Martial Artists often perform extra conditioning exercises, maybe the same ones that are performed in class. Often it’s a good idea to work out your own personal routine.
What exercises you choose depends on several factors
Time
Either how much time you can spare or how much time you want to commit. You could train as much as four hours a day 7 days a week but this may be too much. You could train for 10 minutes a day 4 days a week. It’s completely down to personal preference and what your personal goals are.
Style
Different Martial Arts have different requirements. As an example Taekwondo requires lots of kicking techniques so conditioning exercises could involve a fair amount of leg exercises and flexibility work. If your competing you would also require more intense cardio to build stamina. Another example is Tai Chi Chuan, conditioning may be light stretching and some Qigong exercises and maybe some meditation.
Age
Of course any style of Martial Art can be performed at any age. As you progress in life you may have old injuries or ailments you wish to control and protect which could effect your exercise routine. Sometimes running and high intensity training that puts stress on your joints could cause problems as you age. Younger people could also find light stretching, yoga or meditation very boring and not very energetic.
Why do you do Martial Arts?
Keep fit – you may prefer to focus on general keep fit
Self-defence – your focus could be more on developing your striking techniques and combinations
Traditional Arts – focus on your kata, forms and the traditional aspect of your style
A good balance would be to incorporate all of the above to varying degrees.
Lifestyle
Any exercise is good but choosing a routine that suits your lifestyle and Martial Art style is a good way to find physical, mental and spiritual balance.
Personally I prefer about an hour a day, five days per week. I have weekends off. It’s good to have variety in your routines. If you do exactly the same routine every time you train it could become very boring. You could try alternating more demanding exercises such as push ups, leg raises and sit ups with more static stretching and meditative routine the following day. Half of my training time I spend doing Tai Chi and Wing Chun forms with some striking and kicking techniques once a week.
In forthcoming articles I will suggest some of my preferred exercises and routines. Simply go to the Work Out category.
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