Original Strength for the Martial Artists

Categories: Blog Mar 09, 2016

And now, a guest post by Mike Moran, OS Coach:

I have been doing Martial Arts,specifically Enshin Karate for close to 8 years now. Currently I am a 2nd Degree Black Belt in the system, but if you ask me I will tell you I am still just a beginner.

Adding strength training for any martial artist is a good way to enhance your techniques.

Having a solid center is a must for a martial artist and fighter. They will need the ability to handle the physical stress coming through and at you! Martial artists need to have the ability to maintain their breath while sparring/training. While punching they need to ability to stabilize their torso. They must remain stable and strong through the core when delivering kicks while balancing on one leg. Along with this, the ability to focus as your head and vision will be rotating around to find the target is where OS is very beneficial.

The big five RESETS are very essential. Since incorporating OS into my training I have found some fascinating ways to improve performance and use these as part of my warm ups each session. I will break this down into the resets and what I found they work great for:

Diaphragmatic Breathing- If you are not already doing this as a martial artist, then this is your number one priority. This will help you not only be stronger but last longer while fighting.

Head Control - If you can’t move your head very well and therefore more easily activate your posterior and anterior muscle chains then you can’t be your best. My back kicks and backwards spinning kicks all improved when I added head control to my warm ups.

Rolling - This is one that, for me, GREATLY enhanced my technique and power output. If you think about how we generate power in the martial arts, you start from the ground with your feet and the energy goes through to the hips and adds a ROTATIONAL force that you either use with your legs or arms. The ability to add stability and strength to your center will grant you more POWER output! The biggest bang for the buck I found for this is the FROG ROLL. If you look at the movement of a ROUNDHOUSE KICK (Mawashi Geri in Karate) and a FROG ROLL you will see how that adds to your power. The FROG ROLL allows you to strengthen your rotational power while you are in a very safe position. It easily allows you to add repetitions and therefore you will gain much strength in your rotational movements.

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Rocking - Now we come to something pretty amazing. You can do the standard rocking and it will really help to open your hips and as you play with foot positions it will help your ankles (pretty big deal if you are a martial artist). The other one here to not overlook is Rocking on the HANDS and FEET ( I call this the Leopard Rock as I use it to also help people transition to Leopard Crawling). The big reason I recommend this type of rocking is not only are you gonna get your center to fire, your LEGS are gonna work a lot harder and I found this translates to more powerful kicks. As martial artists, we all want that. If you really want to get extra benefit with this, try it with the OS Pushup!

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Gait Patterns/Crawling - I will go over each one here and why they worked for me.

Standing Cross Crawls - Coordination and balance will be tested with these. They will be rewarded as well.

Dead Bugs - Really strengthens your center and your upper thighs -> kicking power.

Bird Dogs - A good way to strengthen that backside!

Baby Crawling - Builds that gentle reflexive strength but also something so much more. Eye-hand coordination will go through the roof once you start doing long sets of crawling. It also lets you really work on that breathing!

Backwards Leopard/Spider-Man crawling - This will make your upper body very strong and enhance your punching power, especially if you load this with a hill or with some chains using a harness. This can also greatly enhance your endurance and help you go the distance.

Lateral Crawling (baby or off knees) - This is a great one to help strengthen the sides of your legs and add power to your side and round kicks.

Axis Crawling - Don’t overlook this one. Not only is this a great reflexive stability workout but the gentle spinning you get transfers over to feeling a lot more comfortable when you are doing backwards spinning roundhouse kicks, and rolling on the ground and leg sweeps.

Marching - Helps to strengthen our gait pattern. Done laterally will help you able to move side to side in a fight with ease.

Skipping - I like to put maximum output on my skipping as I can really load my glutes and hamstrings on the way up. I also practice gentle landings - this is a huge key in fighting.

Sprinting - This will improve your total maximum power output and your lung capacity. ****Ease into the sprinting!

During my week, I use OS at home usually twice a day. It doesn't take long to play with OS and discover what works for you. I can perform a 5-10 minute warm-up before a formal class in Enshin Karate with some Head Control, Rocking on Hands and Feet, Frog Rolls, Axis Crawling into Leopard/Spider-man crawling and then some marching. That seems to enhance my center and prepare me for the forces that my body will generate and take in during a session. After that, I practice some kicking drills until the formal class warm-up starts.

This is what I have discovered works for me. OS has really been beneficial to my martial arts practice. I hope how I use the RESETS has inspired you to take a look at the movements you enjoy making and I encourage you to play around with the RESETS and discover what works with your body!


Mike Moran is a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Enshin Karate & Certified OS Coach. His journey in Karate led him to a path of learning how to strengthen his body with Kettlebells and Original Strength. Mike runs a web forum dedicated to full contact Karate styles and you can find it at www.knockdownfighters.com . In his downtime he is with his family or enjoying pop culture favorites like Star Wars and Marvel comics.

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