Flexibility and Fighting
This might be a controversial position I will throw it out there for your consideration.
Flexibility is not a core requirement of self-defense but it does contribute to improving your ability to defend yourself as well as get the most out of your martial art.
Ususally one of the reasons people give for not studying martial arts is that they are not flexible. The belief that one must be flexible BEFORE one begins training is nothing short of a cruel myth. Contain in that myth is that one’s ability to be skilled in the martial arts is directly related to their ability to do the splits, and that is just not true.
It has been my experience that people who are not flexible are able to put up a good fight - and fighting is actually what self-defense is all about. In a fight, the more tools you have the better and flexibility is a tool among all the other tools you will call upon when confronted with violence. If you are supple and your joints are loose, it should be easier for you to effect your techniques. Similarily, if your opponent siezes you or is able to put you in a compromising or difficult position, you just might be saved by being flexible - i.e. able to contort youself just enough to escape the counterattacking, escaping or avoiding further attacks.
However, if you have a balanced training program that includes the various elements of self-defense/martial arts in their necessary proportions - flexibility will be a constant part of your fighting training.
A Case In Point
Now, if you are unfortunate enough to be getting punched by a well trained, strong boxer - and the blows are falling on your ribs and head, I do not think you will be wondering if the boxer can do the splits or not. In fact, I do not think you will give a damn about his/her flexibility whatsoever. In this case, flexibility is not a requirement of his/her attack.
However, if you survive the attack and counter with a kick to the knee/hip and then the head, flexibility is a requirement of your attack.
Flexibility is a means to broaden your range of attacks and to carry your attack further. If trained properly, flexibility can increase your power - which should increase the effectiveness of your strikes (not necessarily your ability to land them). If flexibility training is not done properly, you will hurt yourself either when doing the flexibility training or during a fight - neither of which is preferable but certainly hurting yourself in a fight carries more damaging implications.
Train smart and work towards your long term goals.
The Coach
Choosing a Martial Art - Beginner’s Series #6
Finally we have arrived at actually choosing your martial art.
I think by now you should have been well exposed to the different martial arts/self-defense schools in your area, and should have visited several if not all of them. This process, although somewhat more involved, had the benefit of giving you some exposure to what is out there and this is paramount in being able to make an informed decision.
Actually, most people choose an art and then go looking for a school. That method works too. However, the downside to that method is that one is not sufficiently exposed to different arts so they might actually miss their true calling/or art. I know, it sounds a bit esoteric, if not downright flaky, but I would not want to have spent six months training something only to find out that had I just looked around I would have found something better.
Well I look at it like this, if I were going to pay money and dedicate my time and energy to learning something, I would make sure that I was confident I was making the best choice possible.
Okay…
Now you have the piles of schools all laid out before you and by now you should know at which school you want to train.
Ensure you have found out all the fees (belt testing, uniform, other costs).
Ensure that you can afford to go for at least a year. There is no point going to a school for one month and skipping three because you have no money. Nevertheless, if that is your situation - better to train the one and practice by yourself for the three you cannot attend. Maybe the school master will make some concessions for you.
Now go and register and take a class the same night you register and get started right away.
Enjoy your chosen art, buy magazines, become involved.
This ends the series on how to choose a martial art.
If there are any questions or comments related to this series just add them to the appropriate post.
If you have any other training related questions please add them to the questions section.
Best Wishes
The Coach
Choosing A Martial Art - Beginner’s Series #5
Summary of the Major Differences in the Arts
If you have followed this series you have come a long way.
You went from wanting to learn martial arts to doing research, organizing a list of the schools in your area, and going out a visiting them - hopefully with the evaluation form in hand.
Assuming that your visits went well (martial artists are usually a good bunch), we can now sit down and study your options. Just before we do that I wanted to take a minute to go over the major differences in the martial arts.
Some might feel that I should have explained the differences before you went out to look at the schools but I though it best that you go out and see what some of the most apparent differences are so that when I discuss them you will have a better idea of what I am talking about.
The differences in the martial arts can be as contentious an issue as the difference between martial arts and self-defense. In order to cast a broad a net over the differences as I can I will begin with the most obvious.
Basically there are three kinds of martial arts:
1. Those that primarily teach standing techniques;
2. Those that primarily teach ground/grappling techniques, and
3. Those that primarily teach a bit of both.
Standing Techniques
The martial arts that mostly teach standing techniques can be generally grouped under Karate, Kung Fu and Taekwondo.
