is cardio bad for a martial artist?

[DANINJA]

here is link to article:

http://www.myodynamics.com/articles/kicks.html

The guy is basically saying that if you want to train for explosiveness/power you need to limit cardio training because it has a negative effect.
what do you guys think?

[OldSchoolKungFuWarrior]

Yes. I think you can overdo cardio pretty easily.

[TKDist]

Interesting article. I think extended aerobic training like distance running probably does have a negative impact on MA training. There's a guy at my school who is a competitive marathon runner. He has crazy endurance, but his kicks are kind of slow and quickly lose their "snap" after a few sparring rounds. I think the slower kicking speed also has A LOT to do with lack of flexibility. (The more limber you are the faster your kicks) Even if you are conscious about stretching (and most runners aren't) if you run long distances you get really tight hamstrings (which affects flexibility and kicking speed).

I thought the article was well argued, but I'm still not buying the whole aerobic exercise beyond 30 minutes is bad theory. I'll conced that extended endurance traing will probably negatively affect fast twitch/kicking speed, but if you don't do cardio you'll never build the stamina to make it through several sparring rounds. You're kicks might be "faster" the first few rounds, but what happens 3-4 matches into a competition when you're sucking wind?

[cannabis]

so if i'm in better shape than the other person my kicks are slower can't i just punch?

[PizDoff]

Fighters need the explosiveness that cardiovascular training doesn't give them.
(What a sentence!)

TKDist is correct.

The article seemed to be geared toward sport type high kicking peoples. (Hmmm....)
But it is well presented..


"In addition to the martial arts, Mr. Hess is a licensed cycling coach who regularly works with successful endurance athletes with tiny vertical jumps."
hehehehe




Anecdotal experiance: I have not done any cardiovascular exercise since playing soccer last summer. Since then I've done some rollerblading but I mainly do sprints to get explosiveness. Include a 1-5 minute jogging before workouts and that's pretty much all my aerobic activity in training. I have yet to gas in class or while sparring.

It's great! I'm not too concerned with aerobic activity right now as I'm going for weight gain right now. Though I may start doing soccer again in sept.

--
Hard Work, Patience, Dedication

Fighting Multiples - http://bullshido.com/article_read.asp?id=162

[ninjandrew]

cannabis, sure you could just punch.
But ask yourself how wise it would be.