The Daily Grind: Why You Don't Need a Rest Day

Do you need rest days?  Do you need days where you do absolutely nothing?  We've been told that rest days are necessary, and your body certainly does need to recover, but I think we've been going about this entirely the wrong way.

What images pop into your head when you think about a rest day?  Is it going for a nice walk in the park or the beach or is it you laying on the couch with dried cheese snack powder (you know the one) and a soda the color of radioactive sludge?  Whatever the case is, it's probably not what you should be thinking.

You've got this perfectly good day and you're not training?

(*too)  That's a damn shame.

At this point, I've probably got you wanting to comment or write me a nasty e-mail telling me about Overtraining Syndrome, DOMS, lactic acid, and micro-tears in the muscles.  That's fine. Write the e-mail if you need to: I'll be here when you get back.  However, wait to push send until you hear me out okay?

Recovery is Important

I'm not saying that recovery is not important. Of course recovery is important. We eat the right amounts of good, nutritious foods and drink a river of water to recover properly, relax when it's time to relax during the day, and sleep like a baby for 8-10 hours a night (if you're not sleeping, you're not recovering).  That's not even counting things like massage, ice baths, supplements, PEDs, compression, foam rolling, and however many additional things people do to speed recovery on a daily basis.  You have all of those things and you're telling me that I need to skip a day where I could be training?

I'mma go ahead and say, "No."



If you are doing all of those things, there should be no reason for you to take a day off from training, as long as you are doing the appropriate amount of work at the appropriate intensity. Obviously, if you train to the point that you can't even move the following day, you're going to have to take a day off. However, if you've pushed your body to such a point, you're no longer training effectively.  The purpose of training is to stimulate growth, not annihilate your body to the point that you can no longer use it. Acute overtraining keeps you from being able to continue your training and improving.
And the entire point is to continue improving.

One time, in middle school, I remember that I did legs so hard that I literally couldn't walk the next day. It was some stupid amount of volume like 6 sets of Squats, 8 sets of Leg Press, 4 Super-sets of Leg Extensions and Leg Curls, 4 sets of Calf Raises, 4 Sets of Weighted Bench Step-ups, and all of these were like 10-12 reps sets. I wasn't prepared for the volume by any means, but more must be better in a single training session, right?

Not at all. Unfortunately, because of that training session, I couldn't train at all for two or three days.  How much of a set back is that?!  I want to have the opportunity to improve something every single day.

Always Be Improving

There is always something that you can be working on. Think about all of the things you can improve during your training: strength, endurance, flexibility, mobility, technical skills, agility, balance, stamina, accuracy, coordination, and power.  You don't need a rest day, you need to work on something else. It really depends one what type of athlete you are or what your goals are that will determine how you change up your routine.  The times when you feel as though you've done too much of one thing, you need to work on other aspects of your fitness that falls into line with your goals.  Having an easy day of working on something is not the same thing as a "rest day," in my opinion, because you're still drilling motor patterns and working out the stiffness in the muscles and joints.  You don't need rest, you need to stop skipping important training days.

Athletes have been doing this for decades.  Training splits where an athlete trains different body parts is something that is seen in bodybuilding and various strength sports.  In team sports, athletes split up speed work, agility training, strength training, and skill work to develop every aspect of whatever game they are playing. With the every day athlete, however, you have so many more options, because you're not limited to improving performance for a game. If you find that a training session leaves you incapable of working on some aspect of your fitness, either by accident or design, merely switch to a different component of your fitness and train that.

Splitting up body parts and changing up the components of fitness are two ways that you can continue to improve while pushing your limits on a daily basis, but they are not the only ways. And that's where the next part comes in:

The Daily Grind

If you are specializing in something to any degree, be it strength, skill, or whatever, you would do well to adopt the concept of "The Daily Grind."  You see it in the training methodology of the Shaolin Temple and martial arts around the world and in various strength training camps from powerlifting to Olympic lifting. The concept of day-in day-out physical exertion bringing about an increase physical abilities is not a new concept.

I remember working on construction sites during summer and winter breaks throughout high school and college.  Even though I stayed in shape during the school year, the first week back doing hard framing or roofing was always hell.  Everything hurt and you just felt beat up.  Two weeks into it, though, you didn't even notice anymore and you're already back to doing your normal workouts on top of hard 10 hour days in the hot sun.  Your body is enormously adaptive and capable of so much more than we give it credit for, as long as we give it the tools and the time necessary to improve.

There are things that you could do every day that seem hard right now, but in a few weeks will just become another routine part of your life. In order to push yourself in your training, think about what things you could do. I'll give you some examples of training programs and workouts:

1. Cory Gregory's Squat Every Day- At first glance, this sounds insane. Squatting heavy, in some form or another, every day of the week. And, yet, there are athletes around the world who do just that and make monumental gains in strength, size, and mobility from doing just that.  The argument is that the squat is a primal human movement and we were made to do it, just like walking. It follows a plan of using 11 variations of the barbell squat in a relatively short session every day. It really is quite amazing how your legs feel. Cory Gregory did not invent the idea of squatting heavy every day, but he's certainly spreading the news about it. If you're a strength athlete, I recommend you look into it.  I've recently begun adapting it to the Gravity Room Method, myself. 
2. Narushimo Ryo's Basic Training- If you are a martial artist and not practicing your techniques every day, you are doing yourself a disservice. That doesn't mean that you have to practice them all or that you have to be beat up all the time, but it does mean that you should be training them. Starting off with a smaller number every day and then gradually adding volume to your skill work is a great way to improve without overdoing it by trying to jam 100,000 reps into two hours.  Life is not a montage.  These things take time. 
3. Kamishiro Yuu's Basic Training- Drilling your techniques will make you better. Drilling them tens of thousands of times will make you a master. You will have to start slowly, but you'll be able to do more and more over weeks and months of training. 
4. Saitama's Training- There are some basic movement patterns that we just do all the time. Push-ing yourself off the ground, sitting up from laying down, squatting down, and running are some of the most basic things that we can do.  As a beginner, those things can be a little daunting, but in just a few months, those movement become as natural as breathing and you wonder how you ever lived your life so sedentary. Here's a video to show you options to increase the variety of your training. 
5. The 72 Arts of Shaolin- (Look under "Retsu Kaioh") These specialized exercises are the pinnacle of the Daily Grind. Taking a very simple exercise and using it to gradually turn your body into a weapon is trademark of the Shaolin Temple, kung fu, and martial arts in general. The author of the "72 Arts" recommends that you do not try to do them all, but instead commit yourself fully to two or three training methods to achieve greatness. (I've not yet posted all of the parts to this.)
6. The Self-Imposed Rule- Pushing yourself in your daily training comes in many forms.  The Self-Imposed Rule is a way to push yourself when you aren't meeting your own standards of performance. Your mental and physical prowess can become much greater when you set your mind to the idea that you can always train yourself beyond your failings and limitations. 

