Combat conditioning, a term describing the training for physical fitness specific to the needs of close-quarters fighting, has a history as long as organized fighting styles do. Like these fighting arts themselves, combat conditioning goes back to ancient China and Greece. In addition to external resistance exercises that require some form of heavy weight to lift, body weight resistance weight training exercises have always been a popular method of training.
Calisthenics in Combat Conditioning
Perhaps the first form of combat conditioning exercises were variations of the same body weight calisthenics we know today. Widely used by high school physical education teachers and military forces worldwide, calisthenics offer a simple but effective method for allowing large groups of athletes to gain the benefits of strength training with little demand for equipment. Hindu push-ups are a particularly useful calisthenics exercise because they target so many different muscle groups in one movement. The shoulders, arms, chest, core, and hips are all well-stressed by this exercise.
The Hindu Push-Up
The Hindu push-up is of unknown heritage, although it was beloved of old-time wrestlers from the Indian subcontinent, which is where it derives its name. To perform the exercise, the athlete starts in a typical push-up position and lowers his body down until he is nearly laying on the floor. He then pushes his hips up first, then the torso, until his body forms an inverted V-shape, with arms and legs straight and the buttocks as the highest point. You then reverse this movement to return to the starting position to complete one repetition.
Bruce Lee
The first modern combat expert to publicly resurrect the Hindu push-up was legendary martial artist Bruce Lee. In his epic work "The Tao of Jeet Kune Do," Lee describes a brief history of the exercise and describes it as a foundational exercise for the combat athlete. Renowned for his extraordinary physical prowess and strength, Lee credited the Hindu push-up as a major cause of his amazing upper body muscular development.
Matt Furey
A NCAA champion college wrestler and full-contact san shou kung-fu world champion, Matt Furey has developed a fitness program called "Combat Conditioning." This body weight-only exercise program has found a loyal following among martial artists, soldiers, and police officers. The Combat Conditioning course is centered around the Hindu push-up and Hindu squat.
Mixed Martial Arts
In addition to Furey's program, the Hindu push-up's popularity has been reborn among combat athletes through the work of mixed martial arts conditioning coaches. Thanks to the strong wrestling influence present in contemporary MMA, most fighters and coaches are at least familiar with the exercise. Conditioning coaches such as Martin Rooney, founder of the Parisi Speed School, use the Hindu push-up as an integral part of conditioning athletes for grappling and all-around combat fitness strength.
References
- "Combat Conditioning;" Matt Furey; 2005
- "Training for Warriors;" Martin Rooney; 2008
- "Tao of Jeet Kune Do;" Bruce Lee; 1975
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