4/28 VA Class: Get up For the Down Strike

One of our VA students exploring the utility of the elbows at close range to strike upwards and/or cover, then strike downwards into the throat or clavicles on the return. The collar tie can come out of the strike or cover, or from the other arm, and gives her the ability to create a force couple between elbow and target.

Resource Links: Recommended Trainers and Recommended Fighting Arts

You may have noticed a few changes as we’ve revamped our blog. One of these is an expanded links section (see sidebar), which now includes categories for Recommended Trainers and Recommended Fighting Arts. The goal of these links is to put readers into contact with individuals and groups that can help them to put some of our conditioning/training topics and research into practice.

The Recommended Trainers category is a listing of fitness professionals that we recommend based on several factors:

• they utilize up to date, evidence-based best training practices
• they hold nationally accredited certifications, degrees & relevant credentials in the field (CSCS, NASM, NESTA, ACSM, ATSU HM MS, etc.)
• they have trained extensively in a fighting art or sport, or have worked extensively with particular fighting arts and sports populations
• they can provide high quality, activity-specific injury prevention and performance enhancement programming specific to the various fighting arts and sports

These Recommended Trainers are listed by the state that they work in so that readers from around the USA can find FSRI-recommended fitness professionals to help them to enhance their training. Rest assured that we will not endorse any trainer who does not meet our standards.

The Recommended Fighting Arts category contains links to groups, clubs and instructors that meet our criteria for high quality fighting arts practices:

• the stated goals of training are realistic and achievable (relative to an athletic or self-protection context)
• the stated methods for achieving those goals are based on sound concepts that are supported by anatomy & physiology, psychology, pedagogy, the nature of violence, and related fields
• the goals can realistically be developed through the stated training methods
• the group or instructor prioritize common sense, practical training, evidence-based practice and the development of the student over organizational hierarchies, unsubstantiated opinion, appeals to tradition or history or purely financial motivations

Feel free to recommend additions to this listing, although we will only link to groups that  meet these criteria. Want to be added to the list? Send us an email that describes how your practice meets the points listed above.

DIY Electric Training Knife

FSRI students are familiar with a variety of close-range weapons evasion, control and aggressive response drills. A wooden dowel or flimsy plastic knife is typically used for simulating knives and edged weapons, as well as a variety of wiffle-ball bats and foam sticks. Although these proxies provide a good margin for safety they can encourage a few counter productive habits, particularly among newer students or people new to our methods. These include:

• grabbing at the “edge” end of the weapon
• allowing the “edge” of the weapon to rest on their body while attempting to control the attacker’s arms
• wielding the weapon like a 1930’s movie villain, ie, making threatening  gestures or non-threatening attacks, and not providing serious and committed attacks

A second set of problems is created by the nature of training itself. Knife attacks seldom happen in the ways that entertainment has conditioned us to expect. So training scenarios in which an attacker brandishes a knife from a body length away, and then artfully parries and ripostes his way in to the attack might be fun (or the dreadfully standard lunge-punch with knife from 6 feet out), but aren’t good preparation for the reality of concealed weapons and ambushes. Over the years I’ve developed a number of scenario based drills in which one partner carries a concealed “knife”, which may or may not be known to the other partner. During a verbal escalation scenario, randori or sparring, the weapon may be drawn at random and used. The defending partner usually ends up receiving multiple simulated stabs and slashes before he or she even knows the weapon was pulled, especially in close grappling encounters. It can be an eye-opener, but even with the random nature of these drills it is still very easy for the defender to slip into a complacent attitude towards the possibility of the concealed weapon, or to ignore the contact as they try to apply some cool technique. A few important elements are missing from such drills: fear and urgency. Fear is not an element that should be present in much of training, but it is useful to explore in affective training and for scenarios that attempt to include an element of surprise. In a training setting, fear usually manifests as apprehension.

A few companies make low-voltage training knives that can deliver a jolt to the partner on the receiving end, adding a measure of apprehension to a drill. The sting it delivers is also very, very useful feedback about where the training knife made contact with one’s body and how many times. Unfortunately, these commercially available models are prohibitively expensive, running into the hundreds of dollars. They just aren’t cost-effective for smaller groups, or for groups that may end up breaking them during intense training (this is why we can’t have anything nice). Fortunately, there are other options.

