An Easy Drill To Instantly Improve Your Fitness by Jason Stanley
Last night I was reading an article in BLACK BELT magazine about Elisa Au. If you're unfamiliar with Elisa, she is 3 times World Karate Federation (WKF) kumite champion... not a bad accomplishment considering she's only in her mid twenties.
Anyhow, I saw Elisa fight in Vegas a few years ago where she won the US Open in both kata and kumite... she's quite an amazing athlete. According to BLACK BELT magazine she trains 3 hours per day of which 90 minutes are dedicated to fitness drills. She works a lot on explosive movement to help create strong leg muscles which obviously plays a HUGE part in her success.
Now of course you've heard of the regular "knee jump" where you tuck jump high and tuck your legs to your chest, right? Elisa does 3 sets of 10 with emphasis on making the next jump as SOON as she lands. That's right, there is no "down time" just immediate springing into the next jump as she lands from the previous jump. This is a classic plyometric-type of exercise...
An interesting alternative to the regular knee jump that she describes, is to tuck your legs BEHIND you as you spring into the air. Jump by arching your back and as you throw your shoulders and arms behind think about tucking your legs up so that your heels hit your backside. Again the aim is to have zero downtime and propel yourself high into the air immediately as you land. Do 3 sets of 10 with 20 seconds rest between each!
These are just some of the exercises that you can do at home or in the dojo to increase your fitness level and build strong leg muscles that will serve you in your karate endeavors. Try it right now and see how you feel... I'm sure you'll feel the immediate benefit of this type of training.