What do people most often associate with the term martial arts? Is it a perception of unnecessary violence and methods of killing with a single touch? Is it the thought of a lifestyle with inherent health benefits that occur in such a subtle manner most does not even realize they are taking place. The military has looked into the possibility of health benefits underlying the technical surface of the martial arts in a program called the Trojan Warrior Program. In this project several martial artists participated to test the benefits of the martial arts on health, using two teams of green berets (Strozzi-Heckler, 1). There were three goals for the Trojan Warrior program. The first goal was to be to maintain the green berets’ already high level of fitness. The second goal was to improve their weaknesses; and the third goal was "to improve overall team fitness rather than focus on highest individual performance attainable" (75). The Trojan Warrior program would monitor its results by using bio-feedback and the Army Physical Readiness Test (A.P.R.T.) as the primary sources of information. The martial arts do have quite a few health benefits to their practices. These include the development of speed, strength, suppleness, stamina, martial skill, and even psychological factors. Each one of which breaks down into more task specific factors. The most dominantly noticed health benefits of the martial arts are those referred to as the ‘S’ factors (Gummerson, 40). There is a total of six ‘S’ factors. These are speed, strength, suppleness, stamina, skill, and psychology. Speed has an equation of its own that equals the reaction of a martial artist to the oncoming of something. Strength breaks down into six types of strength maximum, relative, explosive, speed endurance, strength endurance, and local muscular endurance (42). Suppleness divides into five categories. These five categories are range of movement, mobility, flexibility, agility, and suppleness. Stamina develops through the exercising of the aerobic workout system and the anaerobic system. Skill is an ‘S’ factor that develops in five stages with three necessities in each (43). Psychology develops the six traits of imagination, ambitions & expectations, confidence, motivation, aggression, and relaxation (Canney 4, 9.1-9.7). Speed is an 'S' factor with a view of either a gross motor function or a fine motor function. Viewed as a gross motor function, it is the speed at which the moving involves the entire body as when developing a sequence of various techniques or changing directional movement from stance to stance. Speed develops in a four part process which in turn creates a single reaction time. The first piece of information in the equation for reaction is perception time, or, the utilization of the senses to detect the source of an action. Add processing time, or, the time it takes to asks ‘What is it and where is it coming from’ and you have half of the equation. Selection time is the time it takes to choose a defense of counter-attack in response to the oncoming attack. The final variable in the equation of reaction is movement time, the time it takes to perform the action chosen during the selection time. Reaction time is perception, processing, selection, and movement times combined to equal the overall time it takes to react to a situation. Another health benefit of the martial arts is the development of strength. Strength is the tension or force that a muscle or group of muscles can exert against a resistance (Gummerson, 42). There is a total of six strength types each one having its uses. Maximum strength is greatest tension or force that the neuro-muscular system is capable of generating in one conscious effort (42). Relative strength is the greatest tension or force that the neuro- muscular system can exert as a proportion to body weight (42). Explosive strength is the ability of the muscles to contract and generate force explosively. A part of explosive strength is power or the ability to generate maximum force in the shortest amount of time possible (43). The ability of the muscles to continue working at maximum capacity with an ever increasing presence of fatigue products is known as speed endurance (43). Strength endurance is the muscle’s ability to generate force with an ever increasing presence of fatigue products (44). Local muscular endurance is the ability of the muscles to generate force in an ever increasing climate of fatigue at a local level (44). An example of maximum strength is when one is in a life or death situation. There is also the story of the mother whose son was trapped underneath of a car and she was able to lift the car to free her son. While she did do extensive damage to herself by performing this task, it is demonstrative of maximum strength. One example of relative strength is if Johnny weighs 154 pounds and can bench press 308 pounds while Jack weighs 220 pounds and can also bench press 308 pounds. Johnny is the stronger of the two since he is lifting twice his body weight. Explosive strength is the type of strength used when performing tasks such as board breaking, where the energy is at a maximum level used to perform something within an acute period. Suppleness is a combination of mobility, flexibility, agility, and range of movement (45-46). Range of movement is the angle through which a limb or part of the body can move regarding a specific joint or series of joints (45). The maximum range of movement that is attainable in a joint or series of joints by means of a conscious, and sustained effort is mobility. (45). Flexibility is the absolute range of motion that is attainable in a joint or a series of joints in a momentary effort with the help of a partner or piece of equipment (45). The range of movement in a series of joints, which enables the whole body to perform complex techniques is known as agility (46). Stamina is defined as muscular endurance or the strength of physical constitution. Stamina is produced through the aerobic and anaerobic systems of the body (46). With the aerobic and anaerobic systems, come three categories of energy expenditure. These three categories are Anaerobic expenditures, Aerobic expenditures, and the coordinated Aerobic and Anaerobic expenditures (46). Each of these types of expenditures is sub divided into