Martial Arts Disciples Get More Kicks Out Of Life
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday April 8, 2004
If you're bored at the gym and jarred by jogging, there is a new alternative to consider.
Exercise physiologists say martial arts can improve strength, flexibility, balance and aerobic capacity.
Karate, kung fu and tai chi are well known in Australia but the lesser-known art of soo bahk do (pronounced ``sue bark dough") is making its mark in the fitness literature.
Soo bahk do combines traditional vigorous Korean self-defence moves with elements of karate and a little Confucianism for the mind. Grandmaster Hwang Kee, who left Korea for the United States in 1945, founded the first soo bahk do schools. There are 15 schools in Australia, including two in NSW.
A study in the latest British Journal of Sports Medicine compared nine people whose only workouts were two one-hour sessions a week of soo bahk do with nine people who did no exercise, but had similar resting heart rates and blood pressures. All were aged 40 to 60.
Researchers at the New York Institute of Technology, led by Professor Peter Douris, found the martial arts group were able to do twice as many sit-ups and three times as many push-ups.
The sedentary group had 12 per cent more body fat and weaker quadriceps, and could hold their balance for 26 seconds, compared with 62 seconds for the martial art practitioners.
A senior instructor with Sydney Soo Bahk Do, David Ryan, says the exercise ranges from the sweaty (kicks and punches) through to the graceful copying the movements of animals such as cranes, bears and snakes. Students stand up throughout, enabling a thorough body workout.
The discipline also focuses on the mind: an awareness of surroundings, courtesy to others, and of defence, rather than attack.
The director of the NSW Centre for Physical Activity and Health, Professor Adrian Bauman , says the literature suggests martial arts are physically beneficial.
Tai chi, for example, with its emphasis on slower movements, can be useful for older people. Studies have shown tai chi can help prevent falls and improve flexibility and fitness. Its ability to mobilise the joints has benefited osteoarthritis patients.
Karate and other faster martial arts help lower blood pressure and insulin levels, he says, potentially helping prevent or control some cases of heart disease and diabetes.
But Bauman says it is unlikely most people will take up martial arts, so the population-wide fitness message will continue to emphasise readily accessible workouts such as walking, running and swimming.
© 2004 Sydney Morning Herald