BAH!

I've been ridiculously busy recently, so that's why I haven't been posting, but I'll try to do better in the next couple of weeks. Until then- later!

Mud Run's done and I've got a camera!

So, I did the USMC Ultimate Mud Run Challenge yesterday... and it was one of the coolest things I've ever done! But, really, that's just in passing, because I've got awesome news: I have a video camera, so the video versions of Real Anime Training are on the way! I'll try to get them done quickly... although I'm fighting off a bug right now. In any case, the fun is about to begin!

Later!

Upcoming Events

On September 22nd, I'm competing in a Mud Run. It's a 4.2 mile course, littered with obstacles. That should definitely be an experience. On October 13th, I'm planning on competing at a Grappling Tournament. I don't know how well I will do considering I'm not the best grappler in the world, but we'll see how it goes. I'd like to find something to compete in during November and December as well, preferably combat related and, please, nothing point-sparring related... I'll stay on the lookout for more grappling venues or some kind of amateur kickboxing or MMA event that won't require me to drop $400 on a plane ticket. On the other hand... sponsors?

Dragonball Training Manual- Part IX

BIBIDI, BABIDI, BUU!

We’re coming down to the wire here; the series is almost done, and we’re a little short on training methods. The majority of the series from here on in is nothing but an all out brawl, but before it gets too crazy, here’s a little help from the World’s Greatest Hero, Mr. Satan. Well, not so much him as it is his daughter, Videl, but we wouldn’t have her if not for him. Then, we’ll pick it back up with Gohan and Goten.

Videl

-Hitting the Heavy Bag- Pick a technique and work it all around the bag. Roundhouse kick, side kick, jab-cross combo-- just pick one and practice. The heavy bag will pack a lot more power into your shots. For a cardio-strong workout, “fight” the bag for a few 2-3 minute rounds with about 30 seconds of rest in between.


Gohan and Goten

-Dodging, Part II- To get ready for the World Martial Arts Tournament, Gohan and his little brother trained their reflexes by having Goten throw a series of small rocks at Gohan, whose back was against a stone wall. You’ll need to get up against a wall and have a partner throw tennis balls at you-- not rocks. Like Gohan and Goten, you should have your partner start a little ways away from you and then gradually move closer once you feel comfortable dodging at that distance. I say start at about 20 feet away and work your way in.

-Working with the Z-Sword- When Gohan goes to train with Kaio-shin, he pulls the Z sword from the top of a mountain and masters the use of the sword in order to defeat Majin Buu. We can take two lessons from this last bit of training in Dragonball Z (yes, I know there is training at the end, but it’s not anything we haven’t already covered). The first lesson we can take from this training is the actual pulling of the Z-Sword from its mountain resting place and the second is using it. Basically, the second is just using weapons (heavy ones) to strengthen your muscles, so we'll skip that this time, because their are a LOT of weapons out there to train in and you should probably find an instructor to teach you how to wield your weapon. SO, for all intents and purposes, the Z-Sword is an immovable object while inside the stone. Therefore, we are going to work on…

Isometrics

Isometrics are a type of exercise where muscles in the body exert force in merely one joint angle. This can include pulling or pushing against something too heavy to move or holding a weight you can actually move in a static position. I don’t recommend doing only isometrics, because in order to work your entire body you’d have to do a LOT of different positions and, plus, there’s not much to the cardio aspect of pushing against an immovable object or standing in a horse stance for an hour. However, what I do recommend is that, if you are in a sticking place in an exercise or if your grip is weak you can greatly benefit by using isometrics to burst through that sticking point and really increase your grip.

-Getting Through Your Sticking Points- Everyone, at some time or another, will get to that point on an exercise with a heavy weight where the weight just sticks somewhere in the movement. It can be very frustrating when you feel very strong in the entire movement, but fail in just a single spot. Let’s look at a couple examples just so we can get a general idea of just what types of things can be done with isometrics.

Bench Press- Using a Squat Rack you can find in nearly any gym or fitness center, slide a bench underneath the bar and lower the bar to whatever height you are getting stuck at in your exercise. Load an amount of weight that you cannot move and attempt to press it up. Please be careful and use a spotter.

Curls, Overhead Press, and other things I’m sure- Take a piece of rope, stand one end and pull upward. Make sure the rope is firmly underneath your foot as you pull up or press up so you don’t punch yourself in the face or anything.

-Building Raw Power- Pushing or pulling against something immovable, like a tree, will absolutely destroy your muscles. (Don’t worry, they rebuild themselves.) You can pull using a rope or chain, you can tie it to your waist and try to pull the tree up by the roots… or just try not to fall on your face. Get creative, be safe, and have fun!


