A couple newbie questions... Cardio & Balance.

[TKDinAK]

Hi all.

Just started TKD training in February. Having a great time with it! I'm 45 and am at my 8th GUP (Yellow), learning Dan Gun, 3 step sparring and have sparred full contact about a dozen times. Enjoying that a lot also.

Anyway... along with four classes a week, I just started taking a cardio class my dojang offers. While I get a decent workout doing my patterns and line drills in actual TKD class, the only thing that competes with the cardio from a serious workout standpoint, is sparring. That cardio is some tough stuff! Likewise, sparring. I have no issue with the contact with sparring... but I get winded so fast, I lose speed, power and accuracy very quickly. Figured cardio work would help with that...

How many TKD practitioners here work on their cardio specifically?

If you do, what have you found to be the advantages?

Anything come out of it that you weren't expecting?

The other topic... balance. I've been kicking the heavy bags and pads quite a lot, and have seen a very consistent upgrade in my technique, speed and power over the past few months. That said, when I am required to slow down my kicks, and/or leave a kick extended for a moment or so (pattern drills), I find myself shifting all over the place on my plant foot and having to tap my kicking foot down on the floor about half the time. I've always been very active, and have never had an inkling of a balance issue. Of course, I've never done anything that required me to do any kicking.

I've spoken with my instructor and my other classmates about it, and they have given me some tips... such as, for example, doing several reps of a complete side kick(turning kick, front snap, checking... etc), both legs, beginning to end and as slow as possible. This has been helping some, I just expected to see quicker development. They also said that nearly all new students deal with balance issues of some sort, and that it will come with time, work and consistency.

I've been at a desk job for the past six years, so I figure working on my leg and core strength should help with my balance... hence the cardio classes.

I'd like to know what the good people of this board have used to work on their balance. What worked for you, and what have you experienced that worked for others?

Thanks a bunch for your time and attention!

 

[ATC]

Do 3 sets of 100 double leg running kicks non stop. When you can do that then do 5 sets. Should help alot. My kids can do 5 sets with 30 second rest inbetween and barely sweat. I die after the first 30 kicks on set 1. Advantage youth.

Also do so paddle target sparring. Have a partner for 60 seconds move all over the place with the paddels that you have to kick while he or she, moves around. They should dart the paddles out for you to kick at all levels. Head, body, and double kicks. 30 seconds rest between rounds. Do 6 rounds or so.

Last tip is to find a hill (50 yards or so) and sprint that hill 10 to 20 times. Your only rest is when you walk down.

Hope that helps.

 

[Thesemindz]

Don't worry too much. Endurance and balance will come in time. You've only just begun, you'll get better. Keep training.

Specifically, I've found that nothing builds endurance for sparring quite like sparring. It's a unique form of energy use. Sure, doing cardio will help build cardio. But if you want to build endurance for sparring, spar. Shadowboxing helps too.

As for balance, it has multiple components. Muscle strength is one, and the kind of kicking exercises you've been doing will help you develop it, but it isn't the only one. Part of the way the human body determines balance is based on visual cues. Stand on one foot and find a consistent stable point to fix your eyes on. Then close your eyes. You will almost immediately begin to struggle with your balance. So when you are kicking, especially when it is new, try finding a specific stable point to focus on. It will help your brain to determine a consistent horizon line and will aid in maintaining your balance.

Another important part of balance has to do with the inner ear. Part of the way your body determines up from down has to do with small particles inside your inner ear and the way they settle based on the orientation of the skull. Go back to our early exercise. Stand on one foot and find your balance. Now begin vigorously shaking your head side to side and up and down. You will immediately find your balance broken as your body tries to correct for what it perceives as a change in its up/down orientation. So keeping your head still will also help in your balance.

Understanding these components of balance will also help you to attack your opponents balance. Throttling techniques and techniques which obscure your opponent's vision will affect his stances and his ability to move and strike effectively.

