Fartlek Kata performance

[f.Channell]

I just began running again and I have been looking at training routines to increase my mileage and prepare for racing. I ran a lot when I was younger and I am trying to be careful not to overtrain and injure myself with thoughts of my past glory. I immediately noticed myself not huffing and puffing as much after a kata. With this, I have begun doing my kata faster.

Kata can be done at the same speed and intensity, it can also be done in other ways. One of these is using the theory of fartlek training. Fartlek is a method of training invented by a Swedish running coach. It means "speed play."
As a student of Van Canna I often use methods of his such as training in the dark. Training on a lawn outside the dojo, and angling students towards one another so they can be distracted and come into close contact with one another.

One other method can be varying speed. I usually use this method to discover weaknesses in the form. With speed incorrect technique becomes transparent. Great form allows for faster speed in most cases, but not always taken advantage of. Maybe Kanbun was trying to tell us something with his extremely quick Seisan at the prison camp demo.

There are other benefits to doing kata this way, such as increasing your anabolic threshold and allowing you to explode between movements. This really shows up in the final two kata. To begin the students should do a five minute warm-up, hojo undo or even Sanchin are perfect for this, then the later kata should be done at a pace with maximum speed and power, faster than ordinarily performed, that challenges breathing and leaves the practitioner gasping for air. Kata can also be linked together to further stress the body. After this a recovery kata can be performed at a slower, easier pace.

Faster more explosive kata should translate to better sparring and an improved ability at self defense. And if the heart gets healthier thats not such a bad thing either.

[Van Canna]

Interesting post Fred.

When I was a soccer player...our coach would put us through a similar training routine which is standard soccer conditioning...

http://www.livestrong.com/article/32563 ... or-soccer/

It did develop a powerful body

[Van Canna]

Speed Workouts

When you have developed a sufficient training base, completing speed workouts such as tempo runs, fartleks, hill workouts, long runs and track intervals are all important to ensure the best performance in races. A beginning runner should only run two these workouts a week, and a competitive runner should limit them to three times per week. For example, a good week for a competitive runner would be a tempo run on Monday, hill workout on Thursday, and long run on Sunday.

One important note: do not start speed workouts too early! It is absolutely essential that you run at least two months of base training before any other workout. You must give your body the strength and necessary tools to handle the rigors of speed workouts. Jumping into tempos or fartleks too soon can lead to over-training and cause serious injuries that will prevent you from running for a long time.

[Van Canna]

To begin the students should do a five minute warm-up, hojo undo or even Sanchin are perfect for this, then the later kata should be done at a pace with maximum speed and power, faster than ordinarily performed, that challenges breathing and leaves the practitioner gasping for air.

I think students should also try this with the 'Uechi breathing standard' i.e., not exhaling with the strike and perform a hissing sound after to show your teacher you are breathing...and find out how they are holding up.

[f.Channell]

Yes I don't think that method of breathing will suffice when a person is pushing speed in their kata or bunkai. It might have a place in slowing down the breathing during the "cooling" phase of Fartlek training. I don't know, I stopped doing it 25 years ago unless some sensei was looking for it. There are some benefits to conscious breathing in the meditative realm I suppose.

[Van Canna]

http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/you ... g-20130227

[fivedragons]

I learned more about explosive movement and how to kick in a combative way by playing soccer than any martial arts class could teach me.

[Bill Glasheen]

I like the creativity involved in your training, Fred.

The goal of Fartlek is to develop both the anaerobic and aerobic energy production systems, hence the variable (sometimes random) length of the interval sessions. One usually does this with running, but *any* activity works.

Something like this is more easily accomplished with kicking training than traditional Uechi kata, as frankly it doesn't take that much energy to get through a Uechi kata *correctly*. Kicking on the other hand... Therefore if you know all the basic kicks (front, side, back, roundhouse, hook, crescent, reverse crescent, spinning kicks of various types, ax) and can do them various ways (e.g. snap vs. thrust), then you've got lots of calorie-burning material to work with.

Back when I had my UVa classes, students absolutely wanted to sweat. They complained if they couldn't come in and burn their frustration off with some intense training. So I often spent most of my first hour with hojoundo, followed by a *lot* of training on kicks. I knew I had succeeded in making them happy if the mirrors were fogged and/or we had 3 or 4 people on the side of the room looking like they were dry heaving.

These days I spend far more time working on application. For example last night (per a typical Art Rabesa class), I spent a full 50 minutes on just 2 of the Dan Kumite. We worked and worked and worked on them, perfecting the body positioning and partner targeting. That's a different kind of work. If you spend too much time trying to burn calories in your kata, then this part of your training tends to go to heII in a hand-basket. Trust me... I've seen a *lot* of prearranged kumite where the two people doing their roles might as well have been doing it with an imaginary partner. Drop your arms working with one of these people and they don't hit you. Target them with a technique and they're shocked that they actually got hit - particularly with front kicks done at angles. So while I *really* like the idea of sweating in myriad ways with kata, I also think you need to spend an equal amount of time with a partner making this stuff work in a manner where you nail your partner without half trying. That takes thousands of hours of mindful training.

