A Warrior's Thougts on the Martial Arts

Just returned to Vienna after spending another week at the olympic center in Linz. Got to think about some stuff, there might be more to learn from that week than meets the eye. I'll keep you posted. So long, take care

My second last day here in Linz is just coming to an end... I arrived here monday morning. Nothing worth mentioning happened, except for the fact maybe that I actually got my training schedule to work. Just did a crisp session during lunch break. On tuesday, I felt those deadlifts, hard... You see, on tuesday, they started by putting us through a battery of tests like standing broad jump, 20m sprints, skipping, etc, etc... all very much leg dominant. Then, for a good finish, we did a [Conconi] test at around 6pm, Needless to say, I was pretty wasted. Now the point is that I'm somewhat in a hurry to complete my [current training program] . On June 29th I'll go to China and obviously, I'll get a bit weaker over the trip. If I can make it to the gym while I'm there, fine. I won't sacrifice any Kung Fu in favor of general S&C, though... Hence, I need to make sure to get as strong as I can before my departure. Therefore, I decided to do another heavy lifting s...

I'm on my train to Linz. Some time ago, I went through the [instructor] course for "general body education" there – simply said, it's a fitness instructor course. The course took four weeks spread over one semester, with exams being held at the beginning of each week. This time, it'll be a total time of three semesters. I'm not totally sure right now, but I believe it's the same thing as before, i.e. four weeks per semester for a total of 12 weeks. The neat thing with this course is that, unlike private certifications, most of the cost is covered by the state. Of course, this also means harsh examinations… Anyhow, as much as I'm looking forward to the course, I'm facing an additional challenge. Since I just had my deload week, I need to find time to schedule three heavy S&C sessions somewhere in between classes. That won't be trivial, considering we start at 08:00am and usually don't end before 08:00pm… Guess I'll have to sacrif...

Just returned home. I passed all exams. 'A's only. My general practice topic was reaction-training. 'Nuff said. The preparations took me approximately 35 seconds, including the time to get all the stuff (balls, rings, markers, ...) together. I have to say that although some lessons were a waste of time in my opinion, the course in general was a great experience and definately offers quite a lot. Now, it's time to put all that stuff into practice. Also, I already have plans on what to do next, education-wise, but I won't explain them just yet. Tomorrow, I'll hit the kettlebells again and sunday there'll be another masterclass at my dojo, this time on the topic "no-gi grappling 101". I sure hope there'll be lots of interested students. Of course, I'll post more on that coming sunday. So long, take care

Just finished three more exams: Special practice : basically that's everything related to strength training. I had to describe some cardio-tests, 1rm-tests, tests on max. strength deficiencies and mobility tests. Exercise testing and prescription : Here I was questioned on max. strength training, training periodization, super-compensation and the principles of proper training in general. Functional kinetics : Here, I had to deal with questions concerning special issues with young athletes. Also, there was a part on innervation and the physical explanation for muscle activity. Up until now, my marks ought to be excellent. Tomorrow, however, we'll be dealing with special practice. Now this could get tricky, as I have no clue what lies ahead of me. There's just so many possibilities, including but not limited to senso-motoric training strength training with a partner spine stabilization with the thera-band small games running coordination rope-skipping endurance training ... L...

Today I passed my first anatomy exam. I'm in Linz again, going through the examination circle for my BSPA-License. This can be compared to a strength and conditioning certification. Anyhow, yesterday we did some coordination training and went down to the lab to conduct performance tests. Four people were tested, the tests covered were: the WHO tri-level aerobic test the PWC 170 test the Conconi test a lactic acid analysis All pretty interesting. Today, we focussed on nutrition. The lecturer is a cool guy who goes by the name Christian Putscher. You can find his webpage here . Now this Putscher really has a way of making bio-chemistry fascinating. There was a lot of stuff I didn't know/didn't think about before - basic stuff, as it turns out, really. Amongst other stuff, he conclusively pointed out why the whole metabolic-balance concept is screwed up, why vegans are nuts and how certain dogmas need to be challenged from time to time. Also, his points made me strongly questi...

So yesterday and friday I had my last days in Linz for this part of the course. Friday I took another exam, guess I did pretty well. After the exam, we hit the gym again with Darius, finishing the spinal erector stuff and progressing toward arm-training. Since most girls in the course aren't that skilled when it comes to lifting heavy stuff, Darius took his time to teach them the basics. In the meanwhile, we (the guys) were free to train as we please. For me, that was one-armed dumbbell snatches and turkish get-ups with a 40kg bell. Also, I did standing shoulder-presses, following the 4-20-4-20 system. Darius had us try the system with whatever exercise we chose. Now obviously most guys did biceps-curls as that's the most manly exercise ever invented, as you know. Well, as I'm aparently not that manly, I chose to skip isolation training for one of the most unfunctional muscles in terms of sport-specific training and instead focussed on overhead pressing. Now 4-20-4-20 is...

Darius Tomaszewski, executive director of "get up fitness" studio arrived yesterday, his lecture on "special theory" was a true enrichment. The topic was the development of strength in its various forms (max strength, explosive strength, strength endurance, ...). He presented a new, finer method of specifying the tempo for each rep. Great stuff. As for today, I have to say that I absolutely despise aerobics. Yeah, that's a part of the course as well. It's just disgraceful. On a positive note, we spent a lot of gym-time with Darius. Basically, we did the basics when it comes to training the spinal erectors. As usual, Darius added some great variations of those basics and really made his lecture a worthwile experience. Now personally I find it unsettling that there's people in the course who can't properly squat or deadlift. I'd rather have them spend some weeks on their technique rather than occupying places in an instructor-course. Anyhow, I won...

The exam went well, I'm pretty sure I passed. Results are due in two weeks. Today, the best thing was our practice session with Eva Ratzenböck. Basically, we did spine stabilisation. Looked a lot like yoga/pilates, minus all the hype. We really did some good core work, joint mobilization and flexibility stuff. The whole thing somehow resembled a Michael Boyle warmup - only this one took us two hours and made just about every single one of us curse and groan in pain. Lactic acid buildup in the spinal erectors ain't exactly a pleasant experience. However, despite being more than unpleasant, the session was great. Definately the highlight so far. On a side note, I was pretty shocked seeing the same girls that already failed even free (no added weight) squats due to messed up knee axes about four months ago do the very same garbage again. They're supposed to take their exams in mid-december, thereafter being certified fitness instructors. Still, there's no sign of improveme...