I'll save you a few months of training.

Whatever you study in, if you are a weekend warrior/go 3 times a week, then sit down and eat cheetos watching seinfeld episodes then listen up.. one day you will be attacked, and will lose you will say "****, my ma suck, blahblah" ok shutup, i've seen it all too many times, people train in martial arts only to be defeated, and the are mostly defeated verbally first, before anything, train your bodies, with that you will train your mind, go on a weight lifting program 3x a week with 3x a week of cardio(running, stat bike, stairstep) and then supplement that with your martial arts training. heh, be more vicious than your opponent, flame me, call me a troll, you'll either be shed some light upon or you'll shortly see the error of your ways.

Well said post. I've seen way too many people that won't commit to the hard training and the sweat involved. One of my instructors has a quote that I like "The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in a fight".

To continue along this thought, How do people train? What are your favorite routines (not so much weight lifting, aerobic since those programs are everywhere) but supplemental type training for your MA (things like punching drills etc.)

"There are many who talk of the Way, but few who walk the Way."

keeping MA in mind and not body sculpting do you think it is better to lift light weights and do many reps or lift heavier and fewer reps ?

IMO, you should are better off with fewer reps...Or fewer sets to be more precise.

This is a good link.

I don't go at it hardcore using the HIT method, but use the same principles in a lower intensity workout so as not to burn myself out for other activities.

Study the boxers: They gain power by sparring constantly and hitting the bag.

I think one of the best workouts is bag work. What i like to do is warmup for about 20-30 minutes doing punches and kicks etc. to the air. Gets your heart rate up and start to sweat. I also do jumproping. Then i do bag work. So a typical work out could go as follows.

stretch
5 minutes jump rope
20-30 minutes air striking
5 minutes jump rope
30-45 minutes bag work
stretch
300 crunches
100-150 pushups

That makes a great work out. Its a lot like a cardio kickboxing workout but it will make you stronger, increase endurance, refine your striking skills, increase speed, and all around make you healthier.

Have any of you ever read the book by Willie "The Bam" Johnson called "The Complete Martial Artist". He put in a workout that he did while he was in prison. That man would work out like a maniac. He is amazing. I would suggest picking up that book. It has some great motivational philosophy in it.


Yours in the arts,
Geoff

If you continue to speak ill of the great treat, I'll be forced to destroy you with my Orange Finger Kung Fu.

"I got no dukes" -the goat

Constant sparring, bag work and visualization. Weightlifting is a great mind focusing activity if done right. Learn to fight hurt.

OK. Lemme get this straight. If I go work at my combat skills 3 times a week for a couple of years and then go eat cheetos. And one day, I'm at a bar, and some other guy who eats cheetos (but hasn't touched MA since he was 12) attacks me... *He's* gonna win, cause even though he has no training *I* didn't train hard enough?

Explain that to me again.

Extra bodyfat slows you down, you need to be lean, and train hard, weights, martial arts, and proper diet(most important) you need the fastest neuromuscular reactions and strength. oh yeah and beign healthy adds 10 years to your life.

Why *need*? Helio certainly isn't in the best shape of his life, is he in extreme danger of loosing the next bar brawl?

Does the stronger, faster, healthier, trined person have an advantage over the trained peronss without these attributes? Sure does. Do you have to do all this to defeat someone who does none of this? Of course not.

Self-defense has essentially nothing to do with body conditioning.

Being healthy DOES add 10 years to your life. More important is it's effect on the QUALITY of your life while you live it. However, if you think looking like a body builder is being healthy, you're in for a BIG surprise.

Alot of us are physically over-trained(for lack of a better term) for what we're likely to encounter. It's the lack of awareness and state of mind that'll do us in.

I was thinking the same thing rogue. A lot of people are likely to tense up when faced with a real confrontation causing their 'weapons' to malfunction. So I try to include summoning up that feeling in my training too.

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I'll suffer your orcish wit no longer!

qeySuS.. as far as keeping MA in mind and not body sculpting, by lifting lighter weights and doing more reps... <tt>definately, this promotes better flexability and speed</tt>

brokenfist.. don't you mean Orange "Four Fingers and One Thumb" KungFu?.. :^)

Braden.. although I believe that conditioning is important to training, this(conditioning) is a `loose` term and therefore based on perception. I agree that looking like a BodyBuilder, does'nt mean that one is healthy.

Draugen.. "<tt>A lot of people are likely to tense up when faced with a real confrontation causing their 'weapons' to malfunction. So I try to include summoning up that feeling in my training too.</tt>" YESS!.. in fact in my honest opinion, I believe it is the feeling that will prevail over everything else.

Wishing everyone a good New Year beginning.. T~