I’d like to continue with the training methods of Dragonball on into infinity… but, unfortunately, from here on out there’s either things we’ve already covered or things that have no application in our world (Old Kaio-Shin’s crazy Hidden Power Dance). I had thought about analyzing each of the characters fighting styles, but really, there aren’t any unifying principles in their fighting which to analyze and convey, except individual strikes and such. It’s been fun writing this to be certain and I hope it will help you in some way to get both strong and healthy.


Hopefully, Dragonball hasn't bored you guys too much. Not sure what's coming next, but it should be up in a few days or so. Thanks a lot, guys!

Commentary on Being a Martial Artist

I've been training in the martial arts since I was a little kid. When I say that, an image of a whiny little fat kid (those were the days) in a karate gi may pop out at you, but that's just not me. When I say I've been training in the martial arts since I was a kid, I more likely mean, "I got into a lot of fights." (And that is most assuredly what I mean.) Sure, my Dad taught me some basic skills that he had learned from Tae Kwon Do and Judo, but really, my style consisted of me going berserk. I'm not one of those "tough talkers" who say, "I black out when I fight and when I come to, everybody's hurt." (I really can't stand those guys.) I just plain out went nuts, throwing wild punches and kicks at anyone I thought had wronged me. I didn't always win. I won a lot, but I didn't always win. Little kids aren't always prepared for one of their classmates needing psychological help, so it gave me the element of surprise, I guess. I didn't have the luxury of formal training when I was little, because we didn't have a lot of money. It's only in the past few years that I've been introduced to Senseis, Masters, and Coaches (I'm only 21). There was a lot of ways I could've taken this post, but I think I want to say this right now:

I often feel discouraged in wanting to compete at a professional level (someday soon, please!) with martial artists who've trained since age 3 and 4 to punch, kick, knee, takedown, and submit (well, it's only now that the kids are doing all of these things this early). I'm just learning the technical aspect of groundwork and the differences in fighting varied styles (I've fought Tae Kwon Do guys, American Freestyle Karate guys (under a Kempo banner), Kempoists, and a couple other styles). I get frustrated, discouraged, and sometimes depressed about it, but, I'm here to tell you, I really don't care. I may not be the most technical fighter, but I'm learning. I may not be a crazy little kid anymore (Thank you, Jesus!), but I love to fight. So, I don't care if you've been wrestling since you were "this high" (makes knee-high motion) or kickboxing forever or are the heir to a martial tradition reaching back into the Cretaceous-- I'll fight you. Because that's what it means to be a martial artist (at least to me). Challenges are nothing more than an excuse to better myself.

I hope I didn't bore you. I'll be putting out some more anime training in a day or so.

Dragonball Training Manual- Part VIII

So, we're not really going to be introducing any new exercises today, (well, not exactly) but what we are about to look at is very important, regardless of what you train for. This brings us to the point of finally asking the big question: Why the heck am I doing all this stuff anyway?!

As always: Enjoy!

THE CELL GAMES: IT’S NOT THE OLYMPICS

So, the Androids appear, there’s a bunch of fighting and (surprise, surprise) an even more powerful threat appears to challenge our heroes. Cell, a super-powered amalgamation of a good deal of the heroes and villains in the Dragonball universe, bursts onto the scene and it’ll take more than a Super Saiyan to stop him. Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, and Future Trunks all enter the Room of Spirit and Time to train, where a single day on the outside is an entire year on the inside. The conditions are harsh: ten times gravity, constantly fluctuating temperature and atmosphere, and enough white space to drive anyone mad. For the most part, the training within the Room of Spirit and time consisted of sparring, which we’ve covered. However, there are a few concepts that I would like to cover here.

Environmental Training

The atmosphere in the Room of Spirit and Time could range from a great mass of fire to an infinite arctic and could make the shift almost instantaneously. With this, we take a very good concept: environmental training. What that means, is that you aren’t always training in a gym with nice mats and air conditioning (which, if you’ve been running, swimming, and doing construction work, you probably already know what I’m talking about here). Training in the blistering heat and the freezing cold can push your body to the limit and bring you to a completely different level of power-- mentally. Don’t push yourself into heat stroke or frostbite, but training in these conditions can really drive your mental strength through the roof. Aside from the mental part of this training, you can also exercise or practice your techniques in the woods, in a crowded room, knee/waist/neck deep in water, or even blindfolded. The point is to make your body and mind adapt to ever changing conditions, because the world is not a static thing-- it is always changing and situations can go from bad to worse in the blink of an eye. And you may not have a nice mat to fall on or time to stretch before you have to defend yourself by means of combat or making a run for it.

