Power Mechanics from Grip

Alright, so a friend, Maxime Chouinard, asked on Facebook about how he was taught to grip the weapon in Irish Stick. He then goes on to describe something that is standard in saber and similar to the way Medieval weapons are held.

Here's what he said:

Instead of using a hammer grip we are told to extend the thumb and mostly hold the stick firmly with the top three fingers. We tense the rest when striking. People often ask me why. And the way I understand it is that the thumb allows you to get a little bit more snap, more control and also a little bit more extension when the fingers are tensing. 

There are a variety of advantages to this method of gripping and he wanted me articulate the biomechanics of why this is so.

Control

The first, and most important, is the way in which this grip allows you to control the weapon better. This matters more with an edged weapon than the Irish stick, but this is a difference of degrees. 

The tips of your fingers are exquisitely sensitive with some of the highest nerve ending density in the body. This provides highly detailed information for adjusting edge alignment and positioning the weapon.

Further, by holding the weapon at the end of your fingers you are able to move them to move the weapon, making small changes. This improves edge alignment, it's how you make a disengage with a foyning weapon and a variety of other actions.

Power

Now we get to something that seems trickier and would generate more debate but really doesn't vary as much as people think. 

Do you hold the weapon with the first two or three fingers or the last two or three? As long as all the fingers are on the hilt all the time then it doesn't actually matter. What I would not want to see is an open hand where only the first one or two fingers are on the hilt - this is good for twirling a stick but bad for fighting.

If I have my first couple of fingers gripping the weapon firmly and the bottom two just holding on then I can squeeze those fingers as my strike approaches it's target to improve the hit. Or I can hold primarily with the bottom two fingers and squeeze the grip into the top two. It ends up being nearly the same. 

Both are described and/or depicted in the source material and the biomechanics are just about the same.

What's going on is that the forearm muscles involved in both grip and ulnar deviation/adduction are all activating at once. These are mostly the muscles on the inside of your forearm - the paler side - with some of the muscles on the other side activating as well. These are probably fairly big muscles if you train a lot. (Flexor carpi radialis and extensor carpi radialis are the most significant but the flexor digitorums are also involved).

What's termed ulnar deviation or adduction of the wrist I like to think of as wrist extension, because that's how it's used related to the movement of the rest of the arm - as I extend my arm towards the target I adduct the wrist to extend farther.

(Similarly, I think of plantarflexion of the ankle as extension - this also makes the names less stupid)

So as I extend the wrist I add rotational energy to the weapon and a small motion at the hand creates a large motion at the tip i.e. it increases the velocity significantly. Increased velocity is increased power.

This also firms up the grip at the moment of impact so that you: a) transfer power efficiently in to the target; b) don't lose the weapon just because you actually hit something; c) can cut with opposition or parry effectively.

It's important to avoid over-extending the wrist as this means you lose the advantages I just described from the stronger grip. If you let your hand hang by your side you should note that it is not quite in line with the forearm.And this is as far as you should extend the wrist. Any further and the bones don't line up right for good energy transfer.

Training -  the easiest way to train this tensing component is to strike a pell. The brain will automatically tense the wrist/forearm muscles when you work the pell with power and this will make it the default when you strike. Pell work is also one of the only training methods described in historical sources.

The Thumb

With the thumb on the back of the grip you can also add it's opposability muscles to the action of generating power. This works well for lighter weapons like saber and stick, but you need the thumb wrapped around the grip for a heavier weapon like a broadsword, rapier or Medieval sword. However, this is as much providing a solid pivot point to lever the grip as actually move it. The motion is still mostly generated by the lower finger muscles.

Seizing the Weapon

Another point that Max brings up is the vulnerability of the thumb in weapon grabbing techniques. Interestingly, the Irish Stick tradition takes basically the opposite thought on this from the way I've seen it described before.

It is easiest to seize the weapon or disarm your opponent by twisting it into the thumb side, as opposed to twisting towards the palm. Putting your thumb along the back of the grip makes it even easier to be disarmed. So if I was worried about being disarmed I'd keep my thumb wrapped around the grip like I do in Broadsword and with Medieval swords.

