Month: February 2019

I was talking with a fellow the other day, and we were thinking about condensing body calisthenics into maybe a half dozen exercises. Think about it, five martial arts exercises that increase your strength, make you faster and more powerful. All you do is these five exercises, and that’s all you need.

So I researched a bunch of things having to do with Yoga, Tibetian exercises and even American things like Matt Furey. Here’s my initial work up on five exercises, and while I will probably work on them a bit, improve them further, I think they fit the bill. The extra added attraction is that they’ll be good martial arts class warm ups, no matter whether you do Karate, kenpo, aikido, or whatever.

First, and always, is stretching. Most body injuries come from the body being compacted, so to stretch the body out, whether it be splits or just hanging from a tree or over the side of a bed, will start the blood flowing and wake the body up. No set exercise for this, I just recommend researching a little yoga, isolating the movements you aren’t flexible in, and working on them.

Next, would be snaking. This includes such things as dive bomber push ups (doing a push up while worming the body), and covers basically the whole front bend of the body. There are a whole series of yoga poses, from dog looks down or up to child pose to rabbits pose, that could fit in this particular exercise.

The third exercise would be that staple from wrestling called bridging. There are many varieties of bridging, and they should be explored gently and on a gradient. Bridging from the neck, the hands, over a stool, all this covers the whole range of bending the body backwards.

You may have figured out that I am trying to explore every range of motion for the body, and you would be correct. After bending the body front and back, we have twisting the body laterally. While there are many yoga poses that twist the body in this manner, a general exercise would be if you just sit cross legged looking over your shoulder, then twist all the way up and then down to cross legged and looking over the shoulder on the other side.

Fifth and last would be being upside down. This should reverse gravity on all the inner organs, and be very beneficial. This would include frog stands, head stands, and eventually handstands.

So that’s it, my quick prescription for total body health through five body calisthenic, martial arts exercises. These exercises you will find in many other people’s regimens, and in the various body disciplines developed over the years. At any rate, try it out for a few weeks, and watch yourself get nothing but better and strong and faster.

I almost feel guilty, giving out a few martial arts dirty tricks, when such things as Karate and Kung Fu really stand for honor and virtue. The sordid news, however, is that if you have to use your martial skill outside the training hall, fighting dirty may save your life. That said, here’s a few nasty, little things I’ve learned over the years that will help you walk away, and make him cry.

It’s not really much of a dirty tactic in these times, at least not as much as when I was in high school, but a good, swift kick to the peaches can win a back alley brawl quicker than fast. It doesn’t require a lot of martial arts training to do this, and it will distract the thug, and maybe even end the fight. When he rushes towards you do a front kick, or simply bring the leg up and let him run into your foot, and the fight is completed.

One important item you should understand, dirty fight or not, is to not take your eyes off his. If you launch a snap kick to his silly sacks, watch his eyes, and be willing to change tactics as you must. You will find that this eyeball thing can really change the fight.

For instance, as you rush at him throw something in his eyes. Heck, you can even spit at his eyes, and if you can make those eyelids shutter, you have just increased the odds of you living and him going down for the snooze. Even a quick flick of the fingers towards the eyes, an intention to make him think you are going for the eyes, might help out.

Now, let’s say the fight is hot and heavy, and you have to do something or you are going to lose. Something you won’t learn in a polite training hall, and especially not in the MMA arena, or the UFC octagon, is to go after his fingers. One of the first things we were taught, back when I was first learning freestyle, was to use a snappy backfist to his open fingers as you close the distance.

If you can make him say ow, or even damage his fingers, you’ve got an edge. Make him blink, or make it so he can’t close a fist, or use his hands to grab, and you’ve essentially destroyed his weapons. The idea here is to win the fight, to walk away from the mugging, and to leave him with a better idea of how to behave in polite society.

Now, in closing, I know these tricks aren’t much, but they will help. If you want more than an edge, if you want a fighting chance, you really should find a classical school and learn some good Martial Arts Techniques. Heck, a little time having a blast in the training hall, and you’re going to have Karate power, or Kung Fu power, or Kenpo Power, or Taekwondo Power, or whatever kind of power you desire, and whether you use martial arts dirty tricks or not, you’re going to come out on top in a street fight.

Just relative to each martial art has various style of weapon that is typically dramatically verified at a dojo or at seminars. The weapons are going to be no matter that exacts soldierly art has used it for within the past to either guard oneself or to travel into battle through.It ought to be noted that almost all martial arts weapons are prohibited to hold or utilize on the road in most components of the country and that I am positive this conjointly applies to the remainder of the elegant world thus to talk. This suggests that each one you are coaching with a stick or weapons are going to be curbed to the dojo, coaching hall or probably your home.

Demonstrate the weapon in different additional public places could get you in prison and even have your weapon impound. the opposite different is that a police detective can treat you as a doable threat and poisonous force is also by mistake applied which implies you may probably be sprayed with sprinkle, shot or maybe each.A one with a weapon that is in public is treated terribly critically by law enforcement and that they will not take possibilities when addressing an unknown scenario. >

That the 1st rule is; use your martial arts stick solely within the dojo, coaching hall or your dwelling.This rule might not apply to stay weapons like a hanbo, job or boo that simply indicate the various lengths of the picket sticks. Use sense when moving any style of martial arts mace to and on or after the dojo or coaching hall as a result of what appears innocent to you will look entirely completely different to somebody else.

