I'll just say this one more time for completeness' sake; For self defense, be fit enough, to run away fast enough, that no-one could be bothered following! I'll quote myself here if it's o.k. What I mean is, anaerobic power is all well and good, but aerobic fitness is not a bad idea whichever way you look at it.
Yes I understood your post Red, but there are other opinions other than your very valid one. I have a friend who would agree with you, he says "Look I'm going to take them out there and then, I'm not fit enough to run away then get beaten up" So it is fair to say that SD requires several different aspects of fitness and strength. So which is best, anaerobic, aerobic or a good combination of the two? More importantly, why?
Thats a tough question, I mean how do you measure fitness and MA? Running, punches per minute, kicks, weightlifting? Not sure......
At the risk of making this a purely H&F question, what sort of fitness and why would you require for SD? Some might say aerobic, so you can run away quickly. Some might say anaerobic, because you need explosive energy. Some might say that you need to be able to move your own body wieght, either as chin ups or push ups. I'm trying to explore the fitness and strength side of SD more. As I said before the fiiter you are the better and I'm sure most MAist would understand this, but I want to break it down further so people (including myself) get a better understanding of the stresses and strains a SD situation can put on the body. I think I've confused myself more than make it clear.
An aerobic base is important in all areas. As for SD you will need anaerobic power more than aerobic fitness, no one is going to chase you 5 or 10 kilometres and the fight won’t last 30 minutes or more. It’s very difficult to have both that’s why athletes specialise in sprint or distance events. With SD the fitness training will depend on the method that you use. Wrestling or Judo styles require good strength, while striking arts require speed and power, and internal arts require a more tactile feel. All these areas require specific training, but don’t require the hours and hours of aerobic base training like that of Boxing or Kickboxing.
A standard answer is Rob Redmond the shotokan guy's- a mile in under 10 minutes, 40 military- style pressups, and the flexibility to touch your toes. Yeah, I KNOW it doesn't include anaerobic work, but it's a good benchmark for very general fitness. The ability to do a few pullups and squat your bodyweight is probably a good basic standard, too. I'm not sure I'd describe it as 'minimum', though.
