I realized a couple of things.

First of all, doing kihon (basics) in Tabata intervals (quick review: 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest, repeat 8 times, then take a minute of extra rest, then do it another 8 times, for as many groups of 8 as you want - I tend to do 3 or 4 groups of 8 intervals for a workout time of 15 or 20 minutes) is great conditioning but may not be the best way to sharpen your technique.  I find myself in pretty good shape (for me) with pretty good endurance for sparring and whatnot after a few months of Tabata kihon.  But I wasn't able to focus on my technique as much, and I think that my punches and kicks and blocks aren't getting as sharp as I'd like them to be. 

So I adjusted my workout.  Sunday I did a pretty simple basics workout untimed and without trying to go as fast as I could, taking slight pauses whenever.  I did 650 kicks (100 knee kicks, 50 groin snap kicks, 100 front kicks, 100 roundhouse kicks, 100 side kicks, 50 roundhouse/ spinning back kick combinations, 100 crescent kicks) interspersed with about 400 punches (roughly 80 punches after every 100 kicks).  The punches are good because my legs got tired after 100 kicks, and the punches gave me a way to rest my legs somewhat without cooling down overly or wasting time.  I alternate work like this a lot - upper body/ lower body, pushing movements/ pulling movements.  By the way, when I do 100 kicks I usually take a right leg forward fighting stance and do alternating front leg/ back leg kicks 25 times, then switch stance and do the same thing.  That way I'm getting work in on each kick from each position.

At the end of this workout I was fatigued but not really sucking wind fatigued, so I did a more intense conditioning routine to finish myself off.  I did just 10 minutes of intervals.  The first group of 8 was alternating sets of one armed snatches with a 35 pound dumbell (you kettlebell heads would want a 1 pood kettlebell instead) and pushup.  I managed about 6 snatches in 20 seconds and from 30 down to about 20 pushups, on knuckles, touching chin to floor each rep.  Just to be clear, that's 4 sets of snatches and 4 sets of pushups.  And whenever I do one armed movements I alternate left, right, left, right (I'm right arm dominant).

For the next group of intervals I alternated one arm dumbell swings, still with the 35 lb. dumbell, with squat kicks (squat, touching glutes to hamstrings, stand up and throw a front kick with the left leg, then squat and kick with the right, and so on.  I count each squat as 1 repetition, not each pair of squats).  I manage about 11 swings in 20 seconds and about 14 squats in 20 seconds all the way through - I might drop to 10 swings on the last set or 13 squats, but not further.

By the time this was over I was really sucking wind.  I've been wanting to add swings and snatches because so much of what we do is focused on pushing movements - pushups and so on.  I wanted to work on my pulling muscles more, just for the sake of skeletal balance and overall fitness.

Tuesday was my next day for conditioning.  My hamstrings were pretty sore, too sore for a lot of kicking, but I wanted to do something.

I started with a light Tabata group (not intense enough to really get me gasping for air).  I planted my right foot and stepped forward in front leaning stance (zenkutsu dachi) with a lower block/ reverse punch, then stepped backwards (I work out in my bedroom - there's no space for more than one step forward and one back.  If I had a dojo to do this in I would do more steps in a row.)  On the even numbered groups I just did yonju godo - it's a 10 technique sequence done in horse stance, stepping forward at a 45 degree angle each time.  After 5 minutes I was sweating and breathing hard but not dying.

Next I did the one armed snatch/ pushup group.  Then 1 minute rest.  Then one armed dumbell swing/ squat kick group.  Then rest.  Then jumping chinups (I can't do that many regular chinups) alternated with hanging knee raises.

I could not finish the last grouping.  I'm pretty week in chinning movements, and just couldn't get through the sets.  I think I'm going to substitute some other movement for the knee raises next time - chins, then hanging anything is too much for my lats.  I'm thinking about evil wheel rollouts instead of the knee raises.

If I had kettlebells I'd use them for the swings and snatches, but I don't have any yet.  I like the overall metabolic effect of these workouts - I was really gasping for air after each and I felt a nice soreness all through my back and hips the next day.

Let me know if you have any other good quick workouts.  I'm planning out a entry on diet - coming soon!

I'm still doing my Tabata basics workout twice a week.  It's a fantastic workout, and the crippling soreness is starting to fade.  I've already noticed a significant difference in the ease with which I'm tolerating the workload in karate classes.  I'm able to sustain effort for a lot longer and I'm a lot less worn out by what we do in class, and that's after just a week and a half of Tabatas.

