Systematizing My Systema, Part 3b: On Attributes Training

In Part 3a of the Systematizing my Systema series of articles, we discussed the general idea of athletic training vs. sports training and we also argued that training for self defense is definitely an athletic endeavor, rather similar to training for combat sports in terms of motor qualities (strength, speed, power, mobility), physiological/metabolic qualities (aerobic, anaerobic endurance) and basic movement skills, although quite different in terms of the strategies and tactics explored. We also claimed that a person involved in any type of athletic activity, in order to maximize performance, needs attributes, skills and mental toughness. In this blog post we will discuss the necessity of attributes training.

MOBILITY, STRENGTH, POWER, SPEED, ENDURANCE: DO WE REALLY NEED THEM?

In a few words... yes. Even nowadays, quite a few people in martial arts cycles seem to think that most martial arts or combat systems include all the training tools one needs to become an adequate practitioner. This view used to be quite popular in sports too: "The reigning belief was—and in some circles still is—that strength, power and all other motor qualities in a sport can be quite adequately developed by means of the sport itself, since this approach ensures that the principle of specificity is exactly adhered to", wrote the late Dr Mel Siff, leading sport scientist, back in 2000 [1]. Sports science has disproved this view for quite some time now, and sports practice (combat sports included) too: athletes who do additional physical training besides playing their sport, run faster, jump higher, throw longer, play harder and for longer periods of time, plus they suffer less injuries. 

 

Now, if you need one extra argument to get convinced that attribute training is necessary for self defense training, how about this?  Your attributes may or may not permit you to apply your strategies and tactics, since "...Physiological and technical limitations constrain the strategic options available..." [2]. To make it simple, it is your attributes that determine whether you can perform the required movements, even for the simplest of actions. Just to give you an example from my personal experience, I have recently seen a number of Aikido beginners struggling with a technique as basic as ikkyo, simply because their core is weak, so when they're trying to apply force, they bend their spine on the frontal plane (sideways) instead of simply rotating, resulting in less than optimal power generation, that makes for inability to perform the technique. According to the old school view, all these students need to do is keep on practicing ikkyo, until their body gets strong enough to perform the technique correctly, whenever that happens, provided, of course, they don't get injured on the way. The more modern view would have these students do some core stability training for a couple of weeks, a month maximum, and THEN try the technique again, when the function of their body does not act as a constraint on their ability to learn. What is considered a 'technical problem' is actually nothing but a lack of the most basic strength, i.e. an attribute problem.

A member of the Göteborg Dynamo Club training for the Mustache of the Week Competition.

In the Göteborg Dynamo Club of Russian Martial Art, we call attributes development 'power generation training'. Before you start thinking of us as huge and most probably 'muscle-bound' power lifters, let me point out here that whether you're punching someone or taking him down, deflecting a strike, taking a swift step to move out of the way of force, skating on ice and trying to hit a puck with a stick, dribbling and passing a basketball, kicking a football or running to catch the bus, what you are using is power. This means that we use the word 'power' in its strict meaning in physics: that is, work, i.e energy, i.e. kinetic energy, over time. We train to generate as much kinetic energy as possible in the shortest amount of time, through mechanical and physiological efficiency, in order to apply this power in a variety of applications - martial or other. That is what we specialize in and that's what we do best at the Dynamo: making all types movement fluent, effortless and powerful, while at the same time empowering people through movement. 

In summary, the argument in this post is that training for martial (or any other type of) skills can commence only when the necessary attributes have been developed, otherwise practice will be inefficient and the practitioner will run significant danger of injuries - train generic movement first, specific movement second. We will have the opportunity to discuss the idea of power generation training in detail in the future. Our next Systematizing My Systema blog post will be on skills training.

References:
[1]  Siff M.C., Biomechanical Foundations of Strength and Power Training, from Zatsiorsky V.M., Biomechanics In Sport - Performance Enhancement and Injury Prevention. Blackwell Science, 2000. p. 103

[2] Janelle C.M. & Hillman C.H., Expert Performance in Sport: Current Perspectives and Critical Issues, from Starkes J.L. & Ericsson K.A., Expert Performance in Sports - Advances in Research on Sport Expertise. Human Kinetics, 2003. p. 23