Using these methods directly or as an example, you can take your normal program and push it into the realm of extraordinary.  Starting gradually and adding volume and intensity over time will allow you to take simple movements and techniques and absorb them into your very being. Bruce Lee said, "If you always put a limit on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them."

You don't need a rest day: You need consistency, proper nutrition and sleep, and the drive to always be improving, even if it's just by one more rep. If you push yourself a little too hard in a training session, remember that you can always train another aspect of your fitness. 

That's all for today! Until next time, good luck and train hard!

My Current Training Library

1. Underground BODYOPUS by Daniel Duchaine
2. Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee
3. The Art of Expressing the Human Body by Bruce Lee and John Little
4. Fighter’s Fact Book by Loren W. Christensen
5. The Fighter’s Body by Loren W. Christensen and Wim Demeere
6. Kung Fu Elements by Shou-Yu Liang
7. Ultimate Fighting Techniques Volume 1: The Top Game by Royce Gracie
8. NSCA’s Essentials of Personal Training
9. ACE Personal Trainer Manual, 4th Edition
10. Jiu-jitsu University by Saulo Ribeiro
11. Complete Triathlon Book by Matt Fitzgerald
12. Running Tough by Michael Sandrock
13. Combat Conditioning by Matt Furey
14. Combat Abs by Matt Furey
15. The Centurion Method (Idk if it’s even in print anymore)
16. Special Ops Fitness Training by Mark DeLisle
17. The Unfettered Mind by Takuan Soho
18. The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
19. Zen and Swordsmanship from the Yamaoka Tesshu Archives
20. Sun and Steel by Yukio Mishima

This is every training resource that is on my shelf currently. I’ve got a few things loaned out and a few things I sold at some point. I did find out that my “Zen and Swordsmanship” book is worth about $300, though. That’s pretty crazy since I bought it for 6 bucks. Cool to find out that I have a rare book. 

Just thought I would share these books with you guys in case you were looking for any additional training info or inspiration.   

Current Available Programs

Take your training to the next level and kick boredom in the ass with Real Anime Training!

We offer Personalized Training Programs based on any characters, using any equipment that you have, geared toward your goals.

You have several options available:

1. You can get 4 weeks of training for only $80!
2. You can get 8 weeks of training for just $120!
3. You can get 16 weeks of training for $200!
4. 24 weeks of training is $240!
5. 52 weeks of training is only $340! A full year of training!!

Want something just as nerdy, but a little more friendly to your wallet? Get a pre-made Character Training Program (there’s only Goku right now) for $10!!!! If you need a little extra help with the pre-made program, additional consultation for the program is just $10 a month!

We also provide Program Consultations via e-mail for $30 a month. You send me your program and your goals and I will help you restructure it and your daily schedule to help be more in line with your goals. I’ll help keep you accountable and encouraged. It’s similar to the Character Training consultations, but it’s a little more involved, because I’ll be restructuring your program or helping you build one. You can donate via PayPal and send me an e-mail at realanimetraining@gmail.com so we can get started.

If you need something more involved, we also offer Online Personal Training for $40 for 1 session, $175 for 5 sessions, and $300 for 10 sessions. These sessions are 1 hour long, held over Skype, and also include the ability to ask questions via e-mail and receive video critiques. These sessions can be used to talk about your goals, your gameplan, to critique form, or learning about fitness in general. It’s your session and I’m happy to help you reach your goals.

Being a trainer is my life.  I am the Anime Trainer and I wouldn't have it any other way. It’s what I enjoy and I love helping people online and around the world. Depending on your needs, I hope I can offer things that will help you at a price you can afford. I’m an ACE Certified Trainer and I’ve spent the majority of my life experimenting and challenging myself with many different kinds of fitness programs and training methods. I’ve been writing about fitness for over 8 years and I’m happy to keep going and teaching and learning. I look forward to working with you.  I love all of my readers and I thank you so much for coming on this journey with me.

Good luck and train hard!

Rock Lee: The Self-Imposed Rule

Rock Lee pushes himself to new levels of intensity with the concept of the "self-imposed rule."  The idea is this: if you are unable to complete a certain exercise or challenge as intended, you then force yourself to complete another exercise, not as punishment, but as a way to make sure you don't fail again.  The Green Beast of Konoha, of course, takes this rule to extremes, but I think that it can used as an extremely useful training tool, if used properly. So, let's delve into it.

I'm Rock Lee and I approve this message. 
And this training gear!

Rock Lee: The Self-Imposed Rule

When training, if you are attempting a new PR, such as lifting a certain amount of weight or doing a certain number of reps, or running a particular distance in a particular time, decide before you begin the workout to commit to the bounds of the "self-imposed rule."  I'm going to give several examples of the the rule, but please realize that this is a very open concept.

1. If you fail on an attempt at a PR on a weight lifting exercise, complete as many reps as possible of a bodyweight version of that exercise. For a Squat/Deadlift type movement, you would complete a set of Squats for maximum reps. For Bench Press, you would do Push-ups or Dips. For Overhead Press, you would do Handstand Push-ups or Decline Push-ups. If you fail on a pull exercise, you could do a set of Pull-ups or Body Rows. 
2. If you fail to complete a run as intended, you could do a number of exercises in response to failing. You could do a set of jump rope that equals half the time you were going to run. You could do a set number of jumps, like a high jump or a box jump.  You could do a small metcon (for instance: 30 push-ups, 30 sit-ups, 30 squats, AMRAP for 10 minutes)
3. You don't always have to do the same muscle group. If you failed to do 100 push-ups, you may force yourself to do 100 squats in response to failure.  Even though squats won't help you in your push-ups per se, you'll still be pushing yourself to do more work as a whole. 
4. If you lose a match in wrestling, judo, MMA, boxing, or another combat sport, go ahead and take a few days to rest, but when you come back, you could push yourself in your first few workouts based on how you lost.  If your cardio wasn't up to where it needed to be, log a few more rounds of shadowboxing or sparring in the following week or make sure you don't skip the High Intensity Interval Training.  If your muscles failed, do a 1,000 rep workout of pure bodyweight exercises broken up between four or five different movements. If you just weren't strong enough, make sure that you aren't skipping your strength sessions. If you just got out-fought, then make sure you drill the specific movements that would have let you win over and over and over again. 
5. If you fail to do your workout as you intended, you could do a sprint workout afterward. You could also walk a distance on your hands or swim for a time or distance. Some days it can be "easy" and some days it can be "hard."

