Best supplementary sports for martial arts?

Question

What other sports/exercises are best to supplement martial arts, in order to improve speed/power/skill for competitions.

Answer 1

Well Im assuming you are looking for something else in addition to your martial Arts training to mix it up a little. And reap some sort of benefit to your training. So Im also guessing that some of the other answers kinda missed the point to the nature of your question. Though some of the answers are good ones like dancing, gymnastics etc. Youre also looking to be entertained in the meantime. Well the best advice I could give on that was from personal experience. So I would say soccer. First it is a real cardio workout. It also requires balance, situational awareness, split second decision making and being explosive , yet requires endurance and skill. Second, if you really want to become good at it you can focus on ball control on and off the ground. Which is a great workout for your legs and abs. It will work almost all the muscles blow the chest. Controling the ball with the top, inside and outside of your foot will incorporate almost all the muscles in your legs.
And fianally ther is juggling. If you really want to be good at it you can use every part of your body except for your arms. (But you already knew that.) Which will give you body control cordination and work almost every muscle in your body.
When I played regularly my Muay Thai trainng was alot easier due to the cardio and al the muscles I used playing soccer and juggling with friends after games. But it all came to an end when I blew out my ACL. Which leads me to my last point. If you choose soccer. Play in a Recreational league. Competeive leagues increase the risk of injury. i.e. ME. My leg is healed now and I plan on playing again and get nback into soccer shape. So my Muay Thai training wont feel so taxing. Ive included a couple of vids for examples so you can see what Im refering to as how soccer relates to Martial Arts and it s benefit. I know these are extreme examples but it just reinforces my point. The running part in the game is seflf exlanatory. Hope all this helps.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Alfti9zVvYs

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LjGhXJYVNJA

http://youtube.com/watch?v=b3HNX3JIS_o

Answer 2

Very difficult to answer this one.
I'll try anyway:
It depends what aspect of your practise you want to improve, and most of all, the martial art you practise in the first place.

First, if you want to improve the practise of your martial art, training in your discipline should be 60 to 80% of your time minimum.
There is no way around that.
A martial practice can be difficult and frustrating at time, but it's with perseverance that you get to put all the pieces together and to understand your system in this entirity.
If your system is complete in the first place, speed, power and of course skill will naturally develop over time.

If you really want to take a shortcut, you can pick up another martial art, one that emphasizes the qualities that you do not find in your primary discipline.
If you do Wing chun kung fu, you may want to learn a MA with more kicking like TKD, If your MA is too much of a sport for you, you can pick up Krav Maga or any system based only on real life combat.

I think that your question has more to do with learning curves than anything really:
As a martial artist we have to accept that in our discipline we may feel stuck sometimes, and frustrated and doubtful about our MA or about our commitment towards it.
These trying periods don't last for ever.
Talk to your instructor, trust him, trust your discipline, thousands of students were in one way or another at the stage you're in.

My advice will be this go back to the basics (punches, kicks or whatever), because that can be a factor. When the foundations are not solid enough, it is not possible to implement the most advanced techniques or concepts.

BE PATIENT.

Answer 3

Depends on your art.
If its TKD or a kick based martial art do gymnastics or seriously think about ballet.
For most other martial arts try this
Balance: Fit Ball workouts
Explosive power: plyometrics
Do paddle work for co-ordination, But make your partner come at you with paddles or bags, forcing you to defend. dont just practice hitting a still target
try salsa to develop a feel for partner movements
Yoga and tai chi are great for grounding.

Good luck

Answer 4

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Finally the full version is avaiable!
With its great quality graphics and sound, Table Tennis Pro is without question an enjoyable game that will enable you to play individual matches or tournaments against your friends or the computer.

Answer 5

One supplementary that is good is KettleBell training.
Look it up. Make sure you get the right "form"...that's what it's about. Functional strength is what you are looking for. Practical bodyweight exercises are good too.

Look up Pavel's book on KettleBell training. Hopefully you can find a gym that has them.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Yoga (ok so I teach it but there are different kinds), dance - ballet or such like, gymnastics and skipping rope (all those boxers cant be wrong)

Take glucosomine for stiff muscles it is ace

Answer 7

I found table tennis to be great!

Quick, explosive movements similar to punching.
Fast, balanced foot movements.
Enhanced hand-eye coordination and concentration.

Answer 8

i do gymnastics the reason being it greatly improves my balance(i do muay thai and was sparring a gym who does mma and he actually had a pretty hard time taking me down because of my balance and sprawling), gymnastics give you tremendous upper lower and core strength, also improved explosiveness.

i believe jackie chan does table tennis to improve eye hand coordination and timing

Answer 9

Exercises such as running, hill sprinting, weightlifting or using bodyweight exercises plus plyometrics should be the core training.

Answer 10

Plyometrics, which actually is a method of exercize.

Google it and check out the videos.