How to be a human army tank

[Transk53]

Here is a better idea. Don't get hit in the first place.

Yeah, but fish tank's are dangerous.

 

[hoshin1600]

depends on what you mean by a tank,, during the boxer rebellion the Chinese thought they were impervious to bullets due to their training, so yeah that didnt work out so well for them.
on the flip side i know people who would meet this description if you are talking about kicks and punches. but since the pig pile and ridicule has begun i will refrain from trying to talk about it in a serious manner.

 

[Touch Of Death]

depends on what you mean by a tank,, during the boxer rebellion the Chinese thought they were impervious to bullets due to their training, so yeah that didnt work out so well for them.
on the flip side i know people who would meet this description if you are talking about kicks and punches. but since the pig pile and ridicule has begun i will refrain from trying to talk about it in a serious manner.

I'm with ya.

 

[drop bear]

The way to take hard shots is by having good structure. Partly strength and conditioning partly moving in the right way.(genetics helps of course)
But as an example reducing head movement when you get punched stops your brain rattling around,less chance of getting knocked out.

But the neck is strongest directly face on. So as a striker you are trying to that shot that hits that angle. As a defender you are fighting to stay square.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Here's the truth about tanks. Tanks do their best not to get hit and that's how you should approach your training.

In terms of body hardening most of it is done so that the body can be used as an object to strike with and to lessen damage when applying certain techniques. It's never about taking punishment.

 

[mograph]

... on the flip side i know people who would meet this description if you are talking about kicks and punches. but since the pig pile and ridicule has begun i will refrain from trying to talk about it in a serious manner.

We do tend to focus on the initial framing of a thread ("human army tank") , don't we?

Anyway, point taken. We'll try to ignore that kind of framing in the future and focus on the practical implications behind it.

 

[Flying Crane]

Here's the truth about tanks. Tanks do their best not to get hit and that's how you should approach your training.

In terms of body hardening most of it is done so that the body can be used as an object to strike with and to lessen damage when applying certain techniques. It's never about taking punishment.

It worked well enough for Kickass. Kinda.

 

[hoshin1600]

Here's the truth about tanks. Tanks do their best not to get hit and that's how you should approach your training.

In terms of body hardening most of it is done so that the body can be used as an object to strike with and to lessen damage when applying certain techniques. It's never about taking punishment.

Well that may be your approach but for myself and others it is about taking hits. My approach is to be able to take whatever anyone can dish out, but...only so that I can get my own hits in. In most cases there is no such thing as being in a fight and not getting hit. So I condition the body to take the hit while giving back double what I received. In many instances trying to avoid the hit puts you out of position for your own offense.

 

[mograph]

My approach is to be able to take whatever anyone can dish out, but...only so that I can get my own hits in. In most cases there is no such thing as being in a fight and not getting hit.

That does sound like the percentage play: assume you'll be hit, at least once, and prepare for it.

 

[EvanWinther]

Get a strong neck and abdomen

 

[JowGaWolf]

Well that may be your approach but for myself and others it is about taking hits. My approach is to be able to take whatever anyone can dish out, but...only so that I can get my own hits in. In most cases there is no such thing as being in a fight and not getting hit. So I condition the body to take the hit while giving back double what I received. In many instances trying to avoid the hit puts you out of position for your own offense.

good luck with conditioning your face and trying to double what you receive after they break your nose or your jaw.

 

[Tez3]

Well that may be your approach but for myself and others it is about taking hits. My approach is to be able to take whatever anyone can dish out, but...only so that I can get my own hits in. In most cases there is no such thing as being in a fight and not getting hit. So I condition the body to take the hit while giving back double what I received. In many instances trying to avoid the hit puts you out of position for your own offense.

So, you get hit in the head a lot....

 

[drop bear]

good luck with conditioning your face and trying to double what you receive after they break your nose or your jaw.

You have layers of defence. Being hit and fighting on is one of those layers.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Leaving aside the hyperbole of the "human tank" analogy, the basic question is legitimate. Some people (especially pro fighters) can take shots which would drop the average person and keep coming at their opponent without slowing down. Some of this ability can be trained.

Obviously, not getting hit in the first place is preferable. Thinking you can always get through a fight without getting hit is ... optimistic, to put it politely.

Here are some relevant factors:

Strong core. Muscular development in general will help protect the body from impact, but core strength is key. You can also train to tighten the core at the moment of impact to get maximum protection from your core muscles.