further categories. The aerobic system assures a constant supply of energy for a sustained period such as an hour but only for a low level intensity workout (46). It provides this energy supply with enough oxygen to muscles and organs due to its low intensity and lack of high energy demands. The muscles’ production of energy in the presence of oxygen also produces the wastes of Carbon Dioxide and Water (47). These wastes hinder the muscles’ efficiency as they build up. At low work levels though, the body removes the wastes as fast as they are produced (47). The wastes’ removal is dependent on the efficiency of its transport system. This efficiency is determined by the heart's ability to work faster as a pump to increase the rate of blood flow throughout the muscles (47). It also relies upon the blood vessels’ ability to circulate blood to the active tissues, transporting with them nutrients and oxygen while carrying away the waste products. The lungs’ capability to work faster, assimilating atmospheric oxygen and directing it to the circulating blood while removing the carbon dioxide through exhalation is another key factor in the transport system of waste removal (47). The anaerobic system produces energy without oxygen. The major disadvantage to the anaerobic system is the build up of lactic acid. Lactic acid builds up and is not well removed by the transport system from the muscle tissues working at maximum capacity (47). When lactic acid builds up it causes localized stiffness during and after periods of intense training. It can also cause pain during and or after periods of intense training (47). The body needs to stop to remove lactic acid and does so in two ways. Once stopped it speeds up the removal of waste products especially lactic acid. The body then brings in large amounts of oxygen to the tissues, helping to break down the lactic acid into more disposable products (48). The recovery from an anaerobic workout depends on the efficiency of the transport system. The transport system must be developed first through aerobic training as this will increase the ability to remove waste and speed up recovery (48). The energy demands of the anaerobic system are in four types known as instantaneous, very short-term, medium-term, and long term (48). Instantaneous energy demands are less than a second, as when used in breaking techniques or a single effort at maximum capacity. Very short term energy demands last up to five seconds and are used with short sequences of techniques at maximum effort (48). Medium term energy demands take up to 15 seconds and are used with a sustained sequence of techniques at maximum effort. Long term demands of energy last up to a minute, for a sustained and constant activity at maximum effort (48). The demands of the aerobic and anaerobic systems coordinated are both short term and medium term. Short term lasts up to three minutes, in the use of intense sustained activity as in sparring (fighting) or a competitive bout. Medium term can last up to five minutes in intense continuous and sustained activity such as a promotion test. The aerobic system is used as necessary and is crucial in the recovery process (49). Normal energy expenditure during training will be split at an equal twenty- five percent to the four major parts of a person’s life; training, working, socializing, and their health (31). Over training shows training to possess forty percent with working, socializing, and health equally maintaining twenty percent each. Chronic over-training training takes up fifty percent, working and socializing each take up twenty percent and health gets a mere ten percent to maintain the body (32). Personal signs for ideal, over, or recovery periods of training. Tell tale signs for all three aforementioned training periods can be seen in the skin, perspiration levels, skill levels, attitude levels, health, and commitment to training (Gummerson, 35). Ideal skin tone for training is a healthy pink, over training is characterized by a deep red and recovery is signified by a very pale hue. Ideal perspiration levels are one being profuse in the upper body, over training is profuse throughout the body. Skill levels will deteriorate as the lesson progresses in an ideal training period, a student will break down, and seem disoriented and confused when over training and technical competence will be diminished when in recovery (35). Ideally concentration will deteriorate as the lesson progresses with periods of concentration very short when over training and a lack of ability to concentrate when recovering. In an ideal situation fatigue will develop as the lesson progresses, over training will show pain in joints, muscles, head and some major organs while recovery will produce sleep problems, pain and discomfort (35). Commitment to training will be enthusiastic in an ideal situation, a greater need for more rest, unease felt over more intensive training will become evident in over-training and a loss of interest if in recovery. Skill develops in five stages, first in basic patterns of movement, crude but recognizable techniques, technical refinement, technical adaptation, and physiological adaptation. Each of these stages requires three specific necessities when training. They require repetition of movements during the lessons. This needs enables the movements to be learned and perfected (50). The development of easy and fluid body movements which needs time and is codependent on the student's ability and commitment to training. Emphasis must be placed on developing correct movement patterns, not speed, strength, or force (51). The martial arts develop the psychological traits of imagination, ambitions and expectations, confidence, motivation, aggression, and relaxation. Imagination is the seeing and feeling of events or situations that have not yet happened (Canney, 9.1). Ambition is the setting of a goal to be achieved in the future (9.1). Expectations are feelings that, it is imagined; will follow the achievement of the desired goal (9.2). Confidence is the knowledge that a certain task can be performed, and that the right techniques will be chosen to accomplish it (9.3). Motivation is the desire to do well. Aggression is the emotional state a person reaches when he wants to attack a particular target (9.7). Proper