When I talk about attaining a goal in the martial arts Im not necessarily talking about a black belt or any type of rank, a goal can also be to just develop your skill or techniques up to a certain level of proficiency. You could be training in a style that doesn't use rank and you might still want to build your techniques up to a certain level of adeptness. As for wanting to get your mile run or 100 yard dash down to a certain time and then after you get that to work on getting a lower time and then lower and so on, the same concept can be used with martial arts training. You want to get so good at a technique, and then get better and better and so on.
You were talking specifically about attaining a black belt, even more specifically about doing it in some self-determined timeline. So yeah, you were talking about a black belt or any type of rank… which is why the whole idea of "running a mile" was really a false equivalence… and you've again missed the point.
True some styles don't require the same level of fitness as others but for every style, you at least have to be able to do the moves, and to be able to properly do the moves often does require a person to be in good enough shape to move their bodies in the proper motions.
The issue is that that's such a vague, open ended comment that it's simply not practicable as a comment at all… sure, you have to be able to do the moves… but that doesn't imply, mean, or require any particular level of fitness at all. While some arts will have a particular level of physical condition, it's hardly something that can be taken to mean that martial arts require a degree of fitness. I mean, what shape do you need to be in to do the "proper motions"? And what happens if someone has a physical disability, requiring the actions to be altered (such as an amputation)?
Can you see how it's not that simple?
This is just my experience. All the instructors I've trained under have either encouraged a student to be in good shape or at least recommended it.
And that's fine… I recommend it as well… but that doesn't mean it's required for the study of the art… although it is certainly a benefit.
To be able to hit hard you do have to be strong. You can know how to throw a punch and be able to do the proper technique but in order for that technique to have power there has to be strength behind it. There are people who on their first day of boxing classes might punch with the same form as a professional boxer but that doesn't mean they can get in the right with a professional boxer because while they have the form, they haven't yet developed the speed and power, not to mention the ability to take hits which also depends on being in good shape.
No.
Look, there are guys I train that are much stronger (physically) than I am… but I hit a hell of a lot harder than them… it's got little to nothing to do with physical strength. And, bluntly, you will not get someone on their first night punching with the same form as a professional boxer… to think that that is a realistic appraisal is to not understand proper form, or it's affect on power generation. Oh, and being in good shape isn't something that gives the ability to take a hit, you realise…
You don't have to be the most fit person in the world but it does make a big difference if you're in reasonably good shape as opposed to just being a couch potato. Of course, if a couch potato decides to train in any of the martial arts I've trained in they won't be a couch potato for long because as I posted before, the martial arts that I trained in will get you in good shape, if from anything just from doing the drills.
And what you need to realise is that that is, as you say, "the martial arts you've trained in"… far from the bulk of other arts and approaches. But you do get that you can be a martial artist, and still be out of shape, yeah? While it might not be the best plan, it does show that martial arts are not specifically about fitness…
Although most martial arts classes I've taken do involve some calisthenics Weights, cardio, and other such exercises can be done by the student on their own outside of class. Most of the class time is taught teaching the technique because that's what the class is about. Class time is not wasted on stuff that students can do separately.
Which again shows that fitness and strength training is not a part of those arts… it's a much bigger part of competitive (sport) systems, where it's far more important. Confusing martial sports with all forms of martial arts will just lead to inaccurate assumptions and ideas.
And with technique, the purpose of good technique in the styles I've trained in is to use your strength in the best most efficient manner. To maximize the results you get from using your strength. You could say that minimizing the strength needed does play a part since you want to get the most from the least but that doesn't mean you shouldn't use what strength you've got. After all, if a little bit goes a long way than a lot will go even further.
No, actually. Again, I have guys much stronger than me… and frankly, it's not that important. In fact, they get corrected if they just use strength… or if they overly muscle things. The reason is that it interferes with correct form, and actually limits the power they can achieve.
In all of the styles I've trained in, when you finish a class you get a decent if not good workout.
Again, that comes down to the system, the class, the instructor, and your own personal level of fitness to begin with.
In Thailand professional Thai fighters usually fight every three weeks. Of course they usually retire at or around the age of 20.
Er… okay… and?
Look, the Thai boxing culture is at a faster pace than the MMA timeline, but it's the same principle.
Okay.
Perhaps not but they do have some stuff in common. Both have taught me to be prepared.
Sigh… do you really want to go down this path again?
True that being in the yellow does mean relaxed awareness but overall its just a part of being prepared. Being "fight ready" would be more in the orange where you expect the possibility of trouble. At work in the office would be a good time to be in the yellow, in a dark alley would be a good time to be in the orange. As for being in the white, where you are unaware and unprepared, the only time one should really be in the white is when they're sleeping since you don't have a choice then. Unfortunately lots of people are in the white the majority of the time they're awake and thus they make easy victims.
You really aren't in a position to educate on the colour codes, you know… and honestly, I have issues with it as is, as it's often too defining in it's approach… a more realistic expression would be graduated shades… and honestly, both the dark alley and the office are yellow… orange is for when you know you will likely need to engage.
As for people being in the white, sure. Not really anything to do with this thread, or this forum, though…
At the time I was a competitive swimmer and I would regularly do swimming workouts for hours, so I was in good shape.
You were 12, you said. Your body hadn't really gotten to the point where such things can be defined that well. And, importantly, you were a white belt, which made you an absolute beginner… in which case, it was probably simply something your body wasn't used to… so, despite your "good shape", it wasn't the right type of fitness for what you were then starting to put it through.
Being in good shape can give you confidence and confidence plays a big role in whether or not you will make an easy victim.
Actually, no, it's not that clear cut either. While confidence can make you less appealing as a victim to a resource predator (a robber/mugger etc), it can make you more appealing to a social attack (an attempt to raise social status at the expense of another). Additionally, having confidence based on simple fitness can lead you to miss the warnings of an attack… leaving you open to attack largely due to that undeserved sense of confidence.
