PHYSICAL CONDITIONING
Size and strength do matter!
There are a lot of morons out there who will tell you that in their style of martial arts, size doesn’t matter. As a 5’7”, 175 pound guy who has spent most of his adult life fighting, I say “baloney”. If all the other factors are equal (including skill), the bigger, stronger, better conditioned guy will win, short of a lucky shot.
I’m not saying that technique doesn’t balance things a little. A little guy like me can defeat much larger opponents. I once beat a guy who was 6’6’’ and weighed 265 pounds! Of course, the side of my head looked like a melon was growing on it, but I won!
What I am saying is that it is no good for you to know 25 different ways to finish a guy with an arm bar if your arms look like spaghetti noodles. You need to work just as hard on your flexibility, strength and cardio as you do in learning fancy techniques.
I know you’re anxious to do spinning back kicks and flying side kicks. But why not work first on your push-ups and sit-ups? They’ll make those fancy kicks look that much more flashy and who knows? You might actually manage to knock someone down!
There are a lot of morons out there who will tell you that in their style of martial arts, size doesn’t matter. As a 5’7”, 175 pound guy who has spent most of his adult life fighting, I say “baloney”. If all the other factors are equal (including skill), the bigger, stronger, better conditioned guy will win, short of a lucky shot.
I’m not saying that technique doesn’t balance things a little. A little guy like me can defeat much larger opponents. I once beat a guy who was 6’6’’ and weighed 265 pounds! Of course, the side of my head looked like a melon was growing on it, but I won!
What I am saying is that it is no good for you to know 25 different ways to finish a guy with an arm bar if your arms look like spaghetti noodles. You need to work just as hard on your flexibility, strength and cardio as you do in learning fancy techniques.
I know you’re anxious to do spinning back kicks and flying side kicks. But why not work first on your push-ups and sit-ups? They’ll make those fancy kicks look that much more flashy and who knows? You might actually manage to knock someone down!
KILLER 15 MINUTE PROGRAM
If you’ll notice, this is set up to make your heart pump blood down, then up, down, then up. You’d be amazed at how quickly this stresses it! Perform each exercise one minute each. Total time to run through the routine – 15 minutes. Just cycle back through if more time is needed. Very few need it.
Legs Torso Abs
Squat Jumps Standard pushups Leg lifts
Running in place Rolling pushups Crunches
Lunges Diamond pushups Corkscrew
Deep knee bends Switch pushups Criss/cross crunch
Full jumping jack Poppers Hand and toe sit up
Some of these exercises are apparently not familiar names to you. I’ll describe below whichever exercises someone asks about.
Corkscrews: You lay on your back with your hands under your butt and your head off the ground. You lift both legs together off the ground and make circles in the air with them while keep them straight.
Switch pushups: These are like clapping pushups in that you’re upper body is momentarily airborne. Start with your right hand up close to your right shoulder and your left hand down close by your left side. Now push up so that you’re momentarily airborne and switch them so your left hand is close to your left shoulder and your right hand is down by your right side. Repeat.
Criss/cross crunch: Lay on your back with your knees up in the air and your hands behind your head. Crunch up and touch your right elbow to your left knee and come back. Crunch up and touch your left elbow to your right knee and come back. Repeat.
Poppers: Assume the up position of a pushup. Come down half way then push up hard enough to go airborne. Come down smoothly to the halfway mark and push up again going airborne. Basically you pretend you’re one of those Hispanic low-rider cars hopping in the air on your shocks.
Hand and toe sit-up: Lay on your back with your arms stretched all the way out above your head. Simultaneously lift your legs and arms, folding your body in half, and touch your toes in the air above you, while briefly balancing on your butt. Lay yourself back. LAY YOURSELF I SAID! Don’t flop! What are you? Some kind of Nin-jutsu weenie?
