Supplemental Exercises for Martial Arts (Hojo undo)

[SummerStriker]

I understand that this thread could easily be moved to the S&C forum but because the subject is supplemental exercises for striking and Karate, I thought the interested parties would be in this forum and might not see it in the other.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hojo_undō

http://www.iogkfspain.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70&Itemid=58&lang=en

Hojo undo is the Japanese term for supplemental exercises. There are many different exercises, and the list seems to include all forms of impact conditioning, wrist conditioning, heavy bag striking and weight training.

It is my experience, even with people in modern knockdown karate, that there is an unhealthy relationship with the idea of working out. This dysfunction comes from a couple of sources.

Whole schools seem to shun weight training. Some even shun pad work. Of those that shun pad work and weights may exalt impact conditioning so that mudansha believe that it is only for the dan grades or even the dan grades from the old school - who of course are superior.

My sense is that this dysfunction comes from a couple of sources.

1 - Instructors that transmitted Karate to westerners didn't have gear, so they didn't transmit the supplemental exercises. Not wanting to look as if it was incomplete karate, chose not to bring it up. Now people think it isn't a part of the tradition, even if it was.

2 - Karate instructors still do not have that gear and do not want to lose students to Golds Gym, so they maintain that Hojo undo doesn't really exist.

3 - Even if people know about Hojo undo, lacking the Japanese terms or an old curriculum / training manual, martial artists were forced to make it up, adopting practices from other sports according to their own knowledge. Even if Karateka do Hojo undo, they think that it is regular fitness training and not a part of Karate. Their students, thinking that it isn't a part of Karate, may downplay its importance.

4 - The idea that proper striking technique is so deadly that a weak person can wreck a strong person undercuts the sense of urgency.

5 - Old school Hojo undo might be outright rejected as bro-science by Karateka that aren't interested in screwing around with stone padlocks or buckets of sand, preferring the training methods from sports that they grew up with.

A little about me. I love making lists. I just fucking love it. When I have a list I can do everything on it. I love lists and I love checking things off lists, and if I don't have a list I'll make a list.

What is the new school Hojo undo, supplemental exercises / S&C for martial artists, seeking to integrate their martial arts and work out routine?

In the next post, I'm going to post what I think of as the simplest curriculum and you guys can tell me what you think. I'm going to do my best to KISS so it will probably exclude intermediate and advanced power lifting and body building models.

 

[SummerStriker]

Supplemental Exercises for Martial Arts

10 Exercises for Rejuvenation

These exercises can be preformed 2-3 times a week or more to establish a base of health, to counteract the ills of modern living and to assist in building the capacity to perform the exercises prescribed in the Strength Training section. While anyone starting to learn complicated barbell exercises should undergo an assessment and training by someone educated in the art, these exercises will help many people and are good for almost everyone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Tibetan_Rites

In addition to the five rights, which make a great warm-up, the following exercises are beneficial:

Shoulder Dislocations with Broomstick: http://www.crossfit.com/mt-archive2/matt_mast_shoulder_roll.jpg

Overhead Broomstick Squats: https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/...3qgDsQeGm-nX8A8T5fjyJNBx1eGGCOx9OR-1_9y2uXB0Q

Lunge Stretch: http://davidlasnier.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/DSC01062.jpg

Bridge and Pelvic Tilt: http://sarahdpilates.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Bridge-blog.jpg

Bridge: http://www.fitstream.com/images/bodyweight-training/bodyweight-exercises/bridge-exercise.png

Strength Training

The program I use is based on a modern beginner's model I had a good times with. It builds strength through the whole body while saving time against some models. The two main phases are building and maintenance. The building phase is for people looking to increase their muscle mass while the maintenance phase is for people trying to maintain their strength while losing weight, while saving their strength for more martial arts training, or while forced to reduce their training volume due to other commitments. There are two versions of the basic plan. The first is straight from Strong Lifts 5x5 (Five sets of Five Reps): http://stronglifts.com/5x5/ while the second is the version I think is safer without a power rack and easier on the body due to the decreased loads (the version I use for myself).

In both versions, you will lift 3 days a week, alternating between A and B (ABA or BAB).

Version 1

Workout A: Barbell Back Squat 5x5, Bench Press 5x5, Barbell Row 5x5
Workout B: Barbell Back Squat 5x5, Overhead Press 5x5, Deadlift 1x5

Version 2

Workout A: Barbell Front Squat 5x5, Bench Press 5x5, Barbell Row 5x5
Workout B: Barbell Front Squat 5x5, Dumbbell Overhead Press 5x5, RDL 3x10 or Deadlift 3x5

Strength Maintenance

The maintenance plan is a 2 day a week program designed to maintain strength levels. Of course different people will have different needs and different requirements and likes or dislikes, but I've found this to be highly effective for maintaining strength and health. Alternately, the program used above for strength building could be continued at just two days a week, but I think that an even further reduction in intensity for many people can still be useful and appropriate.