Knee Osteoarthritis in the Fighting Arts and Combat Sports

Among athletes, knee injury is a predisposing factor towards the development of knee osteoarthritis (OA). (Molloy & Molloy, 2011). Other joints may be at risk for overuse injuries and OA, but it is the knees in particular that seem to occupy a special place in the realm of chronic injuries.  Recognizing the risks of an activity allows for the development of injury-prevention programs specific to it’s demands and conditions. Although many martial artists don’t identify themselves as athletes, the demands of training are inherently athletic and the effects of training on the body are no different from those of athletic training.

Fighting arts and sports pose inherent risks to joint health, particularly acute or chronic injuries associated with the knees. A case by case analysis of the training activities and priorities of the various combat sports and so-called martial arts  would be necessary to discuss the risk of a certain format or style, but several mechanisms of injury are common to many:

• rapid and asymmetrical loading and unloading of joints during throws, tackles, sweeps, etc.
• bounding, cutting and darting movements, often under external load or force
• impact trauma from falls, kicks, sweeps
• compressive, shearing, tension and torsional trauma from joint manipulations

Good Morning Starshine…

Welcome to the brand-spanking new Fight Sciences Research Institute blog. For readers familiar with our former TKRI blog and identity, you can expect the same high level of quality original research and articles, training information and ideas, discussions, and accurate resources about the fighting arts and sports.

For those just tuning in, FSRI is a collective of experienced martial artists who value the development and training of  practical fighting and self protection skills over historical claims or stylistic identities. We offer training in practical, highly adaptable  fighting and self protection skills developed from our extensive collective experiences in karate, Judo, Aikido, wrestling, violent situations and ongoing research. Fighting and violence are complex phenomena that encompass a wide range of related fields, ranging from  psychology and anatomy to exercise science and motor learning. We are committed to reason-and evidence-based approaches, and  it is a part of our mission to update our beliefs and practices in response to new evidence.  Our individual members  have professional experience in the fields of  education, psychology, personal training, corrective exercise, and Human Movement science, all of which influence our collective approach.

So have a look through our large back catalog of older content and subscribe to the new- we hope that you find ways to improve your training, no matter what your practice is. For more information, please visit our about FSRIand mission statement pages. We welcome input and discussion from practitioners of all fighting arts and sports. Guest contributors are welcome and submissions are encouraged!

Spinal Overuse Injuries in the Fighting Arts: Risk Factors and Prevention Strategies

The modern understanding of “the core” and the need to properly condition it has become well known among athletic and active people, including martial artists (yes, the importance of the hips has been belabored for centuries, but the modern anatomically based concept is not necessarily the same thing). The core refers to the muscles, connective tissues and bones of the torso, yet to many it’s just the rectus abdominis (the “6-pack’).  However, the core can be more accurately thought of as the support, stabilization and movement system for the spinal column. This stack of 33 vertebrae (24 moving and 9 fixed) is connected by many ligaments and muscles, which provide oppositional tension akin to the guy wires on a tall tower.

Fight Sciences Research Institute Mission Statement

As we continue to develop our programs and explore our group identity, it became apparent that we cover a lot more ground than the average “martial arts” school, and still have a lot of more to cover. Practical, eclectic fighting skills taught at the individual level, training priorities guided by analysis of violent situations and environments, instructional methods based on modern motor learning and educational models, an emphasis on accurate knowledge of  human anatomy and psychology, supported by cutting edge performance enhancement and injury prevention conditioning, a commitment to honest and ethical practice…it’s not easy to get it all into one neat bite. As a part of my ongoing MS (Human Movement) coursework, I was recently required to develop a personal mission statement that reflects my goals in the field as well as a commitment to ethical and evidence-based practice. This got me wondering about what our group sees as it’s mission. After much discussion and exchanging ideas  among the St. Louis, Wash U and Virginia clubs, the following reflections of who we are and what we do took shape:

1a.  Our mission is to empower responsible adults through teaching them fighting and self defense skills.

b. We do not restrict our training to those who are already fit and strong:  we aim to teach those who might need to fight, not just those who are naturally good athletes and fighters.