But the Irish Stick tradition says that getting your thumb in the way of a disarm is just going to get it injured, so holding the thumb along the back is viewed as protective and advantageous. Max said, "it allows you to let go of the stick more easily if it gets grabbed and twisted." That's an interesting difference in perspective. I wonder if it has to do with the relative safety of grabbing a stick versus a blade leading to more techniques based around disarms after grabs.

Weak Grip?

(Remember, any time you see a question mark in a headline the answer is almost always, "no" - Betteridge's Law.)

One other question that Max poses is whether or not baton instructors are right to criticize this as a weak grip. Near as I can tell the answer is no. However, it has to do with style preferences and method of use. The baton that I've seen includes a lot of stick twirling and for that action wrapping the thumb around the stick will be stronger than the back of the grip alternative.

But if you are hitting to injure then the grip used for Irish Stick is just fine.

So, if you aren't planning to twirl the stick like a baton then it shouldn't matter. Read that how you like.

Follow Up

After I posted this Max replied. And he let me know that the baton he was talking about was things like police baton not French La Canne. As to why they cling to the hammer grip he suggests the following:

I think its one of those things that got developed out of simplicity's sake (easier and quicker to teach a hammer grip to soldiers and policemen) and then repeated on an on without anyone really questioning it.

I have no trouble believing this explanation. That being said, I'll note that each approach has it's advantages and it's more important to know how to use the system to train to it's fullest rather than to compare systems.

Longpoint Exercise Selection - Phase I and II

Continuing to use our Longpoint plan as an example of program design, here is the exercise layout for the first two phases. The first post, describing the periodization scheme, can be found here.These phases are geared towards general purpose building of an athletic base. The reality is that this is the most important thing that a strength and conditioning program can do. High specificity exercises are gravy, not the meat and potatoes.

Additionally, the number of reps are geared towards increasing training capacity and so are more towards the muscular endurance range. Not true endurance training, but in the hypertrophy range to get more endurance than just straight strength.

The hypertrophy exercises also have the advantage of increasing the foundation on which to layer the neurological timing component of strength and power. Essentially, strength and power are mediated by how well timed the signals are from the brain. If we give those signals bigger motor units to trigger then we get more strength and power.

Phase I

Heavy Day

Power

• Clean - specifically, from the hang start position and with a power stance catch. This version is the best for strength & power athletes. 
• Box jumps - the clean is paired with box jumps for two reasons: 1) the box jump uses the same movement pattern and so functions as a potentiating exercise for the clean; 2) and this is important because many of my athletes are still learning the clean, and so they are not driving as much weight due to limitations in technique.

Primary

• Deadlift - this is one of our most basic full body strengthening exercises. It also works a similar movement pattern as the clean, giving us a substantial stimulus to those muscles and pattern. 
• Bench Press - Another basic strengthening exercise. This works the major upper body muscles involved in cuts, thrusts and parries.

 Accessory

• Barbell Overhead Squat - the deadlift is paired with the overhead squat as a lower intensity exercise. Additionally, it helps set the stage for the Jerk that will be introduced later.
• Split Squat - circuited with the bench press, the split squat is part of the single-leg/lunge pattern exercises. It has a smaller base of support than a squat, increasing the stabilization demand and also makes one leg dominant at a time.
• Suspension Row - also circuited with the bench press the suspension row completes our set of movement patterns with a pulling, upper back exercise. The suspension handles add a stabilization component to the exercise. And by keeping an inverted plank position while doing this exercise we can use the entire posterior chain, but in a different configuration than the deadlift. 

Lastly, the suspension row is also chosen in part because of the limitations on equipment and space at my facility. No program can be perfect, and practicality must override our best designs.

Light Day

Power

• Dumbbell Jerk - The jerk develops the upper body power component and complements the clean in this regard. This is done one arm at a time. Further, the exercise was started with the Push Press as needed depending on the athletes experience level.
• Medicine Ball Chest Pass - This is paired with the Jerk and creates a velocity version of the same stimulus that is also in the correct plane.

Primary

• Front Squat - Our last basic movement pattern exercise. Important for basic lower body strength and structural loading of the spine.