Legs Torso Abs
Squat Jumps Standard pushups Leg lifts
Running in place Rolling pushups Crunches
Lunges Diamond pushups Corkscrew
Deep knee bends Switch pushups Criss/cross crunch
Full jumping jack Poppers Hand and toe sit up
Some of these exercises are apparently not familiar names to you. I’ll describe below whichever exercises someone asks about.
Corkscrews: You lay on your back with your hands under your butt and your head off the ground. You lift both legs together off the ground and make circles in the air with them while keep them straight.
Switch pushups: These are like clapping pushups in that you’re upper body is momentarily airborne. Start with your right hand up close to your right shoulder and your left hand down close by your left side. Now push up so that you’re momentarily airborne and switch them so your left hand is close to your left shoulder and your right hand is down by your right side. Repeat.
Criss/cross crunch: Lay on your back with your knees up in the air and your hands behind your head. Crunch up and touch your right elbow to your left knee and come back. Crunch up and touch your left elbow to your right knee and come back. Repeat.
Poppers: Assume the up position of a pushup. Come down half way then push up hard enough to go airborne. Come down smoothly to the halfway mark and push up again going airborne. Basically you pretend you’re one of those Hispanic low-rider cars hopping in the air on your shocks.
Hand and toe sit-up: Lay on your back with your arms stretched all the way out above your head. Simultaneously lift your legs and arms, folding your body in half, and touch your toes in the air above you, while briefly balancing on your butt. Lay yourself back. LAY YOURSELF I SAID! Don’t flop! What are you? Some kind of Nin-jutsu weenie?
CALISTHENICS PROGRAM
When you arrive at the Marine Corps training depot at Paris Island, you see a sign with their motto. It reads, "Let's be damned sure that no boy's ghost will ever say 'If only your training program had done its job." The more you sweat in training the less you'll bleed in war. Someday your life or the life of your loved ones may depend on your level of fitness. Make sure you're ready.
This is a kick butt 15 minute calisthenics program that will destroy every muscle in your body and give you an incredible cardio workout. It is designed to move back and forth from major muscle group to major muscle group so that you don’t end up collapsing because of a whole series of exercises stressing one group. Note how many types of push ups there are – but they’re spread throughout the work out so it brings you to the very edge of death without actually giving you that sweet release.
My suggestion is that you make a tape with your voice calling out the next move at the appropriate time so that you don’t have to look at a sheet of paper. Each exercise is to be performed for 30 seconds. The entire program should be done Monday through Friday, taking Saturday and Sunday off to recover from this and (hopefully) your other forms of exercise.
Hopefully we will soon have short vid clips illustrating each one.
This is a kick butt 15 minute calisthenics program that will destroy every muscle in your body and give you an incredible cardio workout. It is designed to move back and forth from major muscle group to major muscle group so that you don’t end up collapsing because of a whole series of exercises stressing one group. Note how many types of push ups there are – but they’re spread throughout the work out so it brings you to the very edge of death without actually giving you that sweet release.
My suggestion is that you make a tape with your voice calling out the next move at the appropriate time so that you don’t have to look at a sheet of paper. Each exercise is to be performed for 30 seconds. The entire program should be done Monday through Friday, taking Saturday and Sunday off to recover from this and (hopefully) your other forms of exercise.
Hopefully we will soon have short vid clips illustrating each one.
- Full jumping jack
- Side twist stretch
- Trunk rotation
- Fore and aft
- Trunk twist
- Windmill
- Trunk side stretch
- Rocking chair
- Pretty ladies
- 1 leg push up
- Leg down crunch
- Leg lift
- Regulation push up
- Hand and toe sit-up
- Mountain climber
- Rolling push up
- Rolling push up reverse
- Leg flex
- Back flex
- Side flex
- Wide push up
- Back flutter kick
- Diamond push up
- Stomach flutter kicks
- Lunge
- Finger push up
- Sitting flutter kick
- Squat jump
- Clapping push up
- Eight count body builder
