[SHIDOKANATLANTA]

seienchin,

when i talk about fighters forgoing karate class style workouts, i am referring to the many fighters with martial arts backgrounds that i've met in fight gyms (primarily boxing, kickboxing, and mma). once they start training for a competitive event, that is their focus. kata is practiced if one has to get ready for a test, sure. but the competitive fighter does most of his or her training outside of class style workouts. the training that they do in the fight gyms is geared toward fighting and kata training does not contribute to kumite prowess. even knockdown fighters focus their efforts on getting in shape (cardio, resistance, bag, pad, sparring, etc.). their focus is not kata, it is fighting. shadow boxing is more conducive to fighting than kata for the competitor.

i've torn both acls (one repaired and one not). sure, stance training is helpful, but your quads need more than kata. your quads need resistance (pool, bike, bands, weights, etc.) after they've been injured. i function with one torn acl, because of strengthening the muscles around my knee (squats, lunges, dead lifts, etc.). with a torn acl, it will take about 3 months before you can really pivot, so kata training isn't really happening for awhile after injury.