The Martial Athlete vs. the Martial Artist

[Adonis]

I thought it was more like adonis. LOL!

[Azula]

I do everything you said except for weight lifting, because i like to be skinny/muscle and fast. I currently run everyday, I do Judo and Aikido pushups everyday, i work on my stomach in any way possible until i nearly pass out, i do almost everything to get my body in perfect condition. And i never have even tried and boxing/kick boxing, i've only done Traditional Japanese martial arts, which they train me very hard. Flexibility is also very important to training the muscles, and in martial arts im sure there is much more of that then in boxing. Now answer one question... do you think Lewis(by the time he's 70 years old) would probably kick a martial artist's butt?

[Jiffy]

I am by no stretch of the imagination a Martial Athlete, but I believe I am a Martial Artist in the truest sence of the word. I live and breathe Martial Arts every minute.

[Adonis]

Martail Athelete is one I consider training for sport fighting competions, MMA events, or point fighting events, or what ever type of competion a person chooses, at high level comps, Winner can come down to which one is more physically conditioned.

,A better choice of words is physical conditioning. Covering (strength training and endurance, cardio endurance, and flexibility, and diet) having a healthy life style is important for a martial artist and especially for a martial athelete.

More some one learns to control there body and improve it the better you can move and peform physical movements.

If you train weights properly you won't become slower in fact you can become faster. There is an article in black belt magazine I believe its either the June or July Issue with Pride FC fighter Dan Hendoson on the cover. In the Article on him in Bleck Belt Magazine. He talks about his weight training routine. Were he does light weight and high reps. He said he would do leight weight and do one set of a 100 reps and then move on to the next excercise. This is one method were it helps with your muslce endurance to condition your muslces to keep going and not get fatigued.

That Is All,

The Adonis

[elbows_and_knees]

I do everything you said except for weight lifting, because i like to be skinny/muscle and fast.

why do people always assume a bigger guy is slower? if he were so slow he couldn't hit you, smaller guys would KO big guys and sports wouldn't need weight classes. I bet tyson in his prime punched faster than anyone on this forum - and he weighed 225 (same as me...)

Flexibility is also very important to training the muscles, and in martial arts im sure there is much more of that then in boxing.

a boxer's body is very supple. they stretch just as you do. Now, a kicking ma, like a thai boxer, kerateka, etc. will be more flexible in the lower regions because they kick. a boxer doesn't have to be as flexible in the legs.

Now answer one question... do you think Lewis(by the time he's 70 years old) would probably kick a martial artist's butt?

yeah, I do. Why?

1. he's got the fighting experience

2. he'll likely still have more power

assuming that the MA is also 70. If he is a young guy, then no. But I would put my money on a young ma over a 70 year old ma also. that's just what happens with age.

[elbows_and_knees]

If you train weights properly you won't become slower in fact you can become faster. There is an article in black belt magazine I believe its either the June or July Issue with Pride FC fighter Dan Hendoson on the cover. In the Article on him in Bleck Belt Magazine. He talks about his weight training routine. Were he does light weight and high reps. He said he would do leight weight and do one set of a 100 reps and then move on to the next excercise. This is one method were it helps with your muslce endurance to condition your muslces to keep going and not get fatigued.

training extremely heavy does something similar. The most explosive athletes on the planet are powerlifters. and you can powerlift without adding much size, if you don't want to add mass.

[bushido_man96]

I noticed that this is an old post, but I will give my 2 cents anyhow. I feel that TMA's who say that strength training and conditioning is useless are a thing of the past. Many will be now realize the advantages of engaging in such exercises.

As for the question, if you take two martial people, one artist and one athlete, and all things being equal, the athlete will probably have the advantage. Now, once things like strategy, state of mental toughness, and other intangibles enter the equation, the result can change.

Now, I have a question. Can't martial artist and martial athlete be the same thing? There could be a lot of grey area involved. The unfortunate thing about this whole scenario is that obviously not everyone has the time and money to spend training to be professional fighters. So, you will naturally see a difference between the two. It is like playing a pick-up basketball game with a couple of pros. Gonna be hard to beat.

By the way, this is a nice thread.

[Jiffy]

why do people always assume a bigger guy is slower?

Because bigger guys are often more generally tense. Being tense means that both agonistic and antagonistic muslces are at least partially contracting. As we all know, movement relies on one of the pairs being more relaxed than the other. Speed of movement dictates that the greater the difference in relaxation/flexion, the greater the speed. If both sides are partially tensed, the difference between them is reduced and therefore, so is the speed.

[Jiffy]

That's only very generally speaking of course. Some big guys are very fast, but just answering why there is this stereotype.

[Azula]

More muscle compared to fat also makes one much faster, but you're right about the tenseness. My karate instructors always tell me that im too tense and that i need to be more response, and i ne'er asked them why, but now i know why.