If you are trying to build upper body strength, martial arts can be a great way to do so. You can build up triceps that actually know how to do something more than just ‘lift weights.’ Here are a few tips as to how to build upper body strength with martial arts.
1) Kendo – This martial art is based on ancient sword fighting techniques. In overly simplistic terms, you carry a big wooden sword and fight others. You learn a series of techniques as to how to use your sword and most of the training consists of repeating these patterns until they become a part of how you move.
Repeating these patterns is a great way to develop your arms, as you are carrying a large weight and exercising.
Kendo is also competitive, so you can use your new sword fighting skills to compete against other.
The muscles you develop while doing kendo will be more compact than those you get from doing a variety of weight lifting exercises, but may be more what many are looking for.
2) Aikido – There are a wide variety of throws, carries, and sword fighting techniques that make Aikido ideal for training your upper body. Imagine throwing someone twice your weight across the room. With Aikido you train to use your weight and body in an optimal way to guide your opponent.
Aikido is primarily non-competitive, but you can still move up in ranks – and more importantly build a new skill set and your upper body strength.
3) MMA fitness gyms – Mixed martial arts fitness gyms are opening up across the US, and they allow users to train and experiment with multiple forms of martial arts. This can be a great way to obtain upper body strength, but there are a few negatives. These gyms tend to attract few women, so it may make some women uncomfortable attending such a male oriented gym. Also, there is something to be said to focusing on one martial art for a long period of time before moving on to the next one. It takes time to be able to perform techniques well enough so that they become a part of how a body moves. If you are training several styles at once, your body may not adjust over time, since there is too much contradictory information coming in.