Yoga for martial arts ... ?

Discussion in 'Health and Fitness' started by Sandy, Feb 16, 2009.

  1. Sandy

    Sandy Valued Member

  2. Mr Punch

    Mr Punch Homicidal puppet

    :D LOL I came here today to start a yoga for martial arts thread!

    Er, but I haven't seen that vid, only similar ads. Looks fine. I wonder a bit though, because any yoga should be good for martial artists!

    I'm a bit wary of new fads like power yoga for example. I do hatha yoga (which unfortunately covers most bog-standard strip-mall gym yoga too). The meaning of Hatha is ha - sun, yang, male, plus tha - moon, yin, female, and together it means 'forceful'. It isn't supposed to be a picnic! I only restarted recently and I'd forgotten how hard it is!

    A lot of the movements into the postures and the stuff about where and how you distribute your weight has obvious carry-over into MA. Plus they're not all as slow as you'd think. The stretches and relaxation techs do to in a less direct manner. The breathing is opposite to most JMA systems and although not opposite, pretty different to advanced tai chi breathing. People who practise other CMA I know that stress natural breathing could benefit from it.

    But generally I can only see advantages. I would say however, from my own observations, various weight training sites and MAP's own Superfoot, that it's not a good idea to do yoga before heavy weight lifting.
     
  3. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    Yoga is a wonderful discipline in its own right, but its practice is not necessary for increasing martial arts-specific flexibility.

    More about that in a moment. First, this product highlighted by Sandy. Bottom line - don't bother. The description itself sends up warning signs for not buying it...

    No yoga discipline I know of incorporates kicking-specific flexibility exercises, nor grappling-specific strength exercises. You also don't need to do yoga to develop balance specific to your style of martial art - best way to do this is simply practice your martial art.

    1. No stretching programme can prevent pain. Most pain is because you're doing a technique wrong. An experienced instructor in your style of martial arts will resolve this issue.

    2. No stretching programme can prevent soreness. Most soreness you feel after a martial arts workout is due to DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) and while very light relaxed stretching can help relieve this soreness, relaxed stretching can also compound the problem. (Yoga stretches are relaxed stretches.) Any residual soreness as a result of pain from practicing a technique incorrectly can be remedied in point 1.

    3. No stretching workout can prevent injury. Practising yoga stretches before a workout, particularly one involving dynamic actions, can actually increase the risk of injury.

    Most people are under the impression that yoga practitioners are able to bend into the shape of a pretzel, I can assure you it is only a small minority of lifelong practitioners who achieve such a level of flexibility. Go watch a yoga class at your local gym - most likely the only person who can display flexibility of any impressive level is the instructor at the front of the class who has been training for 20+ years. You can achieve the same level of flexibility in only a couple of months by incorporating strength training into your routine. There is also nothing to say that such a level of flexibility will be beneficial to your martial arts training anyway. Most martial arts are dynamic in nature; punchers need dynamic stretches for the arms and shoulders; grapplers need dynamic stretches for the torso; kickers need dynamic stretches for the legs.

    You don't need yoga to be good at martial arts. If you still want to do static stretches, click here for all the info you need regarding that type of flexibility.
     
  4. Mr Punch

    Mr Punch Homicidal puppet

    Maybe not necessary, but if you enjoy yoga, flexibility is flexibility, right?

    I would get a copy from a library or rental or something first sure, as I would with anything. And my comment about being wary of new fads like 'Power Yoga' and 'Hot Yoga' were aimed at this probably being just another marketing gimmick, and so not worth it. But try it before you decide 'don't bother'.

    Incidentally, I tried Superfoot's beloved Kurz stretching DVD and so far I'm not impressed at all (love his series of articles you keep referring too, so a little disappointed so far). I haven't watched it all and I will do before I make a judgment on whether to buy it, but so far: no dice for me.

