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Barefoot Training in the Martial Arts – No Shoes is Good News!

January 22nd, 2011


Most Students of the Martial Arts train barefoot when they are indoors. And, most martial art systems train 80-100% of the time between four walls and on a soft mat. So, for many, training without shoes isn’t much of a challenge.

In the Martial Science, we spend 80-100% of our time training outside. We still support the barefoot training philosophy and motivate students to do the same – even when training in the park.

Why should you go shoeless? Because wearing shoes just does not look cool with your uniform.

Okay, I do believe that shoes serve a purpose and some shoes do not look as ridiculous as a pair of over-cushioned running shoes (Tabi and Five Fingers for example).

I do however, prefer being without shoes. I love to run barefoot, hike, climb and generally just not wear shoes at all. In fact, I spend about 75% or more of my time without any shoes and prefer to stretch this into my sporting activities. I am not the only one.

* Abebe Bikila, Olympic marathoner, won the first of his consecutive gold medals without shoes.

Research barefoot running in Google and you will get a lot more hits on shoeless wonders like Abebe. For example, Michael Warburton published an online paper titled, “Barefoot Running.” Warburton points out that the extra weight of shoes is worse than a few pounds around the waist. Extra weight means more energy is spent. As part of your stride, weight on your feet must adjust to a constant increase and decrease of speed.

Research shows that two 10-ounce shoes will make you more than five percent less efficient. That is good to know – especially when you consider the micro-movements the body has to make to keep from suffering an ankle injury.

Internal, External and Spatial Awareness

Next let’s talk about proprioception and don’t worry if you haven’t heard that word before – neither has Microsoft.

Proprioception (pronounced PRO-pree-o-SEP-shÉ(TM)n), from Latin proprius, meaning “one’s own” and perception) is the sense of the relative position of neighboring parts of the body.

Let us associate the senses with Mind, Body and Spirit and break them into three categories (only for the sake of learning this concept):

01 External (sight, taste, smell, touch, hearing and balance) – Body

02 Internal (senses that help us to perceive pain) – Mind

03 Spatial (sense that shares feedback in relation to our world) – Spirit

Proprioception is a sense that helps us to verify where the limbs of our body are located in relation to each other and space around us. It also helps determine if we are moving at the correct speed or using the correct amount of force.

In the Martial Science – we consider Spirit to represent life-spirit and interaction with the living world around us; people, nature and animals.

We get feedback from the world around us in order to adjust and improve our lives. Well, your body needs to do the same thing in order to function properly.

If you did not have proprioception and I put a blind fold over your eyes, you would just fall over. The police test proprioception to see if someone has had too much to drink. This is because you lose this sense when you have had too much alcohol. That is why they ask you to walk on a straight line without looking at your feet. Without proprioception, we must look at our feet in order to walk.

If you watch a baby move his hands around trying to grab for something, you will notice that his hand movements stutter as they begin to learn how to develop hand and eye coordination. Every time that they reach for something new, they are creating new data and feedback to build on.

The skill to spin a sword or catch a Frisbee both require that you have a very specific SENSE of the exact positions of your limbs, your muscles and joints involved. The development of this skill has to reach level 4 of the natural learning process:

1 You are unaware of your incompetence (you don’t know you don’t know)

2 You are consciously incompetent (you know you don’t know)

3 You are consciously competent (you must think as you act)

4 You are unconsciously competent (you can act without thinking)

Let us assume that you are a martial artist that would like to have natural cat like reactions. Not only that, but you want good timing, and to be able to kick with deadly accuracy.

At first, you are going to be unaware of the fact that you cannot kick properly or with precision (1). Then you see someone kick the way you would like to and begin to understand that you do not currently have the skills you desire (2). With some training, you can kick a bag or target on command (3). Finally, with years of practice, you can kick without thinking. You react naturally (4).

This sense must reach autopilot so that you can then focus on other important areas of performance, such as contemplating alternative strategies, observing your environment or punching while kicking.

A more modern way to label proprioception is to call it movement intelligence. This is of course with the belief that proprioception is focused on feedback. When the body moves, information is sent to the brain for further investigation, calculation and adjustments.

There’s more to it than meets the eye and foot coordination.

