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Balance Training

Balance is fascinating.  This is an interesting study that indicates that martial arts training can improve your balance.......although there may be one of those causation vs correlation things going on here ;-)   I don't think it is specifically the taekwando by the way......

Low-level Taekwondo practitioners have better somatosensory organisation in standing balance than sedentary people.

I'm always intersted in balance - it is something that I think we need to maintain and train both for general functional ability and also for injury prevention.
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Comments

Rod said…
It's a bit of a no brainer. Go lay on the couch for a few days with a virus and watch how great your balance and general movement patterns are. Some things are so simple we(me) refuse to simply acknowledge it.
January 12, 2011 at 5:45 PM
Marc said…
I remember when I was young reading one of Bruce Lee's books and his advice was to stand on one leg as much as possible. He said if practiced regularly it was all the training you needed to have incredible balance.

And...as simple as it is..it really works. Wash the dishes or load the dishwasher standing on one leg...etc etc. you will be pleasantly surprised by the results. I love simple...

Marc
January 12, 2011 at 6:39 PM
Jake said…
From my experience, I believe leg strength is necessary for good balance.

As my leg strength improved, my balance improved. Today I can leg press 405 lbs and my balance is excellent.
January 12, 2011 at 8:40 PM
Chris said…
just a quick one - more related news:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12170441

tai chi prevents falls in the elderly.......
January 12, 2011 at 11:50 PM
Aaron Curl said…
Having a background in Tae Kwon Do (6 years) and a construction background it didn't work for me. I have to walk 2x4 walls and my balance just isn't ideal. However, it could be the fear of falling that over rides my balance, I'm not exactly sure now.
January 13, 2011 at 6:42 AM
Anonymous said…
I once broke my hand in a Tae Kwon Do tournament and couldn't practice for about two months. When I did come back to practice, I was surprised that I no longer had the necessary balance to perform spin and jump kicks. I hadn't even realized how much my balance had improved until I had (temporarily) lost my gains.
January 13, 2011 at 10:11 AM
Clint said…
I noticed this effect myself when I first took up kickboxing. I'd been at it for a couple of months when, one day, I suddenly caught myself standing on one leg in the shower.

I mean...standing on one leg, lifting my foot up with one hand and washing it with the other hand.

I put my leg down and felt rather silly, but I noticed it because, before that, I'd always had really terrible balance and coordination. That was a shocking amount of progress in a really short space of time.

I quote this story all the time now, when personal training clients ask about balance and stability training. Which do you think would do more to develop your balance and coordination; squatting on a wobble board, or standing on one leg and kicking as high and hard as you can with the other?
January 13, 2011 at 4:10 PM
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