Running....is it important?

[Jared Traveler]

How important is putting on tennis shoes and hitting the pavement to your training? Old fashion running to improve your cardio, for the purpose of competing or maintaining a state of physical readiness to apply martial arts skills?

 

[Dirty Dog]

Run-Fu is a viable part of self defense.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Run fu is not possible for me these days...1 knee replacement down a hip and knee replacement to go. So I am currently doing stationary bike fu

 

[Alan0354]

Ha ha, I hate running and walking. Good or not, I am NOT doing it!!! My aerobics are on heavy bags, stick fight etc. I am too old to worry about staying in fighting condition.

BUT I do know the value of running. I tried it before, it is hard to use doing rounds on bags and all. This is because to kick and punch, then step back and doing it again. You do have a second or two of rest. That makes a day and night difference. The first time I ran two years ago, I thought I was going to die after a short distance. Running don't have a break, that's why it's much harder.

If you are young and train for competition, running is a MUST, but for older folks, for what? Be careful of the hips. it's a lot of load. I did it for a month, I started to feel it on the right hip. My wife had two hip replacements because she did high impact aerobics when she was young and did a lot of fast walking, that did her in.

 

[Holmejr]

There are always biking, stationary bikes, elliptical machines, swimming, etc. to work on cardio. I know a few competitive tennis players that stay away from running to save their knees and use the machines instead.

 

[Alan0354]

There are always biking, stationary bikes, elliptical machines, swimming, etc. to work on cardio. I know a few competitive tennis players that stay away from running to save their knees and use the machines instead.

That's what my wife is doing now, stationary bike and rowing machine. THose won't hurt the hip and knee.

Running on treadmill is a lot better than on the road. The road is HARD and always slanted one way or the other, that really put a lot of stress on the hip and knee. When one is young, nothing matters. When they get old, that's when everything catches up on them. My wife did high impact aerobics 6 days a week for years when she was young, she paid the price with two artificial hips now.

 

[MetalBoar]

How important is putting on tennis shoes and hitting the pavement to your training? Old fashion running to improve your cardio, for the purpose of competing or maintaining a state of physical readiness to apply martial arts skills?

When I owned a small gym offering just strength training my clients often asked how much running I did. I'd always reply, "I don't know, when I miss a bus, maybe a couple of times a year I'd guess." I'd follow this up by asking whether they liked running, and if not, was there was something in their life that required running. If you like to run or need to run for some reason, then learning to run well and running on a regular basis is probably a good idea. If not, then there are an enormous number of options for being active to maintain/improve your health that do not involve any running.

Considering that metabolic adaptations are pretty specific, then you should base your training activities around the things you want to be able to be metabolically adapted to perform. If running is that activity, or places a similar metabolic load on your body to that activity and is more accessible on a regular basis, then running may be a good choice. In general, higher intensity activities tend to be more applicable to combat sports/arts. Jumping rope, the Tabata method, wind sprints (as opposed to running a mile or more), etc. being easy examples.

That being said, running for self defense is great - as long as you don't need to protect someone else. I've often said that if you're just interested in protecting yourself from danger your best bet might be to take up parkour/free running and get good at it.

 

[skribs]

Like pretty much everything else in martial arts: it's useful and/or important, but not absolutely critical. Cardio is important. But you can be efficient with your techniques or focus on ending a fight early and it's not as important. Being lean is nice. But there's a reason you're allowed to play up a weight class and not down. Does running make you better? Absolutely. Is it required to be better? Not necessarily.

 

[Buka]

I always hated running as an adult. But sure did a whole lot of it, mostly on grass, but on pavement as well.

Great exercise.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Running make me happy. If one day I'm not in happy mode, after 1 hour of running, I'll be happy again. I don't get that kind of happiness through MA training and heavy bag workout.

Since my 1st Marathon, my life has been hooked to running.

 

[isshinryuronin]

but for older folks, for what?

Here's the thing: Use it or lose it. If you haven't run for twenty years and are over 55-60, the chances are you have lost your ability to do it. This is partly physical, but I think also mental. Your body has told itself it's old, and old bodies don't run. It takes extra will power to decide to run when you're old and haven't done it for a long time, almost like you forgot how to do it. And not being to be able to spontaneously break into a run makes you feel old, a vicious circle. At least this was my experience.

So, I run. After not running at all for probably 30 years, I experienced all the things I described above. Started out with speed walking, then 25% jog, then 50% jog, eventually getting to a (slow) jog for almost a full mile. The same kind of thing goes for vertical jumping or vaulting over a low fence. There is a kind of mental block to attempt these things that goes beyond the physical (of course some have actual limitations and so get a pass).

I always hated running as an adult.

I feel you. But what a joy in my teens and twenties!

I'm now over 70, which is fine. I just don't want to be old.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

but for older folks, for what?

Just like you still do your weight training.

If you have developed something when you were young (such as floor split, weight training, running, ...), you will try to maintain that ability through your old age. The day when you give up your maintenance. the day you have declared that you are old. Of course one day you will give up (may be when you are 90). But it's not today.

 

[Alan0354]

Just like you still do your weight training.

If you have developed something when you were young (such as floor split, weight training, running, ...), you will try to maintain that ability through your old age. The day when you give up your maintenance. the day you have declared that you are old. Of course one day you will give up (may be when you are 90). But it's not today.

I hate running, even walking. I much rather punching and kicking, stick fight and do weights, and even stretching. Then..............I sit on the comfortable couch for the rest of the day watching tv and do other things!!!

I particularly don't like walking. I can never understand people walk an hour a day for exercise. I get more result doing 15mins of punching and kicking than to waste time walking for one hour.

 

[O'Malley]

It's essential in many ways.

For example, is your refrigerator running?

 

[Gyakuto]

I think cardiovascular exercise is vital for anyone engaging in the MA. But I hate it!

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Running is an important skill in MA.

 

[Alan0354]

I think cardiovascular exercise is vital for anyone engaging in the MA. But I hate it!

You can say that again. I cannot say enough how much I hate it. Good thing is I am too old to be that good, so I don't even push the cardio. My cardio is just doing rounds on the heavy bags. Now, I like punching and kicking bags.

 

[Gyakuto]

I think heavy bag-work is excellent cardio work and a lot more fun than ‘pounding the tarmac’!

I am wondering if the original question was about actual running rather than any cardiovascular workout

 

[Buka]

I think it's important to remember something about running......

You don't have to outrun the bear chasing you. You just have to outrun the guy being chased beside you.

Hence...run, Forrest, run!

 

[Alan0354]

I think heavy bag-work is excellent cardio work and a lot more fun than ‘pounding the tarmac’!

I am wondering if the original question was about actual running rather than any cardiovascular workout

Maybe I am not used to running, it's a lot harder than punching and kicking bags. The biggest difference is no matter how hard you push in punching and kicking bags, you go in, do a combination of punching and kicking, then you g back up and do another combinations again. That one seconds of rest between finish of the last combination to the start of the next combination makes a day and night difference in recovering.

In running, it's like one foot after the other and again and again. You never have a break, that really get people tired. That's the first thing I notice when trying to run. You might get used to it after and few times, I just never get used to it.

Doing on heavy bag is fun, time flies, so whether it's the best cardio or not as good, I really don't care. If I am young, going to competition, then I would do running. Not now.