Going for Broke

We’ve already talked about sparring, but let’s take it a little further, since we are talking about the Cell Games. If you’re training and sparring and doing all of these interesting things, you must be doing them for a reason, right? If you’re training to fight, protect yourself, better health, or whatever, you need to test yourself to keep growing. I’m talking about competition. If you’re in high school, join the football team, the soccer team, the wrestling team… something! If you’re an adult, there are plenty of venues for you to compete. You can box, kickbox, enter grappling tournaments, mixed martial arts competitions, marathons, triathlons, power lifting meets… whatever! Competition will push you to new heights and focus you in on how exactly you want to train. I, personally, am for the fighting portion of competition, but you don’t have to go for that. (Although, this is a Dragonball Training Manual we’re writing, after all!) Whatever it is though, challenge yourself and have fun.

Dragonball Training Manual- Part VII

Here's a good chunk of info for you guys since my internet has been down for about five weeks. Hopefully, we'll be pretty regular from now on.

WAITING FOR THE END OF THE WORLD

After Freiza’s demise at the hands of Future Trunks, we find ourselves in the midst of a three year training extravaganza! Here we get to see lot of training from Goku, Piccolo, Vegeta (especially), and everybody else (here and there). However, most of Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo’s training is stuff we’ve already seen. So, we’ll move on to the things we haven’t, starting with:

Vegeta

Vegeta launches himself into a crazy training spree, putting himself through levels of gravity from 150 times to 450 times Earth’s normal gravity. But, that’s not all! He also introduces us to some interesting training!

Bodyweight Exercises

Yep, we’re back to that. Vegeta jumps on the bandwagon and does some stuff Goku does, but pushes some of it a little farther.

One armed knuckle push-ups- Vegeta uses just two lower knuckles on his thumb, index and middle fingers to do one armed push-ups. Same stuff applies as before, but you may want to start on your whole fist before going to this level.

One armed knuckle handstand push-ups- Just when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier, Vegeta goes and takes the handstand push-ups to a whole other level! Do not do this freehand and do not do this on your knuckles. Start by just practicing one-armed handstands against the wall, after you’ve gotten pretty decent at normal handstand push-ups. After you can hold a handstand on a single arm (for both arms) for about a minute, without dying, you should be ready to try a single hand stand push-up. Be careful, go easy, and don’t rush it. You can very easily hurt yourself if you go too quickly. The result of proper training here will result in great balance and magnificent strength. When you can get a single one-armed handstand push-up, practice freehand one-arm handstands (no push-ups yet). Eventually, you might be able to do push-ups in this position, but take one step at a time, there, Mr. Super Saiyan.

Martial Training

Vegeta didn’t just train strength, he also trained his skill inside the gravity chamber. So, he got himself some flying robots with energy shields, shot a Ki blast at them, and went to dodging. If you have flying robots, use ‘em. If you can shoot a Ki blast, we need to talk!
Dodging- For this training, you’ll need a ball of some sort. Get a basketball, a soccer ball, or a kickball and get ready for some hardcore dodgeball. If you have friends (which you may not if you’re reading this), get three or four of them together, have them get in a circle or a staggered position surrounding you and have them throw the ball back and forth at each other, while throwing it at you in random intervals. Do your best to dodge. If you get hit, since it didn’t really do any damage, crank out some push-ups or sit-ups or bodyweight squats as punishment.
Agility- This is kind of a fusion between bodyweight exercises and martial training. Vegeta did back handsprings in hundreds of times Earth’s gravity and moved around in a variety of other ways. For this training, practice rolling, diving, flipping, handsprings, and any other gymnast type exercise you can think of all on something soft (like a gymnast’s mat) and with proper supervision (like a gymnast coach). With this and the dodge training, you’ll be much more agile than you previously were.

Yamcha

Poor Yamcha. He’s completely worthless all the way through Dragonball Z, but he’s sport enough to give us a couple of exercises every now and again.

Punching in the air- same as punching with weights, but without the weight! You go Yamcha! You’re an inspiration to us all.

Weight lifting- Yamcha tries out some weights during this little break in action, but honestly, he’s a bit too strong for the weights he uses. However, weights should be great for us! We’re going to focus on just three exercises.

-Bench Press- This can be done seated, with a machine, or laying down on a bench pressing a bar. Keep your elbows in and press up, but don’t lock it out entirely at the top. If you’re at a gym, get someone to help you.

-Squats- With a weight on your back, squat down to where your legs form a 90 degree angle with the ground. Try to keep your feet flat and position your toes out a little away from your body. Seek assistance if available.