Accessory

• Romanian Deadlift (RDL) - The straight leg deadlift  focuses on the glutes and hamstrings. It is our lift pattern exercise for this day and complements the deadlift from the heavy day. This is also a functional exercise. While we are always told to lift with our knees, life does not always make that feasible - the exercise teaches lifting with a neutral spine. Paired with the Front Squat.
• Rear Foot Elevated Squat (RFE) - The rear foot elevated squat decreases the base of support even more compared to the split squat and puts more of the emphasis on the front leg. Further this exercise is a grueling, driving hypertrophy in the quads. Circuit with the following exercises.
• Incline Dumbbell Bench Press - The single arm exercise has a multi-layered stability component. Without both hands on a bar the shoulder must work harder to stabilize the weight. And one arm at a time requires a cross-body, oblique stabilization from the trunk muscles. The inclined bench allows us to complement the flat bench of the standard press and put more demand on the shoulder. Circuited with the RFE Squat.
• 1-arm Dumbbell Row - This is the pull exercise on the light day. The single arm row requires another substantial oblique trunk demand, this one being even harder.

Phase II

Since good program design involves incremental, progressive changes the differences here are not huge. And only the differences will be noted.

The changes are also small because I still have people coming on-board who need to get up to speed first.

Heavy Day

Power

• Box Jump - volume on these decreased to two sets so that they don't interfere with performance in the Clean. Note also that the box jumps are done before the Clean so as to maximize the potentiation effect.

Primary

•  No changes except higher intensities i.e. lower RM numbers

Accessory

•  The split squat was moved to the light day and traded for the RFE squat. This was an equipment and space concern created by additional athletes joining the program and the addition of the Barbell Row.
• Barbell Bent-over Row - This replaces the the suspension rows. It demands good form and increases the weight being moved.

Light Day

Power

• Barbell Split Jerk - we upgrade our overhead, explosive power exercise with the full barbell version. The athletes should be able to transition to this easily due to the training with the dumbbell version. Of course this also allows us to up the weight.

Primary

•  No changes except higher intensities i.e. lower RM numbers

Accessory

• The RDL and incline press swap positions in the order of exercises. This means that the muscle groups used do not overlap as much within a super-set. As such we can demand more weight moved, but get a lower hypertrophy effect. 
• 1-arm Pulldown - Woo hoo! I have a pulldown rig set-up now. I'm limited to the single arm version for now since it's a plate loaded version and I don't have much weight with the correct size hole. Once I've got enough weight we move to a standard lat pulldown.

Conclusion

Overall the program represents a combination of two things: 1) Incremental progression; 2) Compromise based on equipment limitations - and that's life.

Furthermore this is only the weightlifting component of the total strength and conditioning program. There is a power, agility and core circuit at the beginning of each class. These will be described later.

Our Longpoint Periodization Scheme

Longpoint 2016 Training has begun. There are lots of components to this training regime on the technical skills side as well but here, obviously, I'm going to focus on our strength training program.

With a clear end date for the program it is possible for us have a clear outline. We are looking to peak our training in mid-July next year. The program started at the beginning of November. We've got about 9 months to go.

I've broken this down into 5 phases. The first four are two months each and the last is the remaining weeks before the event.

The periodization is a simple linear progression. We start at (relatively) low intensities and high volume of training and progress to higher intensities while cutting back on volume.

Each phase has a three day a week workout plan:

• The first day is the heavy day, with Clean, Deadlift and Bench Pres, plus a small number of accessory exercises covering the lunge, pull and anti-rotation movement patterns.
• The second day is the lighter day, with Jerk and Squat as the big lifts and more of the accessory type exercises covering the lunge, pull, lift and anti-rotation movements.
• The third day is optional and consists entirely of accessory style exercises. It is intended to be done at home or at a typical commercial gym and so focuses on dumbbell exercises.

Each month has a low-intensity, sub-max week for more complete recovery. Otherwise the numbers listed below are all Repetition Maximums (RM).

Unless otherwise stated each exercise is done for 3 sets.

Phase I

Heavy day

1. Power - 5 (Clean and Box jumps)
2. Primary - 8
3. Accessory - 10

Light day

1. Power - 5 (DB Jerk and Medball throws)
2. Primary - 12
3. Accessory - 12 

Power exercises are pairs of Olympic lifts and another simpler power exercise.
Main exercises are paired with a complementary exercise.
Accessory exercises are circuits of three exercises.

