Why Wouldn't A Good Athlete Be Good In The Martial Arts

[Sammy Naur]

Sure it does and I never claimed otherwise, I just claimed that practicing techniques in the water can make you slower not faster at those techniques for the reasons explained above.

I think this claim that keeps being posted needs some actual evidence behind it. So far only a couple people here seem to believe it.

Training in water makes you faster in water, and more poweful. Swimming.

So it stands training in water would naturally make you faster in air. And not just faster, but more powerful.

There are so many resistance exercises that professional fighters use, from bands to sleds to ropes to bags.

None of that makes anyone slower. So let's see some solid empirical evidence that it does. Ancient kung fu philosophy is not enough.

 

[Buka]

I’ve noticed that when good athletes join a Martial Arts dojo (striking arts) they progress quicker than other beginners who join at the same general time. Because the athletes are usually in far better physical shape.

But that changes, at least in my experience. Once people catch up to the athlete, the athlete usually loses patience and quits.

The other thing that makes them quit early (again, in my experience) is they can’t figure out why students in the school, that sure don’t look like athletes, can kick their ash.

As for swimmers and dancers. In their first six months of training, you can tell if they have a background in either by the way they kick.

 

[PhotonGuy]

Then explain competitive swimming.

This is the party about the "training in water makes you slower" claim that doesn't jive with basic physics.

The idea that in martial arts that you're not going to meet resistance is suspect. The reality is that water just happens to provide much better resistance than air. Practicing in water makes you stronger, and hits 100% of muscle groups.

If water is "detrimental" to maximum speed, then all resistance training should be bad, but that contradicts reality across all physical exercises, including sports and martial arts.

Havent you ever wrestled in the water, or even sand? It makes things harder, and if makes it harder, it stands that if you do it a lot, wrestling standard becomes easier. Which is why coaches often use water training in martial arts, but also football, rugby, lacrosse...

I was a competitive swimmer for nine years and I never said competitive swimming will make you slower in the martial arts, just that doing a specific technique in the water will make that technique slower because you will get used to throwing it slower. For instance, if you practice a front kick in the water you will be throwing it at a slower speed because of water resistance and as such your brain will become programmed to throw it at that slower speed even when you're not throwing it in the water, that's why I stopped practicing techniques in the water.

 

[Badhabits]

This is interesting. I think Photonguy hit the target when he said "your brain will become programmed". I've been practicing in water since I was little (not for any great reason, just because we always had water around, my father did it and it's fun). I think if it makes you slower it's a brain not body problem. My experience has not been that it made my punches slower. Cant say it's made them any faster, but if you're focusing on straightening the elbow as quickly as possible you shouldn't be getting so lax that punches in air become slower. That would almost have to be due to lax training from a mental standpoint, not physical. If you're mentally focused on speed it shouldn't matter

 

[windwalker099]

Question:

Rocky Marciano used water as part of his boxing training, why don't modern boxers do the same?"


Response from ChatGPT :

Water training is great, but limited
Water provides resistance, but:

It slows down the movement — good for building muscle control but not ideal for speed or form refinement.
You can’t replicate real punching mechanics under water as precisely.
It’s great for rehab or general conditioning, but not for sharpening timing, reflexes, or combos.

So it’s a supplemental tool, not a core part of modern training.

Marciano was also just built different
He had a famously rugged, intense, old-school approach. His water training was one piece of a brutal regimen — chopping wood, running hills, hitting homemade heavy bags, etc. It was more about grit and resistance than scientific precision.

Bottom line:
Modern boxers don’t rely on water training as much because they have more targeted, efficient tools, but the principle of using resistance and unusual environments for conditioning still lives on — just in different forms.