Stamina and Endurance
Know and Use the Difference

Stamina and Endurance are important to not only winning your fight, but in accomplishing any goal you set out to do.

Today’s lesson and drills at Allen Sarac’s Professional Karate Center are to explain and know the difference between stamina and endurance. Stamina and endurance are both important concepts to master the art of fighting, to be able to last longer in a fight and recover faster to outpace your opponent.

Let's Start with the Definition of Stamina and Endurance

The dictionary definition for stamina is “the ability to sustain prolonged physical or mental effort,” and the definition for endurance is “the fact or power of enduring an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way".

Besides understanding and practicing technique, the fighter who can recover faster and last longer in a fight, because of their superior endurance and stamina, is typically the fighter who wins the match. 

How Do We Improve
Stamina & Endurance?

In karate classes, students may accomplish this with the use of timed kicking drills where students must reach a certain number of kicks on a bag in under a minute, and through increased intensive physical exercise in between their normal basic techniques.

These intensive physical exercises are typically in the form of push-ups, sit-ups, burpees, jumping jacks and timed lap drills after completing already strenuous drills in basic blocking and kicking technique. Through repetition of these drills, and through increased exercise at home, students can expect to achieve greater results not only karate and sparring class, but also in any physical activity that they participate in outside of the dojo. 

Two Basic Training Examples

Two of the ways one can accomplish an increase in stamina and endurance with karate techniques at home is with the use of these kicking drills. Basic kicking exercises with a kicking bag or a partner holding a kicking shield are as follows:

Exercise #1

Start by kicking a bag with the goal of reaching sixty kicks in a minute. Then add ten more kicks in each consecutive round of kicking. When you reach your fifth one-minute round you should be at one hundred kicks per minute. 

Another form of exercise and kicking drills that may be done in the dojo or at home to increase both stamina and endurance is

Exercise #2

One starts in a squatting position with their feet about shoulder width apart.  See how many times you are able to stand up and front kick above the height of your own waist in one minute.

Start with your right foot as you stand up and then alternating kicks between each foot after every squat. As a week goes by try and increase the amount of kicks by ten percent per week.

The Benefit of Practicing with Stamina and Endurance in mind

Through repetition of these drills and increased exercise at home, you can expect to achieve greater results not only karate and sparring class, but also in any physical activity that you participate in outside of the dojo.

A football player for example can expect to see an increase in their ability to play games and a wrestler can expect to see their ability to outlast their opponent in a match.

Remember if we work out until our muscles and bodies go to failure, and then we push then to further limits, failure comes longer and longer between workouts.

It not only good for our bodies but the physiological aspects and accomplishment we see in ourselves will make you feel better about each workout you push yourself to do without giving up.

This mental growth and awareness is one of the most advantageous advantages of studying the martial arts. Regular classroom lessons have these growth qualities and others like them built into the system... that's why I believe my school must focus to do more than teach self defense.

-Grandmaster Allen Sarac

Black Belts at Allen Sarac's Professional Karate Centers in Las Vegas Nevada want to help you