This is the tl;dr version. I am in no way qualified for the advice I'm repeating here and would advise working with a professional s&c coach and consulting a medical professional before starting anything related to this kind of programming. But what I've learned so far is this: Two full body strength sessions per week are awesome. One is great. Three, four and five have diminishing returns. Meaning you'll be sore for your skills work. Always warm up properly. Then start off with plyometrics like jumps, hops and leaps. Next do your main three lifts, like squat, bench and row on one day. Deadlift (or rack pull), incline bench and a pull variation the other day. Add in some accessories (neck work, mobility exercises,...) throughout as circuits so you don't waste time waiting. And at the end to cool down. A good video on training splits for combat athletes: https://youtu.be/6FArXgCAeds?is=Vd6lUnpIqCcs_EwA

There is a whole art to low kicking. Here is a nice 😊 sweep that fits with most low kicks. I learned this one from Wakabayashi Many more videos coming soon in the Low Kick course ( just takes a lot of work editing 😮‍💨😵 as me and tech are not the best of friends)

The low kick course is done! ✅ You can find it in the classroom. Watch, train and start chopping 🪓 people down. https://www.skool.com/rishinjuku-karate-8304/classroom/e7b77613

This is the tl;dr version. I am in no way qualified for the advice I'm repeating here and would advise working with a professional s&c coach and consulting a medical professional before starting anything related to this kind of programming. That said, here’s the basic framework I’ve learned so far: The body relies on multiple energy systems, and different types of conditioning train different systems. A good starting point is building a solid aerobic base first. Better baseline cardio improves recovery between rounds, between exchanges, and even between training sessions. It essentially gives you a bigger “engine” to support everything else. You can start with 3x 8 minutes with one minute of rest between rounds. And work your way up to 3x 15 minutes of your preferred zone 2 cardio. (Jogging, biking, swimming, assault bike, bag work, ...) Once that base is established, you can start developing: - Lactic capacity → the ability to sustain hard efforts while dealing with fatigue and acid buildup - Alactic capacity/power → short explosive bursts with high output and relatively low fatigue accumulation You can train these systems with tools like: - Assault bike - Row machine - Elliptical - Treadmill Personally, I’d prioritize them roughly in that order because they tend to give a strong conditioning stimulus with lower impact and lower injury risk compared to a lot of road running. One concept that really changed how I look at explosiveness is understanding the ATP-PC system. The body can only sustain maximal explosive output for roughly 6 to 10 seconds before those immediate energy stores are largely depleted. After that, power output drops and the body starts relying more heavily on other energy systems. That’s why true explosive training often uses: - Very short bursts - High quality output - Longer rest periods than people expect The goal is not just “being tired.” It’s training the ability to repeatedly produce high power while recovering efficiently between efforts.

Due to an old injury, I always suffer from significant tension in my back and neck. This causes my lower back, upper back, and neck to stiffen up quickly. According to my current physiotherapist, the issue is that my left glute does not activate properly and is too weak, so it isn't doing its job correctly. I am currently working with weights to strengthen this left glute and the surrounding muscles. The goal is to get it functioning properly so that, hopefully, I can eventually continue sports and training without needing to visit the osteopath every month.