Movement – Monkey thought for the day!

Awareness of movement.

Rockem Sockemjitsu

There probably isn’t a combat sport or martial art that doesn’t rely upon movement, many traditional martial arts utilize kata’s and forms to work movement patterns and many contain multi planar movement, but yet often when it comes to the performance aspect (usually sparring) you tend to see predominantly sagittal plane action. Much of it represents the rockem sockem robots, with two combatants slugging it out.

Movement is key to being a good martial artist, and obviously movement from a biomechanical aspect has many factors, too many to discuss in this thought of the day, although I do hope in subsequent posts to discuss attributes such as balance, spatial awareness etc. One of the great things about the Crazy Monkey Defense program is that movement is paramount to success, and an area that gets a lot of attention from the offset of you training with us, from the hunchback stance to how to deliver strikes etc.

As we also train through a variety of ranges from striking, clinch, take down and ground work I often have students consciously lock into the somatic aspect of what they are doing, asking them to pay note to how it feels when they move through the range of motions. By utilizing this approach we can highlight aspects such as range of motion, balance, posture, range of motion inhibition, efficiency, conservation of energy etc. All of which are highly beneficial when it comes to application through sparring etc.

However this isn’t the only way to improve movement, and often I have students and clients pay attention to how they move in day to day life, and apply the CMD approach to daily living. Likewise when it comes to solo training I try to have clients exercise in a way conducive to multi planer movement. This can be really beneficial.

There are endless ways that you can take drills from class into your own workout or home. One great way to train movement is to shadowbox, which depending on how intense you shadow box, can range from slow concentration on movement, to more intense cardio based work. Heavy bags which allow 360 rotations around it are another great tool, as is a top and bottom ball.

For those without equipment, simply throw down a book or t-shirt, and work movement around it. A doorframe can be used to work CM2 movement laterally using the frame as a focal point to deliver strikes down the midline as you work laterally across it. Your imagination knows no bounds and with a little invention you can apply CMD shadow boxing to pretty much everything. For the self-conscious, keep your training to indoors ☺.