Student Blog

What type of training is best for competition?  Well, let’s see just how savvy you are when it comes to this subject.  I get this question all the time, and not just from our online subscribers, but from our own students as well.

Let’s say you’ve got a tournament coming up and you’re planning on doing poomse and sparring.  For poomse, you’re not worried.  Sparring, on the other hand… that’s a different story, right?

The tournament is 8 weeks away.  How do you begin preparing for this?  Should you:

A. Run long distance- 6 to 10 miles.

B. Run medium distance- 3 to 5 miles.

C. Run short distance- 1 to 2 miles.

D. Sprint- 50 to 100 meters

Okay, before I give you the answer to the question, I’m going to talk about each of the answers. 

Before you understand which answer is correct, you must know some important things about your body.  Your body is comprised of 2 types of muscle fibers- white and red.  Your white muscle fibers are your fast and explosive ones, also known as “fast twitch.”  Your red fibered muscles are your endurance muscles, or “slow twitch.” 

Now, everyone has a different make up of red fiber muscles and white fiber muscles.  In other words, some people have more red and less white, and others have more white and less red.  The Olympic track athletes who run short distances, like the 100 m. or the 400 m. have an abundance of white fibers.  The long distance runners, such as 1600 m. and marathon runners have an abundance of red fibers.  If you switch the athletes events, the sprinter will fail miserably in a marathon, and the marathon runner would be ultra slow at the 100 m.

Red fiber or white fiber, it really doesn’t matter because you can’t change what you’ve got.  You were born with it.  Here is the good news-  No matter how many red fibers or white fibers you have, you can always train in a particular way to strengthen what you’ve got. 

The second important item to understand is that Taekwondo is an explosive and fast moving sport.  Points are awarded when your strikes are fast enough to hit the target area before your opponent can move out of the way.  Something that can prove to be quite difficult when you’re slow.

So, the question you should ask yourself, what sort of training would most resemble a Taekwondo match.    

If you chose “A”, then this means you are training for slower movements that must be sustained for a very long period of time.  Depending on the rules at your competition, your match will be anywhere from 2 to 3 minutes.  Not a very long time, compared to running for an hour straight! 

If you chose “B”, then you’re still training your red fiber muscles.  3 to 5 miles is still for endurance, and not explosiveness.

If you chose “C”, then you’re getting closer, but still, when you run 1 to 2 miles, you’re never utilizing your white fiber muscles to their potential.  Think about it this way... it takes the average, in shape, Taekwondoist to run a mile, between 6 and half to 7 and half minutes.  Still, this does you no justice since your Taekwondo match requires more explosiveness in a shorter period of time.

If you said “D”, nice job!  An all out sprint puts your muscles under the same exertion level as a Taekwondo match.  Now you’re probably asking, “but it only takes me 13 seconds to do a 100 meter sprint, and my Taekwondo match is 3 minutes long.”  This is why you rest for 15 seconds, then you sprint 100 meters again.  Continue this cycle until 3 minutes are up.  Then, you rest 1 minute and begin again for another 3 minutes.  You just simulated a Taekwondo match consisting of 2, 3 minute, rounds with a 1 minute rest.

This repetitive cycle of sprinting/resting, sprinting/resting, etc. is very similar to a Taekwondo match.  Most matches are highly explosive for about 13 seconds, at the most.  Then, there is usually a moment of some downtime while you move around the ring before the explosiveness begins again.

If you’re a competitor, I wish you the best in your next competition.  Otherwise, good luck with your training!

Respectfully,

Duncan Richardson
Chief Master Instructor
http://www.SucceedinMartialArts.com

Are you too slow when you spar?  Chances are, it's a simple fix that takes just a little bit of practice to correct.

The human body is a miraculous creation capable of many great things. Next year at this time, you will be a new person. Literally! All the cells of our bodies are replaced every 12 months.

The question is, how do you win when your opponents legs are just too dang long.  Well, I’m actually 6’ 3” and I can tell you first hand what scores on me and what doesn’t.  Most of my Taekwondo fights have been against opponents either my size or shorter.  Even at nationals, the heavy weight division has several 6 foot guys weighing around 200.

