physical fitness & self defense.

[jarrod]

the other day someone asked me, "what do you think is more important for self-defense; technique or physical fitness?" after thinking over, i have to say physical fitness.

now here me out: when someone says 'self-defense' they are normally talking about a situation where one or more attackers comes at you with intent to do serious harm. but if you really think about it, self-defense is really just protecting yourself from whatever dangers you might encounter. buckling your seatbelt is self-defense for instance.

in the united states, 27% of all deaths are caused by heart disease, 23% are caused by cancer, 6% by stroke, & 3% by diabetes. overall physical fitness (meaning diet & exercise) is one of the most important factors in preventing these problems. that means physical fitness, or the lack thereof, is a determining factor in 59% of deaths in the US.

comparatively, out of a population of over 300million, just under 17,000 people were murdered. about 1.4million were victims of violent crime.

in addition, fitness is certainly going to help you withstand a violent attack. now technique & fitness are not opposed, ideally a good martial arts class should be able to develop both. but if you train for 'self-defense', take a little time to meditate on what that means to you.

sources: http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm
http://longevity.about.com/od/longevity101/tp/mortalityall.htm

all the best,

jf

 

[seasoned]

the other day someone asked me, "what do you think is more important for self-defense; technique or physical fitness?" after thinking over, i have to say physical fitness.

now here me out: when someone says 'self-defense' they are normally talking about a situation where one or more attackers comes at you with intent to do serious harm. but if you really think about it, self-defense is really just protecting yourself from whatever dangers you might encounter. buckling your seatbelt is self-defense for instance.

in the united states, 27% of all deaths are caused by heart disease, 23% are caused by cancer, 6% by stroke, & 3% by diabetes. overall physical fitness (meaning diet & exercise) is one of the most important factors in preventing these problems. that means physical fitness, or the lack thereof, is a determining factor in 59% of deaths in the US.

comparatively, out of a population of over 300million, just under 17,000 people were murdered. about 1.4million were victims of violent crime.

in addition, fitness is certainly going to help you withstand a violent attack. now technique & fitness are not opposed, ideally a good martial arts class should be able to develop both. but if you train for 'self-defense', take a little time to meditate on what that means to you.

sources: http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm
http://longevity.about.com/od/longevity101/tp/mortalityall.htm

all the best,

jf

Excellent point Jarrod, you can have the best looking car in the parking lot, but if the tank is empty, your not going anywhere. Physical fitness, and a little technique, will win over, a lot of technique, and no stamina. I have heard it said that 3 minutes of rolling and grappling with someone is like a 5 mile jog.

 

[jarrod]

Excellent point Jarrod, you can have the best looking car in the parking lot, but if the tank is empty, your not going anywhere. Physical fitness, and a little technique, will win over, a lot of technique, and no stamina. I have heard it said that 3 minutes of rolling and grappling with someone is like a 5 mile jog.

i like the car analogy, i'm going to have to use that. grappling certainly is strenuous at first, as your technique improves it gets easier though. i often tell folks that i'm a lazy grappler. not that i don't work hard, but i try not to do anything wth speed or strength that i can do with timing, leverage, & gravity.

jf

 

[seasoned]

i like the car analogy, i'm going to have to use that. grappling certainly is strenuous at first, as your technique improves it gets easier though. i often tell folks that i'm a lazy grappler. not that i don't work hard, but i try not to do anything wth speed or strength that i can do with timing, leverage, & gravity.

jf

Another good point, there are times when we can work against ourselves. So I can definitely see where technique and physical fitness go hand and hand. Kind of like walking through a foot of snow, with some good technique and a set of snow shoes,J that, could change the out come.

 

[jarrod]

i think technique vs strength issue another example of false dichotomy in the martial arts. judo & jujitsu are supposed to be about efficient movement. strength is only a hinderance if you rely on it at the expense of technique. lets say a few pounds of pressure applied to a lever is all it takes to move an object. but the more pounds of pressure you are capable of exerting the more it will move. it doesn't change the fact that you are still using a lever.

jf

 

[Guardian]

They are both important in my view. If I had to put one above the other if by nothing but a hair, it would be fitness over technique. If I run out of steam in a fight, then it's not much of a fight is it?