Essentially, these arts fight standing up.
Karate is a more rigid form of martial art with crisp, sharp moves and straight-forward techniques - so people say. They employ blocks, kicks and punches along with some joint manipulation and specialized techniques. Within Karate are several sub-styles, each resemble the other but have different techniques or goals. Many of them are named after the founder or the region from which they came.There is a lot more that can be said but I want to keep this as uncomplicated as possible. If you are interested you can do further research on Karate styles and their history. In summary, Karate is of Japanese origin.
Kung Fu is a more fluid, circular martial art with flowing interconnected moves that seem to evolve from one to the next, to the next. Kung Fu also employs blocks, punches and kicks. There are many sub-styles of Kung-Fu also.
Taekwondo primarily focuses on kicks, but does employ punches and blocks.
Not on the list is Akido, Tai Chi, Hapkido, kick-boxing and many others, but the list of other arts can be exhaustive and for a beginner, these are the most prevalent arts.
HOWEVER, if there is an art in your area that does not fall into the big three then do a bit of research to find out its general self-defense premises. Maybe you would prefer to study it over any other.
Ground/Grappling Techniques
Judo, Brazilian Jujitsu and other similar arts uses ground/grappling techniques. I have not done an in-depth study of these arts except that I practiced with ground-fighters so as to
understand their self-defense philosophy.
These arts are extremely effective and can break an opponent down very fast. There is a raging debate as to whether or not they are superior to standing arts. I will not bother you with the details of the debate except to remind you that it is not the art that makes the artist but rather the artist that makes the art. No art is invincible.
The major drawback to this kind of art is that they cannot address multiple opponents.
A Bit of Both
Nowadays, almost every art is a bit of both standing and ground fighting. The term that has evolved from the “bit of both” style is “Mixed Martial Arts” or “MMA.” People make a big deal about MMA but it is just tries to use the best of what other styles have to offer with a view of making a complete fighter. Personally, anyone who has cross-trained and uses techniques from different styles is an MMA fighter. One may have a base system but unless one sticks to that system solely, then they are mixing martial arts. However, I think that the term, as commonly understood, applies to the mixing of standing and ground fighting.
What is Important
What is important is that you understand these general classifications so you can understand the obvious differences between the arts. People get hung up on the details but I do notsee that improving their ability to fight. If you like details, then I encourage you to satiate your curiosity. It has been my experience that when the chips are down, very few fighters are good enough to fight in their style (i.e. they all employ a kick-boxing style of fighting and throw all their original martial art’s techniques away).
What is important is that whatever art you choose, you do it well. Recognize its weaknesses and learn to plug those weaknesses from whatever source you can.
Having said that, as a beginner, what might appear to be a weakness in the art might just be your lack of experience. Be a patient but critical observer (a silent critical observer). It might also be that your teacher’s skills are deficient. It will take time to sort these things out.
As you enter the world of martial arts, you will realize quickly that we are not one big happy family. The masters rarely bicker over whose art is the best etc.. I suggest that you follow the masters in this regard.
Summary
This has been a very general summary of what you need to know to make sense of what you have seen at the schools you have visited.
Hopefully you have seen an art that has piqued your interest and seems to be a fit for you.
Just take a day or so to reread the reports you made, remove the absolutely “WILL NOT TRAIN THERE” schools, group the “MAY TRAIN THERE” schools, and pile up the “WOULD LOVE TO TRAIN THERE” schools.
Next post, I will will briefly sift through what you have and hopefully decide on what art to study.
Next: Choosing a Martial Art
Traditional Martial Arts Training vs. The Gym
The modern Western martial artists has access to many supplementary tools that will assist in boosting their fighting fitness and stamina. In fact, in many schools there are sections where people can go and lift weights or do cardio enhancing exercises. It would appear that the traditional martial methods of static strength training and continuous repetition have been replaced. All one needs to do is go to the gym, get fit and muscular and just learn the self-defense technique and they are all set.
I beg to differ.
I cannot remember how many times a “buff” student thought that his “buff-ness” would prevent him from getting hurt. I also cannot remember how many times a strong “buff” student thought his muscles and strength would defeat technique. To be fair, sometimes “Buff” was right, but had “Buff” cemented his martial arts basic training he would not have been subject to repeated drubbings while his legs gave out after long sessions of stance training, static postures and kicking.
