How well would a "weekend warrior" do in a MT tournament?

[Lizard]

Sometime in the far distant future I may decide to enter a tournament (just a small one). I don't take my MT very seriously, I don't train much at home and I only go once a week (sometimes not even that). I'd like to know how well you think I could do. I would only enter to test myself and because I would get a trophy to show off to people (I think you get one just for participating).

[Wearing Grey]

Not really a question of how you would do, more like is it worth it to you? If you want to go for some entertainment then go. If you go to test yourslef, then go and see how well you would do. Tourny's are fun (I think) and it is a good experience even if you loose. I have been in a few but I liked them more as a kid then I do as an adult. I just dont get excited as easily now.

It is better to play the game, then wish you had, (even if the outcome is not the best).

Whatever you do, I hope you have fun and do well.

Take care,

WG

[retired]

If your only in it for a trophy & you haven't trained much then your better off buying one from a shop and just lie to your friends that way you wont get injured because if you enter a half decent show without much training the chances are you'll just make a total fool of yourself and get battered at the same time.

Believe me it may look easy on the sideline but when it get serious there's only pain.

[RobertG]

Lizard what kind of tournament are you talking about? If its a Muay Thai fight, with Muay Thai rules, well, I'm afraid training once a week, you're likely to get knocked the **** out. Fortunately, it'd probably happen inside of the first minute so you're not likely to sustain major injury. And it might inspire you to train harder. Speaking of which, why aren't you training harder to begin with?

If its a TKD type kickboxing tournament, like for points or something, well, I suppose you might do alright. Those guys probably have much faster kicks than you and they'll just be scoring on you a lot, but at least you won't get knocked out.

Now stop spending all your time on ninja websites and get into the gym and train.

[osopardo]

Originally posted by RobertG
If its a TKD type kickboxing tournament, like for points or something, well, I suppose you might do alright. Those guys probably have much faster kicks than you and they'll just be scoring on you a lot, but at least you won't get knocked out.

a little piece of my personal history;

1998 "friendly" TKD tourney; heel hook kick to the head - concussion; dizzy and headachy for a week.

1999 "friendly" TKD tourney; side kick to the ribs - cracked rib; no sit-ups for a month

2000 "friendly" TKD tourney; repeated punching to leading guard arm - extensive bruising and numbness to the arm for about 10 days.

BTW: Each time I was wearing protective gear as required (which I dislike) and each time I won the match on points.

"...No pain, No gain!..."
"Aww, shut up!!"

[Nit]

Regardless of what tournament, your training is the key to winning...

I was a weekend warrior when I entered my first lot of tournements. I would get knocked out after the first fight. Once I got to second round but I was so surprised that I lost it in the first 60 seconds...

what I am getting at is this, you will always learn much from a tournament from observation and actual participation... but if you want to walk away with a reasonable perfomance then you must train harder than you expect to fight in the tournament.

my suggestion would be to read up on fight preparation techniques, get a program (al la Rockey) and start training to it and be hard on yourself... work on general fitness, then on your gross motor attack/defenses, and on techniques (combos kept simple) and on 'battle conditions', by the latter I mean learn to use your twitch muscles to evade and learn not to be scared of being hit by being hit lots

As a weekend warrior you might be lucky and do well, but when you finally get knocked out don't get bitter, try to learn why you got knocked out and improve on it.

If you focus then you will do well

last tourney I went to I got all the way to the semi's... I wasn't prepared to win , lost focus and lost it in 60 seconds... and thats after a lot of training...

If you want I have some info that may help that I can email to you,

good luck and wish you well on your tourney

[Lizard]

"If you want I have some info that may help that I can email to you, "

Can't you just post it?

[Nit]

Very well, Theres a lot here, some might be duplicated (I keep it on my Psion for lessons)

These are not my notes, some came from Faze, some from Karatetips.com some are just random bits...

Here goes:



Increasing The Power of Your Roundhouse Kick

By Sensei J. Richard Kirkham

A lot of martial artists and other fighters hire me to analyze their punches and kicks. I've even received videos to analyze other activities due to my background in kinese, movement education, exercise phys and martial arts. One of the most misunderstood kicks I analyze is the roundhouse kick.

We will define the roundhouse kick for the purposes of this martial arts article as a kick executed from a cocked knee position whose arc travels approximately parallel with the ground as the knee snaps straight and travels across your centerline striking with the shin down to the top of the foot.

Most martial artists think this is one of their weakest kicks when it could actually be one of their most powerful weapons in their arsenal of kicks, punches, and other strikes.