  The warmth oozed over my lips and chin and continued down my neck. I knew something was wrong, but my adrenaline kept me focused. My opponent took two steps back and signaled the referee to address the massive amount of blood that was spilling from my nose and down my chest.

Fresh pine fills the air.  You stare down every grain on the tan rectangle before you.  Air comes into your nose and fills your lungs.  You exhale while making a practice motion with your palm heel weapon.  Stance is solid...  Distance is perfect... The room is dead calm while everyone watches.

Many martial art students always ask me about nutrition. I love it! I love when someone is interested in making a change. Tonight, I'd like to blog about a way of eating that will help you look your best and perform at your best.

The last thing I'm going to do is write down how many calories you're supposed to consume or the amount of protein, carbs, or fat, you need in a day. That's absurd- soley because I need to know your body composition to give you information like that.

More importantly, I'm going to try and expand your context. If you've read books on nutrition, you've expanded your content. Think of context as the bowl that holds the content. Get it?

First of all, if you want to be successful at the nutrition game, and reach your full potential in learning martial arts, you must decide right now why you eat. Of course, when asked, everyone says they, "eat to live." Why do you eat dessert? Most desserts have very little nutrtional value. Still, people treat themselves to some sort of dessert every single day, be it a grande white chocolate mocha, or some sort of ritual bedtime treat.
If you treat yourself to a dessert on a daily basis, you are living to eat. When you live to eat, you get fat! I'm not going to sugar coat this (pun intended).

This is the truth, and hopefully I can shift your thinking. Life is an amazing experience. In fact, for me, it gets even more amazing everyday I wake up. Everyday, I learn something new. Tony Robbins often says, "If you're not growing, then you're rotting." One of the most amazing things about life is that we have choices. We are blessed with the ability to choose. Everyday, I see people that have chosen to be obese. I see people who have chosen to be poor. I see people who have chosen mediocrity.
Whoa! How did you get on this subject from nutrition? Let me explain... I am attempting to live my life to the fullest. I am teaching Taekwondo students how to defend themselves, compete in tournaments, or how to use their skills in other areas of life to help them become successful. I am even teaching martial arts online and improving lives on a global scale.  That feels great!!! 

My point is, life is too great to devote it to food that doesn't help us succeed. This is what I call "living to eat." If you want the most out of life, "eat to live." Decide right now that the foods you eat are not for pleasure, but for endurance, strength, and stamina. Life has many pleasures and there is no reason to get that pleasure from food. So... I leave you with this- why do you eat?

Respectfully,

Duncan Richardson
Chief Master Instructor
www.SucceedinMartialArts.com

Beeeeeep, Beeeeeep, Beeeeeep… I have no idea how long the alarm clock was going off before I finally heard it.  I

would of heard it, but the feel and sound of the hot shower was just too soothing.   I don’t know about you, but when I’m in competition mode, I don’t need an alarm clock to wake me up.  Don’t get me wrong, I still set the darn thing just in case.  For some reason, I remember this hotel stay. 

            Maybe it was that I flew into Los Angeles, then back up to Oakland to register for Nationals, then back to Los Angeles to train with my sister’s instructor.  The next night, we drove to Oakland.  I tried sleeping in the back of my sister’s Montero.  My girlfriend and bestfriend were with me as well.

It was a classic moment.  I stretched out my 6’3” frame over the luggage in the very back.  I wore my headgear as a pillow and placed my chest protector over the uneven surfaces.  My sleep absolutely sucked that night.  I still don’t know why we left Los Angeles at 9 pm. 

             Anyhow, I was the first one up that morning and I was charged.  I was about to compete in my 3^rd Olympic Style Taekwondo tournament… as a Black Belt heavy weight. 

