My Martial Arts and Cardio

Cardio

I used to run about 2-6 times a week. I did this to complement my regular martial arts training. I felt that it was another aspect of cardio that I could add to sparring and Tae Kwon Do and kickboxing practice. I typically ran 3-5 miles, averaging 8-10 minutes per mile (depending on how spunky I felt).

Eventually, I had to give it up for two reasons. For one, my feet started to hurt so badly that I would end up hobbling around like an old man. I think this was due to decades of barefoot Tae Kwon Do training on surfaces that were usually nothing more than carpeted concrete. In hindsight, if I had it all to do over again, I would have treated my feet better. Back in the day, though, we were all tough guys and the idea of putting shoes on to train seemed pretty damn wimpy.

Aside from my aging, aching feet, the other problem was time--I found it increasingly difficult to make time for running and still keep up on my martial arts training. Something had to give, so goodbye running.

My Cardio Workout
Cardio is still a very important part of a workout though, so that's why I bought Bob (or as my stepdaughter, Tarrah,  named him--Otis), who is pictured here. Bob lives in the basement and he is my training partner. He's the best! Bob is always there, never complains or talks back and, maybe most important, no matter how hard I hit him, he NEVER hits back.

So now my cardio workout revolves around Bob. Here's how it goes:

• On the days that I don't do strength training (or take a day off) I practice kicking, punching, elbows and knees on Bob.
• I work in five minute rounds. A minimum of three rounds, typically four, sometimes five--whatever I can fit into my lunch hour. On a weekend day, it's always five rounds.
• The first round starts with punching, so I can get warmed up.
• I never stretch before a Bob workout. I think it's more important to raise your body temp and get the muscles nice and warm, like taffy that been sitting in the sun. As a matter of fact, I have pulled more muscles by trying to stretch them cold.
• I always work the basic punches: jab, straight (also called cross) punch, hook and uppercut.
• After I feel nice and warm, I start working in my kicks
• I work on the basic kicks: front, roundhouse and side kicks (although I always try to spend some time on my spinning back kick, just because I love it so).
• Between rounds, I stretch for 1 - 2 minutes

Thats it. Pretty simple. I work hard and fast and two or three times in each round I try to go as fast and hard as I can (make up your own jokes here).

Variations

• At least once a week I do my "thirties".
• that means I do 30 of each type of kick and punch, working on speed, power and technique for each one.
• I put my techniques together in combinations. For instance:
• Jab-cross-hook-uppercut
• round kick-jab-cross
• Front kick-jab-cross-round kick-hook

• Here is a link to an example of how I put together combinations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glx3T7xs_hs
• Another link to an example of my workout: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5y6N_rJJH4&feature=related.
• And another workout example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWXRyC2Wr10&feature=related

Keep in mind that I try to keep this up for a solid 5 minutes, with a 1-2 minute break for stretching and then 2-4 more rounds, mixing up punching and kicking. Its a great cardio workout.