Conditioning in Martial Arts

A fellow martial arts and traditional medicine practicioner told me that martial arts is nothing more than a combination of physics, anatomy, and conditioning (which includes cardio strength). Physics and anatomy used to make attacks and defenses more effective using the same amount of strength, which includes when, where, and how.

I’d like to discuss on the third element on this blog entry, conditioning. How do we condition ourselves in martial arts. With the internet getting rampant, it’s easy to overload ourselves with irrelevant information, so I’m going to share my experience on some alternatives training to improve your conditioning for martial arts.

1.) Gym membership
Good old gym – and now with gym memberships going down and more
Pros: Given the right gym, you’ll have lots of equipment, trainers, and other facilities to improve your conditioning. In addition, having others exercising tend to give you a motivation to stay focused.
Cons: Can be expensive, and many trainers in Indonesia does not know about martial arts conditioning, thus making your exercise less effective.
More info: visit your local gym – fitness first, celebrity, lifespa, etc.

2.) Kettlebells
From the depths of Russian winter, this piece of cannonball with handles were popularised in US by Pavel Tsatsouline and the fellas at Dragon Door, this has become one of the fastest growing equipments.
Pros: If used correctly, this can develop explosiveness and endurance much quicker than your typical gym routine. Can be used for endurance and cardio simultaneously
Cons: Not available in Indonesia, and shipping them from Singapore (nearest shipping point) making them darn EXPENSIVE.
More info: www.dragondoor.com, www.kettlebells.sg

3.) Sandbags
I first encounter the sandbags from Ross Enamait’s book and website. Sandbags are very versatile, and given their unstable nature, they provide one of the best unisolated strength trainings.
Pros: Relatively Cheap. Sandbags can be constructed using rice sacks (karung goni) filled with smaller bags of sand, or even rice (ie: buy an extra 10kg of rice for your training)
Cons: You look like a out-of-job “kuli” to your neighbors. Imagine doing sandbag sprints on your neighborhood.
For more info: www.rosstraining.com, www.sandbagstrength.com, www.sandbagexercises.com

4.) Bodyweight exercises
Cheapest, mobile, and the most primitive form of exercise. However, when done right, bodyweight exercises can provide one hell of a challenge, and there are books out there on this topic.
Pros: Cheap, obviously. Functional strength, as rarely focuses on a single muscle group.
Cons: Some exercises does not provide gradual increase and require strong stabilizer muscles before being able to be performed (eg: pistol squats). In addition, no money spent = more tendency to quit
More info: Ross Enamait’s naked warrior, Matt Furey’s Combat Conditioning

So, which of these exercises should you do? Depending on your goals and capacity (including $$$ capacity). I personally find the kettlebells and the sandbags for my strength and endurance, while I focus on cardio on the gym (thanks to polluted airs of Jakarta), while including various bodyweight exercises into the whole package (or switch to 100% bodyweight exercises during travels).

What about you? Find the right one, and always make it interesting and enjoyable.