Nationals (AAU) or (USAT)

[terryl965]

This is not a thread about which one is better and I would include the USTC but they do not spar.

I am wondering how many hours a day you train or how session does your competitors do a day. School is out so we do three a day morning is running and tchnical aspect of of ring management. Afternoon is more conditioning and kicking drills. Evening is mostly sparring and strecthing. Of course this wil continue until a couple of days prior to leaving. We also have three session a week devoted to poomsae but not all competitors do poomsae at Nationals.

 

[ATC]

We do something similar to what you are doing. But we break things down a little more. We divide the team up into groups and focus on each group as needs dictacte.

 

[puunui]

I am wondering how many hours a day you train or how session does your competitors do a day. School is out so we do three a day morning is running and tchnical aspect of of ring management.

What type of running to you do in your morning workouts?

 

[terryl965]

What type of running to you do in your morning workouts?

Every other day is five miles, some days are sprints for 10 yards and then slow down for the next ten. We also pull tires when running. It varys depending on what we are working on for that day or week. The long distance is for more endurance, the sprint is for quick litlle spurts like coming off the line. pulling the tires is for building better leg strength.

 

[troubleenuf]

We do one mile a day. Followed sprints three days (three long, three medium, three short), stairs twice and switch the next week, with hill runs mixed in. Thats just our cardio of course.

 

[TaekwondoDad]

How about the ATU? Their National is July 2nd in Los Angeles.

 

[Tez3]

Reading the title something occurred to me to ask. When you have national competitions presumably it means a lot of travelling to wherever they are held? Does it work out really expensive and if so does that limit who can go to national competitions? I imagine of course living in a vast country compared to the UK, this is a problem with all types of competitive sports, so how do you all manage when something is on a national level?

 

[mango.man]

How about the ATU? Their National is July 2nd in Los Angeles.

What the heck is the ATU?

 

[TaekwondoDad]

What the heck is the ATU?

America Taekwondo United

http://www.atu.bz/board/

 

[TaekwondoDad]

Reading the title something occurred to me to ask. When you have national competitions presumably it means a lot of travelling to wherever they are held? Does it work out really expensive and if so does that limit who can go to national competitions? I imagine of course living in a vast country compared to the UK, this is a problem with all types of competitive sports, so how do you all manage when something is on a national level?

Speaking for my family, the travel does get expensive. You need to pick your state/regional/qualifier events carefully and then determine which organization's national you can afford to go to or which one means the most to you. Then of course if they are scheduled at the same time all possible planning goes out the window.

 

[mango.man]

America Taekwondo United

http://www.atu.bz/board/

Interesting that the "American" Taekwondo United website is mostly in Korean. I'm just sayin'.

 

[TaekwondoDad]

Yep, there are a lot of Korean Masters/GrandMasters devoting their time, talent and knowledge to teaching anyone and everyone Taekwondo. My blonde haired, blue-eyed, non-Korean daughter loves it, and her Korean Master.

I actually found the lack of Koreans odd when I took her to her first USAT tournament.

I've noticed a lot of stores near me posting signs in English and Spanish and I am told that the people who can't read the English and rely on the Spanish are just as American as I am.....

 

[ralphmcpherson]

Every other day is five miles, some days are sprints for 10 yards and then slow down for the next ten. We also pull tires when running. It varys depending on what we are working on for that day or week. The long distance is for more endurance, the sprint is for quick litlle spurts like coming off the line. pulling the tires is for building better leg strength.

Running is great Terry. I was struggling with sparring fitness a lot when I first started tkd which coincided with me having a break from running. I remember one night sparring to the point of throwing up because I just wasnt fit enough to go the distance with a lot of the guys. I got back into running and started running about 30 klms a week, either in 3 x 10klm runs or 2 x 15 klm runs. After several years back into running I would be in the top 1 or 2 fittest in the class and sparring for long periods is heaps easier, plus it takes a lot more to fatigue my legs which are so used to operating under fatigue. I also play a bit of squash and that helps heaps as well for the legs and fitness.