Join a Gym
I encourage any martial artist who can afford it to go and join a gym. Supplementing their martial arts training with weight exercises is a good idea to stave off boredom and to work martial arts exercises using weights.
I do not recommend heavy lifting unless you can lift heavy doing at least 10+ reps. Lifting heavy can impair fluidity, flexibility and speed. The key to harmonizing martial arts training with a gym workout is to innovate with the weights and mimic self-defense techniques using weights for resistance.
For example, take a curl bar (one that has fixed weights on the ends) and practice with it as if it were a staff or spear. Of course you would not start with the 75 pound bar, but you would be surprised how heavy the 10 pound bar can be once you start swinging it around (with control).
Or, take a 10 pound dumbbell and start doing punches and blocks.
The key, my friends, is to strengthen the muscles you need, that you were not aware you used, to do the techniques. Also, the high reps with weights will increase your speed and strengthen your tendons and ligaments.
When bench pressing, imagine that you are double punching. When doing reverse grip tricep pulldowns, imagine that you are doing a reverse fist smash with two hands. Stand in crane stance (balancing on one leg while lifting the knee of the other leg up towards your chest), and balancing a 10 pound plate on your raised knee, put your hands behind your back and stand there until you cannot stand any longer. Try it, you will see what I mean.
Traditional Martial Arts Training
There is a reason that traditional martial arts training is indispensable, even in the modern world. That reason is because it works like nothing else will. The old masters built the skills we all marvel at by the tried and true methods.
Martial Arts training is designed to train the body to perform the techniques that self-defense demands. Martial Arts training hardens the body, steels your discipline, and empowers your mind over your body.
I used to ask students to stand in a stance until they could no longer hold it - in essence I was asking them to work until failure. They were not moving, just standing. Their mind had to force their body not to give up. The body was screaming for relief and only when those screams became too loud and the mind could not longer ignore them, would they stop (or fall down). This kind of training increases stamina, muscle power, body control and internal strength; most of all, it inculcates a mental strength that enables one to focus on accomplishing a definite task (i.e. fight until they can no longer move and then push some more).
Just stand with your arms outstretched at your sides, parallel to the ground. Just stand there until you cannot hold your arms up any longer. Just before you are ready to put them down, ask yourself if you have really reached the breaking point or do you have more to give - and hold it longer.
One could argue that a weight exercise can be done to failure, but that is not the same thing. Curls done to muscle failure is still muscle failure but it does not simulate a martial art technique you will perform, hence the rest of the body parts required to support the move do not get worked out. Curls, by the way, do not imitate an upper cut. I have never seen an uppercut where the only part of the body that moves is the elbow. However, if you change the curl to follow the flight of an uppercut then you have got something.
In any event, traditional training techniques are specifically designed for the physical requirements of martial arts and self-defense. The core of traditional training cannot be replaced but you can innovate with weights and other exercises.
Gymnastics & Ballet
Gymnastics is an excellent example of internal and external strength harmony. Gymnasts are fantastic. Ballet is another good example of internal/external strength harmony. However, they would still have to do traditional training if they wanted to use their athletic prowess for martial arts or self-defense. Their power needs to be framed in a martial arts setting so as to be channeled correctly. So what if the ballerina can hold her let straight up - the questions then becomes: for how long, and can she hit something with it, and what if someone bashes her shin?
Let me just say by way of a disclaimer that I acknowledge that their training is tough and mentally demanding. It is very much like martial arts traditional training. Gymnists and Ballet practiconers do not prepare for their respective exhibitions by hitting the gym, working out, and learning their basic moves. The gym is an aid - a very valuable aid.
I Have a Gym Membership
I have a gym membership and try to get in the gym at least 5 days a week. I do all kinds of exercises that must make people think I am nuts but I do not care. I am training for my purposes. However, for variation, I do some of the traditional gym exercises, but not often.
If you cannot afford a gym membership and your martial arts membership do not worry. Just focus on your martial arts exercises and when you can hit the gym, you will see that your strength has increased and power have increased. You are not losing out on anything. Just do not criticise the cardio kick-boxing crew - it is impolite.
Summary
I think it is wrong to take a position of traditional martial arts training vs the gym, or other types of training. Train what you like but ensure that it will benefit your martial arts. If you ever want to develop real martial arts power, and be strong from inside - you cannot abandon traditional martial arts training.
Traditional martial arts training, in each of our styles, is a shared heritage and very much a part of what makes us martial artists.
As always, your comments are encouraged.
The Coach
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