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How Hard Should You Beat Your Body?

January 19, 2009 | Author: Matthew | Filed under: Martial Arts,Opinion,Techniques,karate,self defense

I recently had the chance to watch “Power Training” by Morio Higaonna. Higaonna Sensei is very well known (especially in the west) and is renowned for his severe, Spartan training methods. Featured in his dvd were different routines and methods one could use to strengthen the body (Hojo Undo).

Take a look at this quick video for samples of Hojo Undo training:

As you can see, jars, stones, and other tools from antiquity are used to toughen the body and create a more powerful practitioner. Along with this kind of Hojo Undo is “iron shirt” training, where karateka steel their bodies against powerful blows.

Here is an example of Takemi Takayasu taking some shots:

“Iron Shirt” gets a lot of press and airtime because it’s very impressive. Heck, I know I like to watch people get hit with bats. But it also makes me wonder – how much beating should we give our bodies for the sake of training? How much is healthy…how much is necessary?

When Everyday Life Gets in the Way

Hojo Undo methods of body hardening were created on Okinawa where the native populace had just a few main jobs – fishing, farming, craftsmanship, etc. Most of what they had to do in their day-to-day lives involved manual labor. A hardy body and toughened exterior were extremely useful for those conditions.

These days, especially in the west, small motor skills are much more prevalent in the workplace. Although manual labor jobs still exist (of course), more and more people find themselves typing, filing, writing, and operating other equipment that requires fine motor skills. If a career musician or computer programmer were to beat their hands against rocks, or thrust their fingertips into vats of pebbles, the consequences could ultimately hinder them instead of help.

It’s true that the results of body hardening can be very impressive, but the potential for arthritis, joint pain, and loss of coordination can hamper its value. I say ‘potential for‘ because these outcomes are not necessarily guaranteed – there is such a thing as right and wrong training with Hojo Undo (meaning don’t just go punching rocks). But, even still, it’s a gamble depending on your livelihood.

Usefulness in Modern Self Defense

Let’s say you’re willing to take the leap into difficult conditioning because you want to improve your self defense capabilities. I can understand that. But we need to examine the kinds of attacks you might run into in modern society.

First of all, hard body training is very useful against blunt attacks like kicks, punches, and even sticks. We saw in the above video that, given a moment’s notice, Takayasu Sensei can turn his body into a powerful shield.

Unfortunately, more common than bat attacks are knife and gun attacks. In those situations, hanging tough and taking the blow is a very bad idea and practicing that habit can lead to trouble. The time spent training iron shirt techniques might have been better used learning evasion, interception, and scenario-based self defense. Furthermore, chest shattering punches can be replaced by extremely accurate blows to weak areas of the body (nose, throat, groin, etc).

That being said, I really like some of the grip training that we’ve seen.

By using ishi sashi, nagiri game, ch’ishi, and kongo ken an impressive grip can be developed. Grip and the ability to generate torque through the arms/hips is immediately useful in any self defense situation. With a powerful enough grip and a knowledge of how to twist the opponent’s body, one can incapacitate or subjugate an opponent of any variety.

So…can toughening your body help improve your self defense? Yes, I think so. But you have to keep in mind its limits and what you could be giving up for it. Also remember that karate training is about reactions and instinct. Whether your reaction to a sudden attack is to tighten up and take it or evade out of the way will come down to how you train.

Strength of Body, Mind, Breath

Something I like about Hojo Undo practice (which I also think is generally understated) is the combination of body, mind, and breath. In order to succeed in such a rigorous training routine, the breath has to strengthen the body instead of using raw muscle. Furthermore, the mind has to be tough enough to withstand prolonged discomfort. Ultimately, these drills can bring all three aspects closer together.

This is useful, assuming you don’t have any existing joint injuries or internal conditions. If you do have a busted knee or heart problem, the excess strain can actually be detrimental to your health. Once again, personal assessment is the key. For those individuals who decide they shouldn’t utilize Hojo Undo for this particular purpose, kata such as Sanchin and Tensho can serve as reliable substitutes.

Listening and Pushing

After all is said and done, I think the most important thing to remember in this or any martial arts training is balance. As much as we want to push our bodies through austere practices like Hojo Undo, we also have to listen to our bodies and recognize things we are doing that might be healthy/unhealthy. What works for one individual might spell an early retirement for the next.

