HOW IMPORTANT IS CONDITIONING IN SELF DEFENSE?

Physical conditioning is often over looked in a lot of dojo’s. My advice is that if you attend one of these dojos you should probably find another one. I am a firm believer in fitness and conditioning. I do resistance training with bodyweight exercises, resistance bands, weights, High Intensity interval training, the list goes on AND I advise my students do likewise.  Conditioning is a no brainer the better shape you’re in the better you will perform. My students perform their martial arts better the more fit they are. Be it Judo, Karate, any type of self defense training it is a physical endeavor and being strong and having good cardio endurance has a positive impact on how well they apply their specific skill set.

There is this prevailing thought amoung some that you don’t have to be in shape or fit when it comes to self-defense. The argument is that normally an attack doesn’t last long, it doesn’t last minutes, just seconds. Well newsflash!!!! It only takes seconds to become depleted, run out of gas, if your aren’t in shape.  Check out the following video. Pay particular attention to the drill at the 4 minute mark and the comment the instructor makes right after the drill at 4:13.

The drill in the video only lasted seconds, less than 20 seconds to be more exact and the participants had already become fatigued and were breathing heavily. As far as condtioning for street self-defense goes this video points out a glaring fact and exposes the fallacy that it isn’t important to be in good condition.  

It really cant be said enough that it is just good common sense to prepare for the possibility that we may not finish the fight in just a few seconds. Having a high level of endurance and the ability to outlast the bad guy can spell the difference between successfully defending ourselves and not.

WHAT TO DO. 

In terms of street fighting/self-defense, the training you get in a regular class may be enough as long as you are training minimum of 3 to 4 times a week and are constantly pushing yourself. You should be working up a sweat and be drenched in sweat by the end of the class.

If you can't train at least 3 days a week I would advise you to do calisthenics at home in addition to your training for 45 minutes each day. If you wish to supplement with cardio I recommend skipping hard for 5 sets of 2 minutes or swimming for 20 minutes, as they are typically low impact exercises. You can get in excellent shape by doing your martial art alone IF you train hard enough, but most people do not push themselves to this point (hence people with a black belt and an overly bloated waistline, the proverbial beer belly).

In terms of weight lifting, do 1-2 supplementary exercises a day aiming for 3 sets of high reps (15-20) to build muscle endurance. If you’re doing weight lifting, keep in mind you're not trying to develop strength to move the opponent rather you're developing explosiveness, the strength to move YOUR body quicker.  Also, street fighting body conditioning exercises such as knuckle push-ups, bare knuckle heavy-bag training, shin conditioning, etc. all build muscle. Furthermore, hard sparring, randori etc (about 20 rounds of 2 minutes a week) is important.

I would also point out that obesity, obesity related illnesses, Heart disease, diabetes, and others are far more likely to threaten our lives than any would be mugger or active shooter. A simple weight training and cardio plan along with a good diet will do wonders to help defeat those foes. Would this not be the ultimate form of self-defense for ourselves?

Barron Shepherd is a 3rd degree black belt instructor and coach in Judo, a certified boxing coach and certified NASM Sports Performance Enhancement Specialist.