taking a break

Great topic.

I trained 5 to 6 days a week, for about 10 years. I was so anal about training that I would get massive guilt trips if I missed a session, a class, a seminar etc. I did this training, and all of my teaching, on top of a very busy and accountable job. I was also utterly hopeless at resting, sleeping, eating the right diet, and generally switching off.

Over the course of last year everyone around me kept telling me that I wasn’t looking well, I looked tired, I looked thin, and they were worried about me. I kept telling them I was in great shape, how could I not be well with all the training I was doing. I then found out that there is a huge difference between being fit, and being healthy.

At the start of this year I thought I had just caught flu, and ignored it, until I collapsed and ended up in hospital. My body was so worn down I caught a viral infection and didn’t have the strength to fight it, it nearly killed me. My white blood cell and platelet count dropped so low that I was being fed on drips, on oxygen, and in a bad way. It was my body’s way of saying – enough.

Since I came out of hospital I have changed the way I approach my training, and my life. I now train 3 days a week, and that’s it. If that means I ain’t gonna be the next world champ or the next Paul Vunak then that’s tough, there is more to life than martial arts. I sleep more, I eat more, I rest more and I try to keep things more in balance. The irony is, when I do train, I feel like a different person. More energy, more strength, more stamina, more relaxed, and I’m enjoying it so much more.

Ghost is absolutely right, martial artists can be the most naïve athletes in the game and sometimes, like me, its only when you get hit with a very hard reality that you finally change.

[Ghost]

I had my longest taper before a fight ever recently. Almost a week. It felt great... although my camp thought I was just being lazy.

I seldom train more than 2 1/2 hours a day (runs inclusive), 5 days a week, and it works just fine for me. Rest is good - listen to your body... train smart.

yes thats more like, if you are training hard its not possible to do more than that really anyway.

I think martial artists are stuck in the stone age when it comes to understanding the human body and training methods used.

[OctaviousBP]

I had my longest taper before a fight ever recently. Almost a week. It felt great... although my camp thought I was just being lazy.

I seldom train more than 2 1/2 hours a day (runs inclusive), 5 days a week, and it works just fine for me. Rest is good - listen to your body... train smart.

[Ghost]

I once took a break after training with Vunak and in Dan Inosanto's classes. The pace of that period of time was roughly between 5 and 14 hours of training a day without any breaks at all, seven days a week. (By "without breaks," I mean no days off, not "no breaks during the day")

When I moved, I spent about a week just packing, moving, and unpacking, and I found that the rest allowed me to heal and recoup after two solid years of killing myself day in and day out. In all honesty, I felt like Superman. I did everything smoother, faster, with more power, and with far, far better timing.

Of course, taking a break from my routine these days just makes the "edge" rusty. I don't torture myself anymore, and my pace is far more laid back.

this is the thing, i found the same in thailand.

Its a sad fact that martial artists still dont know how to train and do rediculously long training sessions.
I think the dutch have got it right personally.

[DonKey]

I stopped training in muay thai for a few weeks and went back again today to find that I'm a bit better at kicking and my shins are better conditioned as well.

Has anyone else seen benefit from taking a break before?