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Strength Training?
I've been reading about Bruce Lee's regiments for strength training while still remaining fast and I was wondering what role strength training plays, if any, in Tai Chi and other internal forms of Kung Fu. Also, if it does play a role what strength training exercises are done?
Last edited by zippo_88; 05-09-2007 at 07:32 AM.
"Jeet Kune Do is the art not founded on technique or doctrine. It is just as you are." -Bruce Lee
Kickin' it
Do you mean muscle strength, ligament strength, internal/external power or something else?
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alot of pushups and other things that use your own bodyweight if you use weights alot your muscles will get big but they have a way of being more constricted in a way they shrink ...i got back into lifting again for a bit bbut it made it harder for me to train ..so i went back to pushup . they will get your just as strong if not stronger just depends how many you do a day
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That's some spectacular misinformation.Originally Posted by msg
What kind of training were you doing? A bodybuilding regimen? Or a proper strength training one?
If all you do is pushups, eventually you'll be building muscular endurance (nothing wrong with that), not pure strength, or explosive power.
Lots of boxers lift weights... Why doesn't it affect their punching power?
IME, doing things like squats, deadlifts, sumo deadlifts, etc have done wonders at building a root for me.
If you do them properly, they'll build the stabilizer muscles around your knees and hips, will preven injury.
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Yeah that's what I was curious about, does lifting weights hinder your martial ability and/or is it helpful for martial arts, specifically internal kung fu, after all strength is not the important thing right.
"Jeet Kune Do is the art not founded on technique or doctrine. It is just as you are." -Bruce Lee
CantankerousPowerfulBlade
I was wondering (since this thread is about strength lol) has anyone got or read Dynamic strength by Harry Wong. I have the link to Amazon (uk)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dynamic-Stre...8757950&sr=8-1
I have thought about trying to get a copy but can it really do what it claims. The reviews seem to suggest it is a great book. Maybe you could have a look at the reviews on amazon zippo 88.
Jamie
Last edited by Ni Jian mu; 05-09-2007 at 05:53 PM.
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Without any strength to hold structure so you only have to yield in small ways without breaking structure, you're going to have to become the single greatest full yield tai chi practioner ever.
In other words, what most people who train Aikido think they're doing.
Many roads. One path.
Many styles. One art.
Many lineages. One practioner.
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Strength is always important. It may not be the focus of the internal training, but it's always important, and it certainly can't hurt. Like I said, even for the sake of prevention... if you're training an internal art, and you end up getting thrown around alot, or rolling, or doing break falls, your joints will thank you if you've put some meat around them.
Internal training mostly focuses on proper structural alignment, and coordination of firing the right muscles at the right time to put as much power into strikes as possible. Even with all that coordination training though, how much power you can generate from each muscle group is going to affect how hard you can hit. So why not strengthen those muscles?
As for your quesiton about lifting weights, and whether it affects your martial ability, that depends on how you're lifting. "Lifting Weights" can mean a lot of things.
A body builder trains VERY differently from a power lifter, but both lift weights.
Check out the health and fitness board on this forum for discussions of what the differences are, or google and do some research on functional strength training. Look at how gymnasts, or track and field athletes train.
Also remember that while some people will tell you that lifting weights will decrease your flexibility, studies have shown that power lifters are the second most flexible group of athletes. Gymnasts are the most flexible. Both use very explosive power in their sports.
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i was doing both body building and strength training .and lifting to much weghts will interfear with internal arts.your useing more of your tendens scelatel stucture.dont think i spelled that right anyways,..your mucles need to be relaxed in a certain way .isometrix is the way to go..pushups will also give you that strength and explosive power ..i can still press 310 with no prob just from pushups ...my buddy all he has done is isometrix because he was locked up for a while he came out stronger than me when i was working with weights
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Learning to relax your muscles at the right moment is important for any activity that requires explosive power, and lots of other athletes that require explosiveness lift weights.
You said "Lift weights TOO MUCH". I'm not sure what you mean by "too much" but certainly if all you do is lift weights, and you don't allow yourself proper recovery time, or if you don't do enough stretching, then yes, it will cause problems.
But again, it's important to know the difference between body building, and strength / power training.
Have you ever seen Mike Tyson fight? Do you think he has no "tendon / skeletal alignment" (whatever that means) behind his punches? I bet he does lots of weight training.
Oh, and are you saying that you can get stronger doing pushups than lifting weights? Because that's just plain wrong. If it were the case, don't you think people would have given up on weights a long time ago?
You can bench 310 lbs, and you don't do any bench press... just pushups? I don't believe that.
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it all depends on howw many pushups you do a day ..i havent worked with weights for a year or two i just did pushup and still can bench that ..i friend i talked never used weights he was locked up the hole time he got out and pressed more that me .but like i said you have to do a lot of pushup a day not what most people do .so beleave it or not
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I have weight trained and participated in internal styles for nearly 30 years. It takes a little practice to learn to use proper mechanics first and strength as an assist, but this occurs with any athletic activity. Strength is an assists in the production of power, but it only one aspect of power generation. Someone may hit hard due to inherent size and strength, but they will hit harder once they learn to hit with proper mechanics. Like anything else, it just takes practice.
He could have good genetics. I knew a guy who never benched and spotted him when he benched 350# and he looked like a dough boy. I have weight trained my whole life and while I never do maximum weights the best I have done is 285#. My genetics give me a predisposition to endurance so that is actually not too bad.
Years ago I worked as a strength trainer. I had a client who never weight trained in the past. The first day he did 160# behind-the-head shoulder presses for 3 reps. That is the best one rep max for me in my life.
If a person has a history of weight training it is also relatively easier to return to that strength level after a lay off than someone who has never trained for strength in the past. It is also possible he is exaggerating.
Anyone with "real" experience with weights and has also trained in the internal arts knows there is no inherent disadvantage and in a fight it is mostly a decided advantage. msg is repeating the long established "weight training is bad for internal styles" platitudes. These are false platitudes.
Just because he can't do it and associates with other who reinforce his limiting view it appears to have empirical validation. However, just because he can't do and he doesn't know anyone who can do it, does not mean it hasn't been done.
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Good post Scott. You're absolutely right.
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never said that you could;nt do weights just not to much is you know about it you should know what i mean ..
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and my view is very far from limited .
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