Robert Jones asked:


Should You Add Supplementary Weight Training to your Martial Arts Training?

There are four things you should consider before you add supplementary weight training into your workout schedule:

Speed

Flexibility

Endurance

Strength

Martial arts training will naturally help you improve in all of these areas, but many people wonder if they need to add supplementary weight training to increase these areas. The answer is maybe.

The first determination of whether or not you should do separate weight training is how it will affect your martial arts training. If weight training will take the place of your martial arts training, then I don’t recommend it (especially for beginners). Advanced martial arts students can make the determination depending on their personal goals.

When you’re making the decision, consider this:

You can add weights if you have your martial arts training regime down cold you don’t want your martial arts training to suffer so that you can weight train on the side.

If you do choose to weight train, educate yourself or get a trainer so that you get the most out of your training.

Make a plan before you begin anything.

To make a plan, you need to figure out where you want to improve. You need a balanced body to be a good martial artist, so if you do decide to add supplemental training, it should be to improve this balance. Is there a part of your body that is not up to par with the rest of your body? Do you have plenty of endurance but lack speed?

Here’s an example of what I mean. I had a student at my Bellevue Academy of Kempo Martial Arts school that had perfect form. She was worried that her technique wouldn’t work in a real situation. She practiced slow and accurate movements, so the answer for her was to start training for power or speed to make her movements more real-world applicable.

In the “old days” martial artists were not purists if they did strength training along with it. The thing is, even in the Shaolin temples, the Kung Fu practitioners had exercises like moving granite balls and doing hundreds of movements with iron rings on their arms it sounds like a form of weight training to me.

If anyone tells you that weight training will harm your kung fu or martial arts training, they are only right if you stop or reduce your martial arts training to weight train. If you break your training down into sections and focus on the parts of your body or goals that you need to balance your body, then you can train accordingly without affecting your martial arts training. If you’re still not sure whether or not you’re weight training affectively, just make sure you do an hour and a half of martial arts training for every hour of weight training you do.



Kansieo.com

Allen Owen asked:


bscure Japanese martial art known only to military servicemen and martial arts aficionados, Jiujitsu has gained mass popularity with the help of fast-rising mixed martial arts competitions covered by the media. Various MMA competitions such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Gracie brothers (who practiced their own brand of Brazilian Jiujitsu) has thrust the ancient “soft-style” martial art into the spotlight.

The term Jiujitsu literally translated from Japanese means “the art of softness” consists of a combination of throwing, grappling and striking techniques. It was developed in the medieval times by Samurai for subduing armed and armor-clad opponents- when strikes were deemed impractical. Throws, pins, and joint locks were found to be more effective in situations like these. The main principle of Jiujitsu is using and attacker’s energy against him as opposed to confronting him head-on.

Jiujitsu is one martial art that has numerous variations and different schools may put stress on the different aspects of it- holds, joint locks, kicking, etc. Before the actual name for Jiujitsu was coined in the 17th century, its many facets had their own terms: kogusoku koshi no mawari or short sword grappling, plain grappling kumiuchi, torite or catching hand, body art or taijutsu, and wajutsu or the art of harmony. A popular derivative of Jiujitsu discovered by Kano Jigoro two centuries later is the Olympic sport of Judo, or ‘the gentle way’. Immensely popular and practiced by many Westerners, it concentrates mainly on throws and submissions.

The Gracie clan’s Brazilian Jiujitsu was derived from early forms of Kodokan judo and has proven to be extremely effective in modern mixed martial arts tournaments. Its emphasis lies mainly on ground fighting techniques with joint locks and strangleholds aimed at immobilizing an opponent and forcing him into submission. Training in sport Brazilian Jiujitsu foregoes the use of strikes and deals mainly on grappling and submission techniques. Most submission techniques fall into two categories- performing locks on the opponent’s joints and chokeholds. A match in Brazilian Jiujitsu competition ends when one of the players either tap-out- signifying surrender, break a limb, or pass-out due to lack of oxygen.

Some Jiujitsu ryu (schools) even include weapons training as part of its curriculum. The tanto or Japanese dagger, ryufundo kusari or weighted chain, kabuto wari helmet smasher and disgused weapons or kakushi buki were some of the traditional weaponry used in earlyJiujitsu training. A traditional weapon that has all but disappeared from modern Jiujitsu training is the use of a hojo chord. In a technique called hojutsu, the chord is used to entrap, subdue or strangle one’s opponent. Japanese police training in fact still employs some hojutsu basics and officers carry hojo cords along with the standard issue handcuffs.



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