Some possible choices for "rule" exercises:

1. Max Set of Push-ups
2. Max Set of Sit-ups
3. Max Set of Squats
4. Max Set of Pull-ups
5. Max Set of Handstand Push-ups
6. 10 x 100 Meter Sprints
7. 200 High Jumps
8. Run 5 Miles
9. 500 Double Under Jump Rope
10. 2,000 Single Under Jump Rope
11. 1,000 Punches or Kicks to Heavy Bag (at least wrap your hands)
12. Perform a Cardio exercise for 30 Minutes
13. Walk 100 Meters on Hands
14. Skip 1 Mile
15. Walking Lunges 1 Mile
16. 1,000 Reps Bodyweight Exercises
17. Perform 50 Total Reps of a Weight Lifting Exercise with 60% of your 1RM
18. Pick 3 Exercises @ 30 Reps Each for 10 Minutes
19. Carry a 1/4 Bodyweight Object for 1/4 Mile
20. Max Set of Every One-Limb Exercise 
21. Push/Pull a Sled or Tire weighing 200# or more for 1 Mile
22. Complete your entire workout over again with half the weight. 
23. Play a Competitive Game for 1 Hour: Basketball, Football, Volleyball, etc.
24. Practice Martial Arts for 1 Hour
25. Drill 1 Technique or Skill for 1 Hour 

These are just some of the things that you can do. In anything, you'll want to be safe and you'll want to know when to stop. The purpose here is to apply additional stimulus to help you overcome plateaus, not to kill yourself with exercise. 

That's all for today! Until next time, good luck and train hard!

Training to Go Super Saiyan

(Disclaimer: You can't actually turn into a Super Saiyan. :P) 

Training like a Saiyan is hard.  The Saiyans lived lives to non-stop combat and brutal conflict, even before the rule of Frieza. Each of these warriors was driven by the impulse to become stronger, to fight, become the greatest. Many times, this manifested itself into cruelty and hatred toward other species and themselves. This, I believe, was the downfall of the Saiyans as a whole.  Because they were so quick to throw themselves into battle, they certainly evolved quickly, but I imagine most of them died early on in life, never really being able to tap into their full potentials. 

This is not the case with the group of Super Saiyans that we know. Goku, Vegeta (later on), Gohan, Goten, and Trunks pushed themselves less on the battlefield and more in the practice room. To be sure, they fought their hardest when it was required of them, but they did their best to not go into battle ill-prepared. The fruits of this process were the various stages of Super Saiyan. 

So the question is this, "How do you train to go Super Saiyan?"

This is how:

1. Never Stop Pushing, Never Give Up

Always be progressing. There is no limit. 

Is a 500 pound squat good?  Hell, yeah, it is!   Let's put five more pounds on there. 

Can you do a 100 push-ups?  Awesome!  Try it on the gymnastic rings this time. 

Learning how to box?  I love it!  Now, go train with those wrestlers. 

The key is this:  If you can do something, do it better.  If you can't do something, keep trying. Goku couldn't catch Korin on his first try and he damn sure couldn't catch Bubbles or hit Gregory on the first try, either. Fall down seven, stand up eight. There is no "maintenance" in becoming a Super Saiyan. You can see the downfall of not training with Gohan.  When the world needed him to be as strong as he could be, he had only grown weaker. If you let yourself become complacent, you'll soon find that "good enough" is the enemy of great. 

If you are failing somehow (losing in a competition), learn from it. Learn why it's not working. Don't make excuses!!  If there's a reason that you failed, accept it and move on with your training and your life. Living in the past will not push you into the future. 

400 times gravity is for weaklings! Give me 401!

2.  Don't Rush

This is a process. You will not get there over night. It will be in tiny little increments over weeks and months and years, but it will be worth it. Every rep, every mile, every practice session, every step will accumulate until one day-- BOOM!!  You've arrived.  You've become a Super Saiyan. You've conquered your fears and your goals alike. You're standing at the precipice of what it means to be you, looking off at the next level you're pushing to achieve. 

But you won't get there in one day, so don't rush. 

One punch at a time.

3. Listen to Sage Advice

Goku had mentors his entire life: Grandpa Gohan, Master Roshi, Korin, Kami, King Kai... even his opponents were his mentors, in a way.  He learned from every available resource to help him become stronger. In the same way, listen to those who have the knowledge and skills.  Listen to those who have gone on before you. 

Your coaches, your teachers, your instructors, your opponents and your friends (who are knowledgeable) are your help in becoming the person you want to be. You may eventually outgrow them and that's okay, but use them while you have them and let them help you become what you're trying to become.  Don't assume that you know more than the black belts, the Olympians, the Doctors, the Coaches, and the Trainers, for they've walked paths you haven't. Instead, rely on them. You'll thank yourself later.

Power comes to those who train and listen to their coaches.

4. Study on Your Own

It's not enough to just do absolutely everything that someone else tells you, however. You need to learn your own body and your own mind.  You need to absorb as much information about your topics of study (and even outside) as possible. The more you know, the more you can make informed decisions about how you want to grow as an athlete, a martial artist, and a person. Seek knowledge from a variety of sources and don't be afraid to try some things that people think are stupid.  There is not only one way to accomplish things.

That's why there are various stages of Super Saiyan 1.

5. Train Your Ass Off!! (But Be Safe)

Nobody ever became great by accident. It was through hard work, dedication, practice, and so much training. Get in the gym. Get on the mat. Get on the road. 

And. Go. Do. Work.

You'll be sore and you'll be tired.  Eat well and sleep a bunch and get out there and do it again tomorrow. Implement a gameplan so that you can always train.  Your body needs rest, but there's nothing wrong with letting it rest in stages. Arms are destroyed today-- good, because my legs needed work anyway. 

Use proper safety equipment in your training. You can't get stronger if you're dead. Headgear and gloves in sparring is for everyone's safety and help you be able to train longer and harder. It's hard to train with a busted knuckle, rib, or nose. Be safe, be strong.

Training to become a Super Saiyan is hard, but being some guy in the crowd sucks pretty bad, too.

So, how do you train to become a Super Saiyan?  Start here:

1. The Gravity Room Method
2. The Turtle Hermit's Training
3. Find the Dragonballs: Run, Swim, Climb (Remix)
4. Korin-sama's Training
5. Kami-sama's Training
6. Kaio-sama's Training
7. Goku's Gravity Room Workout
8. Goku's Gravity Room Workout: 100Gs Add-on
9. Vegeta's Gravity Room Workout
10. The Super Saiyan Workout

This is the type of training that took Goku and Vegeta to higher and higher levels of power until they broke through the barrier of becoming a Super Saiyan. 

That's all for today! Until next time, good luck and train hard!

