I was recently awarded best answer in Yahoo! Answers by replying to the following question:

Ive recently taken up kickboxing and my kicks lack power mainly due to lack of flexibility. Could anyone give me a stretching plan which i can fit into 10 minutes of the day? Thanks alot!

and here was my answer:

In order to offer a more accurate answer it would be useful to know what kicks lack of power due to flexibility. In any case it’s relatively difficult to explain what exactly doing as it would be necessary the assistance of an instructor that understand what you are trying to do.

Leg flexibility can be improved by consistent repetitive stretching and relaxation exercises that can be done both from standing and from a sitting position. These exercises will help most kicks, and in particular the ones that do not require to open your hips (like front kick, axe, crescent kicks). Splitting your legs and working out the hips and internal abductors will help your side, round and hook kick.
Your approach is right, 10 minutes extra per day will do a great deal if you are consistent. The most important thing is trying to relax your muscles when stretching, release every tension and breath slowly: treat your muscles well and they do the same to you.

Posted under fitness, theory, yahoo_answers

I am convinced that a proper warm up is an essential part of any martial art session: I see around many clubs that are quite informal about this part of training and they resolve the issue by telling students to “warm up”. People therefore chat away for 10-20 minutes while performing mild exercises that don’t really challenge any muscle and then they start training.

In the best cases these clubs are training people that are not fully ready for the next part of the class: some times this causes injuries and permanent damages and it is a good reason for putting many novices off martial arts training.

The purpose of warming up is to put body and mind in the best state to handle the rest of the training. The exercises done during warming up should improve both power as the source of speed and flexibility to reduce resistance resulting in agility and ease of movement.

As different martial arts express themselves in completely different ways it might be tricky to state what a proper warm up should be like.  Let’s then try to define what activities might be suggested according to the group of muscles used:

1. Punching, particularly if at full contact against bags, pads and focusing mitts, requires proper conditioning of knuckles, wrists, elbows, shoulders and pectorals: press-ups or push-ups of various kind, with hands positioned at various angles can be a good way of warming up and conditioning that area.
2. In martial arts that use medium and high kicks people should pay serious attention to their legs’ flexibility performing a variety of stretching exercises than involve flexibility of the rear part of the legs, the internal adductors and the groin area.
3. Throwing techniques require good core training that is also of great support to punches and kicks.  Recent physiology studies have demonstrated that the core area (torso, abdomen and part of the back) is responsible for delivering power in most movements.  The power that most traditional martial arts define as coming from the hips is in reality delivered by the core.
4. The abdominal area is a very important part of the body. Abdominal muscles are the only protection against strikes for delicate organs like stomach and liver: there are no bones here like in the chest so a number of different abdominal exercises like sit-ups of various kinds should be performed on a regular basis.
5. The whole spine is subject to a number of snapping and twisting movements following punches, kicks and throws: warm up and strengthening the back ensures no long term back injuries.

An average warm up should last between 15 to 45 minutes, taking into account the following criteria:

• age of the students: younger pupils need shorter warm up than people in their forties or above;
• the martial art practiced: Tai Chi can be a warm up in itself while Judo or Thai Boxing need very specific exercises;
• students’ proficiency: beginners might have a progressive approach to warm up while professionals need a long and well structured one.

In my experience warming up is an integral part of martial arts practice and should occupy a significant portion of each class rather than being an optional activity.  Benefits are out of question and ensure safe and healthy practice to people that want to see martial arts training as part of their life for the long term.

Posted under educational, fitness, teaching, theory

If you ask a person with no experience in martial arts to throw a punch or a kick you might get some kind of result that will be, in most cases, very inefficient and inconsistent. Having a foundation based on some kind of martial art ensures the application of a technique based on the style(s) this person has studied and that will apply one of the basic theories behind the art itself.

Each style of martial art has a basic philosophy and underlying foundation that determines various characteristics of the style itself. Usually this was outlined by the person that originally defined the techniques and it reflects four basic principles:

• His background and experience:
  • a broad range of different styles might have generated a clever mix of the useful techniques from each style
  • a long experience in a single style might have just evolved into a new one that is more in line with his personal taste
• His body shape:
  • a small, short person might have developed styles that must be, by definition, very clever in defeating larger opponents;
  • a person with good flexibility in the lower body might have developed a style with many high kicks
  • a stocky person with lower centre of gravity might have developed a wrestling and grappling style
• His taste for one or the other technique: certain people like punching others like kicking or grappling
• The environment where he grew up and where he developed his techniques: the kind of opponents he had to fight and defeat determined what techniques and defence strategies that he considered useful to be in his style.