    Interesting PoV. As I said, while there are some variations in how you can flex, basically flexibility is flexibility and if you like the look of yoga I see no reason why Kurz's/Pavel's approach is better than yoga. Of course, they are quicker, so if you have some top level comp to go for fine. And sure, with balance for your MA practising your MA is a good idea, but there are plenty of occasions when you may need balance, flexibility and stability in life where yoga is more applicable than the balance, flexibility and stability needed for kicking head height for example.

    And as for grapplers, I personally know a lot of grapplers, pro, semi-pro and hobbyists who have tried or do do yoga regularly and rate it for various reasons. Distribution of balance and your weight in strange positions, as well as various kinds of breathing to help you relax into your various positions spring to mind from my limited experience.

    Pain isn't only from doing a tech wrong (I know you said 'mostly' so I'm reiterating). It can also be from someone else tying you up like a pretzel that damaging you or you not having the strength in that weird position to counter, relax into it, or fight it. Yoga can definitely help with those things.

    And compounding your DOMS soreness through yoga would be through doing your yoga wrong too!

    I also think you are taking the words 'pain' and 'soreness' too literally from the sales pitch. These words are not specific. From the exercise literature you read they have specific meanings, but a BJJer may use them in different ways, as may a doctor, as may a yoga practitioner.

    Sure. I didn't see where they were talking about doing these things before another workout or as a warm-up...

    Good points. There are a multitude of benefits to be had from yoga and while you don't need yoga to improve your MA, as another discipline it is certainly complimentary. If you do the so-called 'internal arts' the similarities and differences are all the deeper for practise.

    Just out of interest, how long is your yoga experience? There are certainly dynamic stretches in yoga, as well as relaxed ones. Asana practice (postures) is just one of six limbs of yoga practice.
     
  5. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    I was introduced to hatha yoga when I was fifteen, then later dabbled in ashtanga yoga. Granted, while there are dynamic-type stretches in yoga (particularly in ashtanga), these are not specific for kicking flexibility. Also the relaxed stretches in many asanas strain the connective tissues (ligaments and tendons), which explains why results take so long to achieve.

    Yoga does offer several benefits, however, including alleviating pain in sufferers of hyper/o-mobility in the sacroiliac joint. You can view an article on this by clicking here.

    My most recent experience with the discipline was teaching experienced yogis with 10+ years experience to do full splits, which they couldn't do before, in 3 months or less using the methods developed by Kurz.

    Each to their own and if an individual benefits from practising yoga, more power to them :cool:
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2009
  6. Mr Punch

    Mr Punch Homicidal puppet

    LOL, nice splits story... might have to perservere with the Kurz programme at the same time as yoga!

    Still, reckon I'll add some more beneficial bits of blurb to this thread from time to time, and make some comments about connections and differences between yoga and MA too. If there's any interest of course...
     
  7. Sandy

    Sandy Valued Member

    I would agree.

    I too have tried methods from Kurtz/Pavel, but didn't get on with them personally. In my case, I found more benefit from yoga and may take a look at the video.
     
  8. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    Sandy,

    Whatever works for you mate. Good luck, let us know how you get on with it :cool:
     
  9. Mr Punch

    Mr Punch Homicidal puppet

    Yeah, seconded... should make interesting reading on the contrasts in method and results with all the Kurz/Pavel devotees on here. But to get any kind of comparison going on, we need to know first why you didn't like Kurz/Pavel?
     
  10. bewatermyfriend

    bewatermyfriend Valued Member

    I practice Hot Yoga and it's very beneficial to my martial arts studies. It helps with my endurance and balance, but I feel like it has not dramatically changed my flexibility in anyway specifically. I'm sure it helps, but my balance is the most notable aspect. The nature of Hot Yoga does help with endurance though since it takes place in such a hot and humid setting. I also run regularly and have noticed that my running endurance has increased dramatically since my practice. On a side note, my focus has also increased. I would recommend fellow martial artists try it for a month and see if they can tell a difference. I have not had the opportunity to meet many other MAs who have practiced Hot Yoga. The one I did is a 9th degree kung fu master and he also found it extremely beneficial to his kung fu studies as well as his growth in tai chi. Most runners I have spoken with think a lot of Hot Yoga as a great form of cross training.
     

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