A Warrior's Thougts on the Martial Arts

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail  -Benjamin Franklin Everybody has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth -Mike Tyson The above cites nicely illustrate a dilemma when it comes to S&C training (and Probably just about anything in life, but I'll try and stay on-topic here): On the one hand, you simply need a plan. Not having one will inevitably result in chaos.in the best case, your progress will stall. In the worst case, you get hurt. That's why there's a plethora of books on proper periodization and exercise programing.  On the other hand, nobody operates in lab conditions. Factors like sleep, nutrition, stress at work and concurrent sport specific training need to be taken into consideration. Trying to PR int he deadlift  the day after a hard sparring session or an spontaneous party night isn't a good idea. Now there's always an argument to be made here that while the latter case (the party) can be attributed to a weak wi...

The situation My shoulder has been giving me severe issues for quite some time now. Depending on who I ask, I get a different diagnosis. Already took anti-inflammatory drugs to rule out a bursitis. Didn’t help. Now I’m still waiting for my MRT to clear things up… however, Monday, I decided to work through the pain and just do some kettlebell cleans and presses. I have to say, everything worked like a charm. Yesterday, I could even do a handstand without pain. Not bad, considering I haven’t slept well a single night since the [XX Open Polish Taekwon Do Championships] due to shoulder pain… This somehow fortifies the theory that my shoulder suffers from a lack of stability. Guess it’s time to address that issue… The solution So today, I started following a (slightly modified) [5/3/1] routine again. The program worked well for me, I only stopped doing it because it takes quite a high toll when it comes to recovery. Can’t have that prior to a fight. Since I don’t have any fights ...

[A couple of days ago] I posted that in the near future, I’ll deviate from the pragmatic reality of combat sports competition and the related training for a while and instead ponder some philosophical ideas. That’s still the plan. However, this particular issue is on my mind right now, so I don’t see a point in postponing it… You see, sometimes, we (instructors, trainers, coaches, …) don’t practice what we preach. Sometimes, we just lack the motivation and/or dedication to fully commit to our own principles and instructions. That’s why top-level athletes can still learn from their trainers. While the latter possess a superior level of knowledge, it is the former who actually put that knowledge to good use, train hard and compete. There’s a gazillion reasons why someone might choose not to devote his life to hard training and proper nutrition at 100%. Amongst others, that’s family (a luxury many top-level athletes just can’t afford), past injuries, athletic burn-out (in the sense tha...

It's been my second day at the baltic sea. What a great day. So here's what I did today: Get out of bed, go for a run on the beach Have breakfast Hit the gym for a lifting session Go to the beach to bathe in the sun and swim in the baltic sea Have lunch Teach my younger cousin how to deadlift, do some pull-ups Have dinner Sounds great, huh? Since I'm usually on the warrior diet, eating three meals a day seems like a huge waste of time to me. I'm under the impression of eating all the time. My diet here pretty much revolves around dairy(including lots of milk, cottage cheese, cream cheese and whipped cream), fresh fish, carrots, pancakes and sweet cakes. Guess I'll put on a pound or two during my stay here. Then on the other hand, I'm definately not passive. Starting the day with a run is nice. I don't usually run due to knee issues, but running in the soft sand is a compeltely different game. Breathing the sea breeze and feeling sand and littl...

So today after some padwork for warmup and specific training, Chris and I jumped into some more structured, more serious strength & conditioning program again. After some hard thinking, we concluded that after all the instructor courses, seminars and workshops we attended, we still don't know a better system than the 5x5 program I've written so much about on this site. Hence, we'll do it again. Anyhow, although they say you should "never change a running system", we've decided to tweak some parameters to even further increase the program's effectiveness. Let me recap the original program again Monday, Thursday: "Pull"-type movements (horizontal pull, vertical pull) and hip-centered "Stand-Up"-type movements Tuesday, Friday: "Push"-type movements(horizontal push, vertical push) and knee-centered "Stand-Up"-type movements Sets/Reps: 5x5, with progressive load (e.g. 130 in the first set, 132.5 in the second, 140 in ...