Strong neck. A lot of knockouts work by causing the head to snap around quickly. A strong neck helps to protect against that displacement.

Conditioned limbs. Gradual progressive impact training can strengthen the bones which are used in blocking strikes and also accustom the practitioner to the pain of impact.

Mental desensitization. The average person tends to freak out a bit when taking a hard hit, especially to the head. Natural reactions can include flinching, panicking, crying, getting enraged, looking away, or just generally getting sloppy and swinging back wildly. This sort of unhelpful reaction is even more likely when the impact is part of a continued onslaught as opposed to a single hit followed by a reset. Sparring with contact is essential to desensitizing the practitioner so he/she can stay calm and focused when being hit.

There's a catch-22 to this desensitization process, though. The more impact you become accustomed to, the better you are able to control your mental reactions. At the same time, though, each impact puts a bit more wear and tear on your brain. If you look at certain professional fighters who were renowned for their ability to take really hard shots and keep coming forward, seemingly unfazed, you generally find a point in their career where they stopped being able to take these shots and started getting knocked out. That's because all those concussions and micro-concussions do enough cumulative brain damage over time that eventually the fighter can no longer shrug off head shots. For this reason I recommend keeping the majority of sparring light to moderate contact and doing just enough hard contact sparring to become mentally comfortable with it.

Structure. As drop bear pointed out, maintaining proper structure is key to minimizing the effects of impact. If you're looking away when you get hit, the odds of getting knocked out go way up. The mental desensitization mentioned above is important to being able to maintain this good structure in the heat of a fight.

Genetics. This is the bit you can't control. Some people have just naturally thick skulls and high pain tolerance. This is part of why some untrained people can still be very dangerous in a fight.

 

[mograph]

For this reason I recommend keeping the majority of sparring light to moderate contact and doing just enough hard contact sparring to become mentally comfortable with it.

No kidding. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is real, and IMO, it's extremely reckless to get hit in the head repeatedly for the sake of a sport.

 

[JowGaWolf]

You have layers of defence. Being hit and fighting on is one of those layers.

I understand being hit and fighting. I'll take a lesser hit in order to deliver a stronger hit. But I wouldn't deliberately take a hit that I know is coming in full blast just so I can trade hits. I make no assumptions that the person I'm fighting doesn't have an ability to punch a hole in me. The hits I decide to take are glancing shots where my goal is to make sure that my opponent's strikes don't land solid.

There is no guarantee that if you purposely take a hit to the body from an attacker, that you'll be able to deliver a better shot in return. Your opponent may block or evade your return punch. Your opponent may punch harder than what your body can take.

I'm sure these condition their bodies yet they still get dropped with body shots. Notice how conditioned their faces are

 

[JowGaWolf]

Obviously, not getting hit in the first place is preferable. Thinking you can always get through a fight without getting hit is ... optimistic, to put it politely.

The reality is that you'll get hit while trying not to get hit. Some attacks you'll be able to avoid completely and others will be glancing shots provided that you were trying to move out of the way in the first place. Many of the KO shots and damaging strikes come from the person not able to move out of the way and as a result they the strikes lands solid and hard.

That is much different than standing there trying to take the full force of a strike coming in. This guy had to learn the hard way.

This is when he learned his lesson

Guess what he doesn't do anymore lol

 

[Xue Sheng]

How to be a human army tank, how to toughen yourself up to be able to take the strongest hits and to keep going. Anybody know of drills that develop such fortitude? I know arts such as Muai Thai are good for that. Also I've heard of iron vest training although I don't know how legit that is.

There is iron shirt training; first you need to be in top physical condition, then you need to find a "real" teacher. But it does not make you invincible or turn you into a "human army tank"

But if you are looking to be a "human army tank" then you need to read Flying Crane's post again

Get out of fantasy land.

 

[hoshin1600]

The bottom line is predators only think in terms of "what I am going to do to you" ...sheeple worry about what the other person might do.
In this thread I'm hearing a lot of bleating.....
I actually prefer if people disagree with my views on body conditioning, it means I have a major advantage.
This is also the one area that you can't fake, no BS. You either can take hits or you cant. There is no chi mystical fu fu dust you can hide behind.
I don't advise taking hits to the head or face a lot in practice because of the brain damage as Tony pointed out. But If you've never been hit, you will be in for a rude awakening when it happens.

 

[mograph]

...sheeple worry about what the other person might do.
In this thread I'm hearing a lot of bleating.....

Specifically?