Develop your cardio stamina

Cardiovascular endurance is the ability to take in, transport and utilise oxygen.

The purpose of this type of exercise is to improve endurance by challenging the
heart and lungs. This component is a MUST to last the pace in a hard training
session, spar or fight.

Boxers refer to this as developing your  'wind'.

They do this by plenty of roadwork (running) and skipping to be in shape to endure 12 rounds of HARD boxing.

Running is still the 'king of conditioners' and can develop your cardiovascular
endurance quickly.

The downside of running is it CAN place stress on the ankle and knee joints. You
need to avoid running on hard road surfaces and go for grass to lessen the impact.

If running is not your thing or it simply bores you, then get into the gym and try outthe various 'cardio' machines they have available today. One great workout we do is integrate drills to train up your reactions and shadowboxing for about 3 minutes.

There are some great pieces of kit to  challenge your conditioning.

Cycles, steppers, rowers, cross trainers, stairmasters and treadmills are all good.

Of course padwork and drills, throwing and  grappling all improve your cardiovascular capabilities anyway - as well as giving you specificity to your chosen goal.

Intensity is the key to how you develop your conditioning. Martial Arts training works both aerobic and anaerobic systems.

The patterns of a hard working training session, spar or fight usually works BOTH
energy systems.

One minute explosive powerful action e.g. combination punching and kicking in a fast flurry, the next long drawn out endurance (e.g. groundgrappling.)

You NEED to train both elements.

Street fights are normally a fast explosive  affair relying on anaerobic conditioning,where a sparring session may lean more towards aerobic conditioning over say a three minute round.

Make sure you have both types of fitness developed.

Having the 'cardio' conditioning to run a marathon DOESN'T necessarily mean you have the fitness for an all out explosive three minute box or grapple