Studies researching ankle injuries suggest that our reflexes play a bigger role in staying injury free. When you wear bigger shoes, you are not going to have as much development around the core areas of your foot and ankle. Shoes alone could be the cause of many ankle sprains, knee injuries and back pain.

Here is a quiz. Pain caused by ankle sprains has to do with:

A Strength

B Endurance

C Flexibility

D Balance

The correct answer is D – balance / proprioception.

Having a strong ankle, physical endurance or flexibility will not save you from an ankle sprain if you have not also developed the neuromuscular system to react naturally. Shoes just do not help us with this development as much going barefoot does. Imagine wearing a shoe on your hands.

Going barefoot helps to improve proprioception because you can feel more of your feet, develop more muscle memory and thus increase chances of reacting naturally. The more you can FEEL the better, as this will create more signals and thus more data. In the end, that = more balance.

It all happens so fast and on such a micro level that it is not something we can consciously adjust to in the now.

Since most martial artists already train barefoot, I am suggesting that you also do the same when you are in the park training, or lounging around the house. If you want improved kicks, you need to start from the ground up. The more often you kick and train barefoot – the better.

NOTE: You must train with shoes too if you expect to know how to move in a real life situation (we do not go barefoot in the mall). Balance is key – but before you put on the iron man suit – consider training what is inside it first.

Join our Live-In Martial Arts and Adventure Camp in either California or Thailand. Short and Long Term Programs available. Attend the camp for the weekend, 1-2 week, 1 month or yearly camp for get certified to an instructor status. For more information, please visit the link below.

http://www.theninjacamp.com/

By: Rick Tew

About the Author:
Rick Tew is an internationally acclaimed Sensei or teacher in the martial arts and founder of CMS – College of Martial Science and NinjaGym. He runs Short and Long term Martial Arts Training Camps in California, Thailand and Holland. Visit http://www.ninjagym.com/ to view training programs and schedules, read Rick Tew’s martial arts blog, watch training videos and be part of NinjaGym Martial Arts Community.



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The Power of Core Breathing For Swimming, Development of Perineum Breathing For Performance

January 12th, 2011


Swimming offers so many benefits as an exercise if you are just having fun or into swimming in competition. Here is another possibility that can enhance the time spent in the pool as will as out side of the pool. If a swimmer wants to enhance their breathing ability while swimming the development of the perineum muscle being part of their breathing development during swimming will affect the whole torso ability to create inhalation and exhalation during swimming. By using the perineum gives a person ability to use the whole torso muscles to form their breath during swimming far greater then with out.

The perineum is a point on the body but it is a muscle point (as will as energy point) thereby there is movement ability that affects all muscles in the torso. Thinking of building your breath form from the bottom up and then releasing the breath from the bottom to affects the top down but the idea here is using perineum as a trigger point to affect muscle action within releasing the breath and creating inhaling. Like all muscles if not used atrophy of the muscle and the perineum is a muscle in the torso that affects the ability to create inhale and exhale and as it goes weak a person abilities to create breath becomes less efficient. Learning how to use the perineum to affect your breathing ability is a technique related to core/breathing ability within swimming or other sports.

Swimming for relaxation or for competition gives a chance for people to keep the muscles around perineum area toned which affects the whole torso muscle ability that forms breathing ability. Perineum engaged breathing permits breathing range far greater for it is a trigger to release muscles for breathing in the upper part of the torso. The more you engage the perineum, expand the core and upper chest to create inhalation. The affect of perineum movement on the exhale permits the best exhale the torso can create.

How does it work, its by pushing down on the muscles in the perineum area for inhaling which will have a reflex action affect on the upper part of the torso to expand the lungs during the inhaling will be the affect.. Holding tension in the perineum for few second holds the breath in that state. Creating the exhalation is directly related to pulling up on the perineum will have reflex action on muscles to let the exhalation be complete. The experience of using the perineum muscles will have a relaxation on upper body muscles as it inhale and exhale. There will be less muscle tension build thereby affecting resistance feeling in creating breath in the torso that will be away of judging that your using the perineum over not using it. It is the over all experience of using the torso that creates feeling within the torso that gives a person a sense of ability and enjoyment within their sport like swimming.

