How much and how hard is your Karate training volume?

[Ueshirokarate]

This question could be asked in the training section, but it is only about karate training specifically. I am wondering how long you guys train hard. I mean do you have marathon 3-4 hour sessions of hard karate training (deep static stances, deep knee bends, lots of push-ups, etc, etc.)? Say do this 4-6 days per week, etc.? Do you guys that train like this, do it year round?

[evergrey]

Sounds like a recipe for serious knee problems to me, haha! But I already have knee problems, so I'm biased.

Who has that kind of time? Maybe people who are fortunate enough to live in a country that will sponsor their best fighters, and who are fortunate enough to BE one of those fighters.

[Kuma]

Mine is less about marathon sessions and more squeezing in what I can around my busy schedule. If it's just a spare 20 minutes to focus on a specific kata or to work some strikes on the bag I take it when I can get it.

[evergrey]

As for how long I train- I try to do at least a half hour of practice every day. Bag work, kihon, kata... if I am really lucky, kumite. I do weight training as part of my training for full contact knockdown, so if you add that in, that's another three hours a week at the least. Then I go to class two days a week, for about an hour and a half or so. The dojo is 45 minutes away, so I can't really afford the gas to go the other days too.

[JohnnyB]

Depends on the day I guess. Sometimes hard sometimes normal session that usually last 1 or 1.5 hours maximum. The blackbelts class is definitely harder than mine though and there is also a special competition blackbelt class for even more punishment that only the fit BBs attend..!

[FangPwnsAll7]

I train hard all the time. It's the only way I'm going to improve. Our classes are one hour on weekdays, and 2 hours on Saturday. The other hour on Saturday would be used for sparring. I go 5 of the 6 days. Usually, the day I skip is Friday.

[DoctorQui]

One the the questions I get asked every week without fail by a junior is...

'Why do you sweat so much?'

My answer is...

'Because I train hard!'

Its not all about physical exertion either, although I do a lot of that, its a lot about intense concentration and, believe it or not, learning how to breathe (how many of us, even after many years, still tend to hold their breath during some Kata) in a way that gives you maximum energy.

All of this together with a physical work out adds to a session of very hard training that is not measured by extreme physical activity alone.

[Dobie1979]

It would nice to have a hardcore training day like that. Just to see if I could do something like that. My karate training is about a hour per session, though I would love to make it two hours. I hit the gym and do bag work and katas on off days.

Just because you work hard doesn't mean its good training. My old basketball coach would always say, " Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect".

[yamesu]

I tend to train 5-6 days a week, consisting of:

-2 or 3 formal 2 hour classes,

-2 or 3 resistance, calisthenic and bodyweight training days,

-1 pure cardio session (though I do some cardio over every session.

I have always erred away from gyms and freeweights, and so dont do a lot of muscle building, but I have always had a fairy staunch structure, so dont really need it (my focus is on getting down from around 10 to 8% body fat at present, and so I am tayloring my own trainign fro this.

In addition to the above, I attend a 4-6 hour senior grading every six months or so (for myself or others), as well as a weekend long seminar/camp syle session (around 6-8 hours each day) every six months or so.

[darksoul]

Mine is less about marathon sessions and more squeezing in what I can around my busy schedule. If it's just a spare 20 minutes to focus on a specific kata or to work some strikes on the bag I take it when I can get it.

^this