Is Martial Arts a Complete Workout? --- Chief Instructor's Blog May 2024

 

Have you wondered if you should be doing more than practicing martial arts or is your martial arts training a complete workout in itself?  

Practicing a martial art can be a complete workout in and of itself, but it depends on several things if it is a complete workout for you and if you should/ need to augment your training.

First thing to consider to determine if you need to augment your training is how often and how long you are practicing martial arts.  To sustain your skills, you should be practicing a minimum 2-3 times a week for at least 2-3 hours.  Less than that you definitely need to add either more martial arts practice or augment your training with other activities or add more martial training sessions.

The second thing to consider is if there is an aspect you need more attention on: muscular endurance, aerobic exercise, anaerobic exercise, power/ strength, speed, coordination, balance, flexibility, mental focus.

You can definitely use martial arts practice to focus on these aspects, but if looking for other activities to augment consider some of the following:

1. Running, cycling, hiking, walking, swimming, jumping rope, and interval training can all improve your muscular endurance, aerobic endurance, and/ or anaerobic endurance.
2. Sprints, resistance training, and interval training can help improve your speed
3. Yoga or Pilates can improve your muscular strength, balance, flexibility and mental focus
4. Weight lifting / strength training can improve your strength and muscular endurance
5. Pull ups/ pushups are good and can improve your strength and muscular endurance
6. Sit-ups and other core exercises, like planks or using a balance board can help improve your balance and coordination
7. Standing march, jumping jacks, swimming, jumping rope. lunges (walking or lateral), overhead squats, single legs squats can improve coordination
8. Lunges (walking or lateral), overhead squats, single legs squats can improve balance 
9. Yoga, Pilates, and many stretching exercises can improve your flexibility
10. Meditation, visualization, and practicing active listening can help you improve your focus

Another thing to consider is if you are healing from an injury.  In that case, adding exercises from a physical therapist or an expert trainer can be very helpful in maintaining your martial arts skillset.

I for one, do many of the items above to not only augment my own martial arts training but also because it allows me to vary my routine, connect with other people, and focus on areas which need more attention.

What I will say is that all these alternatives can help augment your training, but by themselves they will not improve your martial arts unless you are putting the minimum time in actually practicing martial arts and focusing on all the attributes listed above as well.

 

Regards,

Kelly

 

“The athlete who is building muscles through weight training should be very sure to work adequately on speed and flexibility at the same time.  In combat, without the prior attributes, a strong man will be like a bull with its colossal strength futilely pursuing the matador or like a low-geared truck chasing a rabbit.” ~ Bruce Lee, (1940 –1973) American-born Chinese Hong Kong martial artist, actor, and founder of Jeet Kune Do