Its just over 200 days until the 2018 WKF Senior World Karate Championships and with the karate included in the 2018 Youth Olympics in Argentina and the upcoming 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The question for young aspiring karate athletes is how to do you train like a champion?
The good news is that you can watch how they train and learn. current Female Kata World Number 1, Sandra Sanchez has a great host of videos on YouTube showing parts of her training regime that has got her to the number 1 spot.
In her preparation for kata she works on individual techniques and movements and develops drills around improving those techniques, that when put together make some powerful kata performances.
The links below show Sanchez working on lunges, knee drives, punches, strikes and blocks with resistance bands and weights. The resistance band version of weight training works to improve muscle strength as well as aerobic exercise to improve heart and lung fitness. Once the weight / resistance is removed the body can move faster and with more power.
Sanchez also uses stability drills and balance cushions to activate stabilizer muscles in the legs and abdomen to improve balance within her kata performance. Repeating the same exercises she did with resistance to activate different muscle groups and work on different elements of her performance.
There is also a great video of combining these different elements into a short course working on each element for a few seconds before moving on to the next station and back again, adding in parts of the kata to the training drill. A great way to engage kids in the exercise by making it an obstacle course challenge.
Start your little champion on the roads to the world titles today.