If you're the average martial artist, you throw your rear-leg roundhouse kick from a front stance snapping your leg across your body depending on the weight of your leg and the snap of your knee for power. Power is a combination of mass (weight can be used in this example) and speed. Kinetic energy (energy of motion) is ¢ mv^2 that's half mass times speed (velocity) squared. The more mass, or the more of your body you put into your kick, and the greater the speed of your kick (snap of your knee for example) the more powerful your kick will be.

So now you're going to tell me that you already get most of your body into your roundhouse kick anyway. I will make you a gentleman's wager (as soon as I find a gentleman) that this martial arts article will, if practiced correctly, increase the power of your roundhouse kick by about 30% minimum.

Let's make some more general statements about striking power.

The closest moveable joint to your center of gravity is your hips.

If your hips do not go towards the direction of your strike you are losing power.

If your non-striking limb on the same side of your body you are striking with moves in the opposite direction of your strike, you will lose power.

Speed is a more important factor in striking power (kinetic energy) than mass

Antagonistic muscle groups are those muscle groups which hinder a wanted movement.

If the antagonistic muscle groups are tense during a strike the strike will be slowed down as well as more energy being consumed for future strikes.

If the strike is slowed down power will be lost.

Breath, held in the lungs, can get in the way of proper movement

So what we now see is that during the roundhouse kick, or any other martial arts strike for that matter, is we want to stay as relaxed as possible, use as many of our muscle groups as possible in the correct timing (gross coordination), and breath out as we strike.

We can also conclude from the statements above, that the roundhouse kick should not be treated as a solely lower body strike. Many athletic coaches will tell you that the sprint, for example, is at least 50% upper body work. The same facts applies to the roundhouse kick. If you can get the muscle of the upper torso involved in the strike, there will be a greater mass and greater inertia (basically follow through ability)

The Biggest Mistake I See Almost All Martial Artists Make When Executing the Roundhouse Kick is...

not getting a good upper torso rotation into the roundhouse kick. Remember this powerful fact ...?

If your non-striking limb on the same side of your body you are striking with moves in the opposite direction of your strike, you will lose power.

Almost every martial artist I have seen execute a roundhouse kick whips his arm backwards in the opposite direction of the kick. This means if you are throwing a roundhouse kick with your right leg towards your centerline to the left your right arm is whipping to the right in the opposite direction. This, by its very nature, precludes you from getting your upper torso muscle groups involved with your roundhouse kick to your greatest potential and therefore, you lose power.

I've heard every excuse in the book for executing a roundhouse kick in this manner;

I won't be able to keep my balance.

Well you couldn't keep your balance the first time you learned to do the kick wrong could you?

I see full contact fighters executing the roundhouse kick that way?

The one's that do have not hired me yet to increase their striking power nor have they read my ebook Step by Step Learn Internal Energy Strikes.

If I kick the way you are showing me I will over-extend myself and not be able to stop to throw another technique.

Not in the beginning because you will have more power and inertia in your roundhouse kick than you are accustom too. Practice practice practice.

It feels like my ankle is twisting off when I get I turn my shoulders into the roundhouse kick like you said.

Remember my statement -

If your hips do not go towards the direction of your strike you are losing power.

Be sure to pivot your supporting foot as you execute your roundhouse kick.

Look, I've done this kick both ways. You think I started doing the roundhouse kick like this? Nope, but I'm doing it this way now and I kick û real û hard .

Enjoy

Sensei J. Richard Kirkham is a 27 year martial art veteran. He is a dual certified teacher with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Physical Education with a background in Special Education, Exercise Physiology, Movement Education, and Behavioral Modification. He is presently an in home tutor, self-defense instructor, and body guard. Mr. Kirkham is presently teaching in Honolulu Hawaii. He can be reached at 808-528-5775 Ext. 5. He has one challenge which has yet to fail him, he can increase anyone's striking power 50% to 100% in one lesson. For those who cannot see him in person, he offers the same service with others on affordable custom video tapes. Sensei Kirkham has the unique service of offering in home classes so that people may learn self-defense in the privacy of their home without worrying about travel after a hard days work.

[Nit]

Warm up properly, and reduce the risk of sports injury!
The warm up activities are a crucial part of any exercise regime or sports training. The importance of a structured warm up routine should not be under estimated when it comes to the prevention of sports injury.

The Warm Up

An effective warm up has a number of very important key elements. These elements, or parts, should all be working together to minimize the likelihood of sports injury from physical activity.

