This is also why the younger stronger martial artist can;t defeat the the true masters that are in their 60's, 70's and 80's. In Okinawa for instance it is common for the old masters to easily defeat anything the young stronger guys can do.
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It is and it isn't.
If you are going to be a competitor, competing under a strict set of rules, in a combat sport that requires contact, where some of the techniques that neutralize strength are not allow, such as attacks to small joints and antatomically weak parts on the human body, then yes, strength will help you. Odds are you will get to a point where you are both of the same skill level, so any edge you can get will help you win the contest.
If you are interested in self defense, then technique, mindset, an understanding of human behavior, lifestyle, spirtuality become more important. And practice. Lots and lots of practice.
It is probably not necessarily strength that you need, but health. You have to be healthy enough to not die from the shock and trauma of being attacked. That means you could have the muscles of an athlete but a bad heart that fails during an attack because you took organ damaging supplements in order to become strong. Or your diet is terrible. Or your genetics created a condition you could not counter with medicine and nutrition. Or maybe a medication is making you a little woozy, weak and clumsy while your body adjusts to it.
And will all of that being said, be aware that someone's skill level can be so high that it will more than make up for any lack of physical strength or ability. There are people who walk with a limp, who have bad hearts, bad kidneys and/or poor eyesight, who are fat, old, small, and may even have asthma, whose martial ability is just that good. That's one main goal of the martial arts, for the weaker to be able to handle the stronger. There are people out there who are so good, you literally cannot afford to blink if you are fighting them. You blink, you're done.
Strength is more important in some martial arts than others. In martial arts that rely heavily on endurance like BJJ, boxing, Muay Thai, or MMA, having a lot of muscle works against you because muscle uses a lot of oxygen. What you want in most martial arts is "functional muscle." Look at the workouts done by Scott Adkins and Michael Jai White on youtube. Those guys have bodies that are fit and flexible with functional muscle, so these fighters aren't as slow as bouncers, hip hop bodyguards, powerlifters, or bulky bodybuilders.
The lighter you are, the more endurance you tend to have. That's one of the reasons that boxing matches and MMA bouts with the lightest weight classes have the longest fights. Neither fighter is as worn out round-after-round as the guys in the heavier weight classes.
Strength is an equally important aspect of martial arts! Traditional martial artists uses traditional equipment to strengthen their body. Martial artists like Bruce Lee and Mas Oyama used conventional strengthning exercises like bench press. This shows how important strength is. Strength not only required in martial art in almost every sport. Along with your normal training do strength training twice a week for optimal performance.
depend on the type of martial arts, strength does help but it is not the most important aspects to martial arts, usually in martial arts what really counts is technique and endurance
it is an important aspect of martial arts to strenthen your body. by making your body strenthen you can kick higher and there are many benifits
Technique>Agility=Stamina>Power>Strength... Everything is important though.
