conditioning and related problems to sparring

pearsquasher

I used to do an art that had 30% sparring in it and within that conditioning would take the form of simply continually taking hits so one built up a relative resistance to physical pain. It was fun but I lost interest.

Since then I do an art doesn't involve as much sparring but it negates the need for any conditioning as such by being one that developed from armoured fighting, where any striking was used to unbalance rather than hurt an opponent - which was difficult if they're wearing iron.

Given this method, it wouldn't really matter how conditioned your opponent was without armour, because you'd be hitting them at such a time that it would effect their balance, and unless you're wearin an anti-gravity suit, you can't condition to fight gravity. In turn, this method could suit a "fight" where you didn't necessarily want to cause pain or the attacker was too drugged to feel the pain. Not all the striking is like this.. there's a place for pain too of course, and a place for usimg strikes to give distance, but its not relied upon and therefore conditioning isn't either.. in some arts. Plus clothing can absorb a lot too.

In the end though, conditioning to feel less pain can only be a bonus but i thought i'd chime in with some other factors not mentioned.

Mola.mola

Can you elaborate on strikes aimed to cause imbalance rather than pain etc. please.

pearsquasher

pearsquasher wrote:

In the end though, conditioning to feel less pain can only be a bonus but i thought i'd chime in with some other factors not mentioned.

I would have thought that there is an inherent danger to your body not knowing when damage is being done to it?

pearsquasher

Can you elaborate on strikes aimed to cause imbalance rather than pain etc. please.

Just a timing thing and I'm sure most arts have it. Some jujutsu schools call it "atemi". It's the sort of strike that shifts weight, distracts, harasses, and can be applied at particular places in the moving body or thrown out generally at the right time. It's hard to grasp, if you're not familiar with it and i would say it takes good study under a good teacher for some time to get a feel for it. Pointless trying to explain further as it's just one of those doing/feeling things.

I've experienced it on a few occasions "fo real" and its worth studying, if not equally as much as pain-based strikes, then more so, in my opinion

I would have thought that there is an inherent danger to your body not knowing when damage is being done to it

Hmm..we're not talking about cutting off nerves here.. just a little extra de-sensitivity to surface pain, in order to give an extra bit of time in a "fight". I think that apply's to sparring/sporting as well as reality. Let the pain come afterwards when the panic stops and you know you've survived, or whatever.

Mola.mola

pearsquasher wrote:

Just a timing thing and I'm sure most arts have it. Some jujutsu schools call it "atemi". It's the sort of strike that shifts weight, distracts, harasses, and can be applied at particular places in the moving body or thrown out generally at the right time. It's hard to grasp, if you're not familiar with it and i would say it takes good study under a good teacher for some time to get a feel for it. Pointless trying to explain further as it's just one of those doing/feeling things.

sounds like bull****/exaggerating to me. you're probably just hitting someone.

Dragan

ShaneT wrote:

Nope. It just desensitizes the nerve endings allowing you to kick freely without experiencing significant pain.

Of course, in the first instance, it "sensitizes" and therefore leads to MORE pain but it's short lived.

It doesn't "harden" the bone in any way. There are many schools of thought concerning "bone conditioning". I'm inclined to believe that no amount of training impact will infact "strengthen the bone". That is not to say that it won't cause bumps and "thicken" the bone which in turn leads people to assume that the bone is therefore stronger. However, every physio I have ever known has told me, "you can't make the bone stronger".

While i appreciate the method involved, a much better way, and one that does not involve self inlficted nerve damage, would be to develop the tibialus muscle the runs down the shin.

Depending on your muscle insertions this can be developed to a large degree, and will provide a massive ammount of protection for the shin bone.

Millionaire

as the lads said, working pads, and heavy hard bags thai style will tough your shins, and also develop some serious hard kicks, and its great fun!

and trust me on this... if I can harden my shins and now hit the hardest of bags full power, anyone can do it too, because I though I had the weakest shins on the planet!!!!