I’m going to go against the current here...
I’ve been a martial artist and moderately successful competitor all my life (started at six years old and now I’m forty six) and I’ve also spent quite a long time hiking and running mountain trails. I’ve been doing some form of resistance training since I was sixteen: bodybuilding at first, then Starting Strength, I’ve even given Crossfit a fair try and then I decided Easy Strength, KBs and some calisthenics were all I really needed.
And this is what I found, regarding strength training (I’m not trying to generalize, I’m just talking about MY experience, which may or may not be shared with any other person):
- Being strong helps... to a degree, but it’s waaaaaaaaaay more important to improve my specific martial skills. I try to spend at least 80% of the time I train doing martial arts.
- Being combat-conditioned is way more important than being strong. Being able to pull 500 lbs. but gassing out after one round is kind of useless. The other way around (not being able to deadlift a broomstick, but being able to spar quite hard for one hour) is manageable.
- Being strong enough is a real concept. And easily achievable. I would say that, being able to do ten chins, ten dips, ten front squats and ten Romanian deadlifts with 100% of your bodyweight is WAY more than enough. Strength standards don’t really apply here; fighting is a rather different game.
- No amount of snatches, swings or circuits can replicate the sort of conditioning you need to fight. Sparring, sparring, sparring and then more sparring is all you REALLY need (because it improves your skills, conditioning and, to a lesser degree, your strength at the same time in the way is needed).
- Strength training is a GREAT injury prevention tool (provided you do it to improve your game on the mat, instead of pursuing strength-oriented goals).
- Slow steady cardio is a fantastic recovery tool which, aditionally, creates interesting adaptations which can easily be translated to the mat.
- Walking (I’m talking about taking a stroll, not doing it for cardio), Yoga, Original Strength are great recovery tools.
- All the above applies to both grappling and striking arts. And, I suppose, to any other skill oriented activity too (climbing, skiing, basketball, etc...).
- I would bet 98% of this forum’s members could easily push, pull, squat and deadlift WAY more than Manny Pacquiao. And those same members could probably do way more swings, cleans and snatches than him. Then, you step into a ring, not with PacMan, but with any amateur competitor and reality hits back (quite literally).