Warming up prior to any physical activity does a number of beneficial things, but primarily its main purpose is to prepare the body and mind for more strenuous activity. One of the ways it achieves this is by helping to increase the bodyÆs core temperature, while also increasing the bodyÆs muscle temperature. By increasing muscle temperature you're helping to make the muscles loose, supple and pliable.

An effective warm up also has the effect of increasing both your heart rate and your respiratory rate. This increases blood flow, which in turn increases the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the working muscles. All this helps to prepare the muscles, tendons and joints for more strenuous activity.

Keeping in mind the aims or goals of an effective warm up, we can then go on to look at how the warm up should be structured.

Obviously, it's important to start with the easiest and most gentle activity first, building upon each part with more energetic activities, until the body is at a physical and mental peak. This is the state in which the body is most prepared for the physical activity to come, and where the likelihood of sports injury has been minimized as much as possible. So, how should you structure your warm up to achieve these goals?

There are four key elements, or parts, which should be included to ensure an effective and complete warm up. They are:

The general warm up;
Static stretching;
The sports specific warm up; and
Dynamic stretching.
All four parts are equally important and any one part should not be neglected or thought of as not necessary. All four elements work together to bring the body and mind to a physical peak, ensuring the athlete is prepared for the activity to come. This process will help ensure the athlete has a minimal risk of sports injury.

Lets have a look at each element individually.

1.) General warm up
The general warm up should consist of a light physical activity. Both the intensity and duration of the general warm up (or how hard and how long), should be governed by the fitness level of the participating athlete. Although a correct general warm up for the average person should take about five to ten minutes and result in a light sweat.

The aim of the general warm up is simply to elevate the heart rate and respiratory rate. This in turn increases the blood flow and helps with the transportation of oxygen and nutrients to the working muscles. This also helps to increase the muscle temperature, allowing for a more effective static stretch. Which bring us to part two.

2.) Static stretching
Static stretching is a very safe and effective form of basic stretching. There is a limited threat of injury and it is extremely beneficial for overall flexibility. During this part of the warm up, static stretching should include all the major muscle groups, and this entire part should last for about five to ten minutes.

Static stretching is performed by placing the body into a position whereby the muscle, or group of muscles to be stretched is under tension. Both the opposing muscle group (the muscles behind or in front of the stretched muscle), and the muscles to be stretched are relaxed. Then slowly and cautiously the body is moved to increase the tension of the muscle, or group of muscles to be stretched. At this point the position is held or maintained to allow the muscles and tendons to lengthen.

This second part of an effective warm up is extremely important, as it helps to lengthen both the muscles and tendons which in turn allows your limbs a greater range of movement. This is very important in the prevention of muscle and tendon injuries.

The above two elements form the basis, or foundation for a complete and effective warm up. It is extremely important that these two elements be completed properly before moving onto the next two elements. The proper completion of elements one and two, will now allow for the more specific and vigorous activities necessary for elements three and four.

3.) Sport specific warm up
With the first two parts of the warm up carried out thoroughly and correctly, it is now safe to move onto the third part of an effective warm up. In this part, the athlete is specifically preparing their body for the demands of their particular sport. During this part of the warm up, more vigorous activity should be employed. Activities should reflect the type of movements and actions which will be required during the sporting event.

4.) Dynamic stretching
Finally, a correct warm up should finish with a series of dynamic stretches. However, this form of stretching carries with it a high risk of injury if used incorrectly. It should really only be used under the supervision of a professional sports coach or trainer. Dynamic stretching is more for muscular conditioning than flexibility and is really only suited for professional, well trained, highly conditioned athletes. Dynamic stretching should only be used after a high level of general flexibility has been established.

Dynamic stretching involves a controlled, soft bounce or swinging motion to force a particular body part past its usual range of movement. The force of the bounce or swing is gradually increased but should never become radical or uncontrolled.

During this last part of an effective warm up it is also important to keep the dynamic stretches specific to the athletes particular sport. This is the final part of the warm up and should result in the athlete reaching a physical and mental peak. At this point the athlete is most prepared for the rigors of their sport or activity.

The above information forms the basis of a complete and effective warm up. However, I am well aware that this entire process is somewhat of an 'ideal' or 'perfect' warm up. I am also well aware that this is not always possible, or convenient in the real world. Therefore, the individual athlete must become responsible for assessing their own goals and adjusting their warm up accordingly.