Workout A: Front or Back Squat 3x5, Bench Press 3x10, Dumbbell Rows 3x10
Workout B: Overhead Press or Dumbbell Press 3x5 or 3x10, Dead Lift or RDL, Dips, Pull-ups

While a dedicated S&C plan from an S&C coach will take someone to a higher level of fitness and that self knowledge and study is important, most people can build up to this routine. When starting out for the first time, people who do not have an athletic base can do the above routine with lighter weights, to sets of 15, 10 and 8 for the first couple months while building form and confidence.

Striking Conditioning

A martial artist should be able to strike with his hands, feet and shins while maintaining solid structure.

Fist Conditioning: Weight training, including rows and deadlifts, will build the neck, forearms and grip, but the technique to make a clean fist and strike with the right portion can take some work. Due to the large amount of impact on the hands in modern training due to heavy bag and pad work requires modern martial artists to wrap their hands and wear gloves to prevent chronic illness from developing, but the ability to make a solid fist is necessary. Once a week a martial artist should work 1-3 round on the heavy bag bare handed to build confidence in his fist and technique.

Shin and Foot Conditioning: The modern way is to kick the heavy bag and pads routinely for years while walking or jogging several times a week and performing barbell exercises to build up strong bones. Other methods of shin conditioning aren't necessary. After 4-6 years of training on the way to earning a black belt, the student may develop the ability to kick full power against a block without breaking his leg.

Impact Conditioning

Students in the martial arts can gain confidence in their ability to take a strike, learn to breath and accept pain, dull the sensation of or the emotional reaction to pain and increase their technical ability to land strikes by practicing on one another. Traditionally, these exercises are performed once or twice a week, always permitting time to heal between sessions.

Medicine Ball Sit-ups: Students perform sit-ups. On each repetition an assistant drops a medicine ball on their stomach while must be thrown back to the assistant at the top of each sit-up.

Leg Kicks: Students trade 10 kicks to the inner and outer aspect of each leg.

Abdominal Kicks: Students trade 10 kicks with each leg to the abdomen, below the ribs. The shin should be used to spread out the impact, rather than the ball of the foot or heel. It is more important to force a strong breath than it is to cause local trauma to the tissue.

Body Punches: One student puts his back on the wall while the other spends the round practicing body shots, striking the arms and torso. Beginning students can use gloves while advanced students may practice bare handed.

Important Note: The person being struck is in charge in all ways of the intensity of the hits he is receiving. It is a breach of etiquette to brag about one's own ability to take hits, encourage others to take stronger hits than they are willing to take, to force this training on a student, especially a minor, or to use it as a form of hazing. Neither the striker nor the coach can know what the internal experience of the person being struck is, so control of the drill is what separates it as a drill from abuse. Putting this sort of training in the same context as stretching or standing on one foot, rather than as a macho display, is important for gym culture and necessary to keep people from hurting themselves out of pride or guilt and then quitting.

 

[SummerStriker]

What do you think of my opinions?

What else do you think is important?

I think that many of the traditional Hojo Undo exercises are dated because they needlessly attempt to mimic martial arts techniques or use inferior equipment, and that modern barbells and dumbbells are more versatile and useful. A strong body that is used for martial arts will be as good or better than one that has been honed completely by exercises that are activity specific.

 

[Azam]

I don't think many of the Hojo Undo exercises are outdated - many of them are pretty relevant still - some of them I do, so in that regard I disagree with you.

Am I right in thinking this thread has spawned out of the reading of lifting weight thread lol.




I'll give you examples of Hojo Undo exercises that are pretty relevant still, one's I use and that are pretty functional compared to their dumbbell/barbell counterparts.



1. Chi-ishi (lever with weight attached at the end): Technically the Chi-ishi isn't even Okinawan/Chinese in origin. The chi-ishi is actually an attempt to recreate the Indian Gada (mace bell) that Indian wrestlers have used for thousands of years - prior to Kushti it was a training tool that originated in Malla-Yuddha (inspired by Hanuman who wields a mace) which is the ancestor style to modern day Kushti.

Notice the similarities between the two:

Chi-ishi:




Gada (macebell):




Notice the movement of both of the hands in those equipment - attempts to do the same thing. Some of the chi-ishi drills crossover with the gada drills, precisely because that's where the chi ishi originates from. The chi ishi/gada is meant to simulate a push-pull relationship - it's a great functional exercise for grappling/clinching and for martial arts in general. It was taken from Kushti by Karl Gotch like many of the ancient Indian exercises, himself a Kushti practitioner and he spread these new exercises into his catch wrestling repertoire - to the effect that it's still prevalent in catch even today.

I don't use the chi-ishi specifically because they are unavailable in the UK - plus I prefer the macebell. I use my 8kg macebell all the time - it's great for building strength/endurance in the upper back, triceps, shoulders, rotator cuffs and to some degree the middle/lower back.

The chi-ishi is just as relevant as the gada - the only difference is that the chi-ishi attempts to isolate the muscle groups more (lower distance from weight to lever) whereas the gada provides more of a compound movement. But they one and the same in what they try to achieve.

