Isometric Training for Martial Arts Power

Generation of Impact that is More than the Simple Sum of Your Parts

By Paul "Batman" O'Brien 

B.A., N.C.E.H.S., Dip. Acu., Cert Clin. IMed., Dip. Adv. OBB, Dip. CHM, Pn1, PN-SSR, PN-NCA, M.AFPA., M.C.Th.A.

Isometric Training for Martial Arts Power isn’t focused on the development of internal energy or mystical power – but in really kinetic force, transferable impact that allows you to fully leverage the potential of the human machine. But how can isometrics make you more powerful?

To better understanding this it’s important to know precisely what power is and how you can harness it and then develop more of it through Isometric Training for Martial Arts Power. In the martial arts the big concern is stopping power – can your strike put an opponent down? At the end of the day how fast you can whip you hand means nothing if that strike doesn’t have sufficient penetration or impact to cause damage to the opponent.

Unfortunately in removed from isolation it is rare to achieve a perfect text book strike (unless your Terry O’Neill), in perfect conditions with great ‘miai’ or distance, proper body mechanics, penetration, rotation etc. So it is vital that each strike be optimised to have the maximum stopping power in it.

To explain this let’s look at stopping power as kinetic energy, which is typically measured in foot-pounds of force. What this means is that the greater a strike’s kinetic energy at the point of impact, the greater it’s stopping power. Obviously there is more to it than that.

You need to have more than just the ability to generate a great deal of kinetic energy but to impart and transfer that energy into somebody else and where you transfer – but this isn’t an article on targeting, so I’ll leave that aside. Suffice to say for the martial artist it is imperative to generate power/kinetic energy.

Again this all comes back to physics, and I won’t burden you with the complex mathematics of angle vectors and the near infinite of factors that would have to be analysed to demonstrate this, instead I’ll bring it down to the most fundamental equation.

Ek = ½ m V2

Martial Arts power of Kinetic Energy (Ek) is created by mass (m) multiplied by velocity (V). The more mass and the faster you can move it – the more energy and stopping power you have. For instance I can take a bullet and throw it out you. I won’t do much. If I put it in a gun and shoot it out, thus dramatically increasing the velocity it will go right through you. Similarly if I have a car hitting a wall at 100 miles an hour, it won’t do as much damage as a bus going at the same speed. If you increase the mass and the speed remains equal then you also have an increase in power.

Isometric Training for Martial Arts Power work? Actually it’s quite simple. We know that isometrics substantially increases muscular size and strength. As shown in my article on Isometric Training for MA Strength, that Isometric training is the SINGLE most effective method of strength training available. In 1954 two German Scientist, Muller and Hettinger conclusively proved in over 5,000 independent clinical trials, that one could increase strength by 5-15% with a single 7 second stimulation once a week.

Subjects in a later study performing a daily 7 second contraction increased their strength by 72% in 46 weeks. The fall of strength after the end of training is very slow. 70 weeks after the end of training their strength was still 42% higher than before the beginning of training. After doing nothing for over a year and a half they were still 42% stronger than when they started.

Furthermore studies have shown that a single 5 minute routine comprised of 10 7 second contractions produced up to 9.3lbs of muscle tissue. (That's one 5 minute workout producing the amount of muscle tissue developed through conventional training after a minimum of 3 months).

This takes care of the first part of our Power equation. Isometrics increases mass. In particular it increases lean muscle mass, as opposed to fat mass, which is non functional and contributes nothing.

We also know from the previous article on Isometric Training for MA Speed, that isometric training substantially increases both your fast twitch muscle fibres and your neurological strength and co-ordination. In other words, your brain and transmit the signal to contract your muscles faster, thus your muscles move faster and with a higher number of fast twitch fibres you’ve moving much faster.

Thus fulfilling the second part of the equation. Velocity. Isometric Training for Martial Arts Power development simply put allows you to produce and develop greater mass and velocity, and thus greater POWER, faster, more efficiently and safer than any other form of training.

I explain precisely how to achieve this in my highly recommended 7 Week System called 7 Seconds to Build A Perfect Body, The Scientifically Proven Method for Transforming Your Body in Just Seconds! With over 250 pages and filled with more than 130 photos it was a launched in January 08 to huge success and endorsed and praised by martial arts publications such as Irish Fighter Magazine. You can read more about the program and see my incredible transformation, even watch videos of my strength feats HERE.





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