Are long hours necessary to be good?

Hawkmoon · Pre-Black Belt

Sosai Oyama worked daily on his art, both teaching and self improvement.
Andy Hug trained most days, he would train hands one day legs the next and so on!
Morning sessions to afternoon sessions were separated with workouts ... pretty much his routine for the week!
A dedicated artisit!

Daily work in your art will add to and increase your ability, natural or not, so I've a question ...

Do you work at a daily routine for an hour with a couple (three for example) monster/longer sessions say 2-3 hrs?
Or
Do you undertake 3-4 hourly daily work outs 7 days a week?

When a summer camp it 10 hr work days for the duration, I was much fitter, much clearer and I found I have to work less on being focused on my movements as they we now more fluid...the daily work outs??

I'm wondering if a 1 hour daily workout in addition to the dojo sessions on top of a running program I'll start in the next few weeks is worth investing in.
_________________
“A human life gains luster and strength only when it is polished and tempered.”
Sosai Masutatsu Oyama (1923 - 1994) Founder of Kyokushin Karate.

JR 137 · Black Belt

Like everything else in life, there's a balance. Quality over quantity, but I'll add quantity must be there too.

Repeating the same mistakes for 8 hours per day instead of 1 hour isn't really going to get you anywhere.

There has to be a specific purpose and/or goal to the training in order for it to be effective. It doesn't matter if you're practicing for 8 hours or 8 minutes. Simply "I want to get better" isn't a focused purpose.

Athletes who are practicing for several hours a day aren't doing one thing for all that time. In karate, it may be an hour of kihon, and hour of scenario based kumite (working on counters possibly), an hour of bag/pad work, film, conditioning, etc. Anyone training at a high level as a full time job isn't stretching an hour or so class into 8 hours. Well at least not the good ones.

But regardless of all of that, define being good at karate. How many hours of training does it take to get good? Hajime Kazumi good, or the green belt in the dojo good? World class competitor good, or undisputed champion good?

No matter how many hours I dedicate to training, even if I leave my wife and kids behind to train as an uchi deshi in seclusion for several years, I'm not going to win the Kyokushin World Championship. I'm not going to win the WKF world championship.

Like everything in life, a balance is necessary. There are more important things than karate to me. Wife and kids, supporting their physical, mental, and financial wellbeing, etc. Do I spend too much time at the dojo? Sometimes. Not enough time at the dojo? Sometimes.

bushido_man96 · KF Sensei

Programming workout sessions is as important as the workouts themselves. Overtraining isn't helpful, and neither is under training.

I think if you have the time, a few hours in the morning and a few in the evening would be about right.
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lowereastside · Orange Belt

When yours young putting in the hours is good. When one gets older it quality instead of quantity. Just my 3 cents.

Luther unleashed · Brown Belt

Montana · Pre-Black Belt

Long hours are no guarantee of excellence in the MA's, but they definitely improve your odds!

For example, I had a longtime student named Rod. Really nice guy, my age (mid-50's at the time). He could, and did, 100 pushups and 200 situps every day, ran miles often, lifted weights, and trained in what I taught him daily.

However, Rod just never really seemed to "get it" totally. He got up to his 1st Kyu (just before black), but never seemed to get over that hump needed to get his black belt. This was not only frustrating to him, but to me also.

He was a decent fighter, but never really had good control. Injuries often happened with him so myself and a couple of other higher ranks are all that would spar with him. Control is required for BB. He also never seemed to get his kata quite tight enough either, despite working with him and making corrections at every class. One day it would be this technique, the next it would be something else.

There was no one in my class, myself included, that worked harder at his training than Rod did..but he just never quite "got it" right.
_________________
If you don't want to stand behind our troops, please..feel free to stand in front of them.

Student since January 1975---4th Dan, retired due to non-martial arts related injuries.

tubby · Yellow Belt

Kanku65 · Orange Belt

As I've heard said in the past...

A young child asks his teacher "How long does it take to be a black belt?"
The teacher replies "Perhaps in 5 years, you will receive your black belt."
The child asks "what if I train really, really hard?"
And the teacher replies "Then perhaps in 10 years you will receive your black belt."

I've seen some people who train 3 hours a week become perceivably elite in their art. I've also seen some who train for 3 hours become nothing more than bipeds with excellent choreographical memory.

I've never however seen somebody who trains countless hours at their art become anything less than great in technical refinement. However this can often (not always) lead to egotistical problems such as "I train more, therefore I'm better than you."
No, if you train more, for the soul purpose of becoming better than anybody else except for your own self, then you are not in my personal opinion progressing properly as a martial artist.

MA is largely about the journey, and the time it takes to beat YOURSELF.

I know this is a long post, but it's been a long time since I've posted...

Imagine yourself walking down a long road.
Now imagine somebody 10 paces behind you.
Who sees more of the road?
Without you standing in their way, they do.
They may take all the time they'd like while the person in front of them advances at a quicker pace, but the journey is the same.
_________________
To search for the old is to understand the new.
The old, the new, this is a matter of time.
In all things man must have a clear mind.
The Way: Who will pass it on straight and well?
- Master Funakoshi

sensei8 · KF Sensei

IcemanSK · Black Belt

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