Fitness
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Kenlee25
Green Belt
When it comes specifically to martial arts, I Agree that being fit and having some sort of muscular frame is a great aspect that will only help you perform in martial arts. Most of the power in a punch comes from the waste down, but you can add even more power to that if you put more strength into your triceps for example with push ups. The same goes for endurance/cardo for sparring or pumping up your leg muscles for footwork and having powerful stances/kicks.
As for outside of Martial arts specifically, Fitness has become a pretty key part of my life. I'm 18 and a skinny guy, I have a high matabolism right now but I know that will one day fade. Even though i'll never look particularly fat ( because I'm naturally very very lean ) I just try to stay active and exorcise a bit every day of the week. Whether it's working out, shadow boxing, hip hop dancing, running with or without the dog, Taekwondo or just generally goofing off with friends, I try to stay healthy. Recently I've even began to cut out soda ( limiting myself to maybe 3 maximum a week except on special occasions ) and eating healtheir foods ( a lot more fruits! )
Also, I believe that starting fitness is key to retaining your abilities as much as possible as you get older. Just as these two men demonstrate
They still fight like young men! No comment on the actual skill level though..
As for outside of Martial arts specifically, Fitness has become a pretty key part of my life. I'm 18 and a skinny guy, I have a high matabolism right now but I know that will one day fade. Even though i'll never look particularly fat ( because I'm naturally very very lean ) I just try to stay active and exorcise a bit every day of the week. Whether it's working out, shadow boxing, hip hop dancing, running with or without the dog, Taekwondo or just generally goofing off with friends, I try to stay healthy. Recently I've even began to cut out soda ( limiting myself to maybe 3 maximum a week except on special occasions ) and eating healtheir foods ( a lot more fruits! )
Also, I believe that starting fitness is key to retaining your abilities as much as possible as you get older. Just as these two men demonstrate
They still fight like young men! No comment on the actual skill level though..
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Benevolentbob
Orange Belt
Fitness is incredibly important in martial arts. To those claiming that fitness does not play into a real fight...I wonder if any of you have actually been in one. I'll touch more on that in a moment but first I want to address it as part of your training. Fitness is so important for preventing injuries and progressing your abilities. If you're gassing after the class warmup then you're not going to be able to keep up with everyone else. Also your level of fitness determines the number of class you can attend. If you have a low level of fitness your body may only be able to handle two sessions a week, which seriously limits how quickly you will learn. Also, if you ever hope to not lose every single match in competition you better get into at least decent shape.
As for real fighting, you can't count on it only lasting 20 seconds like some posters have indicated. The only way it's going to be that short is if you get sucker punched and knocked out or the person you're fighting is at some kind of serious disadvantage. You should count on it lasting closer to a couple of minutes. This may not sound like much but with your adrenaline dump it's incredibly easy to gas, especially because you don't pace yourself like you would in competition. This mindset reminds me of a phrase I often hear thrown around in the martial arts world, and that's "We train to fight average Joe because that's who we will probably run into on the street". This is a dangerous mindset if you plan on defending yourself, what happens when big Jim comes along? If someone is picking a fight with you, chances are they think they have an advantage over you of some kind. It's the same with assuming a fight will end in 20 seconds, what happens when it doesn't? Every martial artist should be in good shape. You will hit harder, throw harder, resist attacks better, take shots better, have a faster reaction time, and last longer when it counts.
As for real fighting, you can't count on it only lasting 20 seconds like some posters have indicated. The only way it's going to be that short is if you get sucker punched and knocked out or the person you're fighting is at some kind of serious disadvantage. You should count on it lasting closer to a couple of minutes. This may not sound like much but with your adrenaline dump it's incredibly easy to gas, especially because you don't pace yourself like you would in competition. This mindset reminds me of a phrase I often hear thrown around in the martial arts world, and that's "We train to fight average Joe because that's who we will probably run into on the street". This is a dangerous mindset if you plan on defending yourself, what happens when big Jim comes along? If someone is picking a fight with you, chances are they think they have an advantage over you of some kind. It's the same with assuming a fight will end in 20 seconds, what happens when it doesn't? Every martial artist should be in good shape. You will hit harder, throw harder, resist attacks better, take shots better, have a faster reaction time, and last longer when it counts.
Danny T
Senior Master
Fitness and proper conditioning is very important to the 'serious' martial artist. The level of fitness will be different. As to myself as I approach my 60's it is much harder to maintain the level of fitness and conditioning I would like to have. I am no long near as strong as I was 20 years ago. I can still spar very hard for a short period of time but my conditioning is such that after sparring 6-8 rounds with the young guns they continue for another 4 - 6 rounds and then go out for fun on the town. I go home and sleep! LOL. As I age conditioning is still very important.
WC_lun
Senior Master
Martial arts systems should not rely on physical skills to be effective. If a system relies on being bigger, stronger, faster, etc, then why study it? Why not just go for great physical fitness? However, good physical fitness is a great boon. It gives you some room to not be perfect in your technique. For just plain living, good health makes life much easier.
Exactly! :s82:
I don't know what you mean! They are both young men.
Interesting observation. The shirtless guy is wing chun and the other guy bagua. I wonder if anyone here, apart from Zenjael, would have picked their background. :hmm:
I would say that a good start would be to ensure that your body mass is proportionate to your height. I mean, if theres more fat than muscle....
Cardio wise...how much can we do before we start getting gassed? If you're huffing and puffing 1 or 2 min in, thats not good IMO.
Eating...well, of course thats probably the main key right there. Like I said, we all cheat from time to time, but if you find yourself eating more junk vs. good food....
