Martial Arts Body Type

[strongerthenbefore101]

Which is the best all around body type for a martial artist?

• Strong and Muscular-Bodybuilder Type, Mike Tyson
• Lean and fast-Bruce Lee Type

 

[Headhunter]

Either

 

[frank raud]

Which is the best all around body type for a martial artist?

• Strong and Muscular-Bodybuilder Type, Mike Tyson
• Lean and fast-Bruce Lee Type

Two arms, two legs seems to work fairly well

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Yes.

There are advantages to each. Martial arts, at its core, is about learning to leverage advantages.

 

[jobo]

Which is the best all around body type for a martial artist?

• Strong and Muscular-Bodybuilder Type, Mike Tyson
• Lean and fast-Bruce Lee Type

What about lean and strong , which Bruce certainly wad, What about muscular and fast which Mike definitely was,, you seem to want to narrow the choice to two stereo types, there' A lot of " typeS" inbetween

 

[Martial D]

Which is the best all around body type for a martial artist?

• Strong and Muscular-Bodybuilder Type, Mike Tyson
• Lean and fast-Bruce Lee Type

6'3 200 lbs

Thanks for asking

 

[jobo]

What about lean and strong , which Bruce certainly wad, What about muscular and fast which Mike definitely was,, you seem to want to narrow the choice to two stereo types, there' A lot of " typeS" inbetween

Perhaps another way of answering the question, it's not body type as God gave that's the issue, it's the training you do for the performance you want, fighting is a power event, you need to train POWER, that a combination of strength and speed, rather than focusing on one or the other, if you have strenth, build speed or vice versa.

Endless hours doing concentration curls to build you biceps are of limited use, but so are endless hours of low intensity endurance Excersise like running, Think 400 meter runner or middle weight boxer and aim to that sort of performance rather than get stuck in thE stereo type that big guys lift and thin guys run

 

[mrt2]

Since there isn't a lot we can do about it, I do wonder what is the point of this, unless you are considering a career as a professional fighter, in which case, we aren't really talking just about Martial Arts anymore.

There is something to be said for both types. Other things being equal, the small, lean person might have an advantage in endurance. On the other hand, the bigger, stronger fighter can hit harder. There is another obvious thing in MA , which is flexibility. Some people are more naturally flexible than others.

All that said, from what I remember from my previous training, lean, tall fast guys were absolute beasts in the ring. A small, fast guy with good technique could usually take a bigger guy who was slower or whose technique wasn't as good, but that person would still lose to a person who was equally as fast and good, but who is 8 inches taller, with longer reach for punching and kicking. Maybe in the grappling arts it would be different, IDK..

 

[skribs]

Since there isn't a lot we can do about it,

What do you mean? I mean, you can't control whether you're short or tall, but you can control your training regiment to focus on speed or power.

Personally, I don't have time to get in basic physical training. I'm at work in the day and teaching at the dojang at night, there isn't really time in the middle for cardio or weights, and by the time I get home I'm too tired to do anything but eat dinner and go to sleep.

Of course, I probably wouldn't do cardio or weights if I had the time. The whole reason I started martial arts was to get exercise, because it was too hard to convince myself to go to the gym.

The good news is I have sparring pads even when I'm not wearing sparring gear.

 

[mrt2]

What do you mean? I mean, you can't control whether you're short or tall, but you can control your training regiment to focus on speed or power.

Personally, I don't have time to get in basic physical training. I'm at work in the day and teaching at the dojang at night, there isn't really time in the middle for cardio or weights, and by the time I get home I'm too tired to do anything but eat dinner and go to sleep.

Of course, I probably wouldn't do cardio or weights if I had the time. The whole reason I started martial arts was to get exercise, because it was too hard to convince myself to go to the gym.

The good news is I have sparring pads even when I'm not wearing sparring gear.

Basically talking height, but also to a certain extent, body type. Some folks can pack on more muscle than others, some people are just more stiff than others, and some have more explosive power, while others have more slow twitch muscles and are more built for endurance than power.

You can work on endurance, speed power, and flexibility, in your martial arts training, but what you start out with is what G-d, or your parents gave you.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Since there isn't a lot we can do about it, I do wonder what is the point of this, unless you are considering a career as a professional fighter, in which case, we aren't really talking just about Martial Arts anymore.

There is something to be said for both types. Other things being equal, the small, lean person might have an advantage in endurance. On the other hand, the bigger, stronger fighter can hit harder. There is another obvious thing in MA , which is flexibility. Some people are more naturally flexible than others.

All that said, from what I remember from my previous training, lean, tall fast guys were absolute beasts in the ring. A small, fast guy with good technique could usually take a bigger guy who was slower or whose technique wasn't as good, but that person would still lose to a person who was equally as fast and good, but who is 8 inches taller, with longer reach for punching and kicking. Maybe in the grappling arts it would be different, IDK..

