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Old 04-09-2013, 10:29 AM   #38
bkedelen
 
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Dojo: Boulder Aikikai
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 450
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Re: Tomiki Kenji's Attribution of Ueshiba's Skill to "Muscular Training"

Your point about a what you might see in the average globo-gym is valid, but doesn't take into account the whole picture.

I equate serious martial artists more closely with pro and semi-pro athletes than I do with my mom at the rec center. If you found yourself in a position to be overseen by a strength and conditioning coach to improve your sport performance, that coach will not have you doing lat pulldowns and hammer curl sets. He will teach you to clean and squat, do weighted chins, and run your ass off.

That methodology is so much more effective than the globo-gym methodology of selling gym memberships and hoping people will show up, that as of the last couple years the the fastest growing sector of the fitness industry is a return to old school barbell work but in a group training environment. We are actually in the middle of a strength and conditioning renaissance, with a huge increase in crossfit, barbell, parkour, climbing, and gymnastics facilities for adults happening all over the country.

My point is that talking about "modern" or "western" or "conventional" is a gross over-generalization that results in no meaning at all. Furthermore there is *tremendous* value in some of what is available in this space which could be lost if people assume that any trip to the gym will result in bodybuilding.

Last edited by bkedelen : 04-09-2013 at 10:38 AM.
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