That is far from outdated - the macebell is quite prevalent in catch wrestling, used in some MMA strength & conditioning programs. It's an ancient tool that is still relevant today. Heck I've noticed the huge improvements from using - I'd advise you to give it a go before judging.

It will probably take a bit of time before you can even swing the macebell because their is a technique to it & it will take time to gradually build up reps. A great piece of equipment.






2. Makiwara - arguably the best way to build strength/condition the hand/knuckles/wrist for impact. I have one in my garden that I use, made it out of a thick wooden post & post holder.

There is often the myth that using it will contribute to arthritis - this is a bs myth. A makiwara is meant to have give in it - this is what prevents irreversible damage to the hand - by dissipating the force down the post & out into the ground rather than back into the hand.

The makiwara is also pretty damn good at correcting punching technique quickly because if your technique is lacking you'll know it. They say pain is a great teacher.

It's not outdated - it's a great method of conditioning the hand for impact & the rigours of training. Anyone who's thrown punches bare knuckles & has used the makiwara (even for the first time) will immediately realise the benefit in using it.






3. Makiage kigu (forearm roller): IMHO the best way to strengthen the forearms - a great way to improve grip, hand/wrist/forearm stability & strength that transfers over to grappling and stabilising the pathway used to leverage strikes.

I use this piece of equipment as religiously as I use the macebell. Noted that my forearm roller isn't made of wood & hanging metal - a modern day forearm roller is descended from this.

Forearm roller:

Makiage kigu:

continued in post below...

 

[Azam]

4. Nigiri game (gripping pot): Great for developing strength in the wrist/fingers/hand & overall grip strength in the hands/forearms.

In Okinawan karate they are used alongside kata (as well as by itself) as a way of strengthening all the muscles/joints used in the respective katas. I have my own set at home that I made.

They are used more in some styles of Karate and less prevalent in others. You'll rarely see nigiri-game, chi-ishi or makiage kigu used in styles that are descended from shuri part of Okinawa like shorin ryu or shotokan. You're more likely to see these training implements in naha forms of karate like Goju & Uechi ryu. In fact it was my research on uechi ryu & interest in the art where I picked this up & started using it.




It's actually pretty damn similar to the farmer's walk:

The only variation is that the gripping jars make you use your finger/hand grip much more than you would doing a farmers walk - they both develop grip though but nigiri game there's more focus on it.

This isn't outdated either.

 

[SummerStriker]

Thanks for the counters man, I appreciate it.

 

[BudoNoah]

I completely agree with Azam that the chi-ishi, nigiri game, makiage-kigu, and makiwara are still very useful tools, although I always feel the need to point out that toughening the hands is not the intended purpose of the makiwara, but rather a side-effect. For what it's worth, I wanted to throw in a couple.

Ishi-sashi:

They're pretty much old-school kettlebells. Most karateka who do hojo undo actually use kettlebells instead of sourcing stone locks, because it just makes more sense. Heavier ones can be used for compound exercises, just as you see in modern kettlebell training, and lighter ones are often used to isolate certain ranges of motion.

Kongoken:

Originally brought to Okinawa by the founder of Goju-Ryu after seeing Hawaiian wrestlers using something similar, the kongoken is basically a large, weighted loop of steel that weighs between 50lbs and 70lbs. I've actually made a lighter one (30lbs) out of cement-filled PVC pipe. There are several great, "functional-movement" exercises with this that develop the strength and coordination needed for controlling someone in standing grappling.

Kakiya/Kakete-biki:

This one I'm probably going to get some flak for, because it's pretty obscure even among karateka who practice hojo undo, and it isn't strictly a strength training device. It is starting to see a bit of a resurgence, lately, though, thanks to some friends of mine. A lot of people like to relate it to the Wing Chun mook jong dummy, but it isn't the same. In its original form, it is essentially combining a single-arm lat pull-down or tricep extension with a striking tool. Modern versions actually use springs or bungee cords to provide resistance in both a downward motion and an upward motion, which is even better. Some people also just attach a wooden arm to an automotive coilover spring to get that effect in all directions. This is an excellent tool for drilling parries and limb control in conjunction with striking. The resistance gives you feedback to tell you if what you are doing works, and if you lose control of the arm, you're likely to have it spring up and smack you in the face.

 

[wang xiangzhai]

While modern apparatus & machinery has brought great updates, specially in fine quantification and specialization the old peeps were quite ingenious themselves in its supplemental exercises. Some of them, over all the ones with a clever use of nature (rivers, ice, etc) are still unsurpassed to this day, imo.

Without entering in detail, just a few samples.

Starts at 5:00 ( the ball excercises are just brilliant)

[YT]yDaV9C0ERP8[/YT]

Wang Zi-Ping, in his time the p4p strongest fighter in all China, doing some "warmup" with an old "kettlebell"

And my favourite, Fu Zhen Song of Yin Bagua fame practising with the Stone Ball, only for the truly powerful.