Physical activity boosts feel-good endorphins in the body and helps relieve or control stress. Combative sports pump up your adrenaline, increase hand-eye coordination and reflex reaction. Besides providing physical release, combative exercises build strength and stamina and increase physical conditioning. Combat exercises have been used for thousands of years to maintain fitness and release stress. Combative exercises require strenuous physical exercise. Before starting an exercise program, consult your doctor or health care provider
Martial Arts
Martial arts is a term that means the arts of war, or fighting arts, and includes hundreds of different martial arts systems. Martial arts are a method of training dealing in fighting styles. While the fighting styles may vary, there are common elements, such as sparring, strikes, grappling, and the use of weaponry. Many are derived from Asian fighting styles. The exercises start with a stretch and a warm up, and then move into movement routines called katas. Once the moves are learned, the training method of sparring is used to simulate combat. This involves two combatants fighting each other in a designated ring area. Various wrestling holds, grips, kicks and blows are used in offense and defense. The opponents can fight using gloves and headgear or use light contact where the opponents pull their punches before they make contact.
Boxing
Boxing is a combative sport that gained popularity with the workout crowd in the 1990's. Boxing training combines combat exercises with rigorous cardiovascular exercise for endurance. Training exercises focus on power and endurance. Hitting the heavy bag increases strength and provides an excellent physical release. Boxers need agility and speed so the training focuses on hand-eye coordination, footwork, and speed. Exercises include jumping rope and running for endurance combined with working with the speed and heavy bags. Boxing gyms provide contact sparing and non-contact workouts.
ARMY Combatives Workout
The U.S. Army Combatives School has a training program to build strength and power. The combatives workout can be done at any gym. It combines a basic total-body workout with endurance exercise to round out the routine. Each workout is broken down into four elements power, functional strength, cardiovascular fitness and skill training. The routine includes two power exercises, two functional exercises and one each for the other two areas. A sample workout could include a power clean lift, squat, pull-up, dip, jump rope and shadowbox. In circuit fashion, all exercises are to be completed for one minute continuously from one to the next.
Combative Conditioning Circuits
Combative conditioning circuits increase power, speed and endurance in a structured workout routine. Combative circuits combine weight training in short repeated lifts of high intensity with increasing density of weight. A total of four exercises are performed in 25 minutes. Two exercises are paired together, such as weighted pull-ups and sandbag shouldering, and they performed for 15 minutes, alternating 10 reps for each exercise. Then, the second two exercises, such as kettlebell lunges and rotating push-ups, are done for a total of 10 minutes.
