...and how do YOU know?

Over the months of June and July, the dojo did a lot to prepare for the Superfights tournament in Oxford, AL. Lots of fitness and padwork, footwork and combinations...we even did a few sessions on how to warm up. It was a big picture and finer details stretch of time, to say the least. But there was one aspect of preparation that befuddled me, which brings me to the topic of this post.

I was describing for the class, warm up techniques and preparation leading into the tournament, when I stumbled upon one aspect of preparation that goes largely unattended to, and even when attention is given, it may not be the best attention or advice available. Let's start big picture.

You've got a tournament coming up. You've been training hard inside and outside the dojo. It's nearly time to put all of that hard work to good use. "Go Time" is two weeks away.

Question for you: What's your approach? Do you:
A). Bust your butt for the next two weeks, and show up tournament day ready to rock?
B). Finish out this week, and shut it down to get ready for the big event?
C). Split the difference; 7 or 8 days of solid work and reduce the workload for the next 3-4?

The answer - "I dunno".

Yup, that's right. I don't know. Chances are, neither do you. But here's the beauty of the situation: You can find out. Yes, yes you can. First, let's explore the scenarios above.

Bust your butt for the next two weeks, and show up tournament day ready to rock
The worst plan of the three, but that's not to say it couldn't work. How do you feel after several days of hard, strenuous workouts? Personally, I feel like a 6 foot pile of poo, that's not to say that you, Mr. Reader, are not the epitome of fitness. If you're not, you don't want to go with plan A. Keep reading.

Finish out this week, and shut it down to get ready for the big event
I used to be in this category, largely at the behest of my instructor. I have moved away from this approach over the years, which I'll discuss in more detail below. Sensei's reasoning for completely shutting me down was to avoid injury. When I say shut down, I mean SHUT DOWN. I had very strict instructions not to lift, no running, take it easy. Very much "come-to-the-dojo-but-when-you-get-here-don't-do-anything-to-exert-yourself"; it drove me crazy. The advantage, again, is avoiding injury. If you're the type that can take some time off and still perform near peak, this might be where you want to hang your hat...if not, keep reading.

Split the difference; 7 or 8 days of solid work and reduce the workload for the next 3-4
This is the Hangtime way to go; I finish out the week, then gradually reduce the workload ending two (sometimes three) days before an event. The advantage to this method is your event is treated like any other workout. Two days rest between your last decent workout and your event. For me, this is optimum.

So, how do you find out what works? The same way you make anything else work --you train it!

"Wait...you train rest times?" -- You betcha! Here's my approach:

The World Yoshukai Calendar has 2 camps, 4 tournaments and 1 black belt test. Of the four tournaments, two of them include fighting, which is a large motivator in my training --I guess you could say I train my physical fitness for these events. For the sake of discussion, we will also include my shodan, nidan and sandan testings as well (I train the same for tournaments and testings).

So, since 2007, I have had 38 opportunities to experiment with what tapering method works the best for me. Of the 38, 12 were "live" runs, the other 26 were tests. That's a lot of practice...good, solid reps. For each camp & tournament, I marked an 8 week run to the event. So, starting 8 weeks out was prep time. A few times, I've even gone down to six weeks a few times and two weeks once due to injury. Each lead in was different -- weight was different, cardio varied year to year, etc. Each time, I set a few goals and worked toward them in the allotted time.

So for each camp, the goal would be to make weight as if I were fighting. Moreover, the goal was to be in fighting shape. Winter Camp makes for a long day (brutally long, in my opinion), but I didn't want to miss a minute of it. Sand, sun, wind, water, tug o' war, running on the beach, sumo, you name it, I wanted to do it. If I missed my mark on where I wanted to be, I went back to the drawing board for the next event. If that worked, then I took that method and improved on it for the next event. So on and so forth. If you don't have a good memory about these things, you might want to grab your notebook.

So, what does this mean to you? Well, I hope that by this point in the article, you've taken stock of your approach and how you prepare for your event. Unless you're one of those people who can role out of bed and run a half-marathon or fight without any prior training, proper tapering is an important aspect of training...just as important as the work itself. Experiment and find out what methods work best for you.

OSU!
CM

4/11/2012 Early AM Session

Not the best session, but a good workout nonetheless. Shoulder issues have crept back, which made today's session a little harder to deal with.

Warm Up:
10 x 10LB DB External rotations
Shoulder mobilization exercises


Workout: Bagwork 4: "Ten good ones". The premise is ten of the best reps you can muster; if it's crap, toss it out, it doesn't count. Only the ten best.

