Why do some Martial Artists decide not to do weights?

Question

Cant you do weights and be fast?

Answer 1

IQ Fitness nailed it.

A lot of people are purely ignorant of the facts, and of different weight routines.

The guy talking about fast twitch has it all wrong as well, fast twitch (quick explosive power) is what you do with the Martial Arts, unless you are doing Tae Bo, the vast majority of Martial Arts is Anaerobic activity. (Sprinting)

You can lift for lean, strong, quick muscle. You just have to know what you are doing.

Lifting weights doesn't mean getting bulky period, sure if you lift weights a certain way (SLOW TWITCH), with super slow reps, low reps, high weight. Yes, you will get more mass, and become slower.

However most athletes don't lift that way, and most Martial Artist who truly know what they are doing don't lift that way.

I promise you the same proponents for NOT weight training are the same guys who don't spar, and believe in techniques that are "too deadly to spar".

Meaning people who want a short cut. Sure they will spend 3 hours doing the same kata, or holding some bizarre stance, and feel that they are hardcore. However they don't get hit in the face, they don't go out and do roadwork, swim, lift weights, or do massive cardio routines, and they don't truly know or understand half of what they think they are talking about.

Every single athlete from sprinters, Olympians, Football players, Basketball players, Golfers, so on and so on, all lift weights. A Martial Artist is an athlete, (or should be despite what some fat white asianophile 10th degree grandmaster of his own style may think) and should train like an athlete with sport specific lifts and routines. For a Martial Artist that is circuits, Olympic style lifts to build power and explosion, and fast twitch based exercises.

In fact, I would argue most RESPECTED Martial Artist do in fact do some form of lifting. From Bruce Lee, to Benny The Jet Urdiquidez, to Buakaw Por. Pramuk, to Chuck Norris etc. etc.

Don't get me wrong, body weight and plyometric exercises are a great way to go. I personally do both and vary my routines with 3 weeks of weight lifting routines, 3 weeks of plyos, and 3 weeks of both.

I think some Martial Artist do not lift because they don't understand proper training and conditioning. They don't lift because they are ignorant or arrogant, or both. They are set in their ways, and have been taught using fallacies, rhetoric and illogical thinking.

I know it sounds harsh, most of it isn't that they are intentionally trying to fool themselves, they just don't really know.

Answer 2

Being able to lift a heavy weight can help to make one stronger and more powerful but it also makes you slower. Most martial artists do body weight training and limited weight training but not like a bodybuilder or gymnast.

UFC 1-4 and Bob Sapp's fights are good examples. You might have 200 pounds of muscle more than your opponent but fighting is more than lifting weights. The stronger opponent definitely has an advantage but only if he is in position to use his strength. To get into such a position, one must use skill.

Answer 3

Weight training can be an effective part of an overall martial arts training routine, but weight lifting itself is not necessary to achieve the same desired results. There are many sport specific exercises that can be used to acheive the same results - so it largely comes down to what the individual martial arts likes, enjoys, and want to train with.

The one thing to be careful of is weight training to the point where flexibility is inhibited and bulking up is so excessive that normal range of motion becomes limited. A reasonable maintenance program along with flexibility and speed training should be just fine.

Balance is the key. Some of my students weight train, do yoga, and jog or swim as well as sport sepcific training and exercises.


Ken C
9th Dan HapMoosaKi-Do
8th Dan TaeKwon-Do
7th Dan YongChul-Do

Answer 4

Anyone that thinks that lifting weights is a hinderence is an idiot. End of story.

The person crapping on about not needing fast twitch fibres is an idiot.

A vast majority of fighting is in the lactate zone not the aerobic zone. Therefore lactate tolerance training is not only beneficial but madatory.

All of the people that tell you that doing weights is dumb and do body weight instead are dumb. Resistance is resistance, your body doesn't know the difference between a barbell and a push up.

Basically too many people are basing their training methods on emotion and not on science. If you want to know whether to do weights or not have a look at what pro athletes do and go from there.

I'm tipping any athlete worth anything lifts period.

Answer 5

Richard W has a great response, but I'd like to add to it.

Building muscle does make you stronger, however, according to the laws a physics (something we all live by) having bigger muscles does not mean you have more power. Power is measured in energy.

The formula for energy is it equals 1/2Mass x Velocity(squared).

If you factor that into the equation, you'll see that quickly there comes a point when muscle mass, while strength producing, actually does very little for a martial artist that needs true striking power. Instead, that artist needs speed. I like to use this analogy: would you rather be hit by a brick traveling at 10 mph or a needle traveling at 70?