2a.  We recognize that physical strength and fitness are an advantage in fighting and help to prevent injuries in training, and so an essential part of our mission is increasing the strength and fitness of the people we teach.

b.  We hold that appropriate programming begins with the needs of the students.

c.  We are aware of much misleading and false information about both fighting and fitness.  We recognize the scientific method as the best means to sort truth from mere opinion and we are committed to reason-and evidence-based approaches. It is a part of our mission to update our beliefs and practices in response to new evidence.

d. Publication of quality evidence-based literature and original research, experiential knowledge of other fighting arts and the as well as organization of seminars and symposia, are a priority to which all members of FSRI are encouraged to contribute per their specialties.

3a.  We endeavor to foster an atmosphere in which responsible adults may learn to fight regardless of class, race, gender, sexual-orientation, age or disability.

b.  We are committed to creating a training environment that enables and encourages cooperative learning, and which promotes problem-solving as a means to forging healthy personal relationships as well as appropriate responses to violence

c.   We reject any conflation of ability in fighting with moral rectitude. These things are distinct. Being a teacher of fighting does not make one morally superior to one’s students.  Being a better fighter does not make one a better person.

Basic Physical Training Concepts for Fighting Artists, pt. 2

Stagnation: Too Much of a Good (?) Thing

Martial arts are often marketed and practiced as if they are a finished product with set training and methods. The entrenchment of this idea varies from circle to circle, but it is quite common. It’s very appealing to both new students and long-term students alike. Predictability and stability are things that we tend to gravitate towards in our choices of recreational activities, as can be seen by the guy who goes to the gym and does the exact same workout every visit, or the  karate sensei who plans each class to be a further exposition on the basic techniques that the last year’s worth of classes were based on. Stagnation of training activities can take the form of:

1. repetition of specific skill-based activities: techniques or drills, especially elementary techniques
2. repetition of physical conditioning exercises past the point of useful adaptation

For new students the appeal of a set training format is very strong, as it minimizes the new material that they have to learn on a given night, which reduces anxieties and confusion in front of more experienced students. A handful of things can be learned, whether that be a drill, technique or conditioning exercise,  and then repeated reliably in each successive class. This is a comfortable routine, and if it is tied to claims of efficacy or magical thinking, the new student may place an inflated value on whatever he or she has done the most, regardless of ability.

For the long term student, stagnation may be appealing due to one of two factors:

Corrective Exercise Concepts for Striking

Regular feedback from practicing strikes against resistance (hitting bags etc.)  is essential in the fighting artist’s training regimen. As important as hitting is, it can be over done. In order to prevent muscular imbalances, that in turn lead to avoidable injuries and performance impairments, measures to counter or correct them must be included in programming. The following guidelines are designed to assist instructors and students in both improving performance and preventing injuries associated with training.

Conditioning Guidelines:

• If you are conditioning the anterior (chest and shoulder) musculature, don’t neglect the posterior (back). These muscles form force-couples of agonistic and antagonistic action; if one side is chronically short and tight, the other will be long and spastic, and vice avers. Neither condition is very efficient, and will likely  lead to a more serious injury.
• If you are conditioning the large prime movers (ie, pectorals), don’t neglect the smaller stabilizers (ie, subscapularis).
• For every session of bag intense work,  consider including 2-3 days of active recovery for the chest and shoulder muscle and associated striking & conditioning actions (see below).
• For every 3-4 weeks of regular striking, include 1 full week of active recovery into your training routine. Don’t worry about de-training in a week’s time- this takes up to 4 weeks of inactivity to become significant.

Tissue Quality:

• Muscle and connective tissues remodel along lines of force.  Repeated actions, particularly forceful ones, will alter tissue extensibility, elasticity and mobility, and potentially effect nerve tissue mobility (especially in the case of the brachial plexus and it’s divisions).
• Corrective exercise and self myofascial release are  recommended to provide the optimal length/tension relationships for the agonist/antagonist muscles, and break up fascial adhesions (“trigger points”, “knots”) within and between muscle tissues. This helps to promote efficient technique as well as protect the shoulder joint and cervical-thoracic spinal systems.
• For SMR, hold sustained pressure on areas of tight and tender muscle for a full 30 seconds. A foam roller can be used for most exterior muscles, but a tennis ball or lacrosse ball is needed to access smaller, deeper ones. Avoid SMR in bruised, ruptured or acutely sore tissue.
• For static stretching: hold each stretch for 20-30 seconds, repeat x 2 times per day, especially after hitting bags/pads/makiwara.
• Avoid extensive static stretching immediately before engaging in heavy, intense striking work. A light pendulum stretch can activate the rotator cuff muscles and mobilize the superior thoracic outlet and sub-acromial space, which may be tight from training/fighting in a “hunched” posture.