If you DO wish to integrate this type of training into your regiment, do so very very slowly. Do research on how to make/acquire proper equipment and find an instructor who has been doing it for awhile with only minor ill-effects. Assess your needs as a person in modern society and make your training work for you!

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 19th, 2009 and is filed under Martial Arts, Opinion, Techniques, karate, self defense. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Massimo Gaetani

I agree with your conclusion. I am convinced that "some" conditioning is useful, depending on the level of contact you are practicing. In any case it should not cause permanent damages or deforming yout body in any way.
John W. Zimmer

Interesting topic. I used to do limited conditioning when I was a teenager but after getting into an Americanized style - I started focusing on sparring for competition.

My take on conditioning and toughening is one has to improve one's fitness level but in this modern era - I do not see the need to toughen body parts to strike better (deadening the pain).

I've been in many fights in my youth as I was a bouncer at a dive bar for a couple years and while I've occasionally been injured (broken knuckles and such) - I healed just fine.

As you aptly point out one takes the chance on increasing arthritis and decreasing manual dexterity in old age.

Having said this I am still impressed by those who condition their bodies to take a lot of punishment with very little apparent ill effects - I just don't want to be one of them.

Regards,

John W. Zimmer
wimde

In the first Chinese style I studied, we did extensive hardening. The results can indeed be impressive, like you said. Just as they can be disastrous in the long term. I've seen people close to crippled for going overboard with it.

It can also become addictive when you lose yourself in testing your limits and pushing them back a bit more every time. You end up being able to take some incredible punishment but stray from the goal of trying to avoid getting hit.
Or you might (subconsciously) develop a mindset of "I can take a hit". Which is fine until some guy pulls a knife on you.

Great post, very informative. Keep up the goodwork.

Wim
Matthew

Colin: Thank you for the link, you're right - that is very appropriate to the subject at hand. Certainly listening to your body and being mindful of how far to push is of utmost importance.
Colin Wee

Though I am impressed and respectful of hojo undo, check out what a shuri stylist would say about extensive body hardening: "Do not put too much strain on yourself while you are practicing, otherwise you will get bloodshot and your face will turn red. These are signs of over-practice which will ruin your health in time." Cheers, Colin
Foxy Citrus

Don't even think about trying this. If you want to get beat up, just ask me. I'll deliver.
Matthew

Mark: Mr. Burkland certainly makes a valid point. Much like John mentioned with sparring, that contact can lead to desensitization. I definitely believe there is a value in that, so long as your also training to cover up and slip just in case that punch isn't coming to the chest.

John: Sanchin 30 times a day!? You know what, I'd like to try that just once and see how I feel the next day. Anyone else want to try it?

Branden: I'd be curious to know what your alter ego is as a crime fighter, but I guess you can't give that away.

Zyaga: Nice point - chi/mental focus can be its own method of hardening the body. That also runs the risk of taking awhile to "churn up", so to speak. If a practitioner needs 5 seconds prep time to wind up their chi defense, then it isn't entirely useful for self defense purposes (I'm thinking along the combat ki lines).

Noah: I think you are a good example of self analysis and creating a training regiment that is right for you!
Noah L

Nice post! It's definitely been a point of contention that I have noticed coming up in cycles--body conditioning is bad for you, now it's good, then it's bad again. Just like others have mentioned, I believe in moderation. Yes, I have taken kicks to the legs, punches to the body, slammed forearms together with other karateka, and hit the makiwara. Have I ever had people hit me with a bat? No, because I would just as soon hit the guy before he could swing the bat--it's not like you can't see it coming. Have I ever thrust my fingers into jars of sand and stones? No, because I am a computer technician, and I need to be able to type to work. In the same respect, the conditioning that I did do was not as hardcore as many people--I didn't hit the makiwara until I bled, or get struck until I was numb. As you said, you really just have to listen to your body and analyze your needs.
Zyaga

The thing is that there is differences between the way people train themselves. I've seen those that raise their pain threshold by simply beating themselves with objects, as it will eventually over time toughen the body. Yet, there are those who train their chi(ki), to allow them to withstand the blows. If you notice, most of those who simply train their mind/chi/ki mostly, never really have beaten up bodies. Sure, they break things over themselves, but they don't use that as the method to directly increase their endurance level. "Mind over matter", comes to mind.

