How Much Energy Does Karate Burn?

Karate is a surprisingly demanding activity if done well with good power and technique. Kumite is much harder cardiovascular work then kata, but the latter is still exhausting. A study published last year in The European Journal of Applied Physiology found that half of the energy burned was through anaerobic metabolism for a single, simple kata lasting only 30 seconds and it used 61kj or 15kcal - not bad for 30 seconds work!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22441830