Training for a tournament - what extra stuff can I do?

[john-called-van-lamb]

Hi all!

There's a state karate tournament coming up in 8 weeks that I'm going into. I'm going to be competing in Traditional Forms and Semi-contact continuous sparring

Just wondering what training I can do outside of my karate sessions? Should I be working hard at my cardio?I've seen something about kettlebells being good for explosiveness in kata but I have no idea about it. I can train anywhere up to 6 hours a day if I really push it so load me up with stuff! ATM I have been:

-Stretching
-Lots of kata practice with a video camera
-Weights twice a week
-Karate 5 nights/week (plenty of bodyweight exercises and cardio involved in the sessions)

Are the weights really a good idea? Should I add anything or take anything away?

Thanks!

 

[Tez3]

Do what your instructors/coaches say you should do, they know you better than we do.

Welcome to MT, why don't you pop over to the meet and greet and say hi?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Hi all!

There's a state karate tournament coming up in 8 weeks that I'm going into. I'm going to be competing in Traditional Forms and Semi-contact continuous sparring

Just wondering what training I can do outside of my karate sessions? Should I be working hard at my cardio?I've seen something about kettlebells being good for explosiveness in kata but I have no idea about it. I can train anywhere up to 6 hours a day if I really push it so load me up with stuff! ATM I have been:

-Stretching
-Lots of kata practice with a video camera
-Weights twice a week
-Karate 5 nights/week (plenty of bodyweight exercises and cardio involved in the sessions)

Are the weights really a good idea? Should I add anything or take anything away?

Thanks!

I think @drop bear would say "cardio", and that would be my best generic recommendation. You'll use more energy because of the newness an excitement, so you want to be capable of more. Any other recommendations should probably be based on the tournament rules or your personal needs (so as Tez said, what your coaches say).

 

[Dirty Dog]

Cardio. Footwork. Timing. Distancing. Precision.

 

[JR 137]

If you have access to a punching bag, doing timed rounds - 2-3 minutes, 1 minute break - worked great for me. I kept track of my heart rate using a Fitbit, saying in the peak zone as much as possible during rounds, and really trying to relax and bring my heart rate down during breaks.

During a tournament I competed in last summer, I had to fight twice back to back (3 minutes each), one fight off, then went again. The scheduling got all messed up, and they asked me nicely if I'd go again, which I smiled and went with it.

Honestly, I wasn't that tired. And no, it wasn't because the competition sucked. I was used to going 12 three minute rounds. I was pretty surprised by it.

Regardless, don't alter your day to day stuff too much. If you normally lift, keep at it; if not, don't get crazy with it. You're not going to pack on a ton of muscle nor strength in 8 weeks.

If you're really pushing the exercise stuff beforehand, give yourself some time to recover too. The last few days, warm up and stretch and call it a day, exercise-wise. Still do your regular dojo routine, but lay off the outside stuff IMO.

 

[Buka]

Welcome to MartialTalk, bro.

I suggest learning the kumite rules of the state tournament, inside and out. If there are any related tournaments before yours, go check them out and see what calls the refs tend to make.

Other than that - just spar a lot. Spar, spar, spar.

 

[john-called-van-lamb]

Do what your instructors/coaches say you should do, they know you better than we do.

Welcome to MT, why don't you pop over to the meet and greet and say hi?

EDIT: thank you for that! I'll head on over there now

I think @drop bear would say "cardio", and that would be my best generic recommendation. You'll use more energy because of the newness an excitement, so you want to be capable of more. Any other recommendations should probably be based on the tournament rules or your personal needs (so as Tez said, what your coaches say).

Sounds awesome, thank you I shall start doing some rounds

Cardio. Footwork. Timing. Distancing. Precision.

Cheers!

If you have access to a punching bag, doing timed rounds - 2-3 minutes, 1 minute break - worked great for me. I kept track of my heart rate using a Fitbit, saying in the peak zone as much as possible during rounds, and really trying to relax and bring my heart rate down during breaks.

During a tournament I competed in last summer, I had to fight twice back to back (3 minutes each), one fight off, then went again. The scheduling got all messed up, and they asked me nicely if I'd go again, which I smiled and went with it.

Honestly, I wasn't that tired. And no, it wasn't because the competition sucked. I was used to going 12 three minute rounds. I was pretty surprised by it.

