Some times at the end of those intensive lesson when everybody is pushed to the limit some of my students come to me and congratulate or thank me for how good the lesson was. Curiously this happens more often when I happen to run a “low tech” lesson with simple and immediate techniques that simply require intense and fast workout.
Kickboxing can be a hard and sweaty job: repeating many times sequences of punches and kicks at a fast pace can surely be a physically demanding task. At the same time those who feel that a good lesson should be just the one that makes you sweat profusely I suggest to go for a run, do a round of circuit training.
My main goal as a coach is surely to prepare students in most aspects of performing martial arts, including teaching and improving techniques, combinations, balance, foot work, guard, strikes, defence and so on. When sparring there are also aspects like release tension and being relaxed while having another person in front that is there to punch and kick you. In certain cases an individual gets stuck in a situation where a certain kick or punch doesn’t work or it is not as efficient as it could be. These are the times when the expert teacher or coach can really help to get things working.
To some extent when I enter more complicated areas of training, explain or practice a difficult set of combinations it seems that a smaller number of students find it useful: is it perhaps because the others don’t really grasp the full essence of the lesson?
It’s not just about working up a sweat though. The sheer exhileration of kicking and punching a pad or an opponent feels (to me at least) quite different from simply feeling tired and achy after getting back from a fast bike ride.
That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy the more subtle and technical lessons as well. Quite the opposite, in fact – I have found the grading preparation we’ve done over the past few weeks extremely satisfying! The feeling of being able to hone a technique to perform it better and more precisely is also exhilerating (again, at least for me).
I think people train martial arts for different reasons. Some to become ultimately as good a martial artist as they can be, some just for a more interesting form of exercise than lifting weights or running on a treadmill for hours in a dull gym. For many, I think the group nature of martial arts practice adds a level of motivation not easy to find by yourself in a weights room or on a road run.
Kickboxing gives the opportunity to learn a precise, delicate and beautiful skill while burning some calories at the same time. Those people who aren’t motivated to become good martial artists will surely enjoy the simpler physical drills more than the technically demanding lessons.
Isn’t it true that to achieve excellence in kickboxing requires both technical skills AND physical fitness? So the training gives reasonable opportunity for both types of student?
@Caroline & James:
Thanks for your valuable contribution to this topic: fitness is a primary aspect of performing martial arts in general and has top importance in Kickboxing that is very physical. Perhaps not enough people realize the subtleties of certain techniques and combinations therefore they feel less exhilarated once they achieve improvement of the technical aspect of their techniques rather than simply feeling exhausted by the work out.