usually can't respond to verbal commands. And I always wanted my workout to be in one chunk and completely in a row so that I can have fun the rest of the day and not keep thinking that eventually am gonna have to get up and do 60 squats. But at the same time, I really REALLY want to keep up my punching bag exercising. So how can I do all my exercising for the day in a row and still do that much exercising on the punching bag?

Well, when you're doing punches on the makiwara (A wooden post) your goal is actually both. To peel your knuckle skin off so you could form another one, and to fill the gaps in the bones. Imagine how stupid it would be to only have killed the nerves in a certain area of your body, but having it still as strong as before. Now where's the point in that? You'd be hitting without pain but one day you'll wake up with your forearms only hanging with a small piece of skin. So to sum everything up, you kill the nerves/form callus so you wouldn't pass out because of the pain or bleed fountains of blood. And you strengthen the bones, well... to not break them. And usually both things come together with your conditioning and as you can see, you pretty much need both and you do usually get both depending on how your conditioning is. And as for if it's permanent or not, callus is permanent. And the thicker/stronger bones. I'm not sure. But I suppose there is a reason that 90 year old karate grandmasters are even still practicing on the makiwara (proof that it does not give you arthritis) but it could be just for technique.

Well, I based my answer on the fact that he is a Karate instructor and not some horny 15 year old.

Thanks for your responses. Today I did 600 Mawahi Geri's on the punching bags with both legs. 200 weighted and 400 normal. My balance has improved tremendously. I can now hold an extended high Mawashi Geri in the air for several seconds. My Mawashi Geri has always been great according to the standards. But am starting to look for more and I'm deffinetly getting more now. The bad thing is though, I can't use the makiwara to strengthen my feet because my makiwara is the kind that is mounted on a wall and made out of several pieces of wood. So it's impossible for my to practice my Mawashi Geri on it. Any tips for an alternative?

Cool. Hope so. Might be 'cus I'm not *so* new anymore in that Im not always thinking about "what did he say to do with this hand? my foot goes where? what the heck were all those words he was using?" etc. that the white belts might be doing... that I actually *can* focus entirely on what he is saying and also I'm not so "experienced" with it either that maybe the higher ranks have heard him say some of this stuff over and over and therefore might not feel the need to focus on it quite as much as I still do. He is bound to make eye contact with someone while explaining something. Especially if hes explaining something on his own. Imagine how "weird" it would seem if he was taking to the class whilst looking at the wall behind you? Or at the ground. There are different ways that people react with in Karate lessons when being taught something. Some people don't look at their Sensie at all and settle with listening (Those are the ones that will immediately ask their partner to reexplain it to them). There are also those that only look at their Sensie's movements. And then there are people like you, that look straight into their Sensie's eyes. Now what you're doing is great. As not making eye contact with your Sensie reflects lack of attention and effort to understand. Which often causes the Sensie's to avoid putting so much effort into further explaining more in depth details of techniques to you due to the fact that you did not seem to be that interested last time. Same thing goes in Kumite. You could at times find out what you're going to face before the main judge gives you the signal to start fighting. Make eye contact with your opponent and don't lower your chin. If your opponent fails to continue making eye contact with you and looks away then in most cases it is safe to assume that he will not deliver his best. Do not count on that though. As sometimes that tool may be used to your advantage by deliberately not looking in your opponent's eyes to implement an illusion of relief in him causing him to decrease his focus and concentration after his personal conclusion of having a weak opponent. And after that, you may change your attitude by 360 degrees causing him to be in a great fear and shock and further loosing his focus. I might have curved from the topic but I thought you'd want to hear this.

I did 200 Mawashi Geri's on the punching bag today with both legs then did 200 more with both legs wearing ankle weights. It took me 2 hours straight. I was planning to do 800 with each leg but was "interrupted". Tomorrow I'll be doing 800 with each leg then move on to the makiwara to shield myself from feet to elbow hits.

Lately I've been getting nterested in improving my kicks drastically. My Mawashi Geri can get way above my head but I simply no longer want to settle with the slow motion easily predicted kicks that you mostly see around in Dojo's. I have great balance but it can be way better and I wish to gain more control over my kicks. So overall I want my kicks to be faster/more controllable and develop knockout power in the process. I need some tips on how to improve my kicks. I have a punching bag, a makiwara and ankle weights at hand and all I need is to know how to correctly take advantage of them.

Well sadly I've only found out about Thomas Kurz and started reading his columns way after that incident. I'd love to get a hold of his dvd but I don't really see that happening.

What are some effective finger conditioning methods preferably performed on the makiwara?

Hey I just have two more questions: *How to do the frogman crunch? *Do lower ab thrusts work the whole low section of the abs or just the mid section? Because am just doing lower ab thrusts and when I try to do leg lifts for example after it it becomes rather difficult so am settling for lower ab thrusts for the low abs. Is that enough? Thanks

I've been trying different sleeping hours and I still feel the same at the early morning. The thing is, in the morning I'm always in the mood for stretching and cardio but never in the mood for any kind of weightlifting and abs exercises. Maybe I should do the weight lifting at 5 PM + ? And save the morning hours for cardio/stretching ? Does anyone here do the same?

Anywhere from 3 to 5 reps is what I have read. Thanks a bunch bushido_man, as weird as it might seem I never actually stayed at my maximum while doing the split, unless I got all the way to the ground. I used to get up instantly. You can really feel your muscles adapting and getting more flexed.