Regardless, don't alter your day to day stuff too much. If you normally lift, keep at it; if not, don't get crazy with it. You're not going to pack on a ton of muscle nor strength in 8 weeks.

If you're really pushing the exercise stuff beforehand, give yourself some time to recover too. The last few days, warm up and stretch and call it a day, exercise-wise. Still do your regular dojo routine, but lay off the outside stuff IMO.

Awesome thanks for the advice! I think I'll lay off the weights then.

Welcome to MartialTalk, bro.

I suggest learning the kumite rules of the state tournament, inside and out. If there are any related tournaments before yours, go check them out and see what calls the refs tend to make.

Other than that - just spar a lot. Spar, spar, spar.

Thanks majorly! There will be a lot of sparring at the dojo the closer we get to competition hopefully haha

 

[CB Jones]

Where? We are always looking for new tournaments to try.

 

[Tez3]

We train MMA fighters, pro rules as well as amateur and promote fight nights. One of the biggest mistakes we find people make is to over train, they don't seem to understand that their coaches/instructors who have the experience of preparing people for fights know what they talk about when they put them on a schedule of training and it doesn't look as hard as they think it should. Those without coaches are very prone to over training.
Your coach/instructor knows you ( or should!) knows your weaknesses, your strengths and what you should and shouldn't be doing. While there is a wealth of information on this site, as I said, we don't know you so any advice is going to be general not specific to you.

Yes, cardio training is good but you should be working on it all the time not just leading up to a comp, sparring yes, of course, why wouldn't you? Weights etc what do your instructors say?
Is weight an issue btw?

 

[Flying Crane]

Something tells me that making a significant change to your training habits shortly before a competition might cause more problems than it solves.

If you need cardio, that is an option if you go about it properly. Or, you could train your karate more, and get cardio from that. More basics and fundamentals, more kata, more sparring under the competition rules. Get your cardio by preparing for the competition.

And like Tez says, don't overdo it.

 

[senseiblackbelt]

Work on punching/kicking power building exercises
Do shadow boxing
Do footwork exercises like skipping
Work on overall body strength..

Goodluck

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

There's a state karate tournament coming up in 8 weeks that I'm going into. ,,, I'm going to be competing in Traditional Forms and Semi-contact continuous sparring

- No sex activity starting from today.
- Try not to sweat in the last 3 days before the tournament.
- Have a small lemon peel in your mouth during the tournament.
- Record your form on video and try to fix the deflects.
- Find yourself a sparring partner and spar as much as you can.
- Try not to develop any new techniques. Try to make your old techniques as good as you can.
- You need to have a "plan" with "entering strategies - how to enter" and "finish strategies - how to get score".
- ...

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

This guy had his tournament over half a year ago

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

This guy had his tournament over half a year ago

Thanks for pointing it out.

 

[drop bear]

Thanks for pointing it out.

Lemon peel?

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Lemon peel?

I was curious about that, along with avoiding sweat. All the rest I've heard before.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Avoiding sweat for the last 3 days before your tournament can give you the most energy for your tournament. To have a lemon peel in your mouth can reduce your nervous and keep you calmer. In modern day, people may use chewing gun, or chewing tobacco.

 

[drop bear]

Avoiding sweat for the last 3 days before your tournament can give you the most energy for your tournament. To have a lemon peel in your mouth can reduce your nervous and keep you calmer. In modern day, people may use chewing gun, or chewing tobacco.

Man I would be disappointed if I had to compete against a guy who was chewing tobacco.

 

[JR 137]

Man I would be disappointed if I had to compete against a guy who was chewing tobacco.

I’d try to hit him in the throat so he swallows it

 

[JR 137]

- No sex activity starting from today.
- Try not to sweat in the last 3 days before the tournament.

What is the justification for “no sex activity?” Does it give you pent up rage that you release on your opponent (no pun intended)?

Does not following that make someone too relaxed and/or tired? Too happy?

Seriously, I’ve never been able to figure that advice out.


As far as not breaking a sweat the last 3 days...

I actually prefer to do a good warmup and stretch the last few days. No other physical activity though. Stuff like light bag or mitt work for about 10-15 minutes and some stretching afterwards. It keeps me “in the zone” physically and mentally. And it keeps me loose. When I do nothing at all, I feel far tighter and rusty. I know it’s all in my head, but it works for me.