Part One of a Five Part Series

“Aren’t you too old for martial arts?”
Have you heard this question lately? Or perhaps even looked in the mirror and asked yourself the same thing? Well the answer is a resounding “No.” Martial arts can be practiced as long as, if not longer, than just about any other physical pursuit.

In fact, martial artists often get better, not worse, with age. Perhaps you are not as fast or flexible as the younger students in class. Perhaps you don’t recover as quickly from your workouts or you are bothered by new aches and pains that you easily shook off when you were younger. These are minor obstacles when you consider the benefits that come with age. The wisdom to slow down, to see the lessons in every class, to mentor younger students, to laugh at the macho posturing and go your own way, to discover yourself from the inside out. That is what martial arts after 40 is about; a journey of self, a discovery of the boundlessness of your mind and body, working as one, expressing your inner joy and wisdom. This five part series will cover things you must know to really help your training.

Aging is an inevitable process. It proceeds at different rates in different people. You can’t stop it, but you can delay it. It is your responsibility to live your life to the fullest–or not. As your life unfolds, you begin to realize that every choice that you have made so far has brought definite consequences that are either rewarding or painful. Reaching mid-life means an accumulation of wisdom. Based upon the lessons of your past choices, you now have a great opportunity to reconsider and possibly change the course of your life. In fact, now is the perfect time to begin living your life to the fullest.
The very fact that you are a martial artist or are considering taking up the martial arts means you want to take care of yourself, and that you want to challenge your mind and body. This choice is a tremendous gift to you. It means that you can reach the point of being where your body and mind coexist in perfect harmony.



In your martial arts training, you will at some point realize that your body is unique in itself. Your body has a different set point from others. You have to learn to adjust your condition to the ideal point for the uniqueness of your body. You can ignore statistics and standard guidelines, but you cannot take your natural guidelines for granted.
This Series is not intended to mold you to be like someone you see on the cover of a fitness magazine. Instead, it will help you realistically get into and stay in the physical condition that will allow you to continue to enjoy your martial arts practice for many years to come.

Speed Training Tips

There are some rules to keep in mind when developing speed in your skills:

1. The skill must be conducive to speed training. Most martial arts skills can be done at full speed, either in the air, with a partner or against a target. Gross motor skills are more easily adapted for speed training than precision skills.

2. The skill must be physically sound. Do not try to build speed until you have mastered the basic physical model of a skill. If you have to think about the mechanics of performing a skill or you are performing it without the correct bio-mechanical form, your potential for speed development is limited.

3. Relax. Speed training requires relaxation from the point of initiation up to the point of impact. At the point of impact, the muscles should briefly tense and then relax again to facilitate quick recovery.

4. Recover. Recovery between executions is essential for improving speed. If you are training a single skill, like front kick, the recovery between kicks can be brief, up to fifteen seconds. If you are working on combinations, spend a bit more time between repetitions so you do not become fatigued too early.

5. Practice first, practice last. There are two theories on where in your workout speed training should come. Many experts advise putting speed training early in the workout so you are not fatigued and your muscles are fresh. This is good advice if you are relatively flexible, have good muscular endurance and can relax easily. There are two drawbacks to doing speed training early in a workout: you can become too fatigued to perform well later in the workout and you may be too tense to fully achieve your potential. Practicing speed skills near the end of a workout means your muscles are looser and therefore you may find it easier to relax although you may sacrifice some freshness. Arrange your speed training to suit your performance style.

6. Use low repetitions. Keep the number of repetitions of each skill low (less than 10) but the quality of each repetition very high. Perform each rep with complete concentration and fully rest between repetitions.

7. Feel the speed. As you perform each repetition, you may find that a particularly fast repetition “feels” different from all the others. Try to capture and recreate this feeling, whether it is a feeling of lightness, relaxation, energy, intensity or whatever name you assign to it.

8. Take time off. As you practice for speed, you may find that you have hit a speed bump, a pace that you can consistently imitate, but cannot break through. When this happens, it’s time to take a few days to a week off from speed training. Instead of practicing the technique, spend time each day visualizing breaking through the speed bump.

Timing

What is timing? Timing can be defined as simply being in the right place at the right time. This can be said for all aspects of life and is not limited to the Martial Arts arena. Timing is the ability to understand when and where to be so that you may take full advantage of an opportunity that is present at that moment. In order to understand timing, it is important to first understand several other concepts.
An opportunity is chance that is present at a particular point in time for success or the achievement of a goal. In the case of a Olympic Taekwondo athlete, the goal is to score a point. Therefore, all timing leads to the acquisition of points. This is not as simple as it sounds, for there are several ways in which such opportunities occur.