You should use caution when addressing conduct weapons in any respect times. An easy resolution to carrying picket weapons is to urge a carry box to use when carrying them slight in public. These shipping cases are comparatively cheap and might solve several problems sooner than they arise.

Not everyone who studies martial arts moves does it because they’re interested in the discipline, philosophy, and grace of the arts themselves. Many people do it because they fear that one day, they will need to protect themselves from an attacker. Martial arts styles, histories, and traditions are irrelevant to this type of student, and it’s absolutely understandable. If you’re in that kind of situation, let me suggest a few martial arts moves that have saved lives in the past.

Oni Kudaki — Japanese for “Demon Crusher”, Oni Kudaki is a simple maneuver that will stop most drunken brawlers in their tracks. When the aggressor swings a fist in an even slightly circular fashion, perform a basic outer forearm block, but slide the back of your wrist up to the inside of your opponent’s elbow. Then rotate your hand palm-outward, and clasp your hands together around his elbow, with both of your wrists twisted. As you straighten out your wrists, his forearm will roll backwards and his elbow and shoulder will pull out-of-joint. He will either dislocate his shoulder or end up on the floor.

This technique is especially valuable because it can be done on any attacker that’s not two feet taller than you, and it works against a very common form of attack — a basic punch.

Nazad Pereryva — Russian for “Spine Breaker”, Nazan Pereryva is another nasty response to a basic punch, knife thrust, or other stabbing action to the face. When someone swings their fist or weapon at you, step past it to the outside, and sweep it further in the direction it’s already going with a basic outer forearm block. Step behind them with your outer foot, and slide your outer arm between their attacking arm and their head. Wrap it around their neck, bending them backward so that their head is in your armpit, and then drive your knee up into their spine until it breaks.

That trick of getting your arm around their neck can take some practice; it’s among the more difficult of Sambo’s martial arts moves. Still, if you can get it down in sparring, you can prove to any attacker that you are not to be trifled with.

Sahas-alis Sandata — Filipino for “snakebite disarm”, Sahas-alis Sandata is a technique that exists in several martial arts, but Escrima has its own beautiful variation. When someone attacks you with a club, knife, or other simple weapon, take a long step toward his chest but away from the path of the weapon — basically toward his opposite shoulder. At the same time, punch his bicep as hard as you can. Most martial arts stop here, but Escrima adds a graceful second step: a Batman-style backfist to the temple or nose, depending on which direction he’s facing. The weapon arm will be disabled for some time due to the bicep strike, and the blow to the skull will ring his bell for a few seconds as well — easily long enough for you to set up another of your close combat martial arts moves.

As you can see, martial arts styles from around the world have found very different and very effective responses to a pretty basic attack. Choose the one that fits best with your level of competence, aggression, and training. Part of the beauty of martial arts moves is that they come in such staggering variety.

At only four minutes long the fitness gains delivered through the Tabata method are almost unbelievable. Furthermore, this short duration means that any martial artist can adopt for use at home, while any martial arts teacher can use it in class. Be warned, the four minute workout will surprise you, it is no walk in the park as flat out intensity only is allowed!

The intensity of this workout not only improves fitness, both aerobic and anaerobic, but also burns fat for a number of hours post exercise due to the raised metabolism. Given the flat out intensity followed by short rest period methodology, the Tabata method closely mirrors both slef-defence and competitive fighting rendering it ideal for ALL martial artists.

With just eight rounds of 20 seconds effort and 10 seconds rest the Tabata method may appear easy enough, you will be surprised. This protocol is extremely versatile meaning that almost any aspect of training can be incorporated into a single workout. A complete Tabata cycle can involve conditioning exercises or specific skills or a bit of both. Mixing and matching exercises makes the workout more enjoyable.

Adjusting the protocol for the unfit or very fit.

Although the standard methodology is very taxing the intensity can be turned down or up as desired, to suit the fitness level of the single martial artist or entire group, by altering the cycles performed. This is a better option than reducing the actual ‘flat out’ intensity

Rounds.

Reducing the number of rounds to four or so for beginners will provide a starting point while increasing the number to ten or twelve will challenge the more experienced to a greater degree.

Timing structure.

Difficulty can also be manipulated by messing with the work to rest ratio. Beginners could start off with 10 or 20 seconds effort and 20 or even 30 seconds rest while the converse would increase the intensity of the workout while only minimally lengthening the duration of the workout.

Exercise Intensity.

Replacing regular press-ups with the clapping version increase the intensity hugely. Similarly, squats could include a jump to increase intensity

By adjusting these variables the intensity of a workout could vary between class members depending on experience. Alternatively, given the extremely short duration of the workout the class could be split by experience and/or fitness level, with each group performing a suitably adapted version.

Choosing the exercise.

Exercises should be chosen with care, conditioning exercises and/or skills used simply have to tax the cardio system, strength based muscle isolation exercises are not as effective. It is a good idea to choose exercises that involve a large amount of musculature.

The Tabata method is a great way to build fitness for ALL martial artists.