Power and Strength Factors in Solo Training

by Tony Torre

The average martial artist in a class setting typically trains two to three hours a week, and the bulk of this time is spent on partner drills or formal exercises (katas). What if I were to tell you if that if this is all you are doing, you are missing several very important aspects of training, most notably the various methods of solo training?

Solo training is often overlooked as a viable training option. To me, it’s one of the more important methods since it is always available. All you need to do is get to it. It is overlooked mainly because most people do not know how to properly train on their own.
 
What I’d like to do here is introduce you to a very important principle we teach in our school: the “power and strength factors.” Simply put, the power factor is expressed when the technique is executed perfectly, both technically and in timing. The strength factor is expressed when perfect technical execution doesn’t happen. Perhaps you mistimed it, or your opponent defeated your attack. Whatever happened, something is off. Most of the time you will either be too close or too far away. If you are too far, you can extend that distance, mentally and physically regroup, and start again. When you are too close is when you can best see the strength factor’s importance, when you have to “muscle” a technique. 
 
The standard protocol for developing skill is very simply to drill repetitions of the given skill with enough volume and frequency to improve said skill. Yes, the skills should be done as technically precise as possible. The kink in the chain occurs during testing when you discover that often the skills will not play out as perfectly as planned.

Since I already discussed the importance of training with as much technical precision as possible, you already know you can’t drill the errors in order to learn how to “muscle” through them. This is where our physical conditioning and strength training come into their own. Technical skills training seeks to make your movements as efficient as possible. Strength training is designed to put you in mechanically disadvantaged positions you will have to force your way out of. Therein lies your answer.

Think about it. Simple pushups teach you how to “push out” a punch, which has been crowded. A reaching lunge teaches you how to recover when you’ve overreached throwing that punch.
 
In closing, let me also say that physical conditioning and strength training do much more than simply improve the strength factor. A stronger fighter can deliver techniques with more force, thus expressing the power factor more powerfully. A stronger fighter can move with less effort, thus also becoming faster. Finally a stronger fighter is healthier, and health is an attribute even when you’re not fighting.

Guro Tony Torre is featured in the new Paladin DVD, Filipino Dirty Boxing. In the video Torre blends the traditional with the modern to form a comprehensive fighting system designed to enhance any fighter’s training regimen. To see Tony in action, click on the following video links.