10 Reasons Why Working Out Isn't "Working Out" For You

It's almost April. Slowly but surely, I see the people who joined in January with the gung ho attitude and determination to get fit come through the gym doors less and less (and sometimes not at all.)

It's inevitable, it seems. 

It happens every year. People say, "This is the year that I'm going to (insert whatever fitness goal they might have latched onto)" and things start off really great. They are putting a lot of work in and maybe even getting into the habit of working out. But then, something happens: life gets in the way, they miss a few workouts and feel too embarrassed to come back, or they don't see the results they were looking for right away or at all. 

So, what's wrong??

Here are 10 reasons why working out might not be "working out" for you:

1. You Don't Have a Plan

If you don't have a plan, you're going to have a hard time getting to where you want to go. You can say you want to lose 100 pounds or you want to run a marathon, but unless you have the framework in place to get you there, you'll never make it. 

Before you start anything, you need to get a plan, on paper or not.  You need to know where you are now, where you want to go, and how you are going to get there.  It's okay if you have to modify the plan later, because this is going to be a learning process and you are not going to get it right the first time, especially if you are doing it alone. 

However, if you formulate a plan and go down that path, you'll make the necessary corrections when its time and you will come out the other side better for it. 

2. You Aren't Having Fun

Doing something you hate is not going to make you keep doing it. Sure, you might have strong willpower, but eventually you're going to look at that treadmill and say, "I hate you" and that'll be that. There are two ways to fix this problem of not having fun. The first one is really simple. 

Pick something you enjoy doing and do it! 

It's really that simple. Start with an activity that you enjoy, whether it's golf, martial arts, bowling, tennis, hiking, or dancing really fast to polka music. Once you find something active that you love doing, you'll have little difficulty finding the motivation to do it.  The second solution is a little more difficult and comes along later.

The second solution is this: Change your mindset about exercise, whatever the exercise is. I used to hate running-- until I made myself run. After a while, I learned about the intricacies of putting one foot in front of the other and began to appreciate the process. If you don't like a form of exercise in front of you, change how you look at it.  See the benefit of the exercise and really understand the process and you'll begin to see it in an entirely new (and possibly more enjoyable) light. 

3. You Aren't Making Exercise a Priority 

This is simple: Other things are more important to you than exercise. 

Work and familial responsibilities can certainly get in the way, but there are always ways to make exercise happen. If you work a lot, use your breaks to get some walking/jogging in or slam out some push-ups on the break room floor (you get weird looks, but whatever).

If you have a lot of family responsibilities, try to make the time you spend with your family active time. Go for a hike together, visit a giant trampoline park, or spend the day at the beach or pool. Eventually, if you're active with your family, you might even just do workouts together.

Sure, there will be times where there is just so much going on that you couldn't squeeze a workout in edgewise, but try to look at your schedule and see if that's really the case or if you're just making excuses. Oftentimes, saying "I don't have time" is really just saying, "This isn't a priority."

4. You Haven't Set Realistic Goals

Exercise is not a magic pill. You're not going to do 5 crunches and get a six-pack and you won't train for a week and be able to run a marathon.  Body changes take time. You apply a stimulus and the body adapts. You apply greater and greater stimulus over enough time and you have a complete bodily transformation.

Your goals should be SMART, which is to say:

• Specific- Include as much information about the when, where, how, what, and why. Is it going to cost money? Are you going to have to travel anywhere? What is your goal-- 20 pounds lost or squatting 500#?  Don't just say-- I want to be stronger or I want to be leaner. Pick something to shoot for. 
• Measurable- There should be some way for you to quantify your results. You should be able to look at your progress week by week and see that you are getting closer to your goal. 
• Achievable- Is your goal something that you are capable of doing right now? Is it something you can put into action within the next few days? Make sure that your goal is something that you are in a position to even pursue, let alone attain. You may have to settle on accomplishing only a portion of your goal for the time being and waiting on the rest of it. 
• Realistic- Is your goal physically possible? You need to set goals for yourself that are within the bounds of reason. It is not reasonable to say that you want to be the World Champion in three completely different sports, because you only have so much time to devote to each one and only so much energy to train for each. The goal of being a champion bodybuilder will be counter to the goal of being the best marathon/ultramarathon runner in the world. 
• Time-Bound- You need to put constraints on yourself. How long will it take you to accomplish this goal (research as much as possible and realize that this may change in the future)? Where will you be in a month? Six months? A year? Five?  There should be specific goals along the way that, when attained, will add up to the larger goal. If you achieve each small goal along the way, the large goal is automatically achieved. 

Once you have realistic goals and a plan to get there, the task does not feel so daunting and you get the joy of attaining small goals along the way. 

5. You Aren't Eating Properly

This is the big one. You'll hear it spoken in many different ways:

• You can't outrun your fork.
• It's 20% fitness and 80% nutrition.
• Abs are made in the kitchen
• Food is anabolic
• If it fits your macros

The common denominator between all of these things is that nutrition is so, so important. If you don't eat properly, you won't be able to work out effectively or recover effectively.  If you're eating too much or not eating the right things, all the stuff you do in the gym might yield less results or none at all.

A well-balanced diet, focusing on whole foods is paramount to your success. Stay away from foods that are overly processed. Eat a variety of foods from many different sources. Eat to sustain yourself and your activity. Food is fuel and, while it can be enjoyable, its primary job is to make sure that you don't die and that your body is nourished in whatever way it requires. Refined sugars have very little place in your diet.  Now, please understand, I'm not saying no to certain foods. What I'm saying is that you need to eat certain foods in moderation or rarely. You CAN eat anything you want. Your choices, however, will be what helps determine your success in physical transformation or athletic performance. 

To put it bluntly, if you put sugar in the tank of a car, that car is gonna die. If you put enough sugar into your tank, SO WILL YOU! 

6. You Only Work Out When You "Feel Like It"

Your training schedule is your training schedule and, outside of being legitimately ill or on the verge of being ill, you should strive to meet every workout on that schedule head on, whether its 20 minutes of recovery yoga or 2 hours in the gym f*@#ing sh*t up.

If you depend on your feelings or your emotions to determine if you are going into the gym or not, you'll soon find yourself acquiescing to more and more and, soon, the gym will get pushed further on down the list. I can tell you that, counter-intuitively, some of the best days I've had in the gym have been the days I just didn't feel like going or felt like I was going to be weak. You never know until you step up to the bench or the mat or the road and decide to push ahead.

What you do when you "don't feel like it" determines your level of commitment.

7. You Aren't Strength Training

At the very beginning of your journey, it's not as big a deal if you aren't strength training, because you'll be learning so many new things and getting used to activity in general that you'll often get stronger just doing whatever activity you've chosen to do.