There's a similar effect in grappling, too. The difference is that strength (combined with skill, of course) is pretty dominating if the difference is great. Give me a grappler anywhere near my skill level, who is much stronger, and I'm in more trouble than if he was faster. Height in grappling isn't as much an advantage (can actually be a disadvantage sometimes - I can get underneath easier for takedowns and throws).

In general, what @jobo said is true. Speed, strength, and reach are advantages. Take two equally skilled people, and give one of them any one of those advantages, and he's likely to win. Give them each one advantage, and the winner is probably the one who best leverages his advantage.

 

[skribs]

There's a similar effect in grappling, too. The difference is that strength (combined with skill, of course) is pretty dominating if the difference is great. Give me a grappler anywhere near my skill level, who is much stronger, and I'm in more trouble than if he was faster. Height in grappling isn't as much an advantage (can actually be a disadvantage sometimes - I can get underneath easier for takedowns and throws).

In general, what @jobo said is true. Speed, strength, and reach are advantages. Take two equally skilled people, and give one of them any one of those advantages, and he's likely to win. Give them each one advantage, and the winner is probably the one who best leverages his advantage.

Depends on the style. I'd argue for Hapkido that speed is better than strength.

 

[Dirty Dog]

For me, the best body type is old, wornout, and with a few extra pounds (6'1", 210 lbs).

 

[jobo]

Basically talking height, but also to a certain extent, body type. Some folks can pack on more muscle than others, some people are just more stiff than others, and some have more explosive power, while others have more slow twitch muscles and are more built for endurance than power.

You can work on endurance, speed power, and flexibility, in your martial arts training, but what you start out with is what G-d, or your parents gave you.

yes and no, genetics limit us, but not as much as people who use their fatness or thinness as an excuse of why they can't, if your intending to get involved in elite level sport then you will be bouncing off your genetic limit, for th rest off us, we will most likely never come close to our genetic limit.

if your average guy, averagely thin or fat averagely strong etal. Then if you train and,eat like a distance runner youl end up looking like a,distance,runner and be able to run distance, if you train and eat like,a middle weight boxer you end up looking like a,middle weight boxer, if you get some lessons you might even be able to box a bit.
you have a considerable say on your physique and physical abilities, if your supper skinny and want to look like iron mike, your out of luck or need steroids

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Depends on the style. I'd argue for Hapkido that speed is better than strength.

It is for the Hapkido, but if your opponent is equally skilled (and we're talking about the grappling side), your strength will let you overpower some areas of technique, even if he gets started on them because he's faster. And when you are able to provide resistance, being stronger, your resistance will overcome his (equal to yours) technique.

Mind you, that's a generalization. Really fast will sometimes win out over slightly stronger, and some techniques and counters benefit more from speed than from strength. As soon as we introduce striking, we're back to another set of math.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Which is the best all around body type for a martial artist?

Even if you may not read Chinese, from the "shape" of the Chinese character, you should get some idea.

Good body shape:

同：tall, square, strong base.
天：tall, long arms, balanced limbs.
贯：top and bottom are all square.
日：short and square.

Bad body shape:

申：strong waist, weak top, weak bottom, fat waist, short limbs.
田：fat body bit too short.
甲：strong top, weak bottom, long body, short leg, weak foundation.
由：strong bottom, weak top, long legs, short arms.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

yes and no, genetics limit us, but not as much as people who use their fatness or thinness as an excuse of why they can't, if your intending to get involved in elite level sport then you will be bouncing off your genetic limit, for th rest off us, we will most likely never come close to our genetic limit.

if your average guy, averagely thin or fat averagely strong etal. Then if you train and,eat like a distance runner youl end up looking like a,distance,runner and be able to run distance, if you train and eat like,a middle weight boxer you end up looking like a,middle weight boxer, if you get some lessons you might even be able to box a bit.
you have a considerable say on your physique and physical abilities, if your supper skinny and want to look like iron mike, your out of luck or need steroids

Mostly that, though there's some evidence that a middle-weight boxer is not a heavy-weight PARTLY because of his genetics. Two guys can train quite similarly (including diet, etc.) and end up with different builds, even if both are pretty cut and fit in the end.

 

[Buka]

I don't think body type is too important. It's hair style. Definitely hair style.
(should be read with a Rain Man, Judge Wapner accent)

 

[Dirty Dog]

I don't think body type is too important. It's hair style. Definitely hair style.
(should be read with a Rain Man, Judge Wapner accent)

So, this is ideal, then?

 

[jobo]

Mostly that, though there's some evidence that a middle-weight boxer is not a heavy-weight PARTLY because of his genetics. Two guys can train quite similarly (including diet, etc.) and end up with different builds, even if both are pretty cut and fit in the end.

yes, that's why i chose middle weight, as something that most people cam aspire to,

heavy weights are getting bigger and bigger, when i was a lad they were 6,1 and 200\20 lbs or so, now they are 6.6 and 260/80, that's to much weight for anyone,who isn't 6.6 to carry, so your genetically limited in that respect