The basics of physical fitness include flexibility, strength, power, speed, muscular endurance, balance and cardiovascular fitness. Each martial art has developed its own workout routines to cultivate the body type and mentality that’s best for the art form.
Following the aerobic-exercise fad of the 1980s, it became increasingly popular to integrate martial arts training into non-martial artist workout routines. The 1990s saw the advent of the oft-ridiculed Tae Bo. Tae Bo was not a self-defense system, yet many misled individuals thought the exercises could be applied to self-defense scenarios. However, this was an important development because mainstream America saw new value in learning martial arts. Today, more people practice martial arts in the United States than ever before.
More recently, elements of mixed martial arts training have been incorporated into workout videos. Champions like Chuck Liddell, Frank Shamrock and Mauricio Rua have released DVDs that demonstrate exercise routines with an emphasis on conditioning for fights.
– November 26, 2012
Street attacks are typically quick, brutal events intended to overwhelm the victim. Learn how “Combatives for Street Survival” author Kelly McCann stays conditioned for quick, explosive and equally brutal counterattacks in this exclusive article!
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– July 11, 2012
The combination of cardio fitness and the martial arts has been a boon to the martial arts industry. The popularity of such programs has greatly promoted public awareness and participation. Unfortunately, despite the positive aspects of the martial arts fitness trend, it has also produced some potentially dangerous side effects.
If
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– February 14, 2012
Scott Bolan and Mike Gillette contend that many martial artists do not pay enough attention to the neck as a vital target. This may be due to its status as a forbidden zone in traditional martial arts training and martial arts competitions. However, if one considers how the neck is
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– July 27, 2011
In this exclusive martial arts fitness video, John Spezzano shows you how to execute the overhead lunge with a kettlebell! John Spezzano is the author of The Martial Arts/Kettlebell Connection, which contains detailed photographic instruction on this kettlebell technique and scores of others to help your kettlebell training in the
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– June 6, 2011
There are a few videos floating around the Web of old-time catch-as-catch-can wrestler Billy Robinson. In one of them, he recounts easily handling a famous strongman in the early 1970s. After beating him over and over, Billy Robinson claims the bewildered powerlifter asked him, “What makes you so good?”
Billy Robinson’s
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– May 25, 2011
In the 1990s, a new category of martial arts emerged: reality-based self-defense. It was spearheaded by systems such as krav maga, Tony Blauer’s Tactical Systems and senshido, along with padded-assailant programs like Peyton Quinn’s RMCAT. The emphasis on practicality and real-world applications was also fueled by the rise of the
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– May 20, 2011
Fitness expert Kevin Kearns was interviewed for the article “Fighting Fitness 101″ in the October 2010 issue of Black Belt. In this exercise tutorial, Kearns shows you how to execute bench dips on a stability ball.
– May 9, 2011
Kevin Kearns is the creator of the Burn With Kearns conditioning system for MMA athletes. In this exercise tutorial, Kearns shows you how to use the agility ladder and Bodyblade for a variety of challenging conditioning drills.
– May 5, 2011
A 30-year veteran of the martial arts, John Spezzano is a full instructor of Jun Fan gung fu / jeet kune do concepts and the Philippine martial arts under Dan Inosanto. Spezzano is also qualified to teach maphilindo silat (under Inosanto), wing chun (under Francis Fong) and muay Thai (under
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– April 8, 2011
A 30-year veteran of the martial arts, John Spezzano is a full instructor of Jun Fan gung fu / jeet kune do concepts and the Philippine martial arts under Dan Inosanto. Spezzano is also qualified to teach maphilindo silat (under Inosanto), wing chun (under Francis Fong) and muay Thai (under
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