nutrition is essential to training in the martial arts and maintaining a well-balanced lifestyle. A calorie is a measurement of the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by one degree centigrade (1.12). A calorie is too small a measurement for practical use so instead the use of one thousand calories is standardized. One thousand calories is also known as the kilocalorie, a kCal, and a Cal.. An average person’s diet contains two thousand calories whereas a martial artist’s diet may consist of as many as four thousand five hundred calories. These amounts of calories are the daily needs for basic metabolism (1.12). An additional six hundred calories are needed for other activities. Food turns into fuels that are absorbed in one of three ways (1.13). These forms are put to use for living essentials, which is basic metabolism, maintaining of body temperature and muscle movement, and for the renewal and repair of body tissues such as blood and muscle (1.13). The fuels are also used for activities like working, exercising, and walking. The martial arts affect the heart’s rate and stroke volume without shortening the time taken to fill the heart with blood (3.7). The heart rate of an untrained person at rest is sixty to eighty beats per minute while the heart rate of a trained person is forty to fifty beats per minute. This change in heart rate is caused because of the increase in the heart’s capacity, so that each contraction pumps more blood allowing fewer beats to be required to keep up resting cardiac output (3.7). The increase occurs because the muscle fibers in the heart lengthen and thicken, thus producing more power. Also due to the increase in muscle fibers the weight of the heart can change from approximately three hundred grams to five hundred grams (3.8). The cardiac output is increase from sixteen liters a minute to twenty to thirty liters a minute. This can cause the blood supply to heart to increase because the capillaries are more open in muscles (3.8). The military has also looked into the possible health benefits of the martial arts in a program called the Trojan warrior project (Strozzi-Heckler, 1). The project involved several martial artists as trainers/coaches and two teams of green berets who would be experimented on. The two teams used were teams two sixty (260) and team five sixty (560) (15). The goals of the project were to maintain the already high level of fitness for the green berets, to improve their weaknesses, and to improve overall team fitness not just personal improvements (75). To provide the trainers with a base line from which to determine improvements the army gave them the result of the green berets most current Army Physical Readiness Test or the A.P.R.T.. The A.P.R.T. shows increases in strength, endurance, and flexibility (76). The test used to measure their physical fitness increases were based on team average scores. Initially team two sixty’s percentages tested above the maximum army scores by age twenty-one percent for push-ups, twelve percent for sit-ups, and two percent for the two mile run (75). Team five sixty tested twelve percent above in push-ups, one percent in sit-ups, and three percent in the two mile run (75). The second testing for the two teams had pull-ups and stretching added to the A.P.R.T.. The second test for team two sixty i8ncreased from their original scores by approximately six percent for push- ups, five percent for sit-ups, and a dropping of two seconds from their two mile time (76). Team five sixty increased by approximately six percent in push-ups, five percent in sit-ups, and dropped thirty two seconds from there two mile time (76). Brain waves were also tested in the Trojan Warrior project. Using bio- feedback as a means to determine measurements the trainers set up a bio- feedback lab containing electrodes, digital read-out systems, computers, and headphones. Bio-feedback is defined as a therapy method in which a bodily function is monitored and information is fed back to a person to facilitate improved control of the physiological process (Weiten, 179). The main focus of the bio-feedback was to monitor the alpha and beta brain waves in the green berets. Alpha waves run between eight to thirteen cycles per second and are characteristic of a relaxed yet alert, high energy state. They are conducive to accelerated learning and creative problem solving (Strozzi-Heckler, 208). Beta waves are more linear and less open than alpha waves (209). These are more prevalent when one is engaged in problem solving (Weiten, 179). The bio- feedback lab’s equipment would monitor the tests performed on the green berets in the following manners. The electrodes would monitor the physiological process itself, the digital read-out system would generate feedback for the person being tested, and the headphones would allow the wearer to hear musical tones representative of the brain waves (Weiten, 711). The overall percent increases were for physical, psychological, team cohesion, and mission specific increases. The physical increases showed that the soldiers understanding of new fitness concepts increased by ninety five percent. Their understanding of the effects of diet on one’s performance increased by one hundred fifty percent. Their ability to control pain and promote healing was increased fifty five percent and their ability to fine tune their body performance increased by eighty five percent (263). Psychologically the teams’ ability to better manage stress and shock rose eight five percent. An increase in their mental abilities went up one hundred percent. The coordination of mind, body, and emotions grew by sixty five percent and their solidification of key values rose seventy percent (263). Team cohesion improved by fifty percent to increase team strength, forty percent to strengthen leadership skills (263). The mission specific goals increased their ability to enhance the ability to remain alert and motionless by seventy percent. The enhancement of body temperature control in the extremities rose by forty percent. The enhancement of the extending of sensory awareness grew by eighty percent. The ability to rest and recuperate rapidly increased by one hundred percent, and the management of energy output to gain endurance increased by ninety percent (263).

Works Cited List