-Deadlift- With your feet shoulder width or wider (I go wider) apart, squat down and, with your head up and back straight, lift the bar across your shins and up till you’re standing. This is a lot of hip movement so don’t forget it. As before, seek assistance if available.

Later, guys!

I hate my ISP.

My internet has been down for almost two weeks! I'm freaking out. I'm making this post from my mother's house, just to let you guys know I'm not dead. Rest assured, I'll make up for the fact that I haven't been online with a nice big post. I'm also designing training programs to put up on the site for you guys. Believe me, I'm working on it!

Dragonball Training Manual- Part VI

I've been working some more on the website and it's a little more frustrating than I anticipated. I'll make sure that it gets done in a timely manner. Here's some more training for you guys.

NAMEK OR BUST AND THE FREIZA SAGA

After beating Nappa and Vegeta, Goku and the gang decided to head off to Namek to search for some more dragonballs in order to restore Piccolo’s and most of the guys-we-didn’t-learn-anything-new-from’s lives. Unfortunately, very little training went on for most of the people on the way to Namek. Mainly, Goku’s the only one who trained, but we do get to see some stuff from Piccolo and the rest of the dead guys on Kaio-sama’s planet. Everybody else just fought a lot. So, I guess we’ll just stick with what’s been good so far:

Goku

Here, we really get to see some of the coolest training sequences yet in DBZ. Goku does an incredible amount of training in six days and makes himself completely awesome… but he also had a gravity machine and a bag full of senzu. So, once again, since we’re going for realism, let’s break this down.

Bodyweight Exercises

These may not seem like much, but you’d be surprised how simple little exercises like the push-up can tear you up. Goku didn’t just stop there, though. He cranked out 10,000 reps consistently on each of these things in up to 100Gs but I don’t expect you to do 10,000 reps of anything, so don’t worry too much.
These aren’t in any particular order-

• One-armed Push-ups- This is very hard to do. I recommend doing normal push-ups first, in case you can’t do these. Your legs will be wider in the one-armed version so as to keep your balance.

• Handstand Push-ups- Goku balanced a barbell on his feet while doing these… don’t do that. It didn’t end well for him and it will end even less well for you. Initially, do these up against a wall until your balance improves. Practice free handstands and handstand push-ups against the wall and you should be doing free standing handstand push-ups in no time! Well… just keep trying.

• Sit-ups- Simple, easy sit-ups. Keep your legs bent to spare your back and have fun! Don’t rock or use momentum to come up, pull yourself up.

• Hanging Sit-ups- It’s like a sit-up, but upside down! There are a few ways to do this, each with varying degrees of safety. I’ll list them in order of safety preference. 1) Anti-Gravity boots: they’re those little things you clamp on your ankles that let you hang from a bar upside down. 2) Tying a rope to your ankles and then hanging from something. 3)Wrapping your legs around a tree limb (I’d rather you didn’t do it this way). It’s important to have full range of motion, that means all the way from the hanging position to as far as you can curl up. If it gets easy… if it gets easy, you can hold some five or ten pound dumbbells in your hands while you do them.

Martial Exercises

• Punching with weights- Don’t snap your arm out the entire way, because it’s bad for your joints. Pull it at the last second. I recommend starting with just 2 to 5 pounds. Don’t overdo it either. You can stand in a horse stance and punch or you can work boxing-type punches like the jab and cross.

• Shadow sparring- You imagine an opponent and you fight him! That simple. Keep in mind your form and remember to move! Since he’s imaginary, you can use whatever technique you like. Just don’t lose, because that’s just embarrassing.

Once again, have fun!

The Immediate Future

In the upcoming weeks, the Dragonball training will be coming, as will the Shura no Toki (Chiense's kind of busy ATM, but he should have it up soon), but what I'm most excited about is the posting of the "before" and "after" pictures of the first stages of the Dragonball training. Aside from that, I'm also excited about all the videos and podcasts on the way. I'm currently working on our website and will try to have it up and running as soon as possible. In the beginning, we will have our blog posts on it, any completed training manuals, and weekly updates of videos. But, believe me, there is so much more on the way.

Thanks for reading, guys.

No Time!

Sorry guys, it's taking a little bit longer than I thought to get the second part of the "Shura no Toki" training manual done. I should have it up at the soonest tomorrow and the latest by the 5th.

Dragonball Training Manual- Part V

Yet more training tips from the DB universe-

Piccolo and Gohan

I lumped these two together since they spent most of their time training together. Gohan’s early training very much simulates Goku’s training while looking for the dragonballs: a lot of running, swimming, and climbing. Since, we’ve covered that once, we’ll let it go this time.