Like I said. All this will come in time. For now, go to class, do the drills and exercises your instructor assigns, and try your best. Karate works. If you train, you improve. So go train.

You'll get better.


-Rob

 

[Carol]

It will come with practice. Keep at it!

To expand on ATC's suggestion of sprinting up a hill....as an alternative you can find a hill and go up and down at a quick pace. Going downhill works the stabilizing muscles in your legs, and actually forces you to use your balance more than going up hill. Just be careful. In hiking, most accidents happen on the descent instead of on the climb.

Realistically, anything that keeps you active is going to help. Going to class 4x per week definitely helps!

Your winters are much more severe than mine, but if you can work in some outside time, that is also excellent for strength, balance, and overall fitness. You get a much longer winter in AK than we do here, but in a state that has winter conditions 5 months of the year, I found skiing, snowshoeing, just about anything that involves getting out there and slogging around with all the gear you need for the elements is a fantastic workout.

 

[oftheherd1]

Pretty much what has been said above, in that practicing sparing, and balance are important. Also training the muscles in your legs and ankles helps balance. Breathing exercises cannot be over emphacised. You need to practice breathing from your Tan Jon, and developing ki. Proper use of Ki conserves energy while allowing power in movement.

But understand you cannot just will it so. You must practice, practice, practice. You will hit plateaus where you are certain you cannot advance. If you keep at it and keep trying to improve, one day you will look back and realize you have indeed improved, and won't know how you got there. It will have been perserverance in practicing improvement.

 

[StudentCarl]

I'm a couple of years ahead of you at 48, and a couple of years ahead of you in Taekwondo. Keep doin' what you're doin', and take the time to warm up well and care for your pains in between workouts. Taekwondo is a progressive curriculum/training process that will improve your overall conditioning, cardio and balance continuously if you let it. There are abilities you will build upon at each belt level, so participate in as many classes as your body will allow. Your body will continue to adapt and improve the more you put into your training. When you get hurt, remember that patience is part of perseverence. When healthy, keep pushing to do more than you could before and your body will impress you. Most of all, listen to your master and ask questions when appropriate. He/she will appreciate your intensity and enthusiasm and direct you appropriately.
There really isn't a silver bullet, magical, short cut on any of this, but huge progress is very possible at your age...don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Carl

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

As for balance, you might want to try some kicking exercises like this, where you hold a chair and do many many kicks with one leg. Even with the chair, keeping your one leg up helps you find your balance.

 

[Namii]

ATC, I gotta ask, what is a double leg running kick?

 

[ralphmcpherson]

Also watch your breathing while you spar. We had a student once who was very fit but when he sparred he would run out of puff very quickly and couldnt work out why. Eventually someone watching him realised that in the 'heat of battle' he would hold his breath or breathe very shallow. He worked on watching his breathing and the problem was solved instantly. Ive also noticed that a lot of lower belts throw way too many kicks and punches, most with no intention of actually connecting, and basically dont conserve any energy.

 

[TKDinAK]

Question... are these drills to help my balance, or more for cardio?

Thank you!

 

[TKDinAK]

Excellent info! Thank you very much!

 

[Cyriacus]

Question... are these drills to help my balance, or more for cardio?

Thank you!

Both Following the advice here will do both.

Also, id recommond analysing your preperatory routines. I.e., How you Warm Up before practice, be it at Training, or when you Practice yourself (If you do).
How you prepare will influence how well you can and will perform.
Theres no short way of explaining how to do that, just think about it, and if you are Warming Up and Practicing at home, run how you Prepare by your Instructer quickly. Too many TKD Practitioners ive seen, whove maimed themselves missing something that isnt quite as obvious to a beginner.
Hamstring, Quadracep, Glute, and Wrist injuries are the most common effects ive seen as a result of this

 

[TKDinAK]

Thanks!


