Preparing for Combat – Part 2

By Idai Makaya

Article From Feb 2010 Issue of MAI Magazine

Last month I highlighted the key topics which arose from my recent interview and training session with one of the pioneers of professional martial arts fighting in Great Britain – mixed martial arts guru Lee Hasdell. We looked at Lee’s background in the martial arts - including the plethora of championships he has won and the fact that he holds Black Belts in Jiu-Jitsu, Kudo and Daido Juko Karate (in addition, Lee is also an Olympic wrestling coach) - and we also got his perspectives on the conditioning requirements for fighting (in all its pure forms). Lee gave his take on the importance of mental conditioning for all fighters, which illustrated how important it is to know what you are doing when you first set out to condition yourself as a fighter.

Lee Hasdell Weighs in at Cage Rage

Now that we have evaluated the importance of taking a holistic, multifaceted approach to conditioning and conditioning strategy, I will expand on Lee’s insights into the conditioning exercises he prefers.

Before I launch into the details of my discussions with Lee it is pertinent that I lay down some background to the topics we discussed. There are many different goals for conditioning and it would be misleading to suggest that there is a single blueprint which suits everyone.

Please be clear about this fact, because it is one of the most important facts about martial arts conditioning.

More basic conditioning goals lend themselves to more generic conditioning programs. We all need a degree of basic conditioning and basic conditioning programs are generally “one size fits all” in nature. However, once you are at an acceptable level of basic conditioning it may become appropriate to take on further conditioning goals in order to improve further - or to achieve very specific things in your training and performance. This is where more advanced techniques become relevant and this is where specificity comes into play (and your conditioning routine may begin to specialise considerably at this stage, too).

Play Lee Hasdell Tribute Video Above...

Specialised conditioning routines will only suit people with a specific subset of training and performance goals for which the routine is specially designed. If you do not fully fit a specific demographic you should be diligent about which parts of a specialised routine (specific to that particular demographic) that you decide to incorporate into your own schedule. It is still good practice to draw from highly specialised routines but this must be done in context and in an educated way.

Imitating every aspect of a specific individual’s training and conditioning routines is never a good idea because the likelihood of your particular body and your particular circumstances exactly matching the person being imitated is highly unlikely. If you are a lightweight fighter it doesn’t make sense to train exactly the same way as a heavyweight. If you are very tall it does not make sense to train in the same way as a very short person. The reason for this is that your physical options actually differ considerably and much of this is determined purely by the laws of physics – although biology also comes into play here.

Having outlined the mandatory warnings around drill-selection I will now go into a more specific discussion about Lee Hasdell’s favourite conditioning drills. Luckily, these drills are aimed at addressing a basic level of fight conditioning for full contact fighters - so they will suit most people. Despite this, the drills are still “fight-specific” and if you use them you will quickly realise they are designed to ensure basic survival in a full contact fight situation.

They do this by allowing you to carry out the basics of full contact fighting in a repeatable way and under the immense fatigue that rapidly grips fighters at the apex of a competition situation. We discussed this in last month’s article when we spoke of the fact that fighters are often 50% compromised under the effects of adrenalin.

Lee Hasdell strongly believes in “constant motion” or “perpetual motion” principles of conditioning in preparation for full contact martial arts. In layman’s terms this means that he trains very specifically to the tasks he is training for - a concept sometimes referred to as “functional training.” His conditioning exercises, in some ways, mimic the actual movements involved in fighting.

It is important to note that functional training does improve your abilities in the sport being trained for - but it is essential that all functional training is performed off a solid base of general, non-specific conditioning. This rule applies to all sports.

Always follow the progression outlined below:

1. Build a strength, coordination, endurance and technical base in your early (foundation) training - through the use of “normal,” “fitness-type” exercises to improve basic strength, durability and fitness.

2. Then move into a form of intermediate training/conditioning, which involves adding more exercises directed at improving very specific aspects of your performance. At this stage, some of your exercises will resemble your fighting movements and some will still be basic conditioning movements.

3. The last part of the conditioning “pyramid” is the transition into peak condition. This involves using a very specific way of training to improve very specific aspects of performance. At this level the entire conditioning routine will be directed at performance-specific exercises and it could very well be that all the exercises done are “functional” in nature and resemble actual fighting movements. This stage is pertinent to pre-fight (pre-contest) training, when viewed from the perspective of competitive fighters.