Sparring For the Win!

This is pretty much all these two did, which is why it’s covered here, instead of earlier. There was sparring previously, but not to this extent. Piccolo beat the living hell out of Gohan during the time they trained together and Gohan tried to reciprocate. Thus, let’s discuss sparring.
First, I recommend you get some sparring gear. That means, at the very least, some gloves and a mouthpiece. Otherwise, you won’t be very pretty for very long and you might get seriously hurt while training, which is never good. You can get foot gear, shin guards, head gear, and body gear if you like, but it is not necessary.
When you’re ready and you have a willing training partner, you guys can start sparring, but that doesn’t mean you have to try to tear each other’s head off (at least, not all the time). Sometimes, light or mid-range sparring is good for developing confidence, skill, and bodily awareness. If you constantly get pummeled in sparring sessions, you’ll probably get frustrated and you won’t grow as fast. Also, try to spar with different people, so you don’t get used to fighting the same person. When you get good, maybe you can even fight two people. But only when you get good.

Tien, Krillin, Yamcha, and Chiaotzu

While waiting for the Saiyans to arrive on Earth, the rest of the gang went off to Kami’s to train the way Goku did way back when. So, unfortunately, we don’t get anything knew from the rest of our friends, here.

My training so far

I've been working on some basic fighting techniques, while trying to improve my cardio with running, swimming, and circuit training. I've also been working outside for 8 hours a day framing a house. So, like our Dragonball friends Goku and Krillin I've been working on a construction site. The hot sun beating down on you all day as you bend down, lift, push, hammer, reach and saw really makes a difference. I'm slowly increasing my training workload and also adding more and more anime training to my regimen, so I can show you guys the results of the training. I took a before picture a few weeks ago and will post those along with update pictures in a few weeks and every few weeks after that.

There's more awesome anime training tips on the way, guys, so be sure to check in often!

Mutsu Enmei-ryu Training- Part 1 (Shura no Toki)

Hey guys, sorry this is taking so long. But due to the internet connection at my current location I am unable to accurately review the anime "Shura no Toki." I have watched this anime from beginning to end twice already but I wanted to through it and analyze and create the training from fight to fight since there is no true training in this anime only kick ass martial arts. But I have come up with a basic sense of what one must do to get their body in shape to master the "Mutsu Enmei-ryu." Or at least imitate the hell out of it enough to be plausible for real life. There are three basics to the martial art used by the three main characters of "Shura no Toki." They are;
1. Strength
2. Speed/precision
3. Crazy ass agility/flexibility

To achieve each of these I created an easy self-paced training regimen.
To gain Strength:
1. Push-ups (as many as you can both first thing in the morning and in the evening) Every so often add up to this.
2. Sit-ups (same as above)
3. Body weight squats (do as many as you can when you do your main work out for the day).
4. Punches (goal of 1,000 per hand) Separate them into 1/4 jabs, 1/4 uppercuts, 1/4 regular punches, 1/4 elbow strikes
5. Kicks (goal of 1,000 per leg) Separate them into 1/4 front kicks, 1/4 side kicks, 1/4 roundhouse kicks, 1/4 hook kicks
6. Chin-ups (as many as possible)
7. Leg-raises (as many as possible)
8. Thrust kicks (as many as possible) *get into the sit-up position with your torso halfway between all the way up and laying down and hold it that way. While in this position bring your feet off the ground and your knees to your chest and kick out and bring them back in (both legs simultaneously) without either your torso or legs touching the ground.
*Note - when doing punches and kicks for strength do not worry about speed only about putting as much power into them as possible.

To gain Speed/precision:
1. Run (run as far as you can to find your limit and make that your goal until it becomes easy, after that time move up the length by 1 mile) *note - this should also build up stamina which is essential in all martial arts.
2. Create a target and punch and kick that as many times as possible until you can hit where you want every time. Once that is accomplished make sure that the target moves slightly and then more and more once you become comfortable with each amount.
3. Punches (goal of 200 per hand) Just do regular punches as fast as you can and stretch the arms as much as possible when punching.
4. Kicks (goal of 200 per leg) Do front kicks as fast as you can.
*note - When doing kicks and punches for the speed/precision do not worry about power only speed.
5. Jump Rope for as long as you can.

To gain crazy ass agility/flexibility:
1. Stretch before every workout. Try to be able to do splits for your legs to both go in front and behind as well as to both sides. The more flexible you are the better off you will be.
2. Stand on one leg as long as you can with one of your other legs stretched out as far as it can as if you were doing a side kick for as long as you can without falling. Do this with both legs as many times as possible.
3. Become able to do both hand stands and walk on your hands.
4. Get an object that you are able to jump over and jump over it from side to side until you can not jump anymore.