Stretching & Myofascial Release Techniques 

Prime Movers (these vary in their contribution or action according to the strike in question):

1. Pectorals : Flex, internally rotate and adduct shoulder arm at shoulder, pec minor specifically pulls the scapula forward and down. Do one at a time, avoid the double arm “hanging” doorway stretch.
2. Triceps: Extends forearm. This muscle is heavily used in straight-arm punches and strikes.
3. Biceps: Flexes and supinates forearm. Used heavily in hooks and uppercuts, the flexion of the upper arm at the shoulder, as well on the return to guard from a strike. Counter intuitively, the biceps has a major role as both a mover and stabilizer for straight punches; it is often neglected because of the assumption that punching is dependent on the triceps (or momentum, in some circles).

Stabilizers (these vary in their contribution or action according to the strike in question):

1. Subscapularis: Shoulder internal rotator. There are also ways of performing this using a stick or towel for assistance, but starting out in the lying position makes it easier to monitor the head of the humerus (upper arm) to ensure that it is not rotating forward.
2. Teres Minor and Infraspinatus. Shoulder external rotators. Notice that she is not forcing her arm down. If the head of the humerus wants to bulge forward and the shoulder up off of the table, don’t push it past this point.

Synergists:

1. Levator Scapulae: Scapular elevator and medial rotator,  neck rotator and lateral flexor. This muscle attaches the cervical vertebrae to the upper medial aspect of the scapula. The upwardly rotated, “hunched” position that many fighters adopt during bag work and fighting can shorten and tighten this muscle.
2. Upper Trapezius: Assist in elevation and retraction of scapulae. This region of the trapezius may be tight from forward shoulder “hunched” posture common to fighting and training.

Primary Antagonists:

1. Rhomboids: Retract and elevate scapula.  These may be lengthened and inhibited from the forward shoulder “hunched” posture common to fighting and training.
2. Latissimus: connects the humerus to the lumbar and thoracic spine, adducts, extends and internally rotates arm at shoulder. These are often tight in people who kick a lot or engage in excessive “air punching.”  Hint: if you can’t do a squat with the arms stretched overhead and keep the hands in line with your ears, or can’t help but fold at the waist as opposed to the hips, the lats need serious  attention to restore mobility to your shoulders.

Relevant surface muscles of the back and chest

'TKRI' Is Now The 'Fight Sciences Research Institute'

Readers may have noticed that our focus has evolved over the last couple of years. Initially most of our content was related to karate and other closely related topics. As time has gone by our focus has broadened to include information on a variety of fight training related topics. This has been reflective of our training and interests as an organization as well.

In order to more accurately represent our focus and practice we are changing our name from ‘The Karate Research Institute’ to the ‘Fight Sciences Research Institute’.  It will take us a while to change everything over, but we have now begun. For the time being we will keep the name of this blog the same. Wish us luck on this new chapter in our development.

Fight Sciences Research Institute blog Rated in Top 50 Best Martial Arts Blogs

Guide To Online Schools.com

Top Martial Arts Blogs

We’re not usually the type to honk our own horns as it were, but I was pleasantly surprised to follow a track-back to guidetoonlineschools.com’s listing of “Top 50 Martial Arts Blogs” and find our name in the top ten of their “Best of the Rest” category. We do what we do and follow our various interests within the martial arts field, and it’s a nice bonus to see that people have gotten something positive out of following along with us.

Take a look at their list for plenty of other good martial arts related blogs. (ed: this was gained when we were under the TKRIblog moniker)

The Ude Makiwara Part 6: Sample Training Clip

In the final installment of the “Ude Makiwara: Notes on History, construction and Usage”, I mentioned that I would soon post some video clips of  drills and training methods. It’s been more than a year and I’m finally getting around to putting some of these videos together-yeah, so timeliness is not a strong suit. The video linked below shows a very basic progression from simple straight punching into combinations utilizing circular strikes and basic footwork. In the next few weeks I plan to get some more videos up showing different drills that progress from simple skills to more sophisticated ones .  (Ed. note: After 3 years of hard use, I broke the original model, so more training clips will be put on hold until a build and install a new one…)