 

[Deaf Smith]

Jarrod,

Oh yes, I believe in physical fitness. I see so many lard butts out there that would drop dead if they ran 50 yards!

Both techniuqe and physical fitness are critical. But just as you don't need to be a Van Dame or Chuck Noris, you also don't need to be a marathon runner! Fights don't last that long on the street.

Just be in decent shape, practice weekely good technique, and keep your head up for trouble.

Deaf

 

[searcher]

I tend to be very partial to the physical fitness side of things, being a personal trainer and all. I find that you have to be equally balanced. I don't care how much you knowif you are physically incapable of performing and the same goes with the opposite. If you are super fit, but don't have any knowledge to use.


But your physical fitness needs to be specific to your martial arts training. I train some groupd aerobics instructors in boxing and they get exhausted very quickly, even though they are in great shape. Make your fitness training with the techniques you use in a SD situation.

 

[mozzandherb]

I tend to be very partial to the physical fitness side of things, being a personal trainer and all. I find that you have to be equally balanced. I don't care how much you knowif you are physically incapable of performing and the same goes with the opposite. If you are super fit, but don't have any knowledge to use.


But your physical fitness needs to be specific to your martial arts training. I train some groupd aerobics instructors in boxing and they get exhausted very quickly, even though they are in great shape. Make your fitness training with the techniques you use in a SD situation.

As a personal trainer do you have a program set up for martial artists? I would be interested in perhaps seeing what one of your programs looks like, is it possible to PM me with any info? Thanks

 

[jarrod]

don't PM it, share it with everyone if you're passing out goodies!

jf

 

[Hand Sword]

I would agree with fitness. As long as you got gas in the tank as mentioned you can keep banging, sloppy or not. As they get winded your stuff will land and you'll win. Plus, a friend of mine recently had to go against 2. Luckily one stood there frozen while he handled the other one. As he was having dry heaves after and totally gassed he admitted to me that if the other guy came in, he would've lost as he had nothing left. He vows to become fit and has worked tirelessly at it since then.

 

[searcher]

As a personal trainer do you have a program set up for martial artists? I would be interested in perhaps seeing what one of your programs looks like, is it possible to PM me with any info? Thanks

Yes, I have several programs set up for my fighters. I won't give you my programs, but I will tell you howto set them up for you. The programs have to vary a little, depending on what you train(grapplers have different needs then strikers).

Look at the movements you perform within your style. Ex.: Strikers have twisting motions, movement up and down, arm pumping, etc. So you need to eb performing single arm rows, pushups, squats, wood chopper, lunges, kettlebell swings, box jumps, ...... These motions mimmick the motions strikers go through.


Hope this gives you some insight in how to set up your own program.

If you want me to put you though a workout, I would be more than happy to do so.

 

[mozzandherb]

Yes, I have several programs set up for my fighters. I won't give you my programs, but I will tell you howto set them up for you. The programs have to vary a little, depending on what you train(grapplers have different needs then strikers).

Look at the movements you perform within your style. Ex.: Strikers have twisting motions, movement up and down, arm pumping, etc. So you need to eb performing single arm rows, pushups, squats, wood chopper, lunges, kettlebell swings, box jumps, ...... These motions mimmick the motions strikers go through.


Hope this gives you some insight in how to set up your own program.

If you want me to put you though a workout, I would be more than happy to do so.

Yes I would love for you to put my through a workout, how would that work exactly?

 

[searcher]

The next time you are in the US, come to KS and I will hook you up.

 

[Sandstorm]

Fitness is crutial, considering how energy-sapping the adrenilin is in a confrontation. Your mind working overtime, as well as your heart pushing the blood through the veins like it's never known before. Trying to keep focused on getting out of there is hard work on the system. So, yes, even someone as energy conserving as Steven Seagal could do with a few sprint dashes and drop-squats

 

[Ahriman]

About 2 months ago I started going to a gym again. By now I can lift my 50 kg training partners by their throats using one hand quickly, and I'm able to easily throw my 120-130 kg training partners with ease even with partially wrong technique (in intensive sparring things don't often happen as planned). I was able to do the same before as well but it wasn't easy nor quick. I was able to defeat one of the bigger and stronger guys (I'm only 185cm and 90 kg, while quite some of my partners are over 200cm/110 kg - and they can use their size quite well) before, now I can defeat 2 and on one occasion so far I took down 5.
...
So even as some will never admit it, fitness and strength is just as crucial as speed, experience, flexibility and technical knowledge. If you rely on only one or two of these, you'll lose or die sooner or later.
...
Oh, one more thing. One of my partners is strong enough to dislocate my shoulder simply by forcefully grabbing it. By now my shoulder muscles are strong enough to withstand it for a fraction of a second, which means that I have a chance to avoid one more dislocation.

