New to martial arts - Need help with survival training / workouts / conditioning

[oftheherd1]

Well, first off, if it's really bothering you emotionally/mentally and it continues to be on your mind all the time, you may want to talk to a therapist or counselor about what happened. Being in serious danger can be traumatic, and it might help to have someone to talk to about it.

As far as your actual question.... running is a great defense, as you saw, and a great way to build your cardio. If you hate running, mix it up with other cardio activities like riding a bike or jumping rope. There's a lot of gear you can get for strength training, but crunches, push-ups, squats, and leg lifts are all totally free, as is hitting the bag you own.

Mook jong made a good point about how you can injure yourself punching someone if you're inexperienced. He recommended palm strike; another good option is an elbow strike (tip: don't hit with the point of your elbow, but right below that, at the top of your forearm). You can elbow strike the nose, chin, side of the head, even the gut. I'd recommend practicing some kicks to the knee and groin level too.

Beyond that, just, go to class, learn your techniques and do some sparring.

Very good point about seeking help if needed. Of course, professionals are usually the best ones to talk to, but sometimes, fellow martial artists can be of help as well. The 'been there done that' understanding can help. You may have noticed that you have been complimented on that several times here already. I told you earlier that you shouldn't expect to be able to show Superman a few tricks after only a couple of months of MA training. Nobody likes to back down. But knowing when you are in more danger than you can handle is a precious gift. Even more so the understanding that sometimes you may need to run (retreat: military practice how to do that, did you know?) to be able to fight another day. You can't fight if you are dead or bed-ridden. That's why military, although they don't like to, do practice how to retreat with the fewest casualties possible. It allows the then continue to enjoy life and fight another day.

If you were certain that was your best option at the time, it was. Don't feel bad. If you have since changed your mind, be sure you know how to bring a successful conclusion to the problem if it happens again, instead of just beating yourself up now. But Watergal's point is right, are you obsessing on fear or shame? Fear is a survival factor. Shame is self defeating.

It's OK to make mistakes sometimes if you learn from them. In my life I have learned a lot.

 

[liz]

Thanks Watergal, i have some really good friends this is councelling enough for now and this site has helped heaps too. My friends don't know i have asked about it on here but they virtually said the same thing that running was best and i don't really feel bad about it anymore. I would however still like to increase martial arts knowledge and practice, regardless.

I joined this site at the beginning of the year to get advice what type of punching bag to buy, then i never really used the site apart from having a look every now and then. when we got back from holiday the site popped in my head and it just seemed like the best place to ask advice.

i do generally hate running as an excercise but i am going to encorporate it into the mix as with all the above. i bought an 8kg kettlebell this weekend and i have a varied excercise regime in place for the next 3 months with lots of cardio, resistence and strength exercises.

Oftheherd1 - i didn't know that about the military although i suppose it makes sense, i went through a fase of reading about the SAS alot so i should've known this really. I've been thinking about it from both sides fear and shame but things could've been alot worse i feel lucky.

The advice has all really helped i'm soaking it all in like a sponge.
Seriously though i will take this all on board. Thanks

 

[Tames D]

Thanks Watergal, i have some really good friends this is councelling enough for now and this site has helped heaps too. My friends don't know i have asked about it on here but they virtually said the same thing that running was best and i don't really feel bad about it anymore. I would however still like to increase martial arts knowledge and practice, regardless.

I joined this site at the beginning of the year to get advice what type of punching bag to buy, then i never really used the site apart from having a look every now and then. when we got back from holiday the site popped in my head and it just seemed like the best place to ask advice.

i do generally hate running as an excercise but i am going to encorporate it into the mix as with all the above. i bought an 8kg kettlebell this weekend and i have a varied excercise regime in place for the next 3 months with lots of cardio, resistence and strength exercises.

Oftheherd1 - i didn't know that about the military although i suppose it makes sense, i went through a fase of reading about the SAS alot so i should've known this really. I've been thinking about it from both sides fear and shame but things could've been alot worse i feel lucky.

The advice has all really helped i'm soaking it all in like a sponge.
Seriously though i will take this all on board. Thanks

Whatever methods you use to improve your fighting abilities and fitness level, just stay consistant in your training. Results will come.

 

[Tez3]

I have a friend who is a martial artist, he has world kick boxing titles as well as having fought MMA, he helps people who are dealing with trauma ( and phobias among other things) with hypnosis and other methods. Gary works with soldiers with PTSD and has a very good reputation. He coaches kick boxing and personal fitness, comes very highly recommended. He also runs two gorgeous huskies. If you felt you weren't sure whether you wanted any help, with anything you can email him or give him a ring, he'd be more than happy. Gary's blogs on fitness, diet and other martial arts related stuff are well worth a read for anyone. He gets a bit too scientific for me at times lol ( science is not my best subject) but knows what he's talking about, does a huge amount of research.
Personal Training and Sports - Gary 'Smiler' Turner

 

[Badger1777]

its like ive only just realised that all this time i've had a false confidence and now its shattered so i will be doing as much of the above as possible. i'm fed up of feeling like i'm doing nothing about it so all of this stuff will be really handy for me this weekend when i make some sort of regime for the next few months.

