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Martial Arts Training & ExercisesDiscuss martial arts training and exercises here
The above link is to a post I made a while back on these forums about using weights for training. Specifically I talked about ankle and wrist weights along with the advantages and disadvantages. Also I talked about the use of weighted clothing, such as the weight vests that are out there.
Recently I came upon a local in door pool. I have been using it to train for my 2nd Dan test. However I have not been using it in the same way that you might be thinking. In this little post I will talk about all the various ways that you can use pools to benefit your training.
The most obvious training activity you can do in a pool is swiming laps. Swiming laps is very low impact, so it saves your joints. In addition it will also burn a lot of calories per hour in comparison to running. Finally swiming will also build some some very impressive muscular endurance. However generally this will require good swiming technique. If you already know how to swim, that's great. If not you will have to devert time from martial arts training for swim training (a useful skill, but not what we are after).
Another training technique is breath training. Basically you want to see how far you can swim underwater or how long you can stay underwater. This will teach you to take deeper breaths as well as slowly expand your overall lung capasity. Finally swiming underwater will also get your body used to stresses such as lack of oxygen and eye irritation (if you open your eyes underwater. The obvious danger here is drowning. So if you plan on swiming underwater make sure the pool is free of large floatation devices. They are very easy to get trapped under and life guards might not be able to see you and save you in time.
The last obvious training method is diving. In this case last is least. Mostly you will be focused on how to dive as opposed to martial arts training. Although, you will learn a bit about coordination and balance. Generally I would advise against diving as martial arts training.
In all of the above, athletes tend to shave all the hair from their bodies. I don't recommend that martial artists do this specifically for swiming as our main goal by training in water is to increase the resistance against our muscles, not setting new world records. Shaving is counter productive.
Now, on to the less obvious training methods in a pool.
These exercises should be performed in water that is about up to your shoulders or neck. When your body is submerged it displaces the water around you. When an object displaces any fluid, the fluid tries to reject the object and places a force on the object proportional to its volume (this is why less dense things float in water). So the water will start to push on your skin in each direction. This will make it slightly harder to breathe, thus strengthening your lungs and diaphragm, our first advantage.
While you are submerged there are two basic things you can do. The first is running, the second is your technique.
When you first start off running in water you will notice that it is very hard. This is because water prevents movement much more than air does. You probably won't move that fast, but it is ok. We are not looking to break records, we are looking to build up endurance and stamina while burning calories. If you are moving as fast as you can, you might feel a slight pain alround your body. This is because the water has higher resistance, thus friction, than the air. Basically the motion against water is sanding down your skin. This will simulatneously make your skin smoother and more resistant to pain.
Finally you can also practice your techniques with your body submerged. Unlike the ankle or the wrist wieghts on land, using water for resistance is very low impact. So if you are worried about your joints, this will help save them a bit. As you train your technique underwater you will be building up muscular endurance and speed at the same time. In a previous post I talked about slow and fast twitch muscles. By trying to snap your moves underwater you will bring your fast twitch muscles to their limit. After that limit your slow twitch muscles will do the work. (If you know Tai Chi, that is excellent to do in a pool as it will strengthen your movements through the increased resistance.)
In general training in water reduces the impact on your joints, decreases your chance of heat stroke and increases resistance on your whole body. This breaks the normal rule of higher resistance means higher impact. As you can see training in a pool has many advantages, however there are also disadvantages:
- It is impossible to effectively jump underwater, meaning practicing jump kicks is out.
- Whenever you are around more than a foot of water drowning is a risk. Be safe.
- The force the water puts on you decreases your net weight (a 10 pound rock is about as hard to move in the water as you are) so this makes it very hard to step up training once you get used to it. (You can make 'weights' out of sponge-like pool floatation devices, but those are limited in usefulness.)
- If you are in a public pool, space is an issue.
- Being underwater will make it almost impossible to fall down. As a result, balance is not trained in the slightest. Practicing moves you don't know very well underwater is a good way to get into bad habits and ruin your ability to do that move effectively.
- If you are of fair skin (like myself) or you have skin cancer in the family medical history (like myself) sunburn is a big issue. Use plenty of waterproof sunscreen or go to an indoor pool (like myself).
- You can only really do this in the summer when pools are open, unless you have an indoor pool near your house.
This is pretty much everything I can tell you from my experience in martial arts and several years working at a public pool where senior citizens did a water-aerobics class. I know that we are currently in the dead of winter, but hopefully you will be able to retain some of this information until May when it gets warm enough for the pools to open again.
excellent post! could it be stickied? i want to start swimming more, but can't afford it finacially or time wise right now, so it would be nice to find this post again when i can.
the sunscreen comment was a tad depressing, thanks for reminding me that a lot of people aren't suffering through winter like i am! but i can't complain too much, winters have been much milder with all the carbon emissions.
It's like in that movie Shaolin Soccer, which someone should make a thread about (), where the bad guy was training kicking the soccer balls out of the water, building up the strength in his legs.
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I know that aside from swimming laps, part of my training is putting on my dive belt (I scuba), goggles, and, using an extended hose, I leave my tank of the surface so I don't have the extra weight, and can still breath and fully submerge myself in water to train. While the difference between keeping your head out, and fully submerged may not seem that great, trust me, it is. There is a lot more preasure put on your chest, making it harder to breath controled while training, and the deeper you go, the more preasure there is on your body, so the harder it is to move. I train in 7 feet right now, cuz that covers my head by...6 inches :P but hopefully be the end of summer, I will have moved to 8 or 9 feet.
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I can see how this would help with building speed and build and condition muscles. The deeper you go the more pressure that will be around you body. It will also help with your breathing due to the pressure against your lungs.
Nicely written. I agree with you that water training is very beneficial. When comparing swimming to running, its amazing how many little muscles are being worked that arent when running.
I have also written an article about shadow boxing in water to build speed. Check it out if you like, Marks Chat: Shadow Boxing in Water
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If you want to train you arms and legs while at the pool (Or beach), just do kicking drills and punching drills in the water.
All you need to do is to walk into the water so that the water is at your chin-level and then all you need to do is to start kicking and punching.
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Water Resistance
), where the bad guy was training kicking the soccer balls out of the water, building up the strength in his legs.
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