Phase II

Heavy day

1. Power - 5
2. Primary - 8
3. Accessory - 10

Light day

1. Power - 5 (Barbell Jerk)
2. Primary - 12
3. Accessory - 12 

Power exercises are paired with fewer sets of the alternate exercise as their load goes up.

Phase III

Heavy day

1. Power - 5
2. Primary -6
3. Accessory -8

Light day

1. Power - 5
2. Primary -10
3. Accessory - 12 

Power exercises are no longer paired with an alternate exercise. The load should be fairly high at this point and the athletes sufficiently experienced with the exercises to get true max effort sets.
Main exercises are no longer paired with a complementary exercise.
Accessory exercises are now only pairs of exercises. Specificity increases with lateral leg exercises and upper body exercises with torso rotation.
A small circuit of lower intensity exercises fills out the program. Examples include: carries, single-leg squats, planks & variations and band exercises.

Phase IV

Heavy day

1. Power - 5/4/4
2. Primary - 5 Complex
3. Accessory -8

Light day

1. Power - 5
2. Primary -8
3. Accessory - 10

Main exercises are now either complex sets or with resistance bands added. 
Accessory exercises dialed back to just two sets.

Phase V

Heavy day

1. Power - 5/4/3
2. Primary - 5 Complex
3. Accessory - 8

Light day

1. Power - 5
2. Primary - 6
3. Accessory - 8

Accessory exercises will increase in specificity while decreasing in load.

Rep Max Testing 

Rep Max testing is done at the end of each phase to recalibrate numbers for the main exercises. At the end of Phase I it will be just 3-5RM testing since they have not been moving high intensity loads for this phase.

For the remainder of the program 1RM testing will be used.

Conclusion

This is a simple linear periodization scheme appropriate for beginning and intermediate lifters. Even for advanced lifters this type of program works well when there is a single most important event on the calendar. Other, more complex, schemes are more appropriate for a fuller competition schedule and advanced athletes.

More of What Is Strength?

Well, I'm glad you asked? Actually, Alex Bourdas asked this in his most recent post over on my favorite HEMA blog: Encased In Steel. My post is intended to act as a commentary on that post - to add details and clarity. Alex's post is good, mine is not a criticism, his is shorter and more readable.

As Alex starts off with defining strength. Strength is a term that gets used a lot in an imprecise way.

To a exercise professional, strength is maximal force production. In addition to the sources that Alex provides we see the same from the NSCA and ACSM research. It's the same in my Doctorate in Physical Therapy program.

Force = mass*acceleration. So increasing force production means increasing acceleration of the body and weapon.

On the other hand, endurance is defined as the amount of time that an amount of force can be produced. In this case increased endurance means more repetitions, not more force in each repetition. There is a clear inverse relationship between power and duration of force production. Therefore strength and endurance are at opposite ends of a spectrum of force production.

In exercise science intensity is defined as a percentage of maximal force production. This is different from the colloquial and dictionary usage of intensity. So a Crossfit workout that leaves you puking may have been intense, but not in the technical use of the word, since it was high rep training. A 100m sprint may not feel as draining as a marathon, but the sprint was more intense.

So, a single exercise intensity cannot increase both endurance and strength.

Does that mean that any claim that an exercise program increases both endurance and strength bogus? Well, only mostly. If you take a sedentary person and increase their physical activity - by any means - then that person will gain both strength and endurance. But only for the first 8-12 weeks. After that, one of the characteristics is going to plateau based on the program's intensity.

And this is where we get the personal testimonials of a program that does everything. And the research backs up this fact that any exercise will improve most things in a sedentary person. So, a personal trainer, or a person selling a book, can even claim to be supported by the science. But only by cherry-picking the research instead of looking at the entire body of research.

How Intense is Strength?

I defined above that strength gains are made at a given intensity. That intensity is 67% and higher (1, 2).

And this is where a clarification of something Alex said is really necessary. The repetition range he quotes is 20RM and lower. While the sources above give 12RM and lower.

