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SMOKING
I don’t need to go on about the dangers to
your health from the results of smoking but I would like to say that smoking
will impair your fitness and anyone serious about their training will try to
abstain from smoking.
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BASICS
I am a great believer in training regularly on
routines of basic kicks and punches. Many
people who are into competition think that sparring is all they need to be a
good fighter and as time goes on they neglect their basic training, little do
they realise that their basics are the foundations of their fighting.
Fighting without good regular work on basics is like building a house
with no foundations and will also affect your progress in improving.
A good instructor will know the importance of a competitors regular basic
training as well as competition work and will put a particular emphasis on this
across to the students. Another
good way of practising your basics is by performing your katas regularly.
Most competitive fighters neglect their katas thinking that they will be
of no use to them when training for fighting, this is not true as by performing
your katas properly with full power, speed and precision you will get a very
good workout plus it makes practising basics more interesting.
CONSISTENCY
There is one thing that results in successful
training: - consistency.
Whether your aim in martial arts is for fitness,
weight loss, self-defence or competition you need to workout regularly and with
consistence. No one can expect to
get the full benefits of the martial arts by training one week and then missing
three. Attend your class on a
regular basis and you will receive the benefits.
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Footwork
Lightness on the feet for competition is essential so a
good way of developing your footwork is to spend a few rounds at the start of a
workout, perhaps 3 x 2 minute rounds, just moving around as if in the ring just
on the balls of your feet. Being flatfooted when fighting can hinder your speed
in shooting forward. A sprinter always pushes off the balls of his/her feet to
obtain maximum speed when taking off the starting blocks in order to attempt to
knock 100th of a second of their time. When fighting in order to be
first to the punch or kick you need to be on your toes!
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Training
for semi-contact should be similar to your training for light or full but not to
such an intense level with your emphasis being on explosiveness unlike the full
contact fighters whose is more on stamina. Many semi fighters
believe that you need little more than a bit of sparring to train for
competition. This is not true as a good all round fitness routine will back you
up when it comes to the time in competition that you have a number of hard
fights in the elimination’s and then find yourself in the final with an
exceptional fighter.
You
need to have a resource of speed, strength explosiveness and stamina to hand.
I’m afraid that a few sparring sessions will not give you that edge and
you could find that your energy level has dropped halfway through the and you
basically burn out in a high pressurised fight.
This would leave you having to settle for second place just because of a
lack of all round fitness and not because the other fighter is technically
better. This is a frustrating way to lose.
As
with full contact training work on your sprinting, skipping for good footwork,
shooting forward in your rounds of footwork and bagwork should be orientated
around shooting in with your favourite ring techniques.
To
get the most out of your sparring, it needs to be regular and with a variety of
partners of all standards to expand your experience.