One of the reasons I got into karate as a kid was to learn how to do amazing things with my body as all things physical interested me. I liked climbing, fighting, riding a unicycle as well as hang gliding and scuba diving. Karate was just one more outlet to push my body to new heights.

I have found some activities that are not necessarily thought of as having anything to do with the martial arts but can be used to improve ones own strength, coordination and timing thereby improving your own martial art. I wrote a post on my other website (http://leananmean.com) about the fitness benefits of pole dancing here.

As you might know I try to find interesting material for this website that I can weave into karate, self-defense, conditioning, or general martial arts stories. In this post I will speak of fun conditioning exercises that one can do to help some facets of your overall martial art! I found this interesting (although a beginning foray) karate application of pole dancing.

Well although this was a very basic application of karate and pole dancing, I did see some good kicks off of the pole. I was and am still impressed at the level of fitness it takes to dance with a pole. I like the upside down/kick up moves. Now some of you are probably wondering how pole dancing might be applicable to the martial arts? One never knows where a fight will happen, and what skill might come in handy. I would argue that the better (and varied) your fitness level, the better chance you will have in a fight at unfamiliar surroundings.

Now I found some hula hoop videos but nothing related to karate (other than a fun way to get into shape). I found this video where the girl is doing some really interesting moves, keeping up to four hoops going at the same time. I would venture to say this girl could be good at martial arts judging from her coordination here.

I really love youtube because you can search for really great videos like this one. I think this is a great example of how an ancillary skill can improve your own martial art. Did you notice the timing, dexterity, and coordination required to pull this hula hoop dance off?

I found numerous examples of gymnastics that I think show off the body’s abilities. I do not think much of flipping or flying through the air in fighting because all you would have to do is to move out of the way but the conditioning to get your body into shape would be very helpful. Here is a video of a guy doing some amazing moves.

This guy has the coordination, timing and moves it takes to be great at any physical activity. I have used his one move of running sideways on the wall! When I was an up and coming brown belt I routinely sparred the black belts. On of the black belts seemed meaner than the rest and really motivated me to not get caught in a corner. He (John West) had me trapped in a corner one time and was coming at me. Now John was bigger, stronger and I thought we was also meaner! Anyway instead of running sideways (as would have made sense) I ran straight back and as he was following me, I ran up the wall on one side corner and down the other side corner wall and escaped!

When I took a gymnastics class in high-school we learned most of the stations, including the balance beam. One time messing around we played king of the balance beam (when the teacher had stepped out). Me an one other guy were the kings (he was in karate too) and I lost the face off. The balance beam was fairly easy for me though because I had a lifetime of walking on the top of fences (for fun as a kid).

I hope you have enjoyed this brief look at some exercises, dances that can contribute to your overall martial arts and fitness levels. Cheri Arbuckle commented on my post entitled, “Martial and Dance Arts Flexibility, Agility, and Coordination“ how another great dancing exercise she does is belly-dancing. I saw some belly-dancing on FIT TV but looked for some martial arts applications in addition to fitness and found this video.

Belly-dancing seems to really work ones abdominal muscles, and area the really contributes to lower back health. I remember when I had gotten out of shape for the first time, I had put my son in the bike seat and popped my back out of whack going up a hill! That injury was mostly because my abdominal muscles were weak from a new desk job and very few workouts at that time of my life.

Whatever fun ways you can find to keep your body sharp I think is good. I do bag work, sparing, kata, body surfing, mountain bike riding, jump rope, and walking/hiking. The one thing I do not suggest is you leave out the exercise because once you lose your flexibility, timing, coordination – it impacts your whole life, not just martial arts!

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What do you think it takes to be a good martial artist? Do you need knock out power? Do you need a mean karate yell? How about striking fear into the hearts of thugs of the world!!!? Well maybe but have you considered some the of attributes of the softer and many will argue the important parts of the martial arts? What am I talking about? Well flexibility, agility and coordination!

Can you throw a kick 7′ high? How about do a spinning heel hook kick or how about do a triple wheel kick to the groin, stomach and face without putting your foot down? These are examples of flexibility, agility, and coordination you might need in normal karate moves.  In this post I will talk about these points as well as different emphasis’s of martial arts. One size does not fit all and luckily the martial and dance arts includes hard and soft styles that can contribute to ones fitness and fighting ability. This first video is of Namaste Yoga as seen on Fitness TV.