I'll say it again - the Gymboss timer is awesome for these intervals.  Easy to set up, nice alarm, nice counter.  I plan to put out an article on essential workout equipment in the near future, and the Gymboss timer is on the list.

Crossfit has put some of their old journal articles online for free.  I don't know if these have been up for a long time or not, but they're essential reading.  Once again I wish I had room for rings in my house for training.

I was concerned that dropping from an hour on the treadmill to 20 minutes of high intensity interval training would interfere with my weight loss.  It hasn't happened.  If anything, the weight seems to be dropping off more quickly than before.  I'm pretty sure that I burned more calories during the hourlong treadmill workouts, but the residual boost to metabolic rate was probably a lot less.  Whatever the explanation, I'm glad it's working.  I need to drop at least another 15 pounds before I'll be able to see my abs.

I'm still looking for sites that focus on using modern techniques to train for classical karate.  Anybody? 

I've become addicted to gimmicky web sites that promise me the secrets to ultimate fitness for only $700/ year.  I remember the good old days when you could get the secrets to ultimate fitness by buying a $25 book.  Now you have to buy a DVD set and subscribe to an inner circle of elite members that have access to the author's direct advice and never before released video clips.

I have no idea if these sites (Matt Furey's, Brooks Kubik's among others) contain the actual secrets of ultimate fitness, or whatever.  I can't afford the money to buy their starter packages.  It really might be the best stuff online.  I do know that these guys - and I think Matt Furey started it - are geniuses at least of marketing.  Every e-mail I read leaves me thinking that maybe I, too, should fork over the money for full exposure to the secrets of Giant Ape Extreme Martial Fitness.

Actually, if I was smart, I'd go through a few other steps:

1. Get in really good shape myself (easier said than done).
2. Come up with a clever name for my "style" of training (which isn't really original to me).
3. Really push this website so that people actually read it.
4. Take out a few ads on the more popular fitness related blogs.
5. Write a book (or better yet, an e-book) describing part of but not all of my regimen.
6. Invite people who buy the book to join my own (clever name inserted) inner circle so I will personally answer their questions.  Charge $250/year. 
7. Watch the money roll in.

I guess the secret is that if you make $10 on a book, you need to sell it to 100 people to make $1,000.  But if you can make $175 on a DVD set you only need to sell it to 6 people to make the same profit.  I guess it's easier to find 6 really desperate people than 100 slightly desperate people.

I'll say it again - these programs might be worth every penny.  I have no reason to think they're not.  I just need more than the author's own word for it before I'll plunk down that kind of cash to find out for myself.

When I was in college and graduate school I typically devoted over six hours a week to training.  I'd go to my karate class three times a week, each time training for as much as two and a half hours (not necessarily all at a high level of intensity, but spending time on calisthenics, skill development, etc.)  When I was in the last stretch before my black belt promotion I was probably putting in two or more hours a day, every day, to get into as good condition as possible to avoid embarrassing myself and my instructor.

When I decided to get back into karate about six months ago I wondered if it was feasible for me to put in that kind of time again.  My life has changed.  I have a family, a job, and other interests, and I'm not willing to give up any of those things to do karate.  And I knew I wouldn't be able to stick with it if I couldn't perform at a reasonably high level.

I've done three of my Tabata workouts now.  To reiterate, a Tabata interval is 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated 8 times.  In a routine I stole from Crossfit, I do this for four different exercise routines, with an extra minute of rest between exercises.  In all, the workout is about a five minute warmup (dynamic stretching and joint rotations as taught by Tom Kurz), and about a twenty minute workout, in which I do 32 sets of 20 seconds of high intensity exercise.  It's a total of less than 11 minutes of actual work, but I'll tell you that I wind up breathing harder than I ever did after an hour on the treadmill going 4.1 mph at a 15% incline.

I made a couple of mistakes.  The first time I did it I did eight sets of squat kicks.  The problem is that afterwards my adductors (the muscles on the inside of the thigh, by the groin) were so sore I could barely walk, let alone work out again for the next three days.  I'd have been better off stopping earlier so I could repeat the workout on less rest. 