Note though that the IOC source that Alex provides also specifies the duration of those sets - 30 seconds or less. I can do 20 reps in 30 seconds only by moving the weight faster, which requires more force. Or I can do reps that take 3-4 seconds each and do only 8-10 reps. That 3-4 seconds is 1-2 seconds down, pause at the bottom, 1 second up and then pause at the top.

Twenty slow controlled reps is not strength training, it's muscular endurance. But 20 medicine ball throws in 30 seconds is strength and power.

Most strength training is done at intensities of 12RM and lower. Significant strength gains - and significant power gains - occur at intensities higher than 8RM. As such strength training should focus on those numbers.

Strength Isn't the Only Thing

Of course it isn't. And I'm certainly not saying that you should win a fight simply by being stronger than the other guy.

But more relevantly, strength is not the only characteristic relevant to training. Increasing endurance allows a person put in more training time. And that's good for us. Therefore a balance should be found between strength and endurance training. We can do that three ways:

1. Remember that strength increases will also increase muscular and cardiovascular endurance. Not as effectively as dedicated endurance and cardio work, but sometimes it's all that's needed. Note though that this is not a two way street. Endurance and cardio do very little for strength.
2. Include lower intensity exercises. Perform the accessory exercises of the program at a lower intensity to help cover muscular endurance needs. These are the single leg or arm exercises or the trunk/core specific exercises.
3. Periodization. Start the program at lower intensities and gradually increase the intensity. Don't just increase the weight as you get stronger. Increase the weight enough to decrease the number of reps possible. Aim to have the highest strength and power portions in time for a particular important event, date or competition. However, periodization is it's own topic for a much longer post. 

Conclusion

Train smart and know what strength is. And how it is different from endurance and cardiovascular conditioning.

Well, it worked for me. - No, it didn't.

This showed up again on Facebook recently. The idea that because somebody thinks something worked it must have. It's a common misunderstanding and it is caused by the limitations of human brains.

This particular story was a response to someone posting on the HEMA Alliance page about their impending knee surgery. And it's ensuing rehabilitation needs.

The first response was, "see a doctor". This response wins.

Many people encouraged the OP to get physical therapy. And more importantly to find a PT who has experience with vigorous athletes. After all, most PT is sedentary folks, so they just don't have as many opportunities to work with folks like us.

Then somebody else said, try "tui na". I'd seen the term before, but I had to look it up. It's a traditional Chinese medicine practice (TCM) involving manipulation and massage.

There is nothing wrong with manipulation or massage in and of themselves. They have been covered in my PT program so far. However, because it is TCM these treatments are not guided by the physical reality of what's inside a human body. They are instead guided by unsubstantiated beliefs about structures and energy that have never been shown to exist.

Furthermore, the TCM process for determining what manipulation and massage is necessary are not based on the reality of human physiological processes. I know how manipulation works because I've dissected a human cadaver. And because others have done so for five centuries accumulating knowledge of all the details. TCM does not have this information.

But It Worked for Him

I understand why he thinks this. But the mere fact that he got better does not prove that he got better because of the Tui Na.

The poster describes having undertaken both PT and tui na. And I'll assume that he also rested. So his rehabilitation plan looks like this:

1. Rest
2. Physical Therapy
3. Tui Na

We know, from extensive research and experience, that the first two are sufficient. He didn't need to do anything else to get better. The most parsimonious explanation of his improvement is that he undertook the first two items and so he got better. And that the tui na was simply not relevant.

But this is typical. This person undertook both a medical treatment and an alternative treatment and he credits his improvement to the alternative treatment. Instead of acknowledging the way that PT addressed his rehab needs

Of course, when you've paid money for the treatment and taken time out of your life to get it done, you have a subconscious drive to believe that you didn't waste your time and money. The human brain is incredibly good at rationalization. And that's the better explanation for this person's personal experience.

I'm not saying this person didn't experience what they experienced. I want them to understand which narrative explains their experiences best. We all have our own narratives that we use to interpret the world. But our narratives are not reliable.

It is imperative for humans to acknowledge the limitations and illusions of our mind. Daniel Simons extensively documents this in the book, "The Invisible Gorilla." If you know what that title means then you should already understand this phenomenon a bit. But if you don't know what the title means then watch this video, it's only 1:21 minutes.