I think yoga would fit in nicely with fighting arts training because improved flexibility and reduced stress would allow you to kick higher and focus your training better. Another benefit would be kata, or fighting dances improvement in the form and style. I’ve competed in kata at tournaments a couple of times but I was not what you would call really graceful. I think yoga would also complement martial arts training into old age – long after one competed in fighting training. Some modern dances require flexibility such as the snake dance I discovered on youtube while looking for martial and dance arts.

I have never seen anyone as flexible as this snake woman! Many of us have a tough time learning to do the almost-splits so our side kicks can go higher so it is amazing to see how flexible the human body can be with training. I do think anyone this flexible could succeed at a host of martial arts. I found this next video of a Northern Black Dragon dance where the practitioner in his own right is very agile.

The guys conditioning is superb! I really like those outside crescent kicks he was throwing from the one foot stance. You are starting to get an idea of how flexibility can improve ones martial art. I think it is just as important as a stress reducer to practice kata or some form of relaxation method or at the very least – stretching. This next martial art is what I hope to do in my old age. I have often wondered why people perform Tai Chi in the parks but as I am getting older; I am beginning to appreciate the slow kata’s of Tai Chi more and more.

I really enjoyed watching those hardbow (as I would say in Kenpo) transitions. This lady is very graceful and fluid in her movements! To be good at kata, one must master his or her own body. One must be strong, flexible, and graceful. A person proficient at Tai Chi Chaun has truly an inner strength and coincidentally the ability to use the moves defensively if needed.

As I stated at the beginning of this post, martial arts can encompass many goals for different people. If one wants to learn to be strong and agile but passive – they can do that with martial arts training. One can become an ultimate fighter too but just because one has a world title – does not make him or her a better martial artist then the 70 old woman practicing Tai Chi Chaun in the park. Obviously the two have different goals. One is looking at a lifetime of fitness, flexibility and a meditative state of nirvana. The other is very competitive and wants to show the world (for a time) he or she is the best of the best fighters in that weight class and competition! I think both (and many more) are all admirable goals and I have a world of respect for them!

I hope I was able to show how some of the softer skills are needed in the harder portions of the martial arts. Yes the Ying and Yang, the balance of power is still evident in today’s martial arts and sought after! I have mostly chased the harder or external martial arts most of my career but as I am getting more mature – I am seeing the benifits of the softer internal styles.

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One story of my martial arts career would span from one injury to the next. Seemingly injuries are part and parcel of karate, judo, boxing and any other physical sports. Do injuries have to occur? Are their best practices for warm-ups, stretches, workouts and cool-downs?

I started in karate learning how to toughen my knuckles and fingers so I could fight better. The rational was that if I deadened my blows, I could hit harder and get injured less. As I continued in karate training I came to the realization that I would not get in many fights during my lifetime so way worry about a few injuries? While this topic is important, I will focus more on the mechanics of normal workouts to see where they might be improved for martial arts. Here is a video of injury prevention for some soccer players (football for the rest of the world).

Did you notice that the girls were being conditioned to use their legs in the way they play soccer? Martial arts conditioning is much the same. While when I was younger I did not stretch out before I sparred, I did have to go slow at first or I would have pulled a muscle.

A student ideally should first stretch out the legs and entire body before starting warm-ups. After you are stretched out then you should use the muscle group in the same way you want to workout. For instance you might stretch out your legs to gain greater flexibility and then do some half-speed kicks on the bag to get the muscles used to the motion.

After you have stretched out and warmed up, then you should be ready for a workout. One more thing – after the workout, walk it it off if need be and then do some cooling-down stretches. This will yet increase your flexibility.

Keep in mind when stretching that you should be taught how to do this initially or you might try and overdo it. If you over-stretch your leg and pull it… It may take months to fully heal again so be careful.

Now for the more important discussion (as I think basic methodology should be well known) about how to workout with injuries. A few times I would injure my leg or arm and be faced with stopping my workouts or adjusting my workouts so I could still do them.

Most recently I tweaked my arm lifting an awkward load and almost broke my forearm (but pulled some tendons). I could not put/pull any weight so I had to stop boxing workouts on the bag. I did more leg drills on the bag and also walked and ran. I’ve had to workout with just hands when I’ve hurt my leg in the past.

The most important thing I can tell you about injury prevention other than doing your warm-ups and stretches is to aviod hurting existing injuries! I cannot stress this enough because once a body part is injured, it is far easier to re-injure the affected part, increasing healing time. This last time I really missed my boxing workouts for several months.

As for the nature of the beast toughening of the body parts, if that is your chosen method – try and work up to the calluses and deadening of nerves that you seek. If you end up injuring yourself – it will take that much longer to get back to that which you enjoy. I thought I would leave you with some funny sports injuries in this video.