It is pertinent to note at this point the importance of “seasonality” in your training. I have discussed this point in a number of my previous articles in relation to many different topics and the basic premise remains: you should train cyclically throughout the year. Do not do exactly the same training year in and year out or else you stagnate. There is a popular saying in some martial arts circles which is rather self-explanatory, it goes:

“A fighter who is always at his/her best is a mediocre one.”

Before I actually describe Lee Hasdell’s favourite conditioning routines it’s important to note that they all involve smooth, continuous motions - without pauses - and they all involve some momentum-generation (quite unlike standard strength-training where slow, deliberate movements are often encouraged, to cut out momentum and increase constant tension).

Lee’s favourite drills are as follows:

• Skipping rope: Lee is a big fan of jumping rope but he also uses the skipping rope to perform a special exercise – shown here.

• Burpees: Perform this drill until fatigued.

• Hindu Squats: Another of Lee’s conditioning favourites.

• Advanced pelvic bridge: This drill uses continuous motion as well as is good for developing a fighter’s ground game because it conditions the athlete for revering takedowns as shown in the illustrations.

Pelvic Bridge

• Kettlebells:

• Iron plate exercises: Lee does these to strengthen the power of dynamic upper body movements - for punching and grappling conditioning.

• Exercise ball: Lee says this is a favourite of his for drilling agility and ground fighting endurance.

• Elastic resistance band: Le uses the resistance band in a variety of ways to enhance strength-endurance, practice takedown momentum and build on general forward attacking motion. He either harnesses the arms or the torso.

In addition to those conditioning drills Lee is also keen on developing his fighters’ defences by using a specialised Kudo head guard - specially designed to allow you to see hard punches coming at you without having to fear actually being hit. The headgear protects your face and head, but still allows you to feel the full-on sensation of an oncoming punch (through your neck and body). This is not really intended to condition your neck and develop your punch-resistance. Instead, it is aimed at practice for adjusting your guard and your defences under a flurry of blows. This is because you can actually see where you are leaving the gaps and letting strikes through. After regular training with such headgear, you should become so confident in your defence and guard that you can practice without head gear on, confident in your defensive skills. This drill can be applied to free sparring and to mounted ground work.

I hope this insight into the conditioning practices of one of Britain’s most experienced and knowledgeable martial arts and combat conditioning experts has been useful to readers. These drills are Lee’s favourites - which he uses in all his fight preparations – but he also does various other exercises for his conditioning and all martial artists must be aware of the need for a complete conditioning program - which covers all aspects of physical preservation, durability, fitness and enhanced sports performance.

Conditioning routines can be varied if different drills are done on different days of the week, but you must endeavour to restrict the maximum training time for your conditioning drills to about 45 minutes - to prevent burnout of your hormonal systems (overtraining).

If you are one of the many martial artists who battle to find time for everything, you simply need to devise a conditioning program which uses as few exercises as possible and which is as convenient as possible for you to access (even if this means training alone at home).

For such individuals, selecting the best conditioning drills is a skill which requires personal education and good experience in exercise techniques - or access to an experienced coach. Not all martial arts instructors are qualified to advise on scientific conditioning training. If your instructor is not an experienced conditioning coach (and he or she should readily tell you this) you may have to contact a separate fitness expert to help you choose the best set of exercises to meet your goals. Whatever the situation you find yourself in, don’t simply train in martial arts without conditioning yourself separately as well. This will leave you open to injuries and it will curtail your ultimate performance potential. Fighters who neglect their conditioning will never become as good as they could have been had they trained correctly.

Take it from experts like Lee Hasdell – full contact fighters cannot bluff their way around combat conditioning because they simply wouldn’t survive in the ring if they were not conditioned. There is only one truth within the squared circle and that is perhaps exemplified by Lee’s student grading system (used at his SSJ studio in Milton Keynes). Under their system students cannot grade without passing specific fitness assessments pertinent to each grade - and those assessments become more rigorous as the student tackles more senior grades. Enough said.

In my future articles I will continue to consult various conditioning experts and also continue to look into new and exciting possibilities for building yourself into the machine God intended you to be. Happy training until then!

For more information about martial arts fitness and conditioning contact Idai.

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