I'll repeat something I've said before: I'm not claiming to have a better brain then other people. I suffer from the same illusions and cognitive difficulties as everyone else. Instead, the difference is that I work hard to have "neurocognitive humility" as Steven Novella puts it. I don't have a different brain, I engage in specific behaviors intended to address the known limitations.

And I'm sure I fail at it sometimes.

What's the Harm

Of course, the follow-up question is, "what's the harm?" So what if the tui na did not do anything? Well, the list of harms from these kinds of pseudo-scientific or not at all scientific medical treatments include:

1. Wasted money - this is real harm, especially for those who struggle to pay for healthcare and since these treatments are usually not covered by insurance (with good reason).
2. Wasted time - which can also be money lost if a person takes time off from their job for the treatment.
3. False hope - if a person thinks that an alternative treatment will help and it does not then that is harm.
4. Delayed treatment - if a person delays getting effective treatment because they undertook an ineffective treatment first then that is harm - a longer period of disability. And it increases the likelihood that the problem cannot be fixed or fixed fully.
5. Additional, unnecessary and ineffective treatment - it is often the case that pseudo-medicine practitioners fancy themselves as general practitioners able to diagnose all sorts of problems besides the one you came in for. Many of which are just made up. Then they sell you supplements (that they profit from), order tests that are unnecessary (that they profit from) and recommend treatment that does nothing (that they profit from).
6. The treatment may be harmful - unlike with medicine the alternative medicine field is essentially unregulated and so even harmful treatments are able to proliferate.

Generalizing this Post

This is a bit of a rant. So what does it have to do with strength and conditioning training? Don't believe in fad exercise programs. Don't believe in fad recovery methods. Don't believe in "ancient wisdom" until it has been studied.

Don't believe yourself.

Acknowledge that your own experiences may not accurately represent reality. That your conclusions may be based on the common illusions of the human brain.

The basics of both exercise and injury treatment and recovery are well understood and good results are reliable with these basic approaches. This may seem boring. And it is, but it also works.

So do it.

Help, my shoulders are too high!

We see this plenty in martial arts, fencing and, well, normal life. People who keep their shoulders up too high, kind of bunched up or tense, but all the time. Or maybe just while they are training. For training it's most common in new fencers. Recently somebody asked about it on the HEMA Alliance Facebook page and here's my long response.

Let me get technical for a moment. I'm talking about excessive tension in the upper traps that elevates the shoulder joints. If you're actually looking at something else, then this won't help.

I'm going to address the common advice and suggestions as well as my own thoughts.

Stretching

A lot of people will suggest stretching for something like this. But stretching is seldom the answer, though it can be part of it. Here's why:

1. Go stand in front of the mirror.
2. Depress your shoulders, that is shove them towards the ground - see the third picture
3. If you can get them to normal posture (the second picture) then muscle length isn't the problem.

Hunched posture - the problem we are correcting

Normal posture - the objective

Depressed posture - should be able to get the shoulders this low

Stretching solves problems when the muscle is short. And such is seldom the case for this particular problem.

If stretching feels good then that's good and go ahead and do it.

If stretching helps relieve tension then that's good and go ahead and do it.

So, by all means, include stretching if you like, but also know that it won't solve the problem.

Yoga

Yoga for what?

If it's stress reduction then go for it. Lots of people are stressed and any kind of meditation activity that they find stress relieving is a good thing. Stress can be the primary contributor to the elevated shoulder problem. You've probably heard, or are, somebody who says, "I carry my stress in my shoulders".

Finding a good way to reduce your stress is quite important in life. But it's outside the scope of my blog.

If the yoga suggestion is based on the idea that certain of the yoga postures will cure the problem then I want to know which ones. All too often there is just a generic suggestion for yoga as if the whole of it is some cure-all, without looking at the specifics of individual yoga postures.

A quick google search on yoga poses for shoulder problems came up with a whopping zero poses useful to this problem. This does not mean that they don't exist. But it illustrates that a simple suggestion of yoga in general is not sufficient.

Strengthen the Upper Back

Well, we might expect me to be all over a strength training solution!

But the upper back strength isn't the solution to this problem. It's probably the cause, or at least an accomplice.

The upper back muscles are primarily the trapezius and rhomboids. You also have the top part of the spinal extensors, but they don't attach to the shoulder blade or joint.