I do practice at home. Since I take four classes a week, it's usually just on the weekend. But when I do, I stretch and warm up longer than what we do at class. I think our stretching regime is good. I have noticed a huge diference in my flexibility since I first started. I can kick at head height with both side and turning kicks, whearas when I first started training, i couldnt reach the shoulders. Plus, i haven't strained anything... and I train as hard as I can.


For warm-ups, we usually will do any combo of, front snap kicks, high stretch kicks (kinda like a pick shape kick), bounce on our toes and throw combination punches, jumping jacks with punches... plus a myriad of others. I definitely feel suffeciently warmed up afterward. At home, because I work mostly on patterns and stances, I do a lot of core work.... 6 inches, squats, crunches... etc.


I try not to stray too far out from what I am taught in class... but i have a tendency to push myself harder when I am at home practicing. Mainly because I can do the stretches, warm-ups and patterns for as long as I want.

 

[Cyriacus]

Seems like your going about things the right way;

Thanks!
I try not to stray too far out from what I am taught in class...

Yes. Good. Very good.
Its important now that you stick to how your shown to do things. Of course, give it a couple more belts, and youll start tinkering with things, thats natural. But for now, stick with how your shown to do things. When you have more experience and perspective, youll find yourself tweaking things, but at that level, its of little conseuquence.

Anyway, train hard!
And enjoy yourself.

 

[TKDinAK]

My instructor is always on us to make sure we are breathing when practicing.I've never paid attention to my breathing when sparring, though. So much going on, I suppose. In the future, I will see if I can take my attention away from getting pounded on in order to check on it.

 

[ATC]

ATC, I gotta ask, what is a double leg running kick?

Here is on version of it = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpaaL2EP17Y

Another version would be to do the same thing on a bag without the slide back and just keep kicking as if running non stop until you get to 100. That would be 50 kicks each leg. The first way is actually 100 kicks each leg and requires more energy. Either will get your cardio up. Do sets of 100. You can start with 3 sets then work up to 5 sets.

Here is a break down of what my kids do on this drill.

5 sets of 3
5 sets of 5
5 sets of 10
5 sets of 20
5 sets of 50
3 sets of 100

The only rest they have is the time it takes the other to finish their set. If doing alone you can use 30 seconds max rest time in between sets. When you get to the sets of 100 you can do 60 seconds rest in between sets.

A good way to ensure that you are putting out maximum is to compete while doing this drill. have two of you start at the same time and see who gets done the fastest. The loser does an extra set. Killer cardio workout.

Of course this is only one drill in many. Their entire workout is about 2 hours long. This drill as I laid it out should only take 15 minutes or so max.

 

[Namii]

oh cool thanks ATC

 

[granfire]

Well, cardio will improve your sparring, too. (It seems though that sparring is a bit more strenuous than straight up cardio, since you don't just do your moves, but you also have to concentrate on your partner and think on your feet. It's supposed to be tougher than the aerobics class at the Y I have been told)

Balance...
Part of the balance is core strength. your torso muscles get stronger, you will have better control over things.
One thing we did to strengthen core and legs was to grab on to a door frame or something like that and do a couple of sets of our kicks at a slow speed, concentrating on the form (foot position, knees, etc) you do it right you should feel it in your abs as well as legs and buttocks.

Another thing I picked up from some place else a long time ago: Imagine you are a pupped and you have a string coming out of the top of your head holding you up. It straightens me out and helps me center (I think my ballet teacher taught me that)

 

[thelegendxp]

Cardio helps a lot! It keeps my body lean and light! And if i ever need to run, I will be able to. I always find stamina more important though.

I personally to kicks slowly, with my eyes closed. Your body uses visual cues to aid you in balance, but once you remove that, the balance sensors in your ears really starts working, and your balance will start to improve quickly.

 

[MaxiMe]

another endurance/ cardio that will help is "run forrest run" distance not sprints over hill and dale will work differnt parts of the legs and will help with lung capacity.