For instance, the time you commit to your warm up should be relative to your level of involvement in your particular sport. So, for people just looking to increase their general level of health and fitness, a minimum of five to ten minutes would be enough. However, if you are involved in high level competitive sport you need to dedicate adequate time and effort to a complete warm up.

As always, I truly hope you've enjoyed this month's issue of The Stretching & Sports Injury Newsletter. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding this newsletter or any other aspect of this web site, please feel free to contact me at the following e-mail address. admin@thestretchinghandbook.com

If you would like to subscribe to this newsletter, simply click here and fill in the subscription form. If you wish to unsubscribe from this newsletter, simply visit unsubscribe, enter your email address in the box provided and click the "Remove Me" button.

Stretch after a gentle aerobic warm up.
Stretch and train don't Stretch and strain!
Stretch the muscle don't rip it.
Stretch with patience and relaxation.
Stretch often, daily preferably. 1 day concentrated, 2nd day less.

A well stretched muscle performs more efficiently, requiring less energy to use.
A well stretched muscle improves blood flow
A well stretched muscle increases range of movement

By stretching you will improve stamina levels
By stretching you will improve technique

Tip 1: When you stretch, do not bounce stretch i.e do not force your body up and down in a bouncing action as though to force the stretch. It is much better to move slowly down to the "tight, limit" position and relax in that position for at least 1 minute, breathing in and out slowly.

Do not tense up when stretching. There is a fine line to understand between training and straining.

If you are experiencing great pain during your stretching then the odds are you are straining and probably damaging or tearing the muscle!

You should think of the muscle as your friend, not your enemy.

[Nit]

Actually this will take forever, here look at the attached instead

[hybone]

If you only train once or less a week and are thinking about entering a fight, you are making a big mistake. Natural talent would only take you so far. Also remember this, in a match, cardio is 75% of the battle.

[MuayThaiFighter]

Originally posted by hybone
If you only train once or less a week and are thinking about entering a fight, you are making a big mistake. Natural talent would only take you so far. Also remember this, in a match, cardio is 75% of the battle.

I totally agree.

[MuayThaiFighter]

Re: How well would a "weekend warrior" do in a MT tournament?

Originally posted by Lizard
Sometime in the far distant future I may decide to enter a tournament (just a small one). I don't take my MT very seriously, I don't train much at home and I only go once a week (sometimes not even that). I'd like to know how well you think I could do. I would only enter to test myself and because I would get a trophy to show off to people (I think you get one just for participating).

I have a question for you,why do MT or any martial arts at all if you are not going to take it serious?

To get anywhere with your martial arts it takes discipline,training once a week just doesn't cut it and is also a waste of time and of money.

Being a MT tournament which is full contact,if you were to fight despite training only once a week you are going to get your ass kicked.I suggest training at least 4x a week if you plan on competeing.

As far as trophies is concerned I think with your little training and competeing you are not going to succeed in getting one,not to sound cruel or anything but like anything in life if you want to succeed you have to work for it nothing comes free in this world of ours.

Competeing with your little training will just make you look like a fool and you won't be able to get a trophy.Like mentioned earlier if showing off a trophy is all you want why not just go and bUy a trophy and lie to your friends.You can test yourself in the gym.

Budd either you take your training serious or you don't.

Although getting a trophy in a tournament sounds and feels great tournaments aren't just about trophies they are about having fun.

You mentioned getting trophie just for joining,wouldn't you rather get a trophy because you earned it,it would mean so much more and give a greater feeling at least to me it would.

An unearned trophy becomes nothing more then a statue,an earned one is so much more.

[dkm]

Actually this will take forever, here look at the attached instead

This was helpful. I once tore my ACL in a competition because I made the mistake of not warming up or stretching before starting.

[mma_fan81]

a little piece of my personal history;

1998 "friendly" TKD tourney; heel hook kick to the head - concussion; dizzy and headachy for a week.

1999 "friendly" TKD tourney; side kick to the ribs - cracked rib; no sit-ups for a month

2000 "friendly" TKD tourney; repeated punching to leading guard arm - extensive bruising and numbness to the arm for about 10 days.

BTW: Each time I was wearing protective gear as required (which I dislike) and each time I won the match on points.

"...No pain, No gain!..."
"Aww, shut up!!"

Hahahahahahahha! This is why people say Taekwondo sucks. You can get killed and still win on points somehow. For example, your opponent may land a hard side kick and crack your ribs (2 points). You pay him back by landing 3 weak pussy punches to his ribs (3 points)! So you're winning!! HAHAHAHA

They're supposed to use the concept of "trembling shock" for the strikes but in tournament you never see it used.