THE IMPORTANCE OF CARDIO TRAINING

Master Keith Mazza, Sr.

As a Martial artist, cardio training is super important. There is an old Chinese saying that “nothing breeds a coward like lack of conditioning”. It is not, in fact, that you are afraid, but when you can’t breathe, a person tends to become very desperate.

My teacher used to tell me, “fight the way you train, train the way you fight”; to use my forms and shadow boxing to enhance my cardio for my Wing Chun training. I would like to share with you one of my cardio routines that has greatly helped my martial arts training.

Start with a five-minute warm-up: light shadow boxing mixing Wing Chun forms at fifty percent speed, focusing on footwork. Then dive into HIIT-four rounds of thirty-second sprints or high-knee runs, thirty-second rest. Follow with ten minutes of: burpees: one minute max effort, one minute walk recovery, repeat five times. Next, battle ropes or jump rope for eight minutes: forty-five seconds on, fifteen seconds off. End with kettlebell swings-one hundred swings, broken into sets of twenty with ten-second pauses. Cool down with five minutes of slow forms. Aim for three sessions a week, keeping intensity fight-like to boost your cardio for Wing Chun.