from the July, 2014 issue of Kiai!

What's With All Those Pushups?

 

By Tabitha Balakumar
Brown Belt

Seiken pushups. V-sits. Partner sit-ups. Birthday pushups. The list goes on. Sometimes, it seems like whoever is teaching karate is on a mission to kill you, right? You know what I’m talking about. You finish one set only to move on to another, and another. Pretty soon your muscles are burning, asking what they did to deserve such punishment. What they don’t know is that it’s for their own good! Yes, it’s that whole “you’ll thank me for this later” adage that adolescents hear from their parents. And, just like in adolescence, it’s true here, too.

Why is it that our teachers sometimes push us so hard in class? I’m sure many of us have groaned when we’re told to do set after set of pushups. What does that really do for us, anyway? Turns out, it does a lot.

Sit-ups and V-sits work our core, which is at the center of our art. A strong core is what allows us to lift a leg into a high chamber. It also helps to improve balance, both when we are moving and when we are standing on one leg. The strength of our core is the foundation of everything we do in karate. Engaging the muscles in our abdomen allows us to punch with strength. Engaging our obliques, or the muscles on the side of the core, helps to stabilize and strengthen side kicks, hook kicks, and roundhouse kicks. Everything begins with the core. V-sits are good for strengthening the abdomen, and twisting sit-ups are good for obliques.

That’s what a strong core does for us, but what do pushups do? They also work the core, namely the abdomen and lower back. Additionally, they work your arms and chest, depending on where you place your hands. In our classes, we are encouraged to put our hands right under the shoulders so that, when we go down and up, our arms brush the sides of the body. This strengthens the triceps, or the muscles on the underside of the upper arm. We use this muscle when chambering for a punch or other strike, and these pushups train us to hold the chamber in the correct position. This also increases arm strength in general, and helps to keep our guard up in sparring.

But wait, there’s more! Having strength in our arms can improve reflexes and precision. A developed muscle is easier to get moving, and it’s also easier to put it where you want it to go. In sparring, you want to be able to see strikes and kicks coming at you, but that’s not always possible. Having toned muscles in your arms can help tremendously in those situations because you can react faster: by blocking or better yet, countering with your own strike.

So, it all comes down to this: all those pushups and sit-ups we do in class go a long way toward improving how we punch and kick. There are many more ways that fitness can help improve our art, but pushups and sit-ups are a very good start.