Having the perineum part of your breathing control action will enhance muscle groups in the lower part of the body, that does not normally get worked out. This experience of muscle control beginning around the perineum and the mind is able to affect the range of motion in the upper part of the torso or lungs that will enhance performance as they are swimming or any other sport.

It does take time to develop the brain connection and control of that area in that lower part of the bodies muscles and the ability for person to do it is in direct relationship to muscle strength within the core center but having the ability to work the perineum within your everyday breathing just keeps the torso muscles in good tone through out your life.

Swimming demands development and control of breathing ability to have strength throughout the body and endurance and finding the the most affective techniques that works the torso give the arms, hands and legs and feet the force to swim longer and stronger. The perineum is one area of the core that has to be develop in conjunction with your physical sport of choice. Think of the perineum as trigger point in relation to using the core and the upper part of the body for breathing. The ideas behind the word core is not simple because it is used in so many different ways so understanding is complex. There is a foundational understanding that is needed to be known in general way and if a person wants to know how to use the core within their sport and it will be different within each sports. There is real interaction between the center of the core and the perineum movement and how to develop this relationship creates greater force ability within physical movement.

What prevents a person from engaging the core area and the perineum during their breathing process is stress in shoulders. When a person has tight shoulder muscles, this muscle state disengages the core muscles (the mind is focus on the shoulder and not on the body) and limits range of torso muscles to move to form breathing ability. When person uses their shoulders as their main force as they are swimming, limits their breathing ability which affects endurance and strength to the hands and feet. There is a ratio factor between using core muscles and shoulders muscles and the greater the person moves their muscle force from core to using the shoulders muscles will lesson endurance and strength that will affect the ability to generate force in movement. Core/breathing development is the source of your physical forces and then the mind has to learn how to direct that force for endurance. The perineum muscle part of the core, has to be part of the whole development and usage of the core within any sport. There are two parts to core/breathing one is general exercise but then learning to use core in their physical exercise as the main force over using the shoulder muscles.

The more stress in shoulders the less connection to the core and the ability to engage the perineum as part of forming persons breath is not possible. Stress lowers breath range but if a person develops perineum engage breathing has the affect of not letting stress build up in shoulders. If person uses the core they cannot use the shoulders. The affect on the over all torso muscle can not be over state for it release muscles to move or muscles in the lung area have less resistance to move in inhaling and exhaling. The strength factor when the perineum is part of core force enhance all parts within swimming or other sports.

By: Scott Bartley

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A Brief History of The Horse

December 19th, 2010


Before we get started on a brief account of the ‘History of the Horse’ here are a few facts I thought you would find interesting.

o Approximately 75 million horses inhabit our world today, no kidding! Can you even wrap your
head around that many horses? Don’ t worry, I find it very hard indeed.

o The height of a horse can be measured using hands. 1 hand is equivalent to 4 inches.

o The horse has a sharp sense of hearing, direction and smell. The skin is very sensitive and it will respond quickly with a slightest touch, neck reining, etc.

o Popular breeds are Thoroughbreds, Arabians, Quarter horses, American Paints, Appaloosas, Clydesdale, Palominos, Rocky Mountain Horses, Morgans, etc. there are allot more breeds, just too many to name here.

o There are several markings on the animal’s body like a star, white face, stripe, white muzzle, blaze, etc.

Facts are not useful without the historical information. Horses, like any other creature, became useful a long time ago. During the time of Solomon and the divided kingdom, Israel also made extensive use of chariots and horses. Solomon had forty thousand stalls of chariot horses and twelve thousand chariot soldiers.(1 kings 4:26). A horse and chariot could easily travel thirty miles

in a day; and up to forty-five miles a day when necessary. Amazing!

Horse drawings existed about 3000 BC. Drawings of chariots being pulled by horses can be seen in caves during the Bronze Age.

A tomb in Egypt presented horse riding in 1600 BC; this is the earliest of records that can be traced in Egypt.

It was during 1400 BC when a first written text regarding horses is produced. The text states training of horses for chariots. Xenophon wrote the Art of Horsemanship about 360 BC and therein discussed horseback riding, psychology and care for the horse. Information on the book is still relevant and being utilized today.