Answer 6

First of all I think you need to understand the meaning of the word Martial Arts “Martial arts or fighting arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for combat. Martial arts all have a very similar objective: defend oneself or others from physical threat”. You seem to equate all Martial arts with having an “Eastern” philosophy, many others have different philosophies and reasons why we study. Also you say “How these people act nowadays just completely goes against how my old Karate teacher taught me so many years ago (about how we should use martial arts for defense, respect our opponents no matter who they may be, and all those other values)”, then wouldn’t that be as much on the instructor and his/her philosophy. It seems that you want all people who study the martial arts to think the same way you/your “old karate teacher thinks…. People are different, good or bad people are different. One last thing, you stated: “martial arts encompasses one's values within it” yet you seem to want everyone to follow your values. The respect I show in training was not taught in MA training, I had it before I ever started training. Now do I think its right to go around and try to start fights, no it not acceptable behavior… not just in MA but in life. Across the board people have forgotten to act civil (and I admit that I have been guilty of that on more than one occasion), but I work on improving myself and others (not just good ones that many of the ‘teacher’ would not allow into their dojos) and that is what a teacher (MA or other) should do. We win some and lose some, and the ones we lose sometimes leave the same ‘jerk’ as when they came in. (sorry I’m rambling).

Answer 7

For soft martial arts like Tai Chi and Aikido for example, weight lifting would be counterproductive since the tenseness one gets from hardened muscles would hinder the smooth and relaxed movement need to to apply some specialized techniques, where a supple and loose muscle would be more appropriate. One also loses a certain degree of tactile sensivity with harder packed muscles and tend to favor upper body and arm strenght over waist generated power when applying techniques. Which is not to say weight training has no use at all in martial arts. For hard styles like Muay Thai, TKD and the grappling arts like Judo and Jujitsu, weight training when properly utilized can be a great tool for enhancing one's ability, but when used improperly,can also be detrimental. A classic example is Bruce Lee, who used weight training to strengthen his forearms, shoulders, leg and back muscles as well as his abs, but made sure he didn't bulk up his biceps and chest so as not to hinder his punching ability. When I look at Ken Shamrock and the way he punches, which looks more like a push than a punch due to his bulky chest and biceps, Bruce's logic makes a lot of sense. Besides, as long as your muscles are in proportion and not overly developed like a Hulk reject, you can still stay flexible and agile, Van Damme is one proof of that, he might not be able to do sh1t despite his muscular build in real life, but you gotta admit he moves pretty fast and gracefully for a muscle bound guy.

Answer 8

Doing weights builds muscles of a different kind than that needed for martial arts.

There are two types of muscles, fast twitch and slow twitch. Weightlifting builds the fast twitch, which don't use oxygen to get energy, instead they build up lactic acid when they burn sugar causing cramp and fatigue. The lactic acid is removed during recovery periods (ie rest) and the fatigue disappears. Obviously, working without oxygen is not a good thing for a prolonged period of time, so it is good for weightlifters who need sudden bursts of power, but not for martial artists, who need long periods of sustained power. Martial artists, then, need the slow twitch muscles which do use oxygen to burn sugars, which in turn does not result in lactic acid, meaning the muscles can be used for longer periods.

There is a fine balance between the two types, of course, as some strength and sudden movement is required, but generally the slow twitch outweighs the fast twitch, which is why you rarely see muscle bound martial artists.

For those of you below me who say I'm talking crap, check your facts first... http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/body/factfiles/fastandslowtwitch/soleus.shtml maybe here would be a good place to start.
or maybe here
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/exercisephysiology/a/aa080901a.htm


And I never said that you don't need both types, you have them anyway and can't change the ratio of fast to slow twitch that you have

Answer 9

Weights can stress your joints allot! Then you'll lose you flexibility! There's weight lifting Champions that can't even throw a football past 5 ft! You could be fast and lift weights! You'll have to balance Cardiovascular training evenly or suffer the results!

Answer 10

i don't know why some martial artists decide not to lift. if one thinks of the greatest martial artist of them all, bruce lee, they will see the reasons for lifting weights. and if you don't believe me, search bruce lee+weight training in google and see the results. he would lift for the practicality of the movements, to gain speed and strength. it is also important to remember that mass does not necessarily equal strength, since you can work out and still get stronger but just compact the muscle. so the answer is yes weight training can make u fast, just look at all of the olympic sprinters in track, who do certain movements in weight training to improve their speed. follow the link in my sources to see what i mean.