All good stuff.

- Bill

[fivedragons]

It wasn't until I spent time learning a bunch of karate kicks, and learning about anatomy that I realized all I had to do was all the things that were illegal in soccer. In a non sport sense, the best use of the feet and legs is to kick the ankle, knees and hips. Chop and stomp on the shin, calf and foot. Fall on the knee. Basically run someone down and jump up and down on their joints and internal organs.

[Van Canna]

I learned more about explosive movement and how to kick in a combative way by playing soccer than any martial arts class could teach me.

When you think of it_ a soccer game is all about 'leg work' under chaotic, stressful conditions on the field while having to accurately kick a fast moving target, the soccer ball, and fearing sliding tackles and short stops by heavy impact and 'shredding weapons' i.e., the cleats of opponents' soccer shoes.

So the 'venue' of leg work practice is very critical.

In self defense, one wants to move in and out of harm's way quickly, incapacitating an opponent along the way.

In soccer, lower body strength is required for kicking, jumping, tackling, twisting and turning and also forms the foundation for explosive speed.

Upper body strength is required for shielding the ball, holding off opponents, throw-ins and also contributes to overall power and explosiveness.






And then there is the judging of distance factor while trying to land a kick on target in a chaotic situation.

Further, in soccer...a player must deal with the accuracy needed to kick the ball from a variety of angles with explosive core power.

Additionally, long time players develop very powerful legs and bodies given the demanding nature of the game played without time outs.

So I can understand and agree with 5D on his comments about his learning to kick in a combative way from his soccer playing.

[Van Canna]

Here's what 5D is talking about

[Van Canna]

Bill

These days I spend far more time working on application. For example last night (per a typical Art Rabesa class), I spent a full 50 minutes on just 2 of the Dan Kumite. We worked and worked and worked on them, perfecting the body positioning and partner targeting. That's a different kind of work. If you spend too much time trying to burn calories in your kata, then this part of your training tends to go to heII in a hand-basket.

Amen, brother. The theme of my classes as well.

You can get 'kataed' to death in some dojo...

After a while we need to discover if what we learned in kata is going to work against habitual acts of street attacks.

And this can be a very humbling experience.

[Bill Glasheen]

What's really helpful is giving someone different size partners and watch how they adapt (or not). For instance the other night I put a short kid up against a tall guy. I pointed out to the kid (and the class) that he needed to take an extra step to get in range for most of the techniques. Meanwhile the tall guy had to target down rather than target blindly to someone approximately his size.

Plus different people tend to have different abilities to close the gap - or not at all. When they don't, sometimes I just drop my hands and taunt them with my ability to see I wasn't threatened in the least. Humbling indeed! As I said, a lot of the partner work is "making the tea fit the tea cup."

Another thing I like to do is teach people how not just to get off the line of force, but put themselves immediately in a position where the other person is completely vulnerable. So many just want to get away. No, no, no! I like people to think like a chess master where every step and every response is about gaining an advantage. Uke doesn't mean block; uke means receive - like you would a gift. It's all about the right mindset.

- Bill

[Bill Glasheen]

Back to Fartlek training with kata...

A strength coach I once worked with (John Gamble, former powerlifting champion and strength coach of both college and professional football teams) talked to me once about strength and endurance training using sports-specific devices. A good example is swinging a weighted baseball bat to improve power in one's swing. John's opinion was pretty much to do strength training in the weight and exercises rooms, and sport technique training on the field. He felt for instance that swinging a weighted bat not only was an inefficient way to develop a power swing, but also screwed up a batter's timing.

My opinion on engaging in such activity is to take it one instance at a time. For instance... I have become a *big* believer in Uechi jar training, as there's really nothing quite like it that I can do in the weight room. Walking with weighted jars in Sanchin helps develop that tiger grip while allowing the practitioner simultaneously to do "normal" movement. It's that pangainoon thing - hard must be hard and soft must be soft. There is no gray in the yin-yang symbol. Both extremes coexist, and there's not supposed to be any cross-talk. That takes time to develop. Another great thing about the jar training is that it puts traction forces on the joints in the fingers, thus preventing long-term wear and tear on the articular cartilage surfaces of the finger joints.

However...

I tried and abandoned the whole "karate aerobics" thing. It's oxymoronic. Karate is largely supposed to be an anaerobic activity, as it requires *explosive* forces. Explosiveness and endurance are yang and yin. This... just... doesn't... work. Karate aerobics isn't. The girls in spandex need to understand that they aren't practicing self-defense in aerobics classes. These are martial posers at best. That's the kindest thing I can say about this activity.

Speed training with kata? Yes... that's useful. It meshes with the intent of some - but not all - kata movement. Everyone has their way of doing it. My approach is to go back and forth between working on the pieces and parts in movement and working on the flow of combined movement. I think it's important to work the entire spectrum so that entropy doesn't creep into movement.

And DON"T FORGET THE PARTNER TRAINING!!!

- Bill

[Van Canna]

Good stuff, Bill.