During the Ice Age, horses roamed around every continent excluding Antarctica. They vanished mysteriously during this era; a theory stated that the disappearance was due to migration of these animals towards west through land bridges in Siberia.

After Charlemagne around the 4th century, horses with stirrups and saddles were very visible. This is an Asiatic invention; it was believed that Asians were the first who had tamed and ridden horses. It paved the way of the mounted knights’ development. Around 1519 AD these animals reappeared in Northern America and were brought by Spanish conquerors to Mexico

Even with these historical reviews, there are other historical facts being presented by other countries. It is known that Persians, Chinese and Assyrians were skillful horse riders way back in 3000 BC.

o Brahmans of India claimed themselves as the first horse riders. Chinese were believed to be the true horsemen; way back to 4000 BC, they started harnessing their horses. As early as 1000 BC, Chinese were also involved in selective conformation and breeding of horses.

o Hittites of Mediterranean were using horses for war around 1,600 BC.

o Assyrians were the first race among eastern Mediterraneans to have used horses with a load; this resembles the saddle of today.

o Egyptians used chariot horses to expand their empire; this is way back to 1650 BC. The kinds of horses used in Egypt are much different from the Arabian horses.

o Greek mythology presented horses as sea creatures ruled by their god Posiedon. Posiedon’s winged horse named Pegasus is also written in mythology.

o Long ago, horses that ventured into Kenya unfortunately died because of a disease known as Trypanosomiasis. Ponies that had reached the clean and disease free part of Kenya and survived became the first horses in East Africa.

Though horses become domesticated long ago, a lot of misconceptions appear about their history. Quoting B. MacFadden from University of Florida, he presents some records from his journal “Science”:

o Around 20 million years ago, horses changed in size. Some got larger and others minimize to sizes of dogs. These animals did not simply evolved bigger.

o Prehistoric horses weren’t leaf eaters. They just adapted into eating both leafy materials and grasses.

o The horse’s fossils in North America went extinct about 55 to 10,000 million years ago. These were the first horses and not those that were brought by settlers in Europe to America.

MacFadden further stated that a clear knowledge of the records of horses’ fossils is vital to illustrate their evolution.

Horses have been visible throughout the history and have been used in various purposes. One vital purpose of these animals is a means of transportation. They have also been used in agriculture and wars. Nowadays, the gracefulness, agility, speed and strength of horses are employed for pleasure and competitions. Similar to other animals, horses have an extremely rich history worthy of study and enjoyment.

A Brief Guide to Different Breeds

I have listed just a very few breeds here to give you an idea. There are hundreds of
different breeds in the world today and I am sure many more to come.

ARABIAN – One of the oldest and arguably the most beautiful breed in the world, Arabian horses are primarily bred by the Bedouins, a roaming Arab tribe, and mainly used for competitive and recreational riding. Expect to pay expensively if you wish to acquire an Arabian horse. This particular breed led to the development of Thoroughbreds.

QUARTER HORSE – The United States is the proud and original breeder of quarter horses, and they can be used for riding, racing, and work purposes. Most of the photos you’ll see around you featuring cowboys are mounted on quarter horses.

ANDALUSIAN – Also referred to as the Spanish horse, the Andalusian breed originates from the Iberian Peninsula and has a considerable influence over almost all other horse breeds except for the .

BELGIAN HEAVY DRAFT HORSE – This breed is one of the most popular choices for working horses.

MUSTANG OR BRONCO – A Mustang is a free-roaming feral horse of the North American west. It first descended from horses brought to the Mustang” is also popular for high-performance products and sports mascots.

Note: In 1971, the United States Congress recognized Mustangs as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West, which continue to contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people.” Today, Mustang herds vary in the degree to which they can be traced to original Iberian horses. Some contain a greater genetic mixture of ranch stock and more recent breed releases, others are relatively unchanged from the original Iberian stock, most strongly represented in the most isolated populations.

By: Michele Anderson

About the Author:
Written by, Michele Anderson

Clipidy Clop to the Postershop for all your poster needs. Horse posters and western movie hero posters available at http://www.Posterhorse.com



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