Have a look at the many styles available; some of the principles behind them will be even in contradiction with each other:

• A Karate expert will mostly strike his opponent while a Judo or Hapkido practitioner’s main goal will be to grab, throw or manipulate the opponent’s body
• Wing chun mostly uses straight strikes and footwork while Aikido is all based on circular movements
• Kicks delivered by experts of Kickboxing, Thai boxing, Tae Kwon Do are similar although the emphasis is on different rhythm and targets on the opponent’s body
• A Silat expert will keep a typically open guard that attracts the opponent to hit in between, working like a trap, while Wing Chun will protect the central line inviting the opponent to go around it

It is important to remember that a style was not defined overnight. Whoever has spent long time to define a martial art did a great job to understand human anatomy, biomechanics and how to exploit natural movements while using particular groups of muscles that are suitable for certain situations.

It is therefore paramount understanding the style you are practicing and what the logic behind it is: this is to maximize your power, speed and efficiency in any given situation. A reality check is obviously a good thing to do once you start understanding your style. Any comment is appreciated.

Posted under styles, theory

Considering that martial arts are, in essence, methodologies for fighting I always consider paramount to perform a reality check of each application. This is to assess if and when a technique or combination can be useful in a self defence or real fight situation.

Please notice that some styles, like kick boxing, tae kwon do and judo are to be considered martial sports and they follow rules that are designed to allow a sport competition to take place without causing serious injuries to those taking part in it. To some extend certain martial sports train full contact and a professional or a serious amateur of these is pretty safe in a fight as I recently mentioned in a previous post.

Certain styles that are pure martial arts, without sport applications, are meant to be useful for real fights and defending yourself. I am aware of a number of masters and instructors that remain pretty theoretical on the way they teach and assume that things will simply work: these people give a false, very dangerous, illusion to their students that risk to be seriously injured or killed in a real fight. It all good stating that one or the other technique will hurt an opponent, it’s another issue practicing it to ensure it works all the times.

So how do you perform a reality check? Here are some hints:

• Have you tested your punches (or kicks, elbow or knee strikes) for real power?
• The same strike might knock somebody down if applied to the head but just hurt a bit in certain areas of the body: did you consider that?
• Have you considered how bad it could be hitting somebody in the face to find out that he hardly noticed the strike? What would you do then?
• How much power do you think you need in order to knock somebody down or seriously injury them, allowing you to run away?
• How would you react if somebody is charging you like a bull? Do you have a technique that would allow stopping or deflecting his attack?
• Do you practice techniques that work at long, medium and short range? What about if the attacker is grabbing you?
• Striking can be the non ideal solution sometimes. Do you practice techniques to seize the opponent and neutralizing him? Perhaps immobilizing him with a joint lock?
• If you are below average the terms of body weight and size then you should consider training to defeat bigger people. What’s your body size compared to the average population?

I would be interested to hear comments about these issues.

Posted under educational, self defence, street fighting, teaching, theory

This is a question I found this morning on Yahoo! answers. The following text was submitted by Bigchief and it reads as follows:

Well im a boxer.at our boxing club i was kind of surprised on who has the hardest punch.

During our bag drills we are asked to hit the bag during sets of 10, 20, 30, /// 30, 40, 50

Well we each get our turn to hold the bag when we are done, and during this time we hold the bag for the next guy. During this time i get a great understanding of the guys punching power.

Some of the boxers there who work out, and are kind of bulky , hit fairly hard, but not as hard as they look they would.
Some of the boxers who have muscle definition , but are not bulky hit just as hard.
What surprised me the most was that some of the boxers with little to no muscle definiton, hit the hardest.

This brings me to the belief that punchers are born, and muscle mass has little to no effect on power.

Id like to know if this is true, or if anyone else has had a different expierience , or if this is just a coincidence at my club.

In spite of the details about how bulky or defined each person is you are not specifying their weight: that can make a big difference in the power of their punches. Muscle mass and density will also have importance here, as some people are naturally stronger than others.

Punching power, given two punchers of equal weight, will depend in large measure from the overall body co-ordination when performing the action. A jab thrown using just arm and eventual shoulder power will have a certain level of power. On the other hand the same punch performed using the whole body, leaning toward the target even slightly and adding a half an inch step forward will result a lot stronger punch.

If you have access to a good coach he/she can teach you the concept in minutes: the point is then to practice it until it come natural, without thinking about the whole process.

Posted under theory, yahoo_answers