When To Start Training

[BoulderDawg]

Having been in Kung Fu for about a year now some of the concepts and forms are just now starting to click in. I'm now using some of these in sparring whereas before during sparring everything that I learned in class sorta went out the window......I would just get in there and punch and kick.

The biggest thing that I had to overcome was not being in the best of shape when I started. Now I know I'm not alone here. We get new people in our school everyday that are in a lot worse shape than I was when I started. However I'm wondering if I would have been better off to actually try and get in good shape before I begun my Kung Fu training or (as I did) use the training as a fitness conditioning.

[Pork Chop]

the problem with telling folks to get in shape before they come through the door is that a lot of times that's the last time you'll see them.

at least if you're training at the same time as trying to get in shape, you're still training and creating a good habit.

i'd say if you have people coming in like you say, maybe the school or teacher should have a general fitness program for people like that before progressing to the other stuff.

[PlumDragon]

I wrote a long passage and then deleted it all when I realized something:

Martial arts uses a specific set of muscle groups and exercises/drills; while there are supplemental activities for martial arts fitness, the best way to gain fitness for martial arts is to do martial arts. ;)

[Chief Fox]

A lot of people have these regrets. I wish I was in better shape when I started. I wish I had started 10 years earlier. You can't worry about that stuff. Just do the best you can, work hard and smart and be the best you can be now.

Yesterday is gone. Train for tomorrow.

[SevenStar]

I wrote a long passage and then deleted it all when I realized something:

Martial arts uses a specific set of muscle groups and exercises/drills; while there are supplemental activities for martial arts fitness, the best way to gain fitness for martial arts is to do martial arts. ;)


then why do we have overweight black belts and masters? More often than not, ma training is not enough to achieve fitness. This is more true with traditional styles. the training will indeed condition your body to the stimuli it deals with in class, but that is not necessarily fitness.

[jigahus]

A lot of people have these regrets. I wish I was in better shape when I started. I wish I had started 10 years earlier. You can't worry about that stuff. Just do the best you can, work hard and smart and be the best you can be now.

Yesterday is gone. Train for tomorrow.

That's exactly my situation.

[BoulderDawg]

then why do we have overweight black belts and masters? More often than not, ma training is not enough to achieve fitness. This is more true with traditional styles. the training will indeed condition your body to the stimuli it deals with in class, but that is not necessarily fitness.


I think it's not enough to simply train just in Martial Arts. I think your training encompasses every aspect of your life.

I recently saw a special about martial arts on TV and they featured this master who had to go somewhere near 300 pounds! Personally I could not train with a master that did not have the discipline to keep his body in shape.

[Pork Chop]

Not sure that I agree with the idea that you have to be some toned, in shape guy to teach:

http://www.boxrec.com/media/images/7/70/Damato.jpg

Or even have all that pretty a body to fight:
http://www.doghouseboxing.com/Media/RayMercer_BIG_WarriorsBoxing.jpg
http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2006/writers/richard_hoffer/03/20/toney.rahman/p1_toney_0320.jpg
http://www.gianiaz.net/images/yang_chen_fu.jpg
http://www.lungyingjingjung.com/images/masterlamlopgei.jpg
http://www.energyarts.com/hires/library/masters/hung%20%20i.htm

[SevenStar]

I completely agree. I just dont agree with plum dragon's assertion that MA training = fitness.

[PlumDragon]

Sevenstar, to offer some corrollary on the topic:

Perhaps we need to define fitness for this forum then. Originally, fitness had a connotation in natural selection...Personally, I was kind of under the impression that fitness meant "the degree to which one is fitted or adapted to his/her environment". To me, fitness doesnt always mean ripped muscles and 7% bodyfat. So define it how you wish and Ill be happy to adapt my rhetoric to the environment. If we decide to define fitness as "ripped muscles and 7% bodyfat", then my response to the topic will most assuredly change! ;)

With that said, I will whole-heartedly agree with you sevenstar, that there are plenty of black belts out there who are out of shape, not fit, not well suited to their martial arts environment, so forth. But I dont blame the martial arts for their lack of fitness, but rather their personal lack, or the lack of the instructor, to maintain motivation and standards commensurate with what should be ubiquitous in martial arts, or any physical activity for sport or combat.

[franco1688]

When I first started training I was a chubby 13 year old. I'm glad I just started training rather than trying to get into shape first. If I would have worried about that I probably would have never started. Kung Fu will get you limber and into shape but it may only take you so far. Use your training as your foundation and build around that so that you progress further. Just remember whatever training you do, do it to complement your art. If your lacking cardio fitness or need to drop a few more pounds , run; if you need to increase your strength, strength train. Sure, martial arts may help in these areas to a certain extent but to be a successful martial artist you need to be an all around athlete. Some MA schools are good at fooling people into believing that their style is the answer to everything (strength, cardio fitness, etc.), but as an experienced martial artist I'll be the first to tell you that they are not. Just take a look at professional athletes. To build strength they lift weights and/or do bodyweight exercises, to build endurance, they run. If Kung Fu held all the secrets to obtaining superior physical fitness everyone would do it. This is coming from someone who holds a black sash in Chinese Martial Arts. I do my Kung Fu trainings everyday but I supplement it with running, weightlifting (and other stregth training methods), and I train in other styles (no one art is complete). In closing, I just wanted to say that I think it's great that you're training and regardless of what anyone says, if you love what you're doing, keep doing it. But remember, you have to keep your mind open to other methods of training if you want to progress as a martial artist and an athlete.

There are those whom have many belts, and there is he who trains.
There are those whom have collected many forms, and there is he who trains.
There are those whom discuss, contemplate, and theorize, and there is he who trains.
In the end who do you think will prosper more from the art the dreamers and the collectors or he who trains? -unknown

[Wood Dragon]

When you hand out uniforms and belts, hand out a jump rope as well.

It's more useful than the belts and uniforms.