            What’s the big deal?  The big deal is that I have competed strictly in point style tournaments only, but at least I was a champion there, right?  No worries.  I tested my Olympic style skills at a state championship and won pretty easily.  I won practically all the point style tournaments I competed in as a Black Belt.  In fact, I trained like a madman for months.  I watched videos and read books on speed training.  I went to sport clinics that taught athletes high performance exercises.  I was a monster!!!

Up to that moment, I was in the best shape of my life… for a football player.

             I’ll save you the burden of hearing more.  I went to Nationals that year in Oakland, California.  I managed to get myself knocked out in the 2^nd round.  I cringe, when I watch the video today.  I out hustled my opponent, I out kicked him, I out scored him, I took a swift roundkick to the rib cage as I was throwing an axe kick.

 A split second later, I was… crawling like a baby on the mat, as the referee gave me the standing eight count, I gasped and choked to get my wind back.  I stood on count 6, still unable to take a breathe.  The referee waved his hands, calling the match.

Thank god, this was a tournament and not a self defense situation.  What’s the lesson here?

            Well… fortunately, I have made several decisions in life, in business, in competition that have lead to being knocked down.  The point is, you stand up, you fight… again, and again, and again.

You take what you learn from your loss and you make yourself even stronger, even faster, even smarter.  Don’t

crawl away to say, “this is not for me.”  After every tournament I’ve ever taken a competitor to, I ask them one question after they lose… "what did you learn."  My friends, I'm asking you right now, what have you learned the last time you received a standing 8 count in competition or in life.  Remember this, when you win, you celebrate.  When you lose, you learn. 

Respectfully,

Master Richardson

Students often ask me, "How can I get faster?"  Ahhhh... the need for speed!  I remember wanting those lighting fast kicks and punches.  In fact, I'd be lying if I said that I am no longer insterested in being fast, even though I'm not competing at the moment.

First, allow me discuss an important detail with regards to speed.  What if I told you that I could make you twice as fast as you are right now?  What if I told you that I could make you twice as fast without increasing the speed of your techniques?  Do I have your attention?  Good, keep reading.

My next blog post, I'll discuss increasing physical speed.  Right now, I'm going to teach you a different type of speed.  It's speed through recognition.  Basically, you're going to learn how to improve your response time.  Imagine if you could fight someone in slow motion, except you're in real time.  Well, you'd slaughter everyone, and here is why: 1) You would be able to recognize their attack several seconds in advance.  2) You would have time to chose the right counter attack.  3) You would be able to attack at a much greater speed, and not giving them a chance to counter attack (this will be discussed in the next blog post).

Since it's impossible to actually spar with your opponent in slow motion, you can do drills that will help you with #1 above.  In Taekwondo, we call these hogu drills.  Here is how it works: My opponent attacks with a chosen technique, say roundhouse kick.  I then counter with a back kick.  We practice that drill every day.  We practice so much that my mind has become engrained with the exact movements my partner makes just before his foot leaves the floor to attack me.  Once my mind begins to recognize this earlier and earlier, I can instigate my counter attack much sooner and will be able land my kick before his.

Okay, so you already know hogu drills.  Then you practice every possible way your oppenent can potentially attack you, and then drill the counter attack.  Have your opponent switch feet or do random attacks.  This will force your body to respond faster and faster with the appropriate counter. 

Master these drills and you'll frustrate your opponent with your speed of recognition.

Respectfully,

Master Richardson

"Come on, sir!  This is what champions are made of!"  It were the only words that I could remember hearing from my coach, as I prepared in his Los Angeles studio.  I had learned what it truely meant to be pushed to the limit- when your body has endured so much physical fatigue that you literally don't care about the outcome of a match.

I've since learned the importance of pushing yourself to these outer limits in martial arts.  You see... you never, ever, want this feeling in actual competition.  The moment you lose your passion to win, is the very moment you lose the match.  Physical and mental fatigue will steal your passion to win.  Everytime you reach this point of fatigue in practice, the stronger you get physically and mentally.  In fact, you'll find it tougher and tougher to reach this point in your martial arts training as you continue to train yourself in this fashion, or as my coach called it- training like a champion.

Respectfully,

Master Richardson