As Many Rounds as Possible (I have 10 rounds listed on the card)
Mawashi geri
Jab (W)
Cross (W)
Jab + Mawashi Geri
Jab + Mawashi Geri

The first couple of rounds were a good way to start the warm up (I know better next time --marked with a "W" for warm up). After two circuits, I dropped the single jab and cross; I felt it was a better usage of time to focus on the combinations than the single technique; I will leave them in for warm up next time.

I finished 4 circuits. Doesn't sound like much, but that's four rounds of max power/effort of ten solid reps. Not terrible, in my humble opinion, and it leaves a lot of room for improvement. That said, the shoulder played a big role in limiting the number of rounds.

50 Double Unders
Abs:
10 x 10 LB Leg Raises (bench)
10 x 30LB Knee raises (cable)
10 x 20 LB Leg Raises (bench)
10 x 30LB Knee raises (cable)

Finisher: 100 Double Unders. Stalled around 50; the next ten left a lot to be desired, but I got it back on track around #63. The last 10 were not fun either.

Stretched and called it a day.
OSU!

Tear the house DOWN!!

I had the honor, and I do believe it was an honor, to witness up close and personal two karate-ka put on an absolute clinic in kumite (fighting) yesterday. I believe their names were Jerdan and David (and I apologize if that's not correct).

It was a back and forth for first and second place. These two fighters gave each other everything, and I do mean everything they had. David, the smaller of the two fighters, showed a game face deserving of the nickname "Iceman". Jerdan was ferocious and tried to keep constant pressure on his opponent. These fine martial artists wore each other down with power shots and lots of clean, hard technique. As an instructor, judge and fighter, I couldn't have asked for anything more out of these young men. Well fought and clean match up. Kudos to you both.

Now, something you need to know about the aforementioned fighters:
a). This fight took place the 8-10 year old division
b). Both fighters were 7th or 8th kyu.

...and I mean every word I've said about those gentlemen in this post. I look forward to seeing both of them grow and progress in the future. Well done, gentlemen, well done.


OSU!

It'll never be this bad again!

"You're crazy"

"...I'll leave that to you guys; that's crazy"

"More power to ya, man; I'm not getting out there"


All of the above are reactions I get to being a full contact fighter. Amazingly enough, not from practitioners of other styles (they just look at me sideways and keep it moving). Not even from Yoshukai practitioners who may have "missed their prime".

Nope.

I've gotten those comments from able bodied, young, talented Yoshukai karateka. Now, don't misunderstand me; I'm not aiming to call anyone out, that's not what this posting is about. Rather than dismiss an aspect of our style that I, and others, endeavor to excel, take a moment and ask yourself if you could step onto the tatami. "Is knockdown fighting something I can do?"

I already know the answer to that question for anyone who verbalizes one of those three statements: No.

Not because the capability isn't there; because the desire is not there. As one of my Shihan's says: "You've gotta want to, son!"

I try to impart on my students an attitude of constant progress; Rome wasn't built in a day, or my favorite: "It'll NEVER be this bad again!"

Focusing on "It'll never be this bad again", think about the firsts in your life: Asking someone out, driving, cooking...lifting a weight. The first time was probably not the most fun thing you've ever experience; I know it was not for me. Viewing those experiences as one offs, as opposed to
progressions, are what hinder one's ability. The next time you ask the same girl (or guy) out, it's a little easier than the first time; lifting a weight gets easier over time; cooking gets easier over time. If you put in the right amount of work, fighting gets easier, relatively speaking!

Don't get me wrong, you're not going to roll out of bed the day after a hard series of fights and go win a championship, but the experience won't be as bad the next time. It's experience at it's very definition. The training and preparation for kumite is also best approached as a progression. You may not be able to complete a Tabata Row today, but as you continue to work on your anaerobic cardio, the goal of a Tabata Row becomes easier to obtain.The gains made by the progression are transferred to not only your rows, but to other aspects of your cardio, including your fighting. Utilize those gains to aid other gains; ensure your training is well rounded.

And most importantly, do your research and understand what you need to do and how you need to do it. Fighting is an anaerobic activity. Running mile after mile will give you some benefit, however, there is no immediate transferable benefit to fighting (unless you are sprinting intervals for mile after mile). Bigger doesn't equal better; being strong is good, but training for muscle hypertrophy won't really help you (increased padding aside).

All of that said: karate, the fitness aspect and fighting are all largely a mental endeavor. Yes, there is a can't-ignore-it-it's-so-big physical aspect, but at the end of the day, mentality rules the roost. Train smart, eat smart, learn and train some more. Pain is universal to us all, however the mental reaction to that stimulus is not. You achieve those gains through training and effort (and sometimes a little bit of crazy). "You've gotta want it" and realize "It'll be never this bad again".

OSU!
-CM