A Warrior's Thougts on the Martial Arts

As it gets boring to be writing on matters of strength training (this is a martial arts blog, after all), I'll dedicate this post to a more specific topic: today's Shinergy[master class]. You see, I invited Tom Knöbl, Shinergy[master instructor] to my dojo to share his thoughts on fistfighting. I'm using the term "fistfighting" rather than "boxing" because there's so much more to the hand skills employed in the Shinergy system than just the big four strikes (there being the jab, cross, hook and uppercut). As expected, the class was great. In great detail, Tom explained the important points in blocking and throwing straight punches. Although you can't exhaust that topic in 90 minutes, I think he did a great job in transferring the basic concepts that hold true for everything that takes place inside the boxing distance (and, for that matter, in any other distance, come to think of it). Here's the gist of it: Relaxation. Stiffness and tension ai...

There's been so much going on last week I didn't really have a chance to post. So today I'm beginning week four of my nine-week program. Sadly, I have to admit I missed quite a few sessions so far. To every bad thing there's a good thing, though. In my case, that's massive strength gains. Chris and I have just completed the second out of six cycles, each cycle consisting of three workouts. Altough I have been talking a lot about the program lately, I'll describe it here once again, this time with visual footage, as I'm convinced this is one of the best programs when it comes to building raw strength at a basic level. Introduction As I've been out of the strength game for about 6 months, I consider myself something of a beginner again, both in terms of technique (which needs to be rebuilt) as well as power (which I need to regain). The programs main purpose is injury prevention through muscular improvement. I once heard the sentence "a strong back do...

I'll have to skip swimming today. Yesterdays strength training left me sore and tired. Getting up at 6 to begin the day by teaching two classes didn't exactly help that fact. Now if there was nothing more to do for me today, I'd force myself to swim. Still having three classes and a nightly meeting with my good friend and mentor Ronny ahead of me, however, I'll have to conserve my energy. Obviously I still need time to get fit for the volume of training my program has me go through every week. Still, I'll try to catch up on that workout before the week is over. In between the classes I've yet to teach today I'll be doing some tennis ball work to help me be fit again tomorrow. By the way, there was an article in a local newspaper about my dojo today. I'll post the scanned image in the evening. So long, take care

Today was strength day. To be precise, we had our "max-squat day". Now that's a good one. Interrestingly, there was no problem with the grip-strength today. On a negative note I missed some reps on the barbell rows as we upped the weight quite drastically. Today's stats: Squat, 1RM: 130Kg Bench Press, 4x8, 60Kg Deadlift, 4x8, 90Kg Bent-over barbell rows, 4x8, 45kg (failed on 3 reps here) Military press, 4x8, 35kg I'm positive I can go to 140kg on the 1RM on the next "max squat day", as I wasn't exactly at my limits today. For safety reasons, however, I decided not to go heavier than 130 on my first heavy squats in more than 6 months. For the warmup we did every "Movement Prep" exercise that can be found in Mark Verstegens "Core Performance" program. That stuff really does prepare you for strength training. The second workout - the interval swimming - I missed out of pure confusion. When we went to venice, I removed everything from...

So today I started the 2nd week of my 9-week program. Unfortunately, things have deteriorated for me again. You see, me girl and I, we was at Venice on Saturday, to enjoy Carnival there. The implication, of course, was an 8-hour march through the city. As you can imagine, my ankle didn't like that very much. For me, that means another change in my program. Since the rope-skipping is just too hard on my ankle, I'll be replacing that with Movement Prep / Prehab exercise from Mark Verstegens "Core Performance" program. I've yet to figure out the exact routine I'll be doing, but it'll most certainly revolve around programming proper biomechanics and stretching the lower back (as that's the one body part I tend to neglect with my mobility/flexibility work). Of course, adapting the program every week might look bad in regard to the results, but then that's something that comes with creating an individual program. Out-of the box programs, on the other han...

Just returned from the pool. I feel great. In fact, I feel much better than I did tuesday afternoon. When I'd have to decide for or against swimming after working out in the gym, I'd rather choose to do it. Of course there's downsides to it, but for me the positive aspects far outweight the negative ones. You see, when I walked out of the gym I wasn't motivated to do just about anything else today. I was completely devastated. Obviously, this affected my performance at the pool. But then, on the other hand, it took me exactly 25 minutes net training time to complete the swimming workout (8 minutes warmup, 10 minutes intervals, 7 minutes cooldown), so I guess my speed hasn't suffered all that much. Also, most people will agree that endurance is as much a mental thing as a physical. Doing my cardio in an exhausted state might actually help my fortitude. It's not the total result that counts with endurance (as opposed to strength and/or speed training, where only m...

Just returned from my strength training session. There's a good thing and a bad thing: Good thing: I'm currently free of pain. Bad thing: As soon as feeling returns to my body, it'll be agonizing. The routine was the same as last time, only today we upped the weights a bit. Also, today was "bench" day, so we re-estimated the 1RM for the bench press and did 4x8 on the dealift and the squat. Those two exercises are propably the most useful one can do, but combined in the same workout, they're murderous. We wramed up by doing some movement-prep exercises from Mark Verstegens "Core Performance" book. I have to admit I was positively surprised by the effect. I felt loose yet stable and properly prepared. We did: Hip crossover, 10l/10r Scorpion, 10l/10r Calf strentch, 10l/10r Hand walk, 5 Inverted hamstring, 5l/5r Backward lunge with a twist, 5l/5r Drop lunge, 5l/5r Today's stats: Bench press, 1RM: 95kg (I was disappointed) Deadlift, 4x8, 90kg Militar...