How long must you rest between competitions?

[niceguy]

I like the idea of continuously testing myself in competition,but knockdown fighting as we know can be a brutal affair . I have picked up injuries from my last fight which I think would not have happened if I had not fought twice in just over a month.An ex instructor friend of mine was furious with me of fighting so soon, he said the body needs a longer time to recover, for example; boxers usually take three to six months breaks in between fights. So I guess my question is really aimed at all the instructors out there- how often will you let your students compete, can you stop them stop them from fighting even if they think they are fine? I know everyone heals at a different speed but as a rule of thumb (not taking dojo fighting into consideration of course)how often can you compete? Ous

[jcbel]

Osu niceguy, a little OT from your post but I recall an interview with Kazumi saying that after the WT (6th or 7th I don't remember) he could not train for 6 months due to injuries sustained.

So I guess mere mortals like me need lots of time to recuperate after a hard tournament!

[spanky11]

I guess it all depends on the individuals.

Some Japanese fighters that I know try to compete at least once a month (!!). Their opinion of it is that the more they compete, the more experience they gain. I guess they also have the added benefit that there are usually some form of competition (local, regional, etc) somewhere close to the cities every weekend.

I would say that as long as you aren't injured, then one every second month would be a good rest period.

[Nix]

I would say that you should rest untill you have recovered fully from your injuries. If you are not injured, then I see no problem with fighting soon after.

It also depends much on the fighter. Some people handle pain better than others, and some rarely sustain injuries. I know several people who have entered with broken ribs, sprained wrists, fingers, feet, swollen fists etc. and still done well. I myself am entering a tournament tomorrow even though I am injured. That's not because I'm exceptionally skilled, I'm just not very bright, and I need the experience.

[tmd]

I would say it's all down to injury recovery - if your not injured you have nothing to make worst by competing again, once you have recovered from the fatigue and have got yourself training back at your tournament level why not compete? I last fought in November and was supposed to be competing in April but there's no way , I may not even make the next one in June as I'm still injured and until this gets better I can't train 100%, welcome to being nearly 40!

[seienchin]

I don't really understand the question - because if you are fighting in a tournament, you fight again within an hour or so if you have won...if you lost, then the next tournament will be your next chance..

That is, why would you delay another tournament for "rest" if you would have gone out and fought again in an hour??

Injury recovery, of course is critical, but if an injury is not the reason, then for low-grade tournaments, I'd say every few weeks should be fine. Teh only issue is modifying your training to take account of tournament schedules could result in a fairly unbalanced karate development.

Professional rugby league and union players back it up a couple of times a week, and they easily suffer as much impact as karateka do (in these codes of footy, for those who don't see them, there is no padding worn).

so my answer is the same as it would be to the question "how long is a piece of string" - it is any length you care to cut it to....

[olyckan]

Preparation for a big tournament is about 6-8 weeks with total rest 2-4 days before the competition (this is to rest you body and fill up your engine to the max).. You can fight after a tournament as soon as you have recoverd from your injurys. However with risk of getting overtrained it is usually good to rest a few weeks after a competion. Focus on a few specifik tournaments (2-3)during a year where you are really focused and your goal is to WIN! If you are looking for experience and need matches(young and upcoming fighters) I suggest entering as many tournaments as possible (just dont fight injured). Just take 1-2 weeks of rest before start focusing on that main tournament where you train your heart out.. Get a clock to check your pulse so you dont get overtrained. Take your pulse as soon as you wake up, If your pulse suddenly is 10-15 beats higher then usual you are either on your way to get sick or is risking to get overtrained, listen to your body and rest.. Look at the big guns in the UFC, K1, Pride/dream, they cant fight all the time cause if they did the hard training would totally break them down.. Usually these guys fight at max 4-6/year.. There is a reason for them not fighting more. As for seienchins comment that a rugby league player play every other week.. Well then again they arent at there MAX ability when doing so.. Its the same with every athlete that enters the Olympics. They rest up before they start there toptraining for that specifik event.. There is a big difference between being well trained and fit and being in the shape of your life.. The quality of competion these days is alot higher then a few years back, this is the same in every other sport that is out there so if your going for a World Championship or a really big tournament that you want to win then you cant expect to go in there just welltrained and fit, your body needs to be at max.. To be at MAX you will need rest between competitions..