Continuing Ed Review: K3 Combat Movement Systems L1

Back when I was taking my first, tentative steps into the fitness industry and wondering what my niche might be, one question was always burning a hole in my head, and it went something like:

“Man, I love martial arts training, the movements are just so damn fun. How can we bring this to the general population without the somewhat intimidating factor of practicing a ‘martial art’?”

Now, I’d been a fan of Dr. Mark Cheng’s work well before I had even begun considering fitness as a profession. When I first found mention of this thing called “K3 Combat Movement Systems”, it was just a snippet nestled innocuously in a facebook post without too much description or context, but extrapolating (read: letting my imagination run wild) from Doc’s martial arts experience, plus his experience with the FMS, RKC, and SFG, gave me some ideas about what it might encompass. Well friends, having attended the inaugural course (and, at the time of this writing, being about 2 weeks out from attending for a second round), I can safely say it’s everything I was imagining and more, and it’s pretty much answered my burning question. Hopefully I've piqued your curiousity, so let's dive in a bit and see if we can't help you decide if K3 is for you (I would say it almost certainly is!)

The first takeaway from K3 L1 was removing the barriers between movements from different systems, in this case, different martial arts. This is an idea I’m always trying to move towards, so getting to see it in practice multiple times over the course of the weekend really helped install some new lenses through which to view sport-and-skill specific movements. For example, in one exercise, we were working hip mobility using techniques from three different martial arts, and from the way the progression was sequenced, it was pretty easy to see how one could connect concepts from other movement systems such as FRC or the FMS.

Ok, so, you might be thinking, “Using martial arts drills, isn’t that like sports-specific training”? I know that the idea of “sport-specific training” has fallen out of favor in recent times (at least from what I’ve read and heard), so I can understand if you’re feeling a bit skeptical at this point. Don’t get me wrong, while I agree in principle with the idea of “practicing how you play,” I also understand that there are some aspects of being “in the game” that you’re never really going to replicate in the gym, and it can be really easy to conject seemingly obvious connections by observing very specific performance patterns and trying to regress them “for training” while preserving the aspects of the movement that develop the attributes needed for said sports or skilled performance (not to mention falling down the proverbial rabbit hole).

Herein lies the second big takeaway. Where K3 differs in its approach is that it teaches you to observe a pattern and determine what GENERAL attributes, either physiological, neurological, or both, could be developed through its practice. The best example of this are the stick drills, taken from one of K3’s namesake K’s, the Filipino Martial Art (FMA) of Kali. One drill, called “Heaven Six,” is a standard in FMA, but what if we take it outside of a martial context and just think about what attributes it helps develop? We see things like hand-eye coordination, timing, rhythm, asymmetrical work, cross-body work, and many other aspects that contribute to neurological development and brain-body connection. So maybe playing with sticks in our childhood wasn’t a bad thing?

Speaking of sticks, every attendee is provided with a pair of Bunal Brand padded sticks to use and keep, and this highlights another important tenet of K3. Padded sticks reduce the danger of injury, which in turn reduces a bit of the apprehension that might come with using hardwood sticks, turning a potentially dangerous drill into a good bit of fun. This is KEY because we’re learning that skill development presented in a “playful” manner is incredibly effective, and in K3, we say that “play” is “creating maximum stimulus in a low to non-threatening environment.” So now, rather than a weapon, a stick is just another tool we use to elicit a training effect...like a barbell, dumbbell, kettlebell, or even other implements that trace their heritage back to weapons like the clubbell and macebell. And if the ideas of “play” and “martial art” seem diametrically opposed to you, consider that in many martial arts (Capoeira and BJJ, for example), the act of practicing said art is referred to as play, and in some FMA schools, practitioners who are particularly skilled at a certain weapon, are referred to as “players” of their weapon of choice, e.g. balisong player, karambit player, etc…

The last big takeaway is a bit of a personal one, is best embodied in a story that Doc Cheng told us about a conversation he had with Gray Cook, co-founder of the FMS. I won’t spoil it for you though, for that, you’ll have to attend a workshop, and I sincerely hope you do, but to preface it a bit, let's re-think ideas like "being non-dogmatic" or "principles over methods" and re-frame them through a different lens, i.e. "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, because maybe you already have everything you need." So maybe, just to get a bit philosophical, the answer isn’t so much in what we change, but it’s just keeping what we already know and looking at it from a different angle.

In conclusion, In an age where “everyone is/wants to train like an athlete,” it’s imperative that we as coaches can find ways to facilitate that idea in an intelligent, sustainable, safe, and most importantly, FUN for our clients manner, and K3 fits that bill in spades. At the time of this article’s publishing, registration for the last K3 Combat workshop for this year has closed, but if you’re in the Seattle area and would like to learn some of the basics of K3 Combat Movement Systems, Get in Touch! Also, be sure you’re following @drmarkcheng, @warriorrestore, and @k3combat for more info about upcoming workshops, the 2020 schedule has started to come together so you won’t have to wait too much longer to get your K3 on!