Conditioning Importance in Martial Arts

In any area of the martial arts there needs to be conditioning. Within the groups that focus on traditionalistic approaches it comes as part of the program. For competitive they have to train a particular way just to be on par with the other competitors. The group that neglects conditioning the most is the area of focus I am primarily apart of the self–defense group. While talking to one of the elite students in my class he made the point that in self-defense you shouldn’t rely on adrenaline magically making you fit for the 20 seconds, escape and then go back to normal.

When it comes to self–defense the entire goal is to create techniques and strategies for a person who is physically smaller, weaker and less aggressive to take down a bigger, stronger more aggressive opponent. This is the ideal when self–defense techniques are created. Sadly, many neglect the advantages of conditioning training and rely solely on the technique.

Conditioning for self–defense does not guarantee that you will have better odds of escape but it helps equalize what would already be a great disparity in combative abilities. The only thing you really lose by conditioning is the time it takes to train. It does not even take fancy equipment. Most warm-ups done in class can be done at home.

It really does not take much to condition yourself for self–defense. It all depends on your fighting style and starting body build. I prefer to hit fast and hard with striking and move like a snake with grappling. For my personal fighting style, I found having less muscle to work better to weave around my opponents. My father has the opposite fighting style. He likes to be strong enough to hit his opponents as few times as necessary and possibly take a hit or two with striking. Then with grappling he wants to pin them down with his weight, trap and submit them. He does much more body building in order to achieve this. The important thing is that you put yourself in better shape to reduce the chances of being a target and increase the probability of escaping.