This is what I have for now. This is to help you get into shape for the moves that will be added later on.

In Shura no Toki part II I will include: reflexes, techniques, and more high quality workouts.

*Note - you do not have to do this all at once. I do not expect anyone to go out and punch 1,000 times with each hand on the first day. That is your goal to work up to. If you want to you can raise the goal or lower it. It was just a number I came up with. And you don't have to do each section each day, but before you work out and after remember to stretch! And keep yourself hydrated.

Dragonball Training Manual- Part IV

Hurrah! It's time for more training tips from the Dragonball Universe.

THE SAIYAN SAGA

The first instances of training we see in Dragonball Z occur after Raditz has been dispatched, Goku killed, and Piccolo takes a position as Gohan’s babysitter. I do not recommend killing yourself to go train with Kaio-sama (King Kai), so let’s just move on to what everyone was doing in this time. We’ll break this down by character.

Goku

When Goku is killed in the fight with Raditz, he travels to Kaio-sama’s planet at the end of Snake Way in order to receive special training. When he arrives, he finds himself on a tiny little rock in the middle of nowhere in a level of gravity ten times what he’s used to. However, since we don’t have access to multi-G training conditions, we’ll just have to look at how he trained while he was there.

Monkey-Chasing With Kaio-Sama

We’re not going for ultra-authenticity here, so please don’t break into any zoos to get a monkey. Goku’s first task (after making Kaio-sama laugh) was to catch the loveable monkey, Bubbles. Like I said, we don’t have a monkey (well, you might if you’re lucky), so we’re going to improvise a little. Got a dog? Cat? Little brother? Whatever it is, if you have something smaller than you that’s also faster than you, then we’re good to go! (Your animals might not like you too much after this, unless your dog likes to run away with the ball after he fetches it.)
The point here is that these little speed demons tend to not just be quick, but make quick, unpredictable turns that will allow you to work on your agility, your reaction time, endurance and hand speed (you’ve got to catch ‘em, remember?). Believe me, this is murder.

Playing Cricket

Bad pun, I know. The next step in Goku’s training, after catching the amazing Bubbles, was to hit the lighting-fast cricket-like creature, known as Gregory, with a giant hammer. A giant hammer! In place of the hammer, we can use a baseball bat, a stick, or whatever. However, I recommend, if you can handle the weight, that we bring back good ol’ Mr. Sledgehammer. They come in varying weights and you can get one that is right for you.
In place of Gregory we will not be using our dog or cat or little brother. They’re just too big… and alive! Instead, get some golf balls, tennis balls- anything that’s relatively small and not too hard and have someone throw them in front of you as you run forward. This is really a little much, I think, but it’s the only plausible alternative unless you want to spend some money. Here’s the solution. Get an RC Car and have someone maneuver the thing around and run from you, while you try to smash it with the hammer. Get the fastest one you can find and get someone who knows how to run the thing (or someone who can practice with it before you start smashing it), because, while the smashing is very satisfying, I doubt you’ll want to crush the thing in the first two minutes of training because the operator couldn’t steer or the car only went two miles an hour.
I recommend an open, flat field with minimal water for this, for obvious reasons… preferably away from other people’s possessions, pets, or younger siblings. After running around trying to smash that little RC Car with the sledgehammer, you’ll be wiped. Try to switch up your hand position every now and again so you are getting a balanced workout. And a word to the RC operator: quick cuts and circles make it a lot harder than just going in a straight line the entire time.

I really hope you guys have fun with this.

Things to come

More training manuals and videos for exercises and techniques for anime such as:

• Grappler Baki
• Naruto
• Shura no Toki
• History's Strongest Disciple: Kenichi
• Rurouni Kenshin
• and more!

I hope you guys are as excited as I am!

Dragonball Training Manual- Part III

Training is going a little worse than I expected it. It's so weird how much you lose when you take a few months off. Never again, though! From this point on, my entire life will be dedicated to training and the martial arts. And, here's some more for you guys.

