Is Cardio A Part Of Martial Arts?
Fighting is a very physical activity, whether you're fighting for sport, or just stay alive, either way it is a very physical activity. And while the mental game of a fight is also a huge portion, I'm just gonna talk about the physical parts of a fight.
Most instructors or coach would consider The physical proficiency of the specific skill. In other words, the physical skill of throwing a punch, a kick, or a takedown are usually a martial arts. Instructors number one Focus in any given class. Teaching the physical skill of the techniques involved in the martial art are very important, in fact, I list them second in the importance of the physicality involved. In other words, they'll focus more on physically being able to throw a hard punch, a hard kick, or an effective takedown. Teaching the physical skill of these very important techniques is necessary, but without any energy to throw, the techniques is even more important. Checking the status of your tires is very important in seeing if your car is ready to make a long trip, but no matter how ready the tires are, if the gas tank is empty, the car is going nowhere. I feel the same way about martial arts. You could have the best techniques in the world, but if you'r gas tank/cardio is empty, all your techniques are useless. Cardio is king.
Have you ever seen a fighter in the cage who's beating the hell out of his opponent, but then all of a sudden, it seems like he hit the wall and his techniques get sloppy, his breathing becomes heavily labored, and his defense is nonexistent, that's exactly what "running out of gas” in a fight, luckily, in sport, there's a referee to protect you, if you run out of gas in the street, the referee is not there to protect you, your attacker is there to hurt or kill you I would rather you have the energy to throw not so great techniques, then, to have the best techniques in the world, but no energy to throw any of them. I'll admit I get more jazzed up when I feel like my punches and kicks are really hard, and I don't think too much about cardio at the time. Usually a dynamic at powerful athlete are sexier than the not-too-powerful or strong athlete who has better cardio. Lifting weights seems sexier than running miles. strength and power work is much more exciting and fun to do than cardio. Just like spending money on extravagant things is sexier than putting in the bank and saving it. Doing things you don't necessarily like because it's better for you in the future is the definition of discipline. Usually, the cardio aspect of your workouts are not necessarily the most boring, but they are the most painful, at least inspiring you get to try to inflict pain back. The pain that you get in your cardio workout, usually comes from your body, going into anaerobic metabolism during your high-intensity, interval, training. As someone who has not only engaged in hundreds of actual to the knockout fights, and competed in a pretty high level of physical competition for my age group, I feel the pain I felt doing 150 Wall, balls, and 150 Burpee, and 150 double unders while trying to beat my competitors, I'm gonna have to say physically I have felt more pain in the CrossFit games, then I have in my fighting career. As a martial artist, doing cardio correctly, will mean that you are spending a lot of time "without oxygen" and in an anaerobic workout, you will be spending a lot of time without oxygen, that is a very unpleasant feeling. If you don't believe me, try to hold your breath for three minutes and find out, it's not that you can't do it physically, it just hurts too much. The main point I'm making is the reason that most martial arts school spend more time doing KATA, and other slow memorized choreographed techniques, then hard-core, anaerobic training. And the reason they do this is because, even though you're doing things for the right reason, most people will quit if they experience pain, and 150 Burpee for time, hurts like hell.
It's pretty obvious why the majority of martial arts schools don't push hard cardio training in the curriculum, it hurts, and they'll lose students. I don't like that reason, and I think it is made for a much softer generation of martial artists. That might be saving them from some physical pain, but they have to be taught that this is what they need to become an efficient, martial artist. One who can effectively protect themselves and their families. it's hard for martial arts schools, who have for so long taken this easy route to want to change, but if you are reading this, you probably have a similar mindset that I have. I think, neglecting physical conditioning as one of the essential tenants of any core martial arts system is doing a severe disservice to your students. I also feel it full. Body conditioning is not part of your core curriculum, you are not teaching a martial art, you are teaching a partial art.
I not only feel like heavy, physical conditioning, including power, strength, and extreme cardio should be a part of every martial artists, core curriculum, I also feel it should be the number one priority in Belt testing, Bell promoting, and curriculum. People just have to realize that power skill and extreme proficiency in any martial art technique is 100% useless if the gas tank is empty. Push your cardio to the limit. It will be uncomfortable, in fact, it will even hurt, but it can make the difference between going home to your family, or going to the morgue. And the beautiful thing is the side effect of all this hard-core, very, intense anaerobic physical conditioning program is that even if you never have to defend your life or your family's life, the side effect of all this training is, you will live not only longer, but much better, you will not only look better, you look much better, and not only will you be more productive in life, you will be much more productive. God bless you.
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