 

[Glycerine0160]

I find the title to be very misleading. Obviously, violent crime is not the leading cause of death. Not to mention, genetics play a much bigger part in heart disease etc, over anything else.



But technique is by FARRRR more important.


If you run 20 mins at a good 8mph 3 days a week, you will be in suitable condition to defend yourself.


Try pouring in 20 mins of your time into marital art technique 3 days a week, you will never learn anything.


If you are in really poor physical condition, you are just lazy or have neglected a problem for far too long. Cardiovascular exercise takes no time whatsoever. Weight lifting on the other hand is a different story. And you could substitute weight lifting for some simple calisthenics. Technique on the other hand takes many years to craft into a working structure where you would have a method of execution regardless of what happens in a fight.

Not to mention, not all the arts require all this energy into throwing like judo and jujitsu. For example, silat takes full control of locking the legs in order to take the opponent down. And besides, if you perform a take down in one of these real physical arts, you either fail or succeed. You either wind up on top or get laid out by a punch because your take down was too slow. It is not like wrestling in highschool where a kid shoots in for a single leg takedown and then gets bombarded by his opponents pressing his hips into him and it's a tiresome fight between completeing the takedown and him going for the reversal. If this was UFC, then physical condition is very important. But street fighting has no rules. And if it means getting in grappling range and then giving a huge tug on your attacker's testacles, then so be it.

Technique > Fitness

Unless you are of really poor physical condition.

 

[mozzandherb]

Personally I would rather be really strong and have no MA training, than to be really small and have some MA training. Ultimately my goal is to have both. I was always a really small kid and I have been training since the age of 6, but because I was so small I still had some insecurities about having to potentially defend myself.
As a teenager I was still thin as a rail, but I was taller, I was strong, but by the sheer mass of my body I looked weak, because I was so thin, so there again I had some insecurities about potentially having to defend myself.
Now I weight train and I am bigger (about 30 lbs heavier now than I was 5 years ago) so I have more mass, more power and more confidence. Because of this I am mentally stronger and physically stronger to defend myself if I have to.
So not only does fitness play a role for strength, but it plays a role in the way others see you ( I think people will be less inclined to attack me at the size I am now, compared to before) and it plays a role in your own level of confidence.
Both are important especially for martial arts, but for pure SD I would say
physical fitness/strength > technique

 

[Aikicomp]

IMO, In Ju-Jitsu, technique is more important than physical fitness (strength and stamina) to a certain degree.

In street self-defense (that's all I teach) you are not going to spend a lot of time "sparring or wrestling" with the attacker(s) you are going to do whatever it takes to get yourself out of the situation as safely and quickly as you can. That's why our Ju-Jitsu concentrates on attacking the most vulnerable and weakest points on the body with devastating and destructive techniques as well as having extraordinary ability in balance, targeting, timing, focus, power, awareness ect. not to mention the application of ki which can make up for a lot of strength and breath control which can make up for a lot stamina.

On the other hand, if you are training for mma, ufc, kickboxing, ect. you better have a lot of both or you will not be doing it long.

When I took my Sandan test in the late 90's my teacher new I smoked and we had about 8-10 students giving me my last test (Advanced releases). He had all the people attack me with any attack they chose (single and multiple attackers) each person attacked 3 to 4 times each, so I had no other choice except to rely on technique rather than physical fitness.

Bottom line is in my opinion...It's good to have both, but, if you can not have both pick technique rather than physical fitness, fitness will come with practicing of technique while technique will never come with practicing physical fitness.

Michael

 

[searcher]

Personally I would rather be really strong and have no MA training, than to be really small and have some MA training.

but for pure SD I would say
physical fitness/strength > technique

Tell that to the Gracie family. Helio was a very small guy and he did some pretty wild stuff to guys quite a bit bigger then himself.


Just playing devil's advocate.