Was Fred Villari a proponent of weight training?
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hoshin1600
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It's possible that @Buka might remember if the Boston area school and if there was a weight room. I had been to the Hyanis school that was supposed to be some sort of headquarters. I don't remember a weight room nor did I ever remember any instructor talking about physical fitness.
What may be the root of the rumor, from what I remember, is that in the beginning Fred had struck a deal with a fitness chain to use part of their facility to teach classes. Today this is common place to have aerobics and other type classes at a gym but back then this was a new concept. Things like Jazzersize was popular in the 70s.
What may be the root of the rumor, from what I remember, is that in the beginning Fred had struck a deal with a fitness chain to use part of their facility to teach classes. Today this is common place to have aerobics and other type classes at a gym but back then this was a new concept. Things like Jazzersize was popular in the 70s.
hoshin1600
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Are you referring to route 9 in shrewsbury in the 1980's?
That was Jimmy C. School I believe. Worcester was run by Rick Banks on park Ave. But owned by Harvey Thayler who also owned the Grafton school.
I trained in worcester. None of the schools I knew had weights.
However one of Harvey's students who i can't remember his name at the moment did open a school toward Boston that incorporated a full gym, fitness center.
Xue Sheng
All weight is underside
It was one on route 20 off route 9, and it was sometime between 1979 and 1981. But i was only there about 1 month
Mister Villari’s World Headquarters was in Dedham Massachusetts throughout the seventies and eighties. (I lived in Dedham)
I don’t think there was a weight room there. I don’t remember Mister Villari ever being a proponent of weight training. It would have been contrary to his goals at the time.
He might have changed his mind when he became a twelfth degree black belt, or when he became a fifteenth. That would have been his right.
I don’t think there was a weight room there. I don’t remember Mister Villari ever being a proponent of weight training. It would have been contrary to his goals at the time.
He might have changed his mind when he became a twelfth degree black belt, or when he became a fifteenth. That would have been his right.
Hot Lunch
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When things get real on streets, what is better to be? Trained and out of shape, or physically fit and untrained?
Weightlifting doesn’t necessarily equal in shape. Although I do like to integrate weight training into my weekly workouts.
I find that a very interesting question. I don’t know the answer but it will be fun thinking about it.
How trained? How out of shape or physically fit?
I'd venture to say that I am more trained than the average martial arts instructor. I'm in better shape than the average guy my age (about to turn 60) with a desk job. Compared to the competitive fighters in my gym I'm in abysmal shape. There is certainly a level of physical fitness that I am not going to beat in a fair fight even if the other guy is untrained. My chances of beating someone like Hafthor Bjornson in an unarmed fight are essentially zero. (Even if you let me go against the version of Bjornson before he learned to box.)
My general (vastly oversimplified) explanation is that fighting effectiveness is a product of physical attributes, mental attributes, and technique. CE = PA x MA x T. The lower one of those factors is, the higher the others have to be to compensate.
Hot Lunch
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Boom!
This is actually my point. Physical fitness should always be encouraged in martial arts. If an entire art's curriculum could be placed on a chip that could be implanted in your brain, it would be useless if you're winded after 10 seconds.
If such a person were to fight a basketball or hockey player (could be strictly recreational, doesn't have to be in an organized league) who has never trained in a martial art, I'm putting my money on the basketball or hockey player.
Isn’t MA physical fitness?
isshinryuronin
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One of the reasons karate was introduced into the schools is because doctors noted the high level of fitness in its practitioners. In my own experience, at least during my early years in the art, most every black belt under forty was a lean mean fighting machine. Most of the first black belts in the US were ex-Marines or other military. That legacy influenced the way classes were conducted into the next generation of schools. Pushups, leg lifts, knee bends, bending, twisting, jogging, duck walks and stretching were the first half-hour of every class. I suspect that with the continued growth of the art in the 1980's to present many standards have been lowered to keep the number of students up. Though with the popularity of competition-oriented schools, fitness and practice are intertwined still.
As to Hot Lunch's question of being fit v being trained, two points: 1. Proper training = being fit. 2. Karate was developed to end a fight ASAP by most any means, so practitioners did not train with numerous rounds in mind. This is a more recent development. But this is not to say that a 1 1/2 - 2 hr. intense class 3X/wk. did not put one into great condition.
As to Hot Lunch's question of being fit v being trained, two points: 1. Proper training = being fit. 2. Karate was developed to end a fight ASAP by most any means, so practitioners did not train with numerous rounds in mind. This is a more recent development. But this is not to say that a 1 1/2 - 2 hr. intense class 3X/wk. did not put one into great condition.
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Let's look at U.S. prisons before they removed weights. Weights were the go-to exercise in prison because brute strength and increased muscular body weight proved to be insurmountable in fights. Looking at prison, the convicts had to make it their business to choose the most effective physical endeavor for survival. Interestingly, martial arts was not the number one choice. Heavy weightlifting was the first line of physical exercise. Weights became so effective, the convicts were considered a danger not only to each other but to the guards as well, and most Prisons began removing weights.
Xue Sheng
All weight is underside
But is weightlifting the only way to be fit?
Exactly. In the extreme training that we did as part of our profession, they would always tell us that cardio training was the most beneficial.
It’s because they attack in packs, and prey on targets of opportunity.
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Could you provide some examples of this OTHER THAN from cinema?
Xue Sheng
All weight is underside
you do realize the same could be asked of you that you asked gyoja
basically verifiable statistics.
There is also a very different mind set in a prison and is martial arts even offered in prison, if so why or why not?
I am not against weight training, I just do not believe it is the only thing you need to be physically fit. But your post just leads to more questions, that without answers, does not support your argument using prisons as an example.
Huntsville prison system (Texas)