I consider myself to be fairly streetwise. In order of preference and effectiveness, here's my list of techniques for staying in one piece.

1. Don't be anywhere near the trouble in the first place. That comes from avoiding situations where trouble is likely.
2. Don't look like a target. If you happen to find yourself where there is trouble brewing, you don't want to be a target. Best option is to not even be noticed at all, but if you are noticed, you need to strike a balance between not looking nervous and not looking aggressive.]
2. Joint second place, get out of there as nonechalantly as possible.
3. Talk the situation down. Show no fear, but at the same time show no aggression.
4. Don't be afraid to leg it.
5. If you really stuffed and have no option but to fight, then focus more on flooring the opponent as fast as possible rather than wasting time with kicks and punches. Any fool can throw or take a punch, and punches and kicks, in the heat of the moment, often miss. Your opponent is unlikely to be following club rules, so he may not move in the way you expect him to. Punches and kicks may buy time, but on the rare occassions when I've had to fight for real, it has been more about restraining, flooring the aggressor, and subduing them. Having thrown them to the floor, see rule 4.

There is no shame in having to run. No amount of martial arts training is going to guarantee that you can fight an attacker. What if they are trained too? What if they are armed? What if they outnumber you? Learning a fighting art is obviously going to help if you really find yourself in a pickle, but I would never want to rely on my ability to fight as my only defense against aggression.

 

[drop bear]

Oh and that crap feeling you get after a confrontation is not uncommon.

 

[cqbspartan]

Krav Maga is a great place to start...may want to look into some Wing Chun also...designed by a Chinese nun so a women can defeat a male attacker...its not based on power or strength but on quickness, leverage, and reflex training...also I would suggest finding Lee Morrison in the UK and at least go to one of his seminars...he is probably the most knowledgeable in the UK on self defense/survival for the streets...he is a wealth of knowledge and you will not be disappointed...

 

[cqbspartan]

What was your question about the survival training??

 

[Hanzou]

Krav Maga is a great place to start...may want to look into some Wing Chun also...designed by a Chinese nun so a women can defeat a male attacker...

Honestly, she's better off sticking with Krav....

 

[PiedmontChun]

Honestly, she's better off sticking with Krav....

Krav is focused on realistic / practical self defense so it definitely has points for that. I have a friend whose done it for years and loves it. It's effectiveness however (like a majority of striking systems) often comes down to strength or force against force. Wing Chun follows very different principles including yielding to a greater force, borrowing an opponent's force, striving to deflect energy or attacks in a relaxed way while countering efficiently. It's not the only system that does this, but it is unique in how it does incorporate these principles.

I would say for a woman, such a system might suit her body / strength, depending on her outlook or what she hopes to gain by studying an MA. (I am biased as WC/WT is the art that I practice and am only pointing this out to piggyback on the original suggestion by another poster.)

 

[drop bear]

Honestly, she's better off sticking with Krav....

Depends on the school. You can get kravs that harp on about how evil a confrontation will be. And how everything is life or death. Grr arg. And coming off a trauma she may not need that.

 

[Dylan9d]

Hi liz,

If you want to train self defense there are many good martial arts systems.

I myself can recommend Silat. Most people think about the flowery stuff in Silat but i can show you otherwise.
There are 2 teachers based in the UK that are very good Silat Open Circle - Welcome to the Frontpage and Silat Suffian International Groups both teachers know their stuff very well, also a personal friend of mine teaches in the UK his school is loboacademy .

Hope you will find what you need, physically as well as mentally, to overcome your fears.

 

[Shai Hulud]

Would appreciate any advice.

So basically, i always thought i could take care of myself just fine then something happened when i was on holiday and i had to run away to save my skin.
It has been really bothering me since to the point where i literally cannot think of anything else.



I need some sort of workout that encorporates stuff that will help me, preferably around 30-40 mins that i can do at home in the mornings before work.
i also need to increase body and core strength.


i have a water base swinging boxing bag in my garden but know literally no technique aside from jabs and probably i'm not even doing those correctly.

I started taking Krav Maga lessons a month or so ago and find it really good, challenging, but good. i feel like i get thrown around more than actually fighting back but im hoping that will come eventually. I always end the lessons with 'conditioning bruises' which is to be expected, and i don't expect to be some sort of expert after such a short amount of time but i really need to speed things up a bit for my own sanity's sake.

So any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Hello Liz,

I'm with Donna when I say that you should get yourself a kettle-bell. Personally I'd recommend that you start anywhere from an 8kg to a 15kg KB, but that's just me. Should you ever decide to get one, I suggest you try each of them out when visiting your local supplier just to get a feel of them, and which one's probably the best for you. It's important not to start too heavy, but too light can be just as bad.

I love the kettle-bell, and as is I only need a handful of moves to form a solid program for myself. The double-hand/single-arm swing, the clean, the overhead press, the snatch, the Turkish Get-up, and the single/double-KB front squat.

Good luck on your S&C journey!

Ally