LOL, yeah, you'd think that, wouldn't you. During my years of training, I've come to see that thats, unfortunately, not always the case. I mean, its kinda sad when you can go thru pretty much an entire class, and you're barely breaking a sweat.
I'm going to slightly disagree that fitness isn't as important for SD. We're going on the assumption that the confrontation will be over quickly. How can we ensure that? Of course, we hope thats the case, but you can't really be sure. Lets look at a LEO or CO. If a LEO has to chase after someone or a CO has to run from one area of the facility to another, for a disturbance, once they get there or once the cop catches the bad guy, they're not just going to toss up their hands and give up. They're still going to keep on fighting. If you're gassed by the time you catch the guy, you're going to be in a world of hurt when you realize the fight isn't over.
Chris Parker
Grandmaster
Essentially, the fitness (as the training in different arts themselves) needs to be appropriate to the system and it's application for yourself. Training to last 10 2 minute rounds really means nothing to myself, for instance, but building up flexibility in my hips and legs (not for high kicks, though), and strong back and shoulder muscles means a fair bit. From an SD perspective, fitness requirements are centered around handling the adrenaline dump, which is a different form of fitness than is required for tournament performance.
With life, though, health is the most important aspect. I'd even say that basic health should come first, followed by "fitness", although they do pretty well go hand-in-hand. In other words, you can't get fit if your lifestyle is unhealthy. So take them in the order they should come in.
With life, though, health is the most important aspect. I'd even say that basic health should come first, followed by "fitness", although they do pretty well go hand-in-hand. In other words, you can't get fit if your lifestyle is unhealthy. So take them in the order they should come in.
chrispillertkd
Senior Master
Yes, and they weren't fun.
I don't know who said anything about 20 seconds, but the altercations I was in were very short, and neither of the things you mentioned figured into it. I still say if you're fighting long enough that your cardio becomes a major issue then you are in a very bad way (and not necessarily just conditioning-wise). Better to have good fitness than not, of course.
Pax,
Chris
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chrispillertkd
Senior Master
Benevolentbob
Orange Belt
Chris, I've been in a few confrontations myself and I can say that none of them have been the same. This is why I believe in physically preparing yourself for anything. They often quickly turn into wrestling matches if someone doesn't go down quickly (I've found that breaking fingers helps a lot here, and that was before I had ever heard of small circle jujitsu!
), and trust me if you don't have solid conditioning you will gas incredibly fast when that happens. You have to count on that guy being on an equal level with you, because if he is the fight will last a little bit longer than what many seem to be expecting. As for the 20 seconds thing...it's strange, I swear I read at least two posts with similar references to it. Perhaps it was my mistake there. You act as if the fight isn't over super quick you're a crap fighter, that's just not true, it just means you got yourself into a scrap with someone who isn't a total pushover.chrispillertkd
Senior Master
That wasn't my intent. But, by the same token, just because you're not spending several minutes in a conflict doesn't mean your opponent isn't pretty tough, either. Trust me on that one.
My point was, as I said in my original post, if you're fighting long enough that your stamina becomes an issue then you're in major trouble. I never said fitness, or stamina, or even physical strength wasn't important.
Pax,
Chris
KempoGuy06
Grandmaster
what do you mean by "if you're fighting long enough that your stamina becomes an issue then you're in major trouble"?
your view is not clear at all. Id like to hear your reasoning behind the above statement before i make any further comments
Thank you.
B
chrispillertkd
Senior Master
I mean if you're in a self-defense situation where you're getting winded (i.e., your stamina is becoming an issue) then you're in major trouble. The relative fitness level of the person is, at that point, irrelevant. If someone's trying to beat you up and you're winded, you're in a world of trouble. I don't know how else to express that, sorry.
Pax,
Chris
KempoGuy06
Grandmaster
Ok, my fault. I wasnt clear on what I didnt understand. How are they "in a world of trouble"?
B
Actually, anytime anyone is in a fight, they're in a world of trouble. Fights are unpredictable. You could have all the skills, great cardio, and he's got a gun. Or you slip on some gravel and break your hip. Or you didn't see his buddy aiming his pickup truck at you from across the parking lot.
Anything that increases your ability to survive a fight is a good thing. But there are always a lot of variable outside your control as well.
Anything that increases your ability to survive a fight is a good thing. But there are always a lot of variable outside your control as well.
Nah, you must just be incredibly fit if that's the case!
Pax,
Chris
Lol...let me clarify. The intensity level of alot of my Kenpo classes just wasn't there. I'd leave a feel like I didn't get a workout. Fast forward to my Kyokushin classes. I walk out if there after an hour class, soaked with sweat and exhausted. I feel like I got a workout! If you're not in shape, you'll be sucking wind..lol.
Benevolentbob
Orange Belt
I suppose we have to just agree to disagree on this one, but I respect that your experience has been different than mine. I will say that there are only two times I have been in a fight where fitness didn't have some role to play. The first was when I got sucker punched in the sternum from a guy that was literally just walking by followed by several shots to the head, judging by his speed I'd say he definitely had some kind of boxing training. The second was when I was younger and had a bit of a temper, this guy who obviously had no business fighting hit me and instead of just bringing him to the ground and pinning him I kind of went berserk and he was quickly balled up on the ground covering his face. Not proud of it, but it's the only other example I have for a super quick conclusion of a fight, I think Bill is spot on talking about how unpredictable fighting can be, which is why I so strongly believe in preparing for the most grueling and painful test of a fight you've ever faced in your life.
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