The Art of the Axe

[John DoeParticipant 743]

There is an issue in the fitness community today regarding functional fitness.   Mastering the bench press or gaining six pack abs has little carryover to real world fitness.  If looked at from a historical only perspective, strength was the ability to effectively perform a physical skill.  Strength is strength only if it can be effectively used.

One fundamentally universal movement found throughout all of history is the ability to swing an axe or a hammer of some form.  But because the two have a lot of similarities I will talk primarily about the axe.  The ability to swing an axe enabled people for thousands of years to collect wood, build houses/furniture/ships/etc,  hunt/process game and fight each other.  The ability to swing an object and do damage to either an animate or inanimate object is a fundamental fitness movement that is forgotten.  Ironically it was/is one of the most important.  Before the modern strength tests, such as the benchpress, people would chopped down trees or swing mallets in order to prove their physical prowess.

Swinging an axe is the simplest thing to do yet the hardest thing to master.   It requires one to gain control of their own body, and even mind, in order to preform non isolated complex movements.

-It helps develop fast twitch muscle which translates over to striking power for any martial artist.  Actually many professional boxers such as Ali, used to help develop his speed and conditioning.

+A professional lumberjack by the name of David Foster was recorded to have 3 times the hand speed of ali.  http://www.knucklepit.com/mixed-martial-arts-david_foster.htm

+  Foreman credited much of his striking power to wood chopping

+ Yamaoka Tesshu, a famous Japanese samurai, would have his students do nothing but chop wood for the first 3 out of 4 total years of training.

–

-It helps burn up to 20 calories per minute, for those trying to lose weight

-It can be practice at any age range regardless of previous level of physical activity

-It helps keep the body stretched and relaxed.  In fact, in the deeper one is able to relax the harder he can strike.  Because of this it also has mentally therapeutic benefits.  It helps ones daily movements become less rigid and to glide naturally.

+It helps manage aggression, not in decreasing it, but rather controlling it.  For those who lack aggression it helps increase it.

+It helps one to focus on each strike and to put aside both good and bad emotions.

– It strengthens the core/hips, shoulders, and grip.

 

– In everyday life using an axe can help those in rural areas gather wood during power outages.  It can also help process meat, or take a shave.

I will stop the post here.  My computer gets glitchy when the post is too long.

Discuss.  I will add from there.

 

 

 

 

 

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