I've also been rotating exercises more.  The first set of eight is all triple punches - middle, high, low.  The next set of eight is two each of upper, inside middle, outside middle, and lower blocks, out of alternating sanchin stances.  I wanted to do eight sets of roundhouse kicks, but that was too much for my legs, so I'm alternating two sets round/ two sets side kick.  For my last set I just can't do 8 sets of squat kicks.  I'm doing 2 sets of squat kicks, then 2 sets of inside crescent, then 2 sets of outside crescent, then 2 sets of plain old front kick.

I'll say it again - if I had access to a heavy bag I think using it for at least some of the sets would be helpful.  I want to increase my hand speed - especially on the blocks - so I'm going to try doing them with light dumbells. I'm going out this weekend to pick up 1 or 2 lb. dumbells at 5 below (It's like a dollar store, but it's a $5 store.  Nice place for cheap exercise stuff like matts, light dumbells, and ankle weights).

It's important to concentrate really hard on proper technique, especially as the fatigue really builds up.

I'd love to hear if anyone has any other ideas for techniques or sequences to use with Tabata intervals.  It has to be something that's quick enough to really wear you out in 20 seconds but not so much that you can't make it through the sets.

Good training!

Cardio is important for two basic reasons. The first is that without some kind of regular training your cardiovascular system turns to crap and you die. There's plenty of better scientific explanations for what I just wrote, but I'm not a doctor, so I'm not going to go into it here. The second reason to do cardio is that if you don't, you won't be in good enough shape to last through your skill training. If you're out of breath after a couple of kata or a minute or two of sparring, you won't be able to practice either enough to really improve. So we need to do cardio.

But what kind? There are, very roughly speaking, two general formats for cardio: long and slow or short and hard. Long and slow might be a good way to lose weight, but it's not a great way to get in shape. Short and hard works better, but even better is very short and very hard, followed by a little rest, followed by another burst of very short and very hard, and so on. The fancy name for this is high intensity interval training, or HIIT. If you want some great background on the relative benefits of HIIT go to (among other sites) Clarence Bass's site or Crossfit.

There's also a lot of literature on specific HIIT protocols - basically meaning, how long the training periods should be and how long the rest periods. For obvious reaons, the training bursts can't be too long - if you can keep up a level of intensity for more than a minute or so it's not high intensity. How long should the rest period be? Too long and you lose many of the benefits of repeating the sessions - said benefits being that you're forcing your body to work hard when it's fatigued, which makes your body get into better shape.

A Japanese researcher named Tabata came up with a protocol involving 20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds rest, repeated 8 or more times, and showed that it did wonders for his trainees. Lots of other people say that it works really well, so I'm going to try it. If you go online you'll find lots of great routines involving rowing, running, or biking using Tabata times. But I'm not particularly interested in becoming a better rower, runner, or biker. So I'm using karate techniques for my cardio.

I'm going to follow the general Crossfit model for my Tabatas. Basically, you warm up for 5 minutes or so. Do some dynamic stretching. Then do 8 sets (each 20 seconds work and 10 of rest) of an exercise, then a minute of rest, then another 8 sets of another exercise, until you hit 4 total exercises. Or puke. For my exercises I'm going to try: sanbon tsuke (middle punch, high punch, lower punch; repeat), then roundhouse kicks with alternating legs, then blocks (maybe 2 sets up upper, 2 sets inside middle, 2 sets outside middle, 2 sets lower), then squat kicks (squat down, then stand as you do a front kick, then squat again, then kick with the other leg, and so on.

Is anybody else doing something like this? I'm curious to hear how it's working out. I have to say that I don't think this would work out too well for a real beginner - if you're concentrating too hard on the technique you won't get a good enough workout, and if your technique isn't great you might get hurt once the fatigue levels are high enough. Frankly, I'm not sure it's a good idea for me, either. I also find myself irrationally tempted to try this with weights in my hands. I remember doing punching combinations with 5 lb. dumbells in each hand, and it was a great workout, but that was 20+ years ago.

This protocol isn't all that different from what people do in a typical karate class - you do a set or two of techniques, then stand and rest while your instructor tells you what to do next or explains some detail about the technique, then do more sets. This routine is just formalizing the process.

I highly recommend the Gymboss timer for these sets. You don't want to have to watch a clock while you're doing all this.

One last thing: You have to perform each set of 20 seconds as if it was your last - hold nothing back. Going through the motions won't do the trick. If you don't think you can get yourself nice and worn out punching air for 20 seconds, you're not punching right.