Gain weight or get faster

[isshinryu5toforever]

I would suggest trying to get faster and stronger. Run stairs, lots and lots of stairs. Up and down, up and down. they're a good excercise for building speed and leg strength as well as endurance. If heavyweights are overpowering you it's because you're a still target. You need to move around and use your speed advantage. If they're bigger and faster than you, then you better learn some good defensive moves.

[JimmyNewton]

yeah being big and flexibe is still possible. i'm not a big wrestling (WWE) fan, but that guy ROb Van Damn is pretty big and i've seen him do the 2- chair splits like jean Claude.

look him up on google if you wanna see him. point is, you can be big and muscular and still flexible

[Fish]

The main problem seems to be that these guys can just keep coming at me, and because of the weight advantage, they're able to keep pushing me back. I was wondering if extra weight would help me to stand my ground - but then I wouldn't want to gain fat. But thinking through some of these posts, I think I need to learn to spar smarter - moving around more and getting out of the way, instead of trying to get in too close. Thanks for all the tips.

[Grenadier]

Fish,

I'll tell you right away, that it's easier for the advancing person to close the ground faster than the retreating person, which is why working on getting that good burst while stepping back is important. Even more importantly, though, is to learn how to move at oblique angles towards your opponent, in case if he is a hard-charging fighter. It's somewhat similar to side-stepping, except that you'll be actually advancing towards your opponent at the oblique angle.

While it's easy for someone to keep on hard-charging towards someone who is retreating from them in a straight line, it's significantly more difficult if he has to make adjustments, and change his entire momentum.

Once you get more comfortable with this technique, you'll be able to carry out sen-no-sen counterattacks in a more fluid manner, and at the same time, avoid the attack.

[JusticeZero]

Quit retreating, and more mass won't give you the ability to be unmoved. Advance along their perimeter instead, or charge back, or move laterally then advance on a point just behind them, or something.

[RDsynMBZ]

hey if u want to gain more weight and be fast u just have to integrate then both go to the gym and lift but then also stretch all ur muscles and with on keep your speed up im 6'3" about 195 i can handle some of the bigger guys okay but there mass is more than mine wht u kould do is follow bruce lees workout hes used weights all the time and he was one of the fastest out there so just do wht u think u should do

[Fish]

It's been a few months since I first posted this question. In that time, practice has paid off. My kumite is faster, more circular instead of linear, and I've gained two belts. At the moment, I'm being partnered mainly with a 1st kyu preparing for his black: he's much faster than me, and has great technique. It's scary, but it's also really good practice. I've still got a lot to learn, but I guess a lot of it is time and practice! BTW I really like that move where you move your back foot up, then lunge forward to strike your opponent. For someone my height (long legs and long reach) it's a great way of gaining ground since I can go from well out of range to striking distance in one move.

[karate kid 1]

WELL IM GLAD UVE IMPROVED IM SURE WERE ALL GLAD TO HEAR IT AND CONGRATULATIONS ON GAINING TWO BELTS