Traditional martial arts have long used specialized tools to develop functional power and strength, such as:

• Wooden ear plates (木耳牌 muk yi paai) and stone ear plates (石耳牌 sek yi paai)
• Stone locks (石鎖 sek so)
• Stone barbells (石擔 sek daam)

As effective as these tools are, many are difficult to obtain in the West—and even in China today. As a result, many functional martial artists switch to more widely available training tools, such as kettlebells, barbells, and dumbbells.

Thanks to Pavel Tsatsouline and StrongFirst, many people have learned correct kettlebell technique and effective programming. Kettlebell cleans, presses, swings, snatches, push presses, and jerks are an excellent choice for martial artists.

Enter the Dumbbell!

Unfortunately, dumbbells are still commonly used for isolation, bodybuilding-style exercises. In my view, that approach is, together with machine training, among the least useful forms of strength and conditioning for combat arts. Traditional teachings warn against developing “dead strength” (死力 sei lik)—all show, no go.

Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming also discusses the term 散功 (saan gung)—“energy dispersion”—which he describes as a kind of premature muscular degeneration in which vital energy can’t effectively energize the muscles, often associated with earlier bodybuilding-style training.

Bodybuilding is indeed the worst thing that ever happened to strength training.

You can, of course, adapt many traditional Chinese strength-tool methods to dumbbells as well.

• Ear-plate methods can be mimicked with light dumbbells only—otherwise, sooner or later, you will hit your knees.
• Stone-lock methods are often a better match. But in pressing variations (military press, push press, jerk), the grip can become the limiting factor.

Everything worth doing is worth doing right—so why not learn dumbbell lifting for martial arts the right way?

Before dumbbell training degraded into mere “pumping iron,” dumbbells were used in the West by wrestlers (e.g., George Hackenschmidt) and boxers (e.g., Thomas Inch). Many top coaches still use them today—for example, my colleagues Steve Baccari (coach of MMA star Joe Lauzon) and Thomas Cerboneschi (strength and conditioning coach for the French national wrestling team).

As you may know, in addition to Hung Kyun, Hap Kyun, and “Needle in Cotton,” I am also a practitioner and teacher of modern MMA and reality-based self-defense, as well as a strength and conditioning coach (StrongFirst Master Certified Instructor).

Functional strength and conditioning is a cornerstone of our martial arts students’ and combat athletes’ training—bodyweight, kettlebells, stone ear plates, barbells, and dumbbells. Because I travel and teach frequently, I developed a dumbbell lifting system for power and strength based on the methods of the old masters of the Iron Game. You can read about my journey in this series of articles: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

To get a clear idea of what functional dumbbell lifting can look like, please check out the free module on the Dumbbell Clean.

Module 4: One-Arm Dumbbell Clean (36:24)

Explosive power at a low skill toll. Builds an iron rack and braced trunk that carry over to every press and overhead ballistic. Forearm-friendly and old-school approved—the express lane to being usefully strong.

If you’re interested in learning the full minimalist—but comprehensive—system, check out the complete course.

Limited-time offer: $149 $99 through Thursday, December 18^th.
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