There will come a day, though, that your chosen activity will no longer be enough for you to continue to get better at that activity and stay injury free. At that time (and it comes relatively early in the process) you will need to begin some form of strength training, either in the form of weightlifting or bodyweight exercises. This training can start off light, but it needs to be progressive, meaning that the weight and reps are going up or the movements are becoming more difficult (one-legged squats opposed to two, for example).

If you choose not to strength train, you it is very likely that you will run into a wall in your fitness goals somewhere, either in the form of decreased results or injury due to repetitive use. As far as injury goes, being sidelined with an injury makes your motivation sag and your habit of exercise turn into a habit of laying around and doing nothing. Coming back from injury is difficult, so it is in your best interest to not get injured in the first place.

Strength training builds and helps retain muscle mass that is essential to your performance in whatever you choose to do. It enables you to become more efficient in movements and teaches your muscles how to recruit more fibers more effectively.

Long story short-- Do strength training.

8. You Aren't Working Hard Enough

If you are not improving in the gym, i.e.- if your weights, reps, distances, times, or what-have-yous are not increasing, then there is no growth. If these markers are not moving, there is no path to any kind of transformation. Doing the same weight (especially the same weight!) for the same number of reps and sets week in and week out will get you nowhere.

You need to be getting better. If you aren't getting better, you're getting worse. There is no maintenance. There is improvement or no improvement.  If you are improving, you are headed toward a goal. Push yourself in the gym. Do better. Do one more rep. Add one more pound. Do one more set.

You need to sweat. You need to be sore. You need to feel uncomfortable. (Notice I did not say you need to be in pain.) You need easier days, but the stimulus for your growth are the hard days. If your program is not challenging you, it is not changing you. Up your intensity-- more weight (as you progress), more speed, more power.  It might be slow-going at first, but once you add the intensity to your program, you'll find that your results soon follow.

9. You're Working Too Hard (You're Not Recovering Enough)

This is the flipside to the last point. If you are busting your ass every single day for weeks on end without a rest day, deload, or time for appropriate recovery, you'll soon find yourself sitting on the doorstep of stagnation, decreased performance, and injury. There's no way around it. You provide the stimulus for strength and increased performance with your training, but you actually get those things when you rest and recover properly.

You need to eat well to fuel training and recovery and you need to SLEEP! Sleep is where all the magic happens. You train hard on 3 hours of sleep for a week or two and you'll see exactly what I mean. You'll be so messed up you won't know what to do with yourself. If you aren't sleeping, you aren't recovering.

If you provide enough time and building blocks for recovery, you can beat your own ass in your workouts on a regular basis and probably be fine. Skip your recovery, however... and you're gonna have a bad time.

10. You Don't Even Know Where to Start (AKA: You Don't Have a Plan)

Okay. You want to get fit. You want to get strong. You want to lean out... but where do you even begin?  There are so many things you could do and so many machines and exercises and programs and everything else,  you might feel like you are losing your mind.

That's normal.

Anything new is going to feel scary and a task such as getting fit can feel very daunting indeed. However, if you need some help getting started, I recommend finding a professional and have a conversation about what you're trying to do. Talk to a Certified Personal Trainer or a Nutritionist and work on the previous 9 points and I promise-- this time you can make it work.

If you're having some trouble or you need some help, always feel free to email me at realanimetraining@gmail.com or if you would like a program to help your reach your goals, consider a Personalized Training Program or Online Personal Training to help you get started or get back on track.


That's all for today! Until next time, good luck and train hard!

Mail Bag Advice #1

If you've got questions, we've got answers and ramblings!

Real Anime Training Demonstrations: Tire Flips

Enjoy!

10,000 Hours to Mastery

Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book (that I have yet to read... -_-) called "Outliers: The Story of Success" that shares a very interesting idea: with 10,000 hours of practice, it is possible to become an expert at something. He goes on to expound examples of prominent figures in different areas who achieved greatness and explained just how much time they put into their work. Obviously, some of this depends of genetic predisposition and social upbringing, but those merely serve as potential head starts for people's abilities. It's quite an interesting idea. Just so you have an idea of how much time that is, that is 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, for 5 years. That's a lot of time.

When applied to the concept of martial arts, we find some truth to ideas of the weak beating the strong or, as Rock Lee puts it, that "with hard work, even a dropout can defeat a genius." That doesn't necessarily mean that 10,000 hours of mindless practice will get you anywhere. You need mindful practice. You need to make adjustments to form and correct yourself when you make mistakes (e.g.- getting hit while sparring). But, just because you put the time in, doesn't mean you'll be unbeatable. You can be limited by your strength or speed or even your style. If you haven't trained to deal with a particular scenario, it might well be impossible for you to handle it, should you be confronted with it. However, training all aspects of your art and focusing on quick-thinking will definitely be helpful to your adaptation to new situations.

Anyway-- The point is this! If you're upset because you aren't good at something, go practice!  Work individual techniques, shadowbox, spar, grapple, hit various bags and mitts, and improve your conditioning. If you put the time in and allow yourself the necessary time to recover, you will get better and that's all there is to it!

But it wouldn't be Real Anime Training if we didn't try to take it a step further. We can see various anime characters each logging the necessary time for mastery. Even fictional characters (well, most of them) know that you can't just automatically become an expert at something. If they are going to accomplish something quickly, they tend to "cheat" the system a little. For example:

• The Room of Spirit and Time (The Hyperbolic Time Chamber) in Dragonball Z shrinks a year into a day, allowing the people inside to walk in normal one day and walk out badass the next, as long as they put in the time. 
• Naruto used kagebunshin to divide the amount of time it took him to master certain skills and develop new techniques. (Side note: This was brilliant, but so cheap and broken.)
• Ichigo stayed in the little world between Soul Society and the Real World before fighting Aizen so his dad could teach him the final Getsuga Tenshou.

It's not really fair. At some point, your body is not going to be able to train. You can only put in so many hours in a day without overtraining or injuring yourself. There has to be a way to cheat the system. Especially if you're going to school or working or anything else. How can you put more time into it?  I think a good answer for this question actually comes from Grappler Baki. 

Hanma Baki utilizes immense, immense powers of imagination to practice fighting against all manner of martial artists and creatures. In a sense, this is just really detail shadowboxing, but what we're after is the concept, not necessarily the exact method (although I urge you to really use good imagery while shadowboxing).  Actually, studies have shown that imagining an activity with as much detail as possible (that means, as much sensory data as you can manage: the feel of your muscles, skin and what not; the smell of the air; the color of the sky; etc) actually trains the brain to do those activities. Your brain doesn't realize that what you're imagining isn't real and the same parts of the brain that light up when you actually do those motions light up when you imagine doing them.  So, when our body is too damn tired to train anymore, or when we are recovering for a day or so, you can still log the time in your mind. 4 hours of week of this, 50 weeks out of the year, shaves 25 weeks off the 5 years it would take to get to 10,000 hours at 40 hours a week. This is a way, you can do a little bit more. You can practice to your heart's content or until you pass out into a coma of sleep and probably continue to dream about training!

