Push ups are a great exercise, however, like with most things one gets what they put in. As with most things in the martial arts, there is a proper and an improper way of doing them.
I can't help but wonder if I'm the only one who has noticed, but over the course of the ubbt, I'm been noticing push up technique going downhill. It's like people aren't caring about quality so much anymore, but quantity. Am I the only one who still think there are only black belt push ups and not push ups, nothing in between? I've even heard people tell other that bad technique is acceptable if you're doing a bunch of them. "Who can do 1000 perfect push ups?" I'll tell you who, a black belt can. Maybe not today, but a black belt will train under they can rather than make silly excuses. If you can only do one perfect push ups, then just do one. Maybe tomorrow or the day after you'll be able to do two, and then four and then ten, a hundred, and so on.
Sure, when you're pushing yourself, your technique will degrade. Right now I can't do more than 60 real push ups before my technique breaks down. However, no matter how many bad push ups I do, if someone could read my mind they'd just hear "61. 61. 61. 61. 61..." since like I said, there are black belt push ups, and not push ups, and I only count black belt push ups.
If you sit down and are doing poor push ups when the set is only 20 or 30, what does that say about your kung fu? It says you don't care. You don't want to do the push ups, you just want them done.
When told to do 20 push ups, a regular person will do his best to do as little as possible, so that he can be lazy while being able to say he did 20 push ups. A martial artist, on the other hand, will 21 or die trying. Not because he wants to show off to those next to him, or look good for his instructor, but because he has decided that he wants to do them.
I kinda wish I a microphone right now, so I could drop it Chris Rock style and storm off stage. I guess I'd need a stage too.
Ben Davies
Silent River Kung fu
Stony Plain Alberta
www.silentriverkungfu.com
pseudospectacular.blogspot.com
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You are not the only one that has noticed numbers become far more important then quality. I have found it in my push up technique as well. I have found that the only way to be absolutely sure of technique is to have some one who knows good technique to watch yours. I get tiffany to watch mine and even when I think they are good they sometimes turn out to be poor. Great blog!
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