If your goal is to eventually fight in K1 then scratch the cross training in boxing - get yourself along to a decent thai boxing gym and learn EVERTHING they can tell you. An overwhelming majority of the best K1 fighters at all weights train in thai boxing and they do it for a reason. The scoring criteria is much more similar to thai boxing than kickboxing and certainly TKD. You'll learn how to throw leg kicks and knees better than any other martial art will generally teach you. More importantly, you'll learn to defend against them properly. As said though, the biggest change is the scoring. Amateur kickboxing is basically full contact points fighting. you get awarded a point for the touch, not the effect. K1 scores effect, agression and workrate. The only one of these that is REQUIRED in full contact kickboxing is workrate.
I agree with the train the way you are going to fight message. Anything else is just doing yourself a disservice. The one recommendation I didn't hear was shadowboxing. Another good way to develop cardio and technique at the same time. Mix it in with your bag and pad work.
Even so, I'd still like to stick with TKD, there are a few good TKD fighter in K-1 also; Serkan Yilmaz and Keiji Ozaki. I know Muay Thai is a "harder(power wise)" style, but when I use my TKD in cross style sparring it's never a fails me. As for defending against them, I learned/am learning during sparring with my friends who do Muay Thai. I don't have a problem adjusting to different rule sets.
Pads and bag work arn't going to help with cardio. People might think it does, but unless they themselves have struggled with cardio and had to objectively fix the problem, they're just talking BS. I lost my first pro fight due to TKO in the third round, just threw in the towel because I was out of breath. I'm a superheavyweight. My problem was I did no cardio at all - only bag and pad work and I thought that was enough. The reason I was skipping on cardio was because I get bad shin splints, so running and skipping were always out of the question. If you do not suffer from shin splints, I recommend running straight away - the best kind of running is about a 20 minute run at the best pace you can manage and without stopping, every now and then break into a full sprint for 75m or so so that you add some high intensity to it. But since I can't run, I had to design a workout to improve my cardio for fighting and what I came up with I think is better than running anyway. The exercise is anaerobic - meaning it teaches you to use power at the same time as cardio, which is actually more practical for fighting than basic running. You need a clock and time yourself - the exercise should be done in 20 minutes and WITHOUT STOPPING AT ALL (you can stop for 10 seconds once or twice to sip some water if you need to, but that's it). Basically, you just do something like this: Jogging on the spot, 30 seconds Star jumps, 30 seconds, 20 push ups 20 squats 15 burpees Jogging on the spot whilst punching to the front, 30 seconds High knees, 30 seconds (high knees is where you jog on the spot, but with each step you hoist you knee up to above waist height - this is hard work) Star jumps, 30 seconds Jump knee bag 30 times (Muay Thai) High knees, 30 seconds 15 burpees Jogging on the spot, 30 seconds (and the key to all this is speed speed speed - do these exercises quick and don't mess around) (Keep repeating these exercises until the clock ticks to 20 minutes) Whatever, you get the idea. Add your own exercises and stuff - I do more than this, but this gives you an idea. If you do something that is too high intensity, like burpees, and you get screwed, just cool down by jogging on the spot, but just don't stop. Keeping doing exercises one after the other for 20 minutes. The more high intensity exercises you throw in there the better - try not to spend too much time jogging on the spot. The reason cardio exercises are more vital for breath than bag and pad work is bag and pad work is defined by your current fitness level and does not seek to push you enough. There is also too many intervals in the breathing, too much stopping and messing around. Progress will be slow at best. Contrary to what Master Betty tells you - no Thai gym is going to tell you to do bag and pad work to increase your cardio - they spend 1 - 2 hours a day running and skipping for their cardio, and bag and pad work is more for technique, power and conditioning, NOT CARDIO. I've been doing this high intensity anaerobics for a couple months now at about 5 times a week and I've noticed an increase in my ability to sustain power and speed when I do go to striking the bag and I've no doubt it's from this anaerobics alone. I'm fighting in a week or two, have to call promoter, it will be a test of how well this has worked I think. I'll post fight details on this forum after it so if you see it you can see if I say I gas out or not this time, but I know I won't and I've fixed my own cardio problem already.
For the record, they are the ONLY TKD guys in K1 and they aint good lol. But at the end of the day, I'm not suggesting you quit TKD. But you simpy aren't going to get the training you need at virtually most TKD places in the world. I can tell you right now that Serkan Yilmaz has cross trained in boxing and thai boxing. It's fine and well enough if you want to do TKD, if you liek it, keep doing it. But I'm just trying to be realistic man, without training outside of TKD, you simply won't be good enough. The few purely TKD guys who fought in K1 back in the day when it was a completely open tournament got their butts handed to them. There's nobody of a decent level in K1, nobody of a decent level in amateur or professional kickboxing and nobody of a decent level in shootboxing who uses primarily TKD as their main striking style. Indeed, even serkan yilmaz tends to fight in a style roughly similar to that of the rest of the K1 guys - he just throws a lot more spinning back kicks. and call me cynical, but theres a lot of TKD guys watch K1 now that wouldnt before, simply because he's there. He has a market, and he needs to keep it. The fans pay the bills baby.