10,000 hours to become an expert. How many hours have you put in? 

That's all for today, guys! Until next time, good luck and train hard!

The Limit

I want to take a moment to reflect on something:  What is the limit of human capability? What is the limit of one, single human's ability?  How far can we take it?  

When humans devote themselves fully to something, it is absolutely astounding the feats of which we are capable: speed, strength, endurance, skill, etc. We've been lucky to witness the rise of sports medicine and the science of performance, which has allowed the creation of the modern athlete, a marvel of physical ability.

For the most part, if you took any modern-day athlete and stuck him with his counterparts from a previous era, it is more than likely the case that he would completely dominate his opponents. This is for numerous reasons and the level of training we currently possess is more informed and the technical prowess exhibited by each of these athletes is generally on a much higher level than their predecessor are two of the majors ones. However, what we have done with the modern athlete, especially the modern combat athlete, is just a portion of what I would like to consider. We'll dub this portion: Athletic Ability

Next, I think it's important to take a look at how much has changed with the advent of the information age. The communication of ideas and concepts takes things that were secret or unknown for perhaps hundreds of years and throws them right out there for everyone to see. Imagine being a kung fu practitioner or a wandering samurai back in the Golden Age of ass-kicking. You carefully guarded your skills, honed them in secret, and every new discovery was like finding a precious gem. If you lost a fight, it could mean the loss of your personal reputation, your schools name, or your own life. It doesn't get much more serious than that. However, due to the nature of the combat of this era, martial ability was in the hands of a select few individuals, who only showed their skills when it was time to fight and, sometimes, because people seriously could die in these matches, another Master or fighter could just be wiped off the map, all of his experience and knowledge just gone, leaving nothing but a memory for his opponent to dwell upon. On top of this, sometimes fighters would only master a single skill, because you would rarely meet the same opponent twice, so the need for diversifying your skill-set was almost non-existent. If you met someone who you matched badly against, oh well!

Counter to this, you can find Karate kata, kung fu forms, kickboxing matches, and instructional videos on just about anything you could want from Judo to BJJ to Silat to Sanda to fictional martial arts from Star Trek (yes, that shit is real!). It is an information overload. And that is fan-freaking-tastic, because it allows for the free-flow of ideas, the transmission of skills to many, and the evolution of particular arts and techniques to new heights. There exist, today, things that, in my opinion, never existed before in combat. This evolution is very important, because it helps us to weed out things that are not as useful to us in our training and help us to more quickly achieve our goals. This is a living evolution of combat theory and is practical application and it is how we find the next game-changer. So, we'll call this portion: Immersive Education.

But there is one more thing that stretches back far into human history. These are secret things that are transmitted only through countless hours of training. They are things we may write off as worthless or fiction, at least as Westerners. I am not so quick to discard ideas that seem outside the scope of our current understanding. There are people who exhibit incredible abilities with things such as internal martial arts, mediation, and even willpower. Some may be tricks and some not, but to toss them aside without properly trying to understand them does ourselves a disservice and the practitioners of those skills a dishonor. The burden of proof lies with them, no doubt, but at least let them attempt provide the evidence. In seeking these things out, cataloguing them, and understanding them, we can understand more about the human body and its limits, even if those limits initially seem outside the bounds of our current understanding. Eventually, perhaps we will be more open-minded about what is possible. We can call this: Hidden Abilities.

If we hold each of these things to be important and seek the limit of human ability without unfounded bias of training methodology, I am confident that something magnificent is possible. The combination of science, art, and history; body, mind and spirit; and intelligence, emotion, and intuition can shine a little more light on the Super, the Ultimate, the Limit. In short, what it means to be strong.

I didn't mean for this to come off so grandiose, but it just makes such sense to me. Let me know what you guys think.

On Mastery (Part 2)

(Part 1)

When I sat down to type out my thoughts on Mastery last time, I wasn't sure that I was going to continue. Not because I said all there was to be said (certainly not), but because I was quite certain that whatever I said next (if anything) ought to be worth saying. This is far from an obvious conclusion, for people often ramble on about a subject far longer than necessary, in much the same fashion as I am currently doing. However, this is not without purpose, and serves as an example of what Mastery is not.

Primarily, Mastery is not superfluous. It does no more than is necessary. It does not write a paragraph when a sentence or a single word will do. Mastery is not just the ability to know what is necessary, but the ability to do that very thing at will. In fact, they are one and the same to the person in possession of Mastery.

That leads me to the second thing Mastery is not: contemplative (with exception). It is possible to reason over time what is the necessary action and then complete that action based upon the outcome of your contemplation, but that is not Mastery. If asked a question, a Master mathematician does not ponder the problem at length and then give sufficient answer.  He merely answers, because the rules of the mathematics are so deeply ingrained in him, he cannot help it. It is the same as tossing a ball to someone and seeing them catch it without thought. They did not calculate the trajectory and position themselves in such a fashion to be able to catch the ball-- they just caught it. To be fair, I'm certain there are Master mathematicians who use calculators or must consider a problem shortly before answering extraordinarily complex problems.  Indeed, things of sufficient difficulty can force any Master to struggle or even fail. This may seem like a contradiction, but only if you think of Mastery in completely finite and blanketing terms. Depending on the subject or the method, Mastery may mean different things. I use such a complex thing as math to lay out my next point.

Mastery is not definitive. What I mean here is that Mastery can change over time. In the scope of an overarching concept such as math, which is constantly evolving, it is only possible to attain Mastery if one has Mastery over the concept's parts. Math can be as basic as adding and subtracting or simple algebra or as complex as is necessary to explain the most detailed of physical or non-physical representations. This then means that if you can count to 100 without thought, you've gained Mastery of the ability to count to 100. It seems overly simple, I realize, but it is necessary to think in these terms because of the sheer vastness of the concept of mathematics (granted, math is not the only thing that is horribly, horribly complex).  To have Mastery of such a thing, one must be expected to be enormously skilled at a variety of different mathematical procedures, often without having to really think about them. The other side of Mastery not being definitive is that, Masters often expand the field in which they specialize. The Master mathematicians or martial artists of 500 years ago are not the same, for things that exist today did not exist at that time (though are the product of those men and women's pursuits).  In this way, Mastery is not definitive, because it expands and develops as it goes.