Opportunity presents itself at different times and as the result of different occurrences or circumstances. The one truth is that opportunity is a causal effect of action or inaction. It is the direct effect of you or your opponent’s action or reaction to the circumstances that are present at a given time during a match. This is the good news, because it means that it can be created and taken away. You can create opportunity by your actions or by causing reactions in your opponent.

Opportunity either exists or does not exist or is in a state for coming into being or ceasing to be. Competitors are always trying to take advantage of an opportunity when it exists. If it does not yet exist, they are waiting for it to come into being so they can access it. Or, finally, they are trying to create opportunities to take advantage of. I call this the “TAKE, WAIT, or CREATE” model. As an athlete you can take an existing opportunity, wait for one to appear, or create one. As much as there is a past, present, and future, so it is for opportunity.

If you plan on competing in Martial Arts which is not a requirement then you know good competitors keep their opponents from creating opportunity, we must spend most of our time waiting or creating the same. It is in this way that timing comes into play and is the final essential piece of the point puzzle. An opportunity that is realized is usually the result of bad timing, or the inability to meet the opportunity when it presents itself. One is said to have good timing if they can perform the two basic functions of a Martial Arts competitor: Remove opportunity that an opponent is trying to access and take advantage of an opportunity that an opponent has allowed.

So, how does it all work, and more importantly, how do you improve your timing? I use the same method for my practice and training regardless of the skill or attribute that I am trying to improve. First, I conceptualize the action in its’ perfect form and try to understand its’ uniqueness. What is the primary function of timing? Second, I break it down into its’ component parts. What is timing about and what attributes are necessary in order to have good timing? Finally, I develop a series of drills to improve my skills with regard to the attributes of good timing. This plan of attack will work with any skill or training. First, study and understand your goal, then break it down into smaller parts and finally develop drills to improve the smaller part and refine the larger whole.

Good timing requires several physical and intellectual skills, and these can be improved through a series of drills. However, keep in mind that we are dealing with the final phase of point scoring; the existence of an opportunity or the accessing of one that is about to come into being. This column is not about creating opportunity, but merely taking advantage of one that does or will exist. So, back to the fundamental premise. Timing requires adequate or superior speed. Drills that will increase your speed will ultimately improve your timing. Next, timing requires a spatial understanding of your body and attacking implements with regard to your opponent’s target areas and movement. In other words, you must be able to position yourself quickly and appropriately so that you will be able to launch an effective attack or counterattack. Finally, you will need to understand your opponent’s habits or predisposition towards certain movements. This will help you to create opportunities and score points.



A good starting place is match analysis of good players and games. Watch high-level players or videotapes of international competitions and study the athletes’ attack and counterattack patterns. Take special note of timing relative to when and how the attack or counterattacks are executed. Do not focus on the point, but rather use the point as the starting place from which to build outward. By viewing the tape and moving backward from the occurrence of the point, you will start to see certain patterns arise.



These are the occurrences or the circumstances, which cause the point into being. Next, visualize yourself in a similar situation performing a similar attack or counterattack. Imagine the different scenarios that might occur during the execution of the same. Now it’s time to take this into the gym and develop drills to refine these motion patterns. Working with a partner, develop drills that present opportunities for you to access. In the first phase of the drills your partner will allow you ample time to access the opportunity. The second phase will have your partner presenting the opportunity and then removing it. Finally, in the third phase your partner will try to prevent the occurrence of such opportunities while you are trying to access it. In next month’s column, I will detail and outline a full and complete method to bring closure to your timing adventure.

Hydrate for Higher Performance

Our thirst and common sense tells us that keeping hydrated during workouts is important, but did you know that proper hydration can measurably improve your performance? Recent studies showed that bicyclists that pedaled hard for 50 minutes had a 6% increase in performance when they replaced as much liquids as they sweated out, and their performance improved 12% when the liquids contained carbohydrates, such as in a sports drink.

How much liquid should you consume? If you lose two pounds of sweat in an hour workout then you need to drink 32 oz. of liquid or roughly 8 oz. every 15 minutes. Don’t just rely on your thirst to tell you when you’ve drunk enough, as studies show that people who relied solely on thirst drank only half of the liquids they needed.



If carbohydrates boost performance does this mean you should drink a sports drink? Not necessarily, you can have the same effectiveness by drinking juice as long as you water it down so that there is no more than 80 calories per 8 ounces. What about replacing minerals and electrolytes which so many sports drinks tout? It’s not really necessary, as you body is unlikely to deplete these unless you have an extreme workout of over 6 hours or more.

What’s the best regimen for fluid replacement? Start with 8-16 oz. no longer than a half-hour before your workout, and then take frequent fluid replacement breaks during the workout. Also, avoid extremely cold drinks as your body more quickly absorbs cool, but not cold liquids.
So drink up for higher performance.

Part two of our series will cover improving your speed, click here.