Which is more important, skill or conditioning?

Date: Thursday, 4 October 2007

If you were training for a fight – ring or school yard, doesn’t matter which – how would you make the best use of your time?

That is, would you focus more on your fight game (skill) or physical toughness (conditioning)?  Obviously, you want to put time into both, but what do you think the percentages should be?

These days, I say 60 percent conditioning, 40 percent skill.  That’s an approximation, but the point is that you need to be able to last the fight.  As they say in boxing, When the hands drop, the fight’s over.

Boxers know this, wrestlers definitely know this.  Martial artists, at least some, seem to be a little slow to catch on.  Which ones?  Well, not kick boxers, not Judo competitors, not San Shou fighters.  I’d say it’s the ones who . . . never get in the ring!

To this day, I occasionally hear someone in martial arts bloviating about how a “true master” can defeat someone twice his size and half his age with proper technique.  I’m not saying it’s never happened in the history of the planet, but I’d call it unlikely.  It’s also a tautology.  What if the true master doesn’t win?  He wasn’t a true master!

I was at a tournament about a month ago and a “true master” demonstrated his skill and Qi by having one of his students hit him in the stomach and then the student stumbled backward arms flailing.  They also knocked staffs together and the student literally jumped backward and landed on his rear.  Both these guys looked out of shape.  Also, for some reason, neither of them entered the continuous sparring event. They probably didn’t want to hurt anyone.

I use this example because if you’re in martial arts, you’re not just studying a mental discipline and a skill set.  You’re also an athlete and your art demands that you train like one.

The 60 percent conditioning rule keeps us honest.  I like to start with form.  If you’re not dripping sweat after ten minutes of form, you’re not doing it as a martial (kicks and punches done in combination, get it?) conditioning drill.  Then do bag work so your kicks and punches meet some resistance.  Then some push ups, lots of ab work, and squats.  I like to use exercises from my book Shaolin Fitness Secrets so as much of my conditioning as possible also improves my art.  Which is my final point – there should be plenty of overlap between skill and condition so your time is used well.  You’re better off doing hard, fast form and bag work until you drop, than your are doing jumping jacks and running. Finish with stretching as a cool down.

Take care, train like you mean it.

Rob LaPointe
www.kungfufightingtips.com

P.S.  If you want to put loads of overlap (skill as conditioning) in
your routine, check out my 2 DVD set Kung Fu Conditioning.  It’ll wear
you out.