 

[RSweet]

Running is great Terry. I was struggling with sparring fitness a lot when I first started tkd which coincided with me having a break from running. I remember one night sparring to the point of throwing up because I just wasnt fit enough to go the distance with a lot of the guys. I got back into running and started running about 30 klms a week, either in 3 x 10klm runs or 2 x 15 klm runs. After several years back into running I would be in the top 1 or 2 fittest in the class and sparring for long periods is heaps easier, plus it takes a lot more to fatigue my legs which are so used to operating under fatigue. I also play a bit of squash and that helps heaps as well for the legs and fitness.

Took a seminar from Jean Lopez a few years ago. One of the things he mentioned was that his team runs only at the beginning of the season and never when they are going to compete. The running is hard on the knees and more importantly it does not build TKD muscle memories. You see these guys get into the 3rd round and they are doing pretty much a straight leg kick? Muscle memory is not a tkd type memory. Better to run bleachers at the local high school - you get your run but you also get the higher knees and the cardio.......

 

[miguksaram]

This is not a thread about which one is better and I would include the USTC but they do not spar.

I believe I know what you are saying here, but for those people who may get the wrong idea from this statement, USTC members spar just as much as AAU and USAT members. However, the USTC has not hosted any events with sparring divisions. Your statement sounds like people who are members of the USTC do not fight at all.

 

[Tez3]

Took a seminar from Jean Lopez a few years ago. One of the things he mentioned was that his team runs only at the beginning of the season and never when they are going to compete. The running is hard on the knees and more importantly it does not build TKD muscle memories. You see these guys get into the 3rd round and they are doing pretty much a straight leg kick? Muscle memory is not a tkd type memory. Better to run bleachers at the local high school - you get your run but you also get the higher knees and the cardio.......

One of our pro MMA fighters has come back to train with us, he's recently been demobbed from the Army where he was a Para Regt PTI, he's a personal trainer now. He has upped our fitness in a matter of weeks, he doesn't have us running either but we do circuits, never the same ones though. We do things things like wind up a weight on a string attached to a stick keeping the arms striaght, using a large hammer on a tyre, throwing a small tyre or medicine ball, rope ladders on the floor, pushing the top of a gym horse across the floor, four punches or kicks on a kick bag then sprawl repeated and loads of other things. The idea is that it benefits all muscles used in MA, increases stamina and is interesting. You are at each station for two minutes, how long it takes in total depends on how many students you have doing it. All the things we use are easily and cheaply availble.
Our idea is that you can teach people all sorts of techniques for a fight but they are all useless if the fighter isn't fit enough.

 

[RSweet]

Our idea is that you can teach people all sorts of techniques for a fight but they are all useless if the fighter isn't fit enough.

Totally agree. I just agree that with all the fitness options out there, use those that specifically benefit tkd.

 

[terryl965]

All I know is Jean does alot of road work with his athletes. There isnothing wrong with doing cardio all season long and if you keep your knee healthy everything is fine.

 

[troubleenuf]

Actually studies have shown that anything over 3 miles do very little for an athlete and actually can cause more harm than good. In sports such as TKD were you need short burst of speed rather than marathon like stamina sprints, stairs and those type of activities are going to give you the most benefit were long distance will not. Fit the activity to the sport to get the most benefit.

All I know is Jean does alot of road work with his athletes. There isnothing wrong with doing cardio all season long and if you keep your knee healthy everything is fine.

 

[puunui]

Reading the title something occurred to me to ask. When you have national competitions presumably it means a lot of travelling to wherever they are held? Does it work out really expensive and if so does that limit who can go to national competitions? I imagine of course living in a vast country compared to the UK, this is a problem with all types of competitive sports, so how do you all manage when something is on a national level?

Having supportive parents is the first alternative. Parents end up paying for the experience. Second is fund raising. Car washes, etc. It does get expensive, especially for people in my state, where you have to fly to everything.