LittleDemon

Im a little confused about power and muscular strength training, when i trained with wing tsun kung fu (7 1/2 yrs) we were always told muscle slowed you down and so we never did any strength training in classes and i found that because of this i lost conditioning, my body went catabolic, we were told if you have bicep muscle this is associated with tension in the arm and so would not enable you to punch as fast and as powerfully as you would if you had more tricep then bicep muscle.

Since training to be a personal trainer ive found out muscle is good for you depending what your aiming for be is muscular endurance, strength training or hypertertrophy.

Just confused as to why they would educate people this way i mean surely its better have good core stability and muscle strength then little or none and does muscle actually enhance power???

L.D

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Thai Bri

Theories about strength and fitness abound, and they all contradict each other. But the theory that you don't need any muscle "because it slows you down" is clearly nonsense. Ask any of the fastest sprinters on the planet. They're the ones on the track with bulging muscles.........

However people like Arnold Shwarzennegger have gone too far if speed and power is the goal (it wasn't for him....). But there is no need to worry about getting like them. They have to train and abuse steroids for years to get so big and cumbersome.

For you Emma I would suggest a good all round calisthenics circuit (press ups, Hindu Push Ups, Star Jumps, etc etc) supplemented by some hand/wrist strengthening exercises (squeezing tennis balls, press ups on fingers).

If you did want to use weights, get some expert help and go for it. This is a good site

www.hardgainer.com

They concentrate on safe, drug free weight training.

jingshen

Traditional CMA work on the theory that more energy is stored in your connective tissues than in muscle tissue. The mecchanics of a wing chun punch use primarily the tricep to extend the arm and tension in the bicep will support the arm therefore reduce unsupported weight thus reducing the weight part of 'mass x acceleration = power'

The theory is sound, however in any martial art you still need a certain level of structure and this comes through being in good pyshical shape.

any basic training must include conditioning of the body in order to corretcly execute techniques, strikes, etc.... once these are learnt then you can work on the theory and develop a 'softer' approach to punching.

The connective tissues ( cartilidges, tendons, etc) are mad eof a more eleastic material which will spring back when compressed. By relaxing your limbs when throwing a strike it is possible to release this energy. Line up three or four joints and you can produce a punch that is able to easily move an opponent without using a wild swing or a tense arm. But without the basic training and structure you cannot execute this.

Tom Yum

Hey Lil' Demon,

Think of strength as the maximum amount of force you can generate.

Since we are talking about force, you can think of it as mass x acceleration. The force your body can generate is a function of your body mass and its ability to speed up. Digest that for a second.

Force = mass x acceleration

You can increase force by either bulking up, using more of your body mass efficiently or speeding up. Bulking up alone requires even more speed training though, otherwise you will loose your ability to speed up or accelerate as your body adjusts.

Think of power as the ability to apply that force at a given distance under a certain amount of time.

Power = (Force x distance)/time

You can increase your power by either covering more distance with the same amount of force or by decreasing the time required to cover that distance or both.

You can increase your power while keeping your strength/size the same. This is why light weight boxers, like Ricky Hatton or Manny Pacquiao can generate knockout power.

Weight training for power is diferent than weight training for strength. Lifting for power involves moving a weight at a great length (from ground to overhead) as efficiently as possible using allmost the entire body. Strength training focuses on specific muscles, more on total weight and less on speed.

Damn, I'm a nerd. Hope this helps.

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Innocence

I'm not sure if it'll help, but our sifu just mentioned, a few weeks ago, that we primarily train our tendons, and not muscles.

bbbb

! cool !

P.S. Power = Work/time
Force = Mass * Acceleration
Work=Force * Displacement
Impulse(?)=Force/time, and I think these all depend on the assumption that the acceleration is constant(or something like that??!).

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Awareness is the spirit.
Attack is the foundation of thought.
Attack like thunder from the heaven's.
Retreat like dust of the earth.

Drunken Munky

I thought it was (but i haven't checked yet):

[Impulse = Change in momentum]

where [momentum = mass x velocity] (velocity being speed in a given direction)

[Acceleration = change in velocity/time] and therefore

[change in momentum/time = mass x change in velcoity/time = mass x acceleration = force]

and [force = mass x change in velocity/time] is Newtons 2nd law which relies on it all being measures in a given direction, (for example you cars speed could be constant but its velocity forward would change if you turned a corner at the same speed, if the given direction is forward)