Also, it all depends on your definition of whether being a rock is the best defense. If so, just realize that you're limiting other things by destroying the nerves, of course that's only if you're doing it the "beating" way. Chi/Ki is another story, especially as to what level of endurance it can actually bring to you.

At least that is my take on it. Just an opinion. :P
uechiguy01

Proper iron body conditioning doesn't cause these same side effects. The problem isn't so much the type of conditioning as it is the fact that too many people have the tendency to train too hard too fast. Proper iron body conditioning is very gradual and should produce more of a tingling feeling in the area being conditioned rather than pain. Small bruises and scrapes are inevitable in any martial arts training, but proper conditioning increases the density of the bones, strengthens muscles, ligaments, and tendons, causes the pain receptor nerves to retreat farther into the body (as oppossed to causing actual nerve damage or destruction), and gives the practitioner the ability to take or execute a strike and continue to act without mentally shutting down. This happens a lot with newer martial arts students. They tend to back off and wait for the attack due to fear of being hit. Most of these students have little to no expirience with actually striking anything solid either so when they attack there is little or no power in their strikes and they will usually launch one or maybe two techniques and then stop rather than pushing forward with one technique after the next.
Blackmetalassasin

Good Point. I also study Uechi-Ryu and I agree with you about inexperienced students usually overtraining. This is bound to happen with nearly all newer students because when they first start training they need to find their limits before they can train properly. The point with many Iron Body excercises is to train to the point slightly below injury(as you stated, for koteketai, the feeling afterward should be somewhat of a tingling feeling). The quality of the excercises is always what should be stressed. Like any kind of physical training, when the goal is quantity over quality, injury is the likely outcome. This is the reason why most books or videos on the subject contain a disclaimer stating that these training methods should only be used under the supervision of an expirienced instructor. There are a lot of subtleties to these methods that people can understand by simply reading up on them.
Branden

I think it's worth mentioning that from what I've read, many of the older systems that work body conditioning, even as soft as sanchin or tensho are only done at 40-50% as the practitioner gets older, or if he/she has medical issues.

I know some older sensei, like Higaonna continue the training into their old age, but we have to stand back and realize, maybe there is a little bit of western culture driving that?

Going back another generation or so, you didn't see such hard training into older age. And there again, go back another 2 or 3 and there it is again, but for good reason (you were fighting for others' and your life on a more regular basis).

I'd like to think that if Sakagawa, Kyan, Odo or Nakamura were alive to see how we live on a everyday basis, they'd probably mention something about moderation based on what you plan on accomplishing. I mean, It'd be great to be a metropolis vigilante protecting the city on a nightly basis (the REAL reason I miss classes...;) ) but as far as reality goes, unless you're picking fights, we're training for the life and death situation that we hope never happens.

You could argue that we train for so many other daily life situations as well, but then the discussion about body hardening is moot.

Nice write up Matt San!
John

Sparring over time can remove some of the "mental shock" from getting hit. Definitely, the psychological aspect plays a part. The traditional body-toughening routines I've seen look unhealthy for the most part. I'm wondering how many people still train that way.

I have seen some people go really overboard with the forced-breathing aspect of Sanchin. Still, for me, Sanchin produces a type of fatigue I don't get with weights, cardio or even general karate training. It's a weird and very interesting form. Chojun Miyagi's advice to do Sanchin 30 times per day is out of my league, though.
Mark "Oldman" Cook

I have had the opportunity to have Brad Burklund, an Ashihara practitioner visit with me. He is a very technical teacher and a great guy. You can see him on youtube. My style has limited contact where as Ashihara
is a Kyokushn offshoot and bang very hard. After training and discussing the issue with him I decided to incorporate body and leg conditioning. His point is that if you don't you won't be prepared to continue when you get hit if you take a hard shot. Our approach is voluntary. The student can participate or opt out.
Matthew

BBM: Come on, you know you want them big calluses! Also we did indeed - Higaonna Sensei was featured in the karate episode of human weapon. His clip can be found on youtube here.
Rick Matz

In the tradition I follow, Taijiquan, we don't do that.
Black Belt Mama

Impressive indeed, but for a delicate flower like myself, I think I'll pass. Plus, I'm a girl. I don't want hands that look like they've been striking pebbles for a lifetime.

And, traditional training has beat me up enough! Didn't we watch something about this stuff on that Human Weapon show too?