The traps are a big muscle group that primarily elevates and upwardly rotates the scapula, so that's a possible culprit. And by possible I mean almost certainly it. Though with a possible contribution from the levator scapulae.

So strengthening the already overactive or tight muscles won't help!

The rhomboids downwardly rotate and retract the scapula, so we can rule them out. Strengthening the rhomboids might actually help us, but the upper traps are much bigger, and so we can't win that tug of war with just reverse flys.

Strengthen Other Things

Farmer's Carries - I love farmer's carries. I just spent good money buying equipment to do heavier carries. But that's an exercise where gravity pulls the shoulder down, so they won't help keep the shoulders down in other actions.

Indian Clubs - I'm not a big fan of these, because there is nothing they do particularly well, they're really just a conditioning tool. And they don't have a way to work the muscles to pull down the shoulders. Whether or not they help is entirely dependent on how good you keep your posture while using them. And that's true of a lot of options. So it's really independent of a solution.

But it does indicate something useful. Being mindful of posture during all strength training, especially standing exercises, will help.

Bodyweight exercises - Which ones? Most of them are simply not relevant to the problem. The only relevant one, really, is pull-ups. And so if you are capable of pull-ups then they should benefit this particular problem. But pull-ups are really hard for a lot of people, so they are usually not a good general purpose suggestion.

Posture

We are moving progressively closer to the best understanding and solution to the problem with this. Better posture is better. Work to increase the amount of time in good posture and your awareness of your posture - in every part of your life. In particular here is getting the shoulders back and down. If you have a desk job this is a challenge. And addressing that challenge is it's own big topic.

There is also your posture when you are on-guard. When you are in guards with the arms and sword above the level of the shoulder it's natural to also hunch up the shoulders. But you don't have to do that. You can get your arms overhead and keep your shoulders down.

Shoulders hunched high guard position

Shoulder neutral high guard position

You may also have your shoulders elevated in a lot of your guards. In which case switching to pflug or Fiore won't help. Sean Hayes talks about it in this video.


One of the cues for getting your scapula into the right position for overhead guards is to think about sticking your shoulder blade into your back pocket.

* Side benefit of this: it's healthier for your rotator cuff!

Tension

Are you tense while you are training? If you're new you probably are. I see this problem an awful lot. And it's understandable. When you start you don't understand any of it, it's all new. There's a lot to concentrate on. And many people naturally hunch up their shoulders in this situation.

I tell people to relax. I then I tell them that relaxing will take a while. You have to get better at the actions to be able to think about relaxing while doing them. When it's new you have too many things to think about to be able to also think about relaxing.

I'm really relaxed while doing the things that I've been doing with a sword for years. It's easy for me at that point. I'm sure a video camera would show more tension in the brand new stuff. But I've also got, at this point, 17 years of martial arts training, so I've got a habit of being relaxed while doing this stuff. And that took time i.e. don't expect a quick fix. This is a long-term project.

The take-away is spend more training time on the stuff that is not super challenging. That's doesn't mean spend it all on the easy stuff. But spend most of your time on the actions that you get mostly right, most of the time. This is actually my general advice to all my students, just based on learning theory. The advanced stuff, that may be stressing you out, should be practiced with a coach who can provide feedback.

Good Strength Training

Of course I'm going to conclude that strength training has a role to play in addressing this! But it may be a much smaller role than the above about stress and tension, depending on the person.

There is a reflex in the body to keep the muscles safe by turning down the activation of opposing muscle groups when activating a particular muscle. So an overactive upper trap is turning down the activity of the opposing muscles that pull the shoulders down.

And so we can use that to our advantage. As we train up the muscles that pull the shoulders down we increase their resting tone. This will have the effect of turning down the resting tone in the opposing muscles. And thereby reducing the tendency to hunch up those shoulders

What exercises pull down the shoulders? Lat pulldowns. And pull-ups.

You may think of these as primarily latissimus dorsi exercises, and they are. The lats are a big muscle that pulls the shoulders down - amongst other actions. Your rhomboids will also be helping with these exercises. As well as the lower traps.

And that's pretty much all the muscles that pull your shoulders down. So make sure you are including vertical pulling exercises in your complete strength training program.

