HRmax

A martial artist who is in poor physical condition will reach HRmax more quickly than a highly conditioned one. Regrettably, many martial artists, especially those over 30 years of age, are not in great physical condition. Years of practicing the same techniques over and over have not only made them good at doing the techniques, it has made them more efficient at doing the techniques so less physical conditioning is needed. This means they will reach HRmax sooner and the skills they have so diligently practiced will be inhibited.

Most martial artists train physically; they strive to perfect their physical techniques. Some train mentally, striving to improve their concentration and relaxation skills. However, few martial arts train in how to handle stressful situations. In fact, people in high stress office jobs are able to handle stress better than most martial artists. As a result of low stress management skills, many martial artists will panic in high stress situations, go into HRmax, and whatever martial art skills they have will crash. Most martial artists train in performing techniques, and the perfection of those techniques. Sadly, bad guys could care less about perfect techniques, the only thing that impresses them are techniques that cause them pain. Moreover, they thoroughly enjoy inflicting pain upon you. Since many martial artist do not train in conflict management and do not know how to deal with violent attackers and they are surprised by the how quickly a person may become angry enough to attack and how aggressively and violently a seemingly mild mannered person may attack. As a result, when these attacks occur, the martial artists go into HRmax and they lose the ability to use their martial art skills.