This post and its predecessor are not the be-all, end-all word on Mastery. There is much more that has can be said and has been said by far better men than myself. As far as your own journeys go, I hope I have been able to shed some light to whatever paths you are following.

On Mastery (Part 1?)

It's that time again. The time where I sit down and write the sort of philosophical diatribe that makes people go, "Seriously, wtf?!" In the past few months, I've put a lot of thought into the term "Master." What does it really mean and who is worthy of the title?

Maybe, though, it's not necessary to get caught up in the word itself, so much as the concept. Words are merely vehicles on which human beings transport thought. In Japanese, words like "tatsujin" or "shishou" might be applied to a person to denote Mastery.

But, what does it mean? Merriam-Webster defines "Mastery" as:

a: possession or display of great skill or technique
b: skill or knowledge that makes one master of a subject

And, it defines "Master" as a lot of things, but here are a few of the interesting ones:

a: an artist, performer, or player of consummate skill
b: one having control
c: one that conquers or masters

Apparently, "Mastery" is not something easily pinned down. It doesn't necessarily mean being the best at something, but it does mean that you possess a great deal of skill. I am convinced that Mastery (notice I dropped the quotes) is not a destination or a final  acquisition, but a journey; not necessarily a status, but an attitude or way of life.

At some point, when there is sufficient experience in something, the subject (whether a language, a physical skill or mental skill, or understanding) becomes less and less "outside" ourselves. It becomes a second nature. Specifically in the martial arts, it is difficult (read "impossible") to say that someone has master of a style or skill if it is not immediately available to them without the poison of having to think about it. If a man throws a punch and a boxer (assuming he is aware of the incoming attack) does not slip it and/or counter, but instead is hit because he was not "ready" for the punch-- Mastery does not yet exist for this man. Or, if a jujitsu practitioner is grabbed forcefully and he does not break the hold, move to a better position, or submit his attacker, how can he be said to have Mastery? I will not bore you with countless permutations of the same scenario, because the concept is relatively easy to understand.

Mastery is about becoming. It is that transformative path to the superhuman that tests the boundaries of our limits as people. It is not all-inclusive, but can be limited to a single pursuit or ability. You can possess Mastery on levels-- Mastery of a concept, technique, or style. I would say the more specific the endeavor, the higher the degree of skill necessary to attain Mastery. One can be the Master of a martial art and one can possess Mastery of a certain skill within that art. To be certain, to be called the Master of a style, one must have a very high degree of knowledge and skill concerning the fighting method. However, I believe if one were to be called the Master of a particular skill (say armbars, for instance) it might be necessary for him to possess a level of skill in that technique greater than the man who is called the Master of a style. Certainly, this must be the case if the two men were to try to meet on equal terms in battle.

This is fun to think about, but I bring it up not to be purposefully confusing or philosophical, but because at some point, everyone who practices a particular style of martial arts or who fights, must make a decision like this. Do I attempt to become what is called a "complete" fighter or do I dredge on through the fires of hellish training to find the uttermost of a specific kind of fighting or specific technique? Surely, most fall somewhere in between.

I've said this before, but if you are the latter of the two types that I mentioned above, it is your duty to discover things about and do things with your skill that have never been done before. If you say, "I will defeat all opponents with only jujitsu/judo/boxing/muay thai/hung gar/karate/my left hand," then you will need to train to defeat those other style with your own instead of making excuses about rules or the shortcomings of your own style. Mastery is about finding The Way--

So, find it.

Kung Fu Training Book and Training Camp

Hey, guys!

A friend of mine has had the opportunity to spend a good deal of time in China training with a Taiji Master named Master Zhang. In his studies, he's learned a lot of really interesting things and Master Zhang has put a lot of that into a new book, which I find extraordinarily interesting.

First of all, anyone who reads this blog knows that I love fighting, training, MMA, traditional martial arts, getting punched in the face (etc.) and it seems like I'm not the only one. Master Zhang's book is called "How to Win Your First MMA Fight" and it is filled with the combative knowledge of a man who loves all of the things I've listed above (although, I'm not sure how often he gets punched in the face...) and has a treasure trove of experience in the martial arts.

So, if you guys are interested, here's the link to the book:
"How to Win Your First MMA Fight"

If you're considering getting into MMA or if you are just curious about what goes through the mind of a Kung Fu Master, I would really recommend this book.

(End of commercial-- No, but seriously, check it out!)


FANG MOUNTAIN KUNG FU TRAINING CAMP

In related news, Master Zhang and two other Kung Fu masters are planning a special training camp in China. You can find the details here. Essentially, the breakdown is that the students will train full-time for about three months and then enter some form of combat martial arts competition. The idea is to hearken back to the badass days of Kung Fu.

It's supposed to be intense and it's an amazing opportunity! If you think about it, in terms of hours, it's the equivalent of spending three nights a week at a local martial arts school for two and a half years. That's pretty hardcore. Plus, you get to go to CHINA! If you're going to learn Kung Fu-- there's not really much of a better place to go, right?

Check out the above links and certainly check out the rest of James' blog. Also, leave a comment with your thoughts about the training camp.

That's all for today, guys! Until next time, good luck and train hard!

Real Anime Training Warm-up Demo Video- Part II

Here's Part 2 of the Real Anime Training Warm-up Demo!



Enjoy! Until next time, good luck and train hard!!

Retsu Kaioh's Training- Part 5

Here are a few more of the 72 Arts of Shaolin. I really hope you guys are enjoying these!

#11: Exercise "Sweeping with an Iron Broom"- This skill is about strengthening the legs or, more specifically, the shin for which the purpose is to sweep an opponent's legs or disarm an opponent. The first stage of the training is to sit motionless in a horse stance. Your leg positioning should be approximately one and half times your shoulder width, feet pointed forward, knees bent, your butt low enough to be uncomfortable (but not below parallel), back naturally straight, and your arms loosely held up in front of your body.

As an example, go to page 5 of this document-http://home.earthlink.net/~wushujia/articles/bashi2009final1.pdf

Stand in this stance as long as you comfortably can and stand when fatiqued and take a little walk. Come back to it later in the day and continue training. This training should be accomplished day after day, the author says. When you can stand in the horse stance for 2 hours without stopping, you have mastered the first stage of the training.

The next stage of the training requires you to place a wooden pole (or several) in the ground and to make sweeping blows at it with your legs. You are to use all four sides of your leg and it will hurt initially, but your legs will become tougher. There is no definite succession of blows to be delivered, you may kick at any height, any frequency, any number of targets.