Does it Hurt?

If yes, then see a medical professional. I am not a doctor.

If you aren't sure yet then ask following questions:

1. Has it hurt for more than 2 weeks? If so, see a doctor.
2. Does it hurt even when you are not training? If so, see a doctor.
3. Does the pain interfere with any other part of your life? If so, see a doctor.

Specifically, see a physical therapist or orthopedist.

Conclusion

In my experience, the most common cause of this is being new. And that can go on for a very long time. The next most common is generally carrying tension in your shoulders. As such, strengthening, stretching and other exercises have only a small role to play in this type of problem.

However, it's not a self-correcting problem. If you do this when you are new then you will do this always. That's what coaches are for, to spot your errors and remind you to fix them.

Forearm, Wrist and Grip Strengthening

One of the biggest challenges for many new students of the sword and other combat sports is forearm/wrist strength. This is especially the case for single-handed sword work, smaller people and those with limited upper-body strength. There are two areas of problem that emerge from limitations in forearm strength: 1) the risk of injury is higher, both for repetitive stress and sudden injuries; 2) the student will be limited in the number of repetitions of an action they can do, especially those they can do with good quality - which limits how much training they can do.

The first and most basic strategy for creating a foundation of forearm strength is going to be basic lifts. In subsequent posts I'll discuss ways to focus, refine and increase the specificity of the program.

Lifts, Pulls and Pushes

Of our basic categories of exercises the ones that will apply most to forearm function are lifts, pulls and pushes.

Lifts - lifting exercises, like deadlifts and any of the myriad related variants, are the most basic way to put a demand on the forearm muscles. All of the forearm muscles are used in grip. And lifting exercises put the most weight in your hand to grip. It is not uncommon for a person's deadlift to be limited by grip strength more than anything else.

Pulls - pulling exercises, like rows and pull-ups, can impose a similar demand to the forearm but usually these are actually a lower demand, but may be higher number of repetitions (since you shouldn't be doing dozens of deadlifts but you can do dozens of dumbbell rows). As such they frequently improve endurance more than maximal strength.

Pushes - pushing exercises, like bench and overhead press, will use the forearm very differently. The forearm now has to actively stabilize the weight. It is easier, when pressing a lot of weight, to let the wrist bend back, but it is better form, especially for us, to maintain a neutral wrist.

Dumbbell exercises especially will force you to develop the muscles that stabilize the shoulder, arm, forearm and wrist. Overall these will help you insure that the whole arm is straight, and therefore minimizes the bending forces on the wrist. As well as backing up your wrist with solid, useful structure.

All of these exercises have the limitation that they are isometric for the wrist and forearm. As such they will transfer best when the wrist is near neutral. However, that's most of the time in sword work and striking, so it's a good foundation.

Intensity

To achieve the benefits described here the weights moved have to be big, big enough that you are usually limited to 6-8 repetitions, or less. The reason for this is simple, impact is a brief moment of very high stress. Low weights and many reps simply do not require the muscles to contract with the strength and intensity needed for impact.

Technique

None of this strength training changes the fact that technique is vitally important to a stable, injury free wrist when fighting. If you find that you are frequently ending up parrying with your wrist bent, or punching the bag with your wrist crooked then the important thing that you need to do is study and improve your form.

Don't just keep doing it wrong. Talk to your coach and modify training to improve this problem. The technical side of how to train this is it's own huge discussion. And also beyond the scope of my strength training blog.

Wrist neutral

In fencing I see two situations in which beginning students frequently fail to maintain a neutral wrist when they should.

1. Over-extending a cut. At the terminus of a cut their is the natural desire to continue extending the wrist - to just reach a little bit farther. This creates a weak position and structure. It may not be a problem when landing a tip cut without opposition, but if you do it when coming to a strong bind you are going to have problems.
2. Not keeping the wrist straight when parrying. And related, not keeping the edge aligned with the forearm. The straight, aligned position creates the optimal structure for your skeleton and for the sword. Against any strong attack the parry can fail without this position and their is the potential for wrist injuries as well. I've seen several myself.

Conclusion

Are you already doing a basic, comprehensive strength training plan? If not, then start there. And if that is not enough then watch for the next post.