TRAINING WITH KAMI

Some of Goku’s most important training went on with Kami on the Lookout. Here, Goku learned about sensing energy and increased his already incredible power to new heights. The training methods on the Lookout centered a good deal around speed and reaction time. To build these things, work on some things called “plyometrics”. Do push-ups with a jump, put some SPRING in your step when you walk, and just generally find ways to bounce around to build the explosive power and speed that Goku acquired while training with Kami. You could also use wearable weights, but I recommend starting off with the smallest increments you can find and slowly, I repeat, s-l-o-w-l-y work your way up to wearing ten or twenty pounds on your arms and legs. If you don’t, you could do serious damage to your joints and connective tissue. Don’t just strap on some heavy weights and walk around with them, expecting them to make you super powerful just because you’re wearing them. I seriously would recommend, if you are going to use wearable weights, that you start your exercise program without them and then add them later. At first, I'd say wait six months before you add weight and then, when you do, make the increments at about 6-8 weeks for adding more. For instance, if you start off with 2 and 1/2 lb ankle weights, your next jump should be something reasonable, like maybe 5 lbs on your ankles or just adding another 2 and 1/2 lbs to your wrists. All in all, progressing slowly will allow you to get stronger without injuring yourself. Incorporate these lessons with the exercises mentioned previously and further on in the text.

Examples of Plyometric exercises
-Jump-Clap Push-ups
-Jump Squats
-Skipping (make sure you jump high on each skip)
-High jumps
-Box jumps

Don't worry, if you are a little shaky on how to do these exercises, we'll show them in greater detail as soon as we get a camera.

That's all for now, guys!

Need... camera...

As soon as I get enough money saved up, I'll be buying a new video camera so we can start posting all the exercises and stuff on the web. Don't worry, it won't just be me on the camera, I'll be bringing in friends, enthusiasts, and experts to help along the way. A friend is currently working on another training manual for you guys, so don't get too bored with the Dragonball one. Lots of stuff coming on the blog and even more when we get our website up and running later on.

Thanks for reading, guys.

Dragonball Training Manual- Part II

I'm picking my training up back to where it used to be. I had to take some time off because of work and school, but now I'm gonna kick it into high gear. I did horribly on my first real training day... but, if you started off awesome, what kind of montage would that make? Here's some more training tips for all the otaku out there.

SEARCH FOR THE DRAGONBALLS TRAINING

After this training (with Roshi), Goku was able to thoroughly trounce the majority of his opponents at the World Martial Arts Tournament. This wasn’t the end of his training, though. He wandered the world in search of the dragonballs and, in doing so, trained in even more interesting ways. Climbing trees and mountains, swimming across lakes and oceans, and running across long distances.
Thus, the three exercises here are running, climbing, and swimming.

Running

Running is essential for building lung power, although you don’t want to start running for miles and miles and miles day in and day out, because it puts a lot of wear and tear on your body. Once a week or so, walk/jog/run a mile or two. If you start out slow and gradually work your way up, you’ll end up with an incredible level of endurance and lung power. If you feel like it, even get up to five or ten miles at a time, but for heaven’s sake, not every day! This has always been one of the hardest things for me to do. I tend to get bored on long running stints, so, if you have a portable radio, CD player, or MP3 player utilize it! Unfortunately, you probably won’t be chasing (or chased by) the Red Ribbon Army, so you’ll have to motivate yourself. I recommend, at most, running three or four times a week. You still need to be able to put other training into your schedule and if you've beat your body senseless on the road for seven days straight, it won't cooperate for your other training very well and may very well bite you back in the form of an injury.

Climbing

After the fashion of climbing Karin’s tower, let’s get back to basics. When I was little, I absolutely loved to climb trees. I’d climb big trees, little trees, it didn’t matter! I think I just liked being taller than everyone else. When you get in the habit of climbing trees, your arms, legs, and core will become as hard as the tree branches you are climbing. When you climb to the top of a tree for the first time and then back down again, I’m betting you’ll be in a world of hurt. After a while, though, it’ll be just like walking. I guess it would be easier if you had a little monkey tail, though. You can climb trees or you can find a rock wall and get some of that action! Rock walls are one heck of a workout to be sure. You talk to a guy who can free climb up a mountain or a cliff and you can bet that this guy is tough. Be safe, though. Don't go off and tackle the side of a mountain to start (with no equipment, to boot!), because you'll probably die. If you're going to rock climb, and you aren't already familiar with it, seek out a professional to help you or go to a gym where they have people ready to assist you. Here's another option, go find a climbing rope about 10-12 feet in length, tie it to a branch on a tree and climb, climb, climb!