Mate if you're hitting pads right they most definately work your cardio... but nobody's claiming that it's all you need. Frankly I'm amazed that any gym matched you for professional fights without making sure you were doing your roadwork - especially at your weight because it's almost expected of guys at your weight to gas after the 2nd round.
I didn't read the thread so I'll probably be repeating stuff. How many rounds do you go and how long are the rounds? I'm going to assume you're probably fighting for less than 10 minutes (excluding the breaks between rounds. So you need to work your anerobic system. Here's a couple of things I do to get in shape for fights. Barbell complexes. Get a fairly light weight (I weigh 80kg and use a 35kg barbell atm) and you will be doing 8 exercises with a weight without putting the weight down. Here's the one I do. 8 reps of deadlifts (not going to the ground between each rep just shin height) 8 reps of bent over rows 8 reps of upright rows 8 reps of power cleans 8 reps of push and press 8 reps of squats 8 reps of good mornings 8 reps of lunges (8 on each leg) I use a barbell, if you don't have acess to that anything will do. Dumbells, sandbag whatever. You dont have to do the exercise slisted either, but do about 8 and make sure they're full body exercises. after all the exercises are done put the weight down rest for a minute, repeat. If you're in decent shape maybe you can manage 4 sets, if you can do more increase the weight. Also do sprints. Run 100m, walk back to the start line and repeat 5 times, then do 400m 'sprints' too. Maybe 3-4 sets with a 90 second break. Burpees are a good exercise for anerobic conditioning. Do them with a push up. Try working up to 5x3 minute rounds (I think that will be hard to reach). HIIT is good. Jog for 30 seconds then sprint for 15 repeat for 10 minutes, once you can do that increase the sprinting time and decrease the time spent jogging. That's all I can think of right now. Also I imagine you were nervous in your fight, as you get less nervous you will feel less tired in your fights as you relax more. Also TKD in my experience is not a good style for full contact fighting. When I spar with guys who come from that abckground they quite often land alot of shots as they have unorthodox kicks I'm not used to seeing. However they lack power and when they start getting hit they fall to pieces. Edit: I also had (and still have to an extent) shin splints. HIIT can be done on various exercise machines (rowing, spinners, cross trainers) and barbell complexes and pretty low impact.
I guess i'll have to be the first. I know about the fact that most TKD fighters lack power in their kicks. After formally hating TKD then finding my school and falling in love with it, I really thing my school is one of those exceptions the more and more I talk to people. When ever I cross spar, I have never had a problem holding my own against other styles such as Muay Thai, Chinese Sanda, and a guy who claimed to have studied Shoalin kung fu and Wing Chun, among other styles. So is it that everyone I spar with no rules suck, or me being an exception to the TKD no power sucky kicks rule, or is it my school teaching real TKD that makes the difference?
Okay, friday I'm going to be doing so full contact no rules sparring/fighting over a friend's I'll take my camera
I think by no rules he meant all strikes are allowed. Even then I wouldn't be to fond of elbowing or throwing a knee into my friends face.
No offence man, but that sounds like none at all. Dabbling in many different martial arts for years doesnt make a well trained person. Better to put up a video of you sparring with someone experienced.
I'm interested in seeing the sparring. However I might be wrong and will apologise if I am but I think this sparring is going to be bad.
You must have missed the parts on shin splints. They told me to do road work, I told them I couldn't. Not speaking the same languages was also a factor. Bad communication. But when you don't have a choice and just can't do any serious amount of running, you just get in the ring anyway. Wasn't anyones fault, just a learning experience. Pads is not a cardio exercise. Stop being daft. When someone asks for cardio help, don't recommend any random old exercise. The main problem with pads = cardio is you stop about every 3 - 5 minutes and sit down for a minute or few. Cardio needs to be sustained. You'll usually only do 3 - 5 rounds on the pads, so that's only 12 - 20 minutes of exercise with breaks in it. Not going to make any serious progress. To work the lungs properly and develop fight fitness, your exericse needs to be over 20 minutes long and with no breaks and include both high and low intensity variations. Even if you chose to do a 20+ minute single round on the pads, you'd be ruining the point of the exercise, given you'd tire and lose power and ferocity and it would be niether good for developing power and conditioning as the exercise is meant for nor good for cardio because you stop too much.
