Physical Preparation

Outlasting your opponent in competition or learning to combat a bigger person under stress requires hard training. You must be physically fit, strong, and powerful. Supplemental strength training in addition to your martial arts training will help you develop the toughness you need to equalize or overcome the power of a bigger opponent. Strength also helps you win in competition and establishes your reputation as a formidable and competent student of the fighting arts. When you are physically unfit, your martial arts techniques become sloppy, slow, and powerless. You should therefore value physical strength and fitness as highly as you value good martial arts techniques. Your supplemental strength training should complement the martial art you are studying; you should never lose focus on the fact that you are training for a combat art and not just for getting into better shape.