Swimming

On his way to his second attempt to win at the World Martial Arts Tournament, Goku actually swam across an ocean! Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting to swim across the Atlantic or anything. However, there’s an important lesson here. If you can build speed in the water, you’ll be much faster on land. Swimming is a FULL body exercise to be certain. The health benefits of swimming are unbelievable: your endurance will absolutely skyrocket, while your heart will thank you by beating for about five or ten extra years, and finally, it is one heck of a fat burner. If you swim a lot, though, you will build a thin layer of subcutaneous fat (fat in between the muscle and the skin). You won’t look fat, you’ll just have smoother look across your muscles. In any case, you’ll relish the benefits. Freestyle, backstroke, butterfly- PICK ONE! Just get in the water and go at it.

Once again, that's all for now!

Dragonball Training Manual, Part I

Hope you enjoy this! I wrote this quite a while ago and decided to put up the meat of the manual. It's the first "Anime Training" thing that I wrote and I've come quite a ways since then.

 Please note, this is not the entirety of the manual and for space sake, some details have been withheld.

Dragonball Training Manual, Part 1-

Training with Roshi:

Let’s start from the beginning of his formal training with Master Roshi. Although old, Roshi was no slouch. He was one of the toughest fighters in the world during his day. His philosophy was to make your body like iron, so that your enemy could not defeat you. To do this, Roshi implemented some very important concepts into his training plan for Goku and Krillin. If you remember, the boys had to deliver milk, work on a construction site, and plow fields as part of their training. Roshi also had the boys wear weights on their backs in the form of turtle shells… I doubt you’ll find any turtle shells to wear (poor, poor turtles), but we’ll cover weighted clothing later.
Remember, some of the best exercise that exists is just plain and simple manual labor. A day out on a construction site is hard work and it will condition the body for repetitive motions and build stamina. Chopping wood builds strength of the shoulders and will make your punches like lightning. Since that is where Roshi started that’s where we’re going to start.

ROSHI’S TRAINING FOR THE BOYS

Delivering Milk

Ok, so maybe you can’t just go around and deliver milk, but you can definitely apply the principles of the training to something else. For instance, carrying firewood could substitute for the milk containers. But, remember, you have to MOVE! We’re looking to build speed, strength, and stamina at the same time in nearly all of the exercises in this course. Carry a box, carry firewood, whatever… it doesn’t necessarily have to be heavy. What we’re trying to find is that repetitive nature in the exercise. Carrying just four or five pieces of firewood at a good pace for only about a hundred or so yards would leave a lot of people huffing and puffing. Start out slow, but, eventually, run with whatever it is you are carrying. You don’t need to increase the weight you are carrying until you can flat-out sprint with your wood or box or whatever. Keep it about a hundred yards, so you can build your speed.

Working Construction

This involves everything from hammering to carrying lumber to sawing (that can be some hard work). So, let’s work through each of these things and see what we can get out of them.

Hammering- This will build your accuracy, your shoulder endurance, and an incredible snap in your fore-fist strikes.
Carrying lumber- Very good for back and leg strength. Once again, this is an endurance builder. Eventually you’ll be able to snatch up two two-by-tens and run ‘em to wherever they need to be with ease.
Sawing- Put your whole body into it! Don’t just saw with your arms. If you put your whole torso and your arms into it, you’ll be able to saw longer, and you’ll simultaneously strengthen your arms, shoulders, chest, and midsection.
Slinging Plywood- This is a rough one. When you have to lift 80lb sheets of plywood up onto a roof for about two hours, you’ll just want to lay down and cry. I know, I’ve been there.
Wheelbarrow- This is straight out of the anime. Goku and Krillin ran with their wheelbarrows, pushing themselves to the limit. For a little something extra, try going uphill. It's murder.
Farmer’s walk- Eventually, you’re going to have to carry a couple of paint buckets or five gallon buckets filled with nails or something else. So, get one in each hand and just start walking. It’s great exercise for the grip, the shoulders, the back and the legs.

Sprints

If you are serious about getting in shape, losing weight, or training for any type of competitive sport, sprints are a must. Roshi had Goku and Krillin sprint on the sand, but not everyone has access to sand. So, if you can find a big open space or a hill, sprint the distance and walk back. Sprint the distance, walk back. If you can’t sprint it at first, jog. When you can jog it pretty easily, run it. Finally, when you can run it, sprint it! You only need to do it for about 15 minutes at a time.


That's all for now guys! The next update will be soon!

Call to arms!

This is to all the anime and manga fans out there, particular the shounen anime/manga fans. I know you like to see all your favorite characters go through hard training and fight difficult opponents. I'm sure you've even watched an episode and said to yourself, "Hey, I'd like to try something like that." Only... you may have had no idea what you were doing. Well, the point of this blog is to help you understand the hows and whys behind the physical and mental training involved in many of the anime and manga which you guys love. Not just the training, though. We're going to delve into combat as well. It's coming soon. Enjoy!