Weight training and karate

I was asked recently if I thought modern weight training would be beneficial to a persons karate practice.  I have mixed thoughts on this.

Training is training… and the fitter, stronger, faster, more flexible you can be, the better equipped you will be to engage in karate practice. 

However, for most people the amount of time that they have available to spare for training is quite small.  It can be difficult trying to fit in all of the kata, bunkai, conditioning, strength training, partner drills, etc, into this spare time.  If you then add further demands such as a regular gym session, then your cutting your practice time even further.

Sensei Mike Clarke wrote an excellent article regarding time management called Big Rocks which I urge you to read at his website which can be found on my links.

Anyway…regarding modern weight training I feel that its beneficial, but not at the cost of other areas of your training.

An area of traditional training which is often overlooked, shunned, disliked or misunderstood by most is the hojo undo – the traditional weight training implements unique to Okinawan Karatedo.

The physical condition of karate practitioners  was what prompted the Okinawans to include its training within their school curriculum’s, bringing karate out from behind closed doors and into the mainstream. 

This lean muscular physique developed through using the various hojo undo tools however is only a by product.  The real aim of the training is to develop the correct feeling within the various strikes and blocks.  I’ve written before about how you need to learn how to connect the striking limb to the floor making it rock solid.  The hojo undo tools teach you how to do that so that whilst you are developing your muscular strength, you are also performing movements unique to karate and making these movements more powerful and more grounded.

The fighting mentality of Goju Ryu is very assertive.  We block moving forward, keep our shoulders square regardless of how big a target we present to the opponent, knowing that our attack will be so strong that they will have no chance of blocking it.  He can be wearing a suit of armour for all we care, we’ll strike straight through it! 

However, this mentality is useless if you do not have the physical strength and ability to implement it successfully.