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 Strength Training and Martial Arts Strength training in the Martial Arts community has been misunderstood for many years. Too many overweight masters of none and jacks of all have advocated everything from no strength training at all, to various forms of high level spiritual training, which while being somewhat questionably beneficial for the spiritual side of a martial artist's training; has nothing to do with real life applicable strength skills. For years I have watched people in many schools advocate no forms of conditioning whatsoever, yet tell people that the material being used is so deadly that with a swipe of the hand, they will down a larger opponent bent on doing you harm. Say what?? Unfortunately the influx of Asian Kung Fu movies over the past 30 years has done nothing but add to this problem. Too many people have this idea that if you get a hold of certain material, that the material itself will allow you to defeat armed attackers without you breaking a sweat or training hard.
I have forsaken tradition weight training as it has become nothing more than people lifting pieces rather than train their whole being. Many "old school" methods of training have been rediscovered by serious strength athletes all over. Many have found that serious training in body weight exercises can help to add not only strength, flexibility but carry over into endurance as well. Real training hits on many levels of fitness, not only the strength aspect. Various old school equipment has also been resurfacing. Kettlebells have seen a resurgence over the past few years due in part to two Russian Kettlebell instructors Valery Fedorenko and Pavel Tsatsouline. These are pretty much a cast iron ball that has a handle attached to them. They are not balanced and require much more core strength to lift and move rather than a chrome plated dumb bell set that you see in most run of the mill gyms. For more information, I suggest checking out Steve Cotter's website. I am a big fan of his material. He is a great man, and martial artist as well as being one of the biggest innovators of Kettlebell training for martial artists. You can also check out the Kettlbell material from my friend, David Whitley. Mike Mahler also has incredible material designed to increase your strength as well as size using Kettlebells. Indian clubs and maces have been making their way back into the training regimes of some. The work of wrestling legend Karl Gotch has also been resurfacing. Karl Gotch is called "the God of Wrestling" by the Japanese. Jake Shannon has 2 of the best dvd's which contain pretty much some of the hardest material to train on, and much of it requires nothing more than yourself and your muscles. Check out Jake Shannon's website which is geared to wrestling and boxing, but has tremendous carry over to anyones training program. I am also a big fan of weight vests. I recently bought one from WeightVest.com. I got a 60 pound plate loaded vest. I can load it with as little as I want, or fill it up and have a honking 60 pounds to loaf around with. I showed it to a training brother and he was like a little boy at xmas...Funny how us MA'ers seem to drool at the strangest gear. 
Kettle Bells Kettlebells look to many people who see them for the first time a cannonball with a handle attached. Over the last 5 years there has been a resurfacing of this old school strength equipment along with the training that goes along with it. Kettlebells(KB's) are not balanced like a traditional dumbbell or barbell. Picking them up requires you to use more of the core muscles than it would picking up a dumbbell or other object that is balanced. When performing any action with these balls of iron, one will realize the whole body power and coordination that is being trained right from the beginning.   
 There are five basic motions that one should utilize within their training modus operandi.
1. Pressing- You can do all sorts of pressing motions with Kettlebells(KB's). You can do One Arm or Double Military style presses overhead. Alternating Single Arm or Double Arm presses from a supine position on the ground. You can press the KB's overhead and work from the "Position of Compromise" as referenced by Steve Cotter, in his groundbreaking DVD's Steve Cotter's DVD - The Martial Art of Strength Training Volume 1 and Steve Cotter's DVD - The Martial Art of Strength Training Volume 2. For those of you who want to gain size as well as strength, you need to check out Mike Mahlers The Kettlebell Solution for Size and Strength DVD.  2. Pulling- One can perform Single Arm Bent-over Rows, Double Arm Bent-over Rows as well as Alternating Rows. 3. Squatting- Single Arm front squat(with one KB), Double Front Squat, Hack Squats and the rather challenging Overhead Squat. 4. Lower Body Pulling- The first exercise one usually learns is the Swing, which is the core move within the KB training clan. The Swing can be performed with both arms in the beginning. It can also be done with one arm later on as well as alternating the hands when the KB is at chest or head level. One can then do the same with two KB's in the Double Swing. Next would come the Clean. First done with a single KB and then later as a Double. Progressing would lead one to One Arm Snatches, and then to Double Snatches. Deadlifts can be added to this section of training with different ones being the Suitcase Deadlifts, and the One Legged Deadlifts. 5. Core Structure Training- You can really train the core with performing Bent and Side Presses that were made famous by strength athletes of yesteryear. Sandow, Cyr and others frequently posed for photos performing various lifts with heavy Kettlebells and other heavy objects. Other exercises in this category are the Windmill, and the Turkish Getup. Combining the above list into various training routines is not all that difficult though one should progress from using a single KB to Double KB's slowly. Always seek out advice from your Primary Care Physician before beginning this or any other exercise training program. If this kind of training interests you, please check out both Steve Cotter's and Mike Mahler's excellent training material using Kettlebells as well as their other personal training programs using bodyweight as well as equipment. Steve Cotter endorses Professional Grade Kettlebells. Not only is Steve Cotter one of the worlds top Kettlebell instructors, he is also an excellent internal Kung Fu instructor. Mike Mahler endorses Lifeline Kettlebells.   |
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