Ancient Clubs in Modern Times: Clubbell Training

Swinging clubs is a training method that has been used for thousands of years. If you’re ready to build full body strength, endurance, and grip strength without sacrificing your ability to move efficiently then this ancient method may be for you.

Swinging clubs is one of the longest standing methods in athletic and combative conditioning known to man. Dating back to ancient Persia and even being an Olympic sport as recent as 1932, club swinging is not only archaic, but wide spread as well. What makes swinging clubs so popular and relied upon for so long in so many cultures? Why is it so physically beneficial for a combat athlete? Let’s take a look.

First off, the shape of the club with a severely displaced center of mass, subjects the body to an extreme leverage challenge. This helps illicit a positive neurological
force production which increases nerve strength without having to use heavy weights. Heavy weights can lead to added soft tissue trauma and joint capsule compression caused by using heavy weights in a conventional way. Also, the act of swinging a club around the body through all three planes of movement, rather than
merely lifting it, allows for traction within the myofscial matrix and joint capsules due to torque. As stated by Scott Sonnon, this torque stimulates the myofascial matrix to lay down layers of strong fibers while keeping flush with ground substance and synovial fluid. This increases stored elastic energy potential in soft tissue such as tendons and even increases bone density; which in turn enhances performance and injury prevention.” The joint capsules also get the added benefit of the nourishing synovial fluid.

Another bonus to swinging odd shaped clubs as opposed to lifting symmetrical weights is that you can use one size club for quite a while before having to “graduate”
to the next size. One can simply choke down to the bottom of the club or just swing it faster. Scott Sonnon stated that, “For an object of constant mass and a circle
of constant radius, the net force required to move the object in a circle is directly proportional to the square of the object’s speed. If the speed is doubled, the force is quadrupled. In other words, swinging an object twice as fast produces four times the work.”

Conventional means of training puts the body under an ever increasing load through a bi-planar range of movements (up, down, front, back), often using compression
to get a muscular response. This can increase the strength of a muscle, but at the risk of decreased movement quality, damaged connective tissue, and also
limiting what one can do with their bodies by being subjected to overly simplistic movement patterns. As is well known, in combat sports, the ability to move with precision and efficiency is a much better asset than the ability to move a heavier weight. A heavy bench press does not translate into a harder punching ability. Many of the movements, and many of the acquired skills through swinging clubs are directly translatable into the dynamic movements found in combative sports, such as
hip snap, hip rotation, redirection of force, rear ground engagement, and shock absorption.

The grip strength developed through swinging clubs is virtually unrivaled and the type of grip directly applicable to combat sports. Holding the club as it swings through the air takes constant muscular tension without the advantage of being backed by structure, like holding a barbell during a deadlift. It is more like a rope sliding through your hand, or in our case, someone’s arm.

Clubbell Conditioning Session

Here we have five drills to be done in two different protocols. The drills are:
• Side Swing
• Swipe
• Gamma Cast
• Diagonal Crunch Get Up
• Drop Step Lunge