Since I've started doing weights 3 times a week I've seen massive improvements in strength and appearance, better than martial arts alone has ever done. Wish I'd started a good weight training regime years ago!
But the question is- is it functional strength. Also, MA doesnt claim to make you look great. But I do weights a lot so I know what you mean.
I train for functional strength as well as for the look good in a t shirt It just feels weird after doing MA's for many years, then weights for a matter of months and people now ask if I've been working out!
You will not get bigger than you should, as long as you dont take steroids or other chemical supplements like that. Dont take um, and lift as much as you want and youll be fine, dont worry.
Ehm, bodyweights. Simple, eh? Ever heard of ashtanga? It's an advanced form of yoga exercises. It uses ur body's own weight to be the "resistance" force. U gain muscle tone and strength from this but not mass cuz ur not lifting anything extra but ur own weight. Hindu push ups and Hindu squats apply to this. Oh yeah, pull ups and V-sits apply to this if u want a nice back and abs to compliment ur chest, arms, and legs. -Fitz
In fact physics has nothing to do with resistance training imo. Of you think about it in a punch you have a lot o supporting and healping muscles, hence hwy punching of weights is so effective is trains everything that is needed in the punch. AS for resistance training it in fact slows you down. You'll be fast for a bit with the pump but you will slow down in the end
Not true on all accounts. Look at sprinters, they are some pretty huge guys - funny how they're the fastest in the world! Was Muhammed Ali slow? I don't think so and he was a muscular guy. I could go on forever. The slow guys are the skinny marathon runners who don't do weights. Punching with weights has everything to do with physics, gravity specifically. The weight is pressing down on your hand at the end of the motion - does this happen during a normal punch? No. Like you said about weight training, you might seem faster but it makes no real difference aside from a little shoulder endurance which is a very poor trade off.