When you can shake the poles loose from the ground and break the end off, it will be necessary to put a larger pole in the ground and continue the training. The author says eventually, you should work your way up to a tree of some size. At this point, you should be very careful. You will not be able to deliver the same types of blows to the tree, but continue your training in this fashion for three years and leaves will be shaken from the tree. Continue your training, the author gives no time frame, and the trunk itself will shake. Remember that results do not come overnight and that it will be painful. Finally, the trunk will move when you kick it and eventually will fall. You can probably move to another tree after the first one falls. At this point, you will be able to break the limbs of your opponents. This training is difficult, but the author urges a strong spirit.

#12: Exercise "Hand- Bamboo Leaf"- For this training, the author says you need to fill a linen (I'm sure it could be something else, too) bag with iron filings and deliver palm strikes to it. He also says it will cut you, so you should be ready with medicinal tinctures... I think we're just going to skip that altogether and just move onto steel shot. Tie the bag with a rope to strong tree branch or hang it where you can hit it easily from a horse stance. The initial weight of the bag should be approximately 15kg (33lbs). You should strike repeatedly, driving your power to throw the bag back and you can also catch it on its return. If you hit the bag so that it spins, strike it oppositely so that it returns to its normal position.

When you feel during the practice of this exercise, that it is becoming relatively easy (meaning you can strike at it for a long period of time without tiring), add 10kg (22lbs) to the bag and continue your training. Make sure your bag is tough enough to take the beating. You may need to replace it with canvas. When the training once again becomes relatively easy, add 10 more kg and keep training. Repeat this cycle until you reach 60kg (132lbs) and when you can freely deliver blows to the bag without tiring, you will have achieved mastership of this art. It should take 3-4 years, says the author, by which time you should be able to break an object in front of you and seriously injure your opponent.

#13: Exercise "Jumping Centipede"- The starting position of the exercise is much like a push-up. Palms on the ground, raised on your toes, body 2-3 inches off the ground. You will bend slightly at the hips and push off explosively with your arms and toes so that you "hang over the ground" and then, moving forward as well, land back in the starting position.

When a certain level of skill has been attained, you can also do this on your fists and your fingertips (using less fingers as you get better-- until just your forefingers are used) and even raise one leg. You will build explosiveness, stamina, finger and toe strength, and agility--especially on the ground. You can even jump in mulitiple directions with you get better at the exercise.


That's all for today! Let me know if you guys are doing any of these arts so far. I'd love to have you document any and all of the training that you do. Until next time, good luck and train hard!

Real Anime Training Warm-up Demo Video- Part I

 Hope you enjoyed it! More is on the way! Until next time, good luck and train hard!

Kenichi's Seikuuken Training

Kenichi's Seikuuken training is extremely brutal and, truthfully, difficult to replicate. At the very least, we can offer up an imitation of the training and try to capture the essence of what the Seikuuken is. Essentially, the Seikuuken (at least the first stage of it) is an imaginary circle around your body the represents the range of your movement. Ideally, you shouldn't allow anything to enter the realm of your Seikuuken (at the first stage). It is meeting an attacker at the gate, so to speak.

The training below is designed with this concept in mind. There are a few options for the levels of the training, but the concepts remain the same. The Seikuuken is said to require a calm, mirror-like, mind. Keep that in your thoughts as you train. You'll need to empty and calm your mind in order to use this skill as it is expressed in the anime.

Kenichi's Seikuuken Training

Level One: Grabbing the Fish  
   >If you have access to a stream where you can stand and attempt to grab or slap fish out of the water, by all means, do so. Remember that the concept here is not to go for where the fist is, but where it will be. However, if you do not (like most) have access to a stream as previously mentioned, there are other methods available to you.
   >The alternate method of "Grabbing the Fish" is done with a tennis ball. A partner will stand at the furthest point of your reach, where you can still grasp the ball, and then drop the ball. You will then attempt to snatch the ball out of the air. It is, I think, not a direct correlation nor as effective as actually catching a fish with your bare hands, but it will have to do. You could also try to catch a fly or another bug that has landed. This has more of a parallel to catching a fish, because you are making the first move. When you have regular success with this training, you can move to the second level.

Level Two: Blocking the Fist
   >The second level is a partner will circle around you and toss out random attacks. You'll have to block the attacks as they come and your partner can increase in speed as you get better at it. The strikes should be tossed out at the extent of the striking partner's reach and should be intercepted as early on in the movement as possible. For instance, if a punch comes, it should be blocked or deflected before it is extended out or just as it begins to move, but not before.

Level Three: Bees' Hell
    >This training is one of the things that is not really capable of being imitated. In the manga, it shows Kenichi undertaking this part of the training by balancing on one leg on three rocks stacked on one another, while bees attacked him. The Elder told him he should brush off the bees before they stung him. Although I do not recommend doing this at all, I think it is worthwhile to note that it is not the dangerous thing for a bee to fly next to you or even land on you-- it is the act of the been stinging you that is dangerous.
    >I think the key here is that you need not worry about attacks that you either perceive to be coming and are not or feints that the enemy may throw at you. You only need worry about the committed attack that is actually coming toward you. This is, obviously, easier said than done. I have a couple of training methods hear the can be useful. The first will require two partners tossing (once again) tennis balls at or around you. Your goal is to only react to the ones that are going to hit you and either catch or deflect them. To make it more difficult, you can stand on one foot, so balance is a factor. If you need to increase the difficulty, you can stand on one foot while on a half-balance ball.
    >The second training method is similar, but will be a partner tossing out attacks at you, while your goal is to only respond to the ones that are going to hit you. It is recommended that you wear gear for this, so you are not unnecessarily injured in training. Your partner should also be including feints during this training. You can include the balance training here as well. After reasonable success with this training, you can move to the next level.

Level Four: Dodging or Redirecting Large Force
   >The previous levels have mainly been things that aren't really going to hurt you if they connect (either because it's a tennis ball or because you are wearing gear); however, now it's going to get just slightly more dangerous. I still recommend that you wear gear, but this is going to be more of a sparring scenario. Your opponent can strike at you, attempt to grab you, or use a practice weapon (padded preferably) while you attempt to dodge or parry anything that is sent at you. The goal, again, is to intercept it on the outside edges of your "Seikuuken" (that invisible circle I was talking about). So, if it's a punch, kick, or an attempted double leg takedown-- you need to parry, dodge, or redirect it. In general, the parrying or the redirecting will come before the dodge. You really only dodge if you miss the parrying or redirecting.  Don't focus so much on technique when doing this training, but focus on the concept of the Seikuuken and really clear your mind. I think you'll be suprised at what happens when you just allow your body to move as is necessary.

Notes:

• You can spend as much time as you like training: 10, 20, 30 minutes... 2 hours. I left this one intentionally open.

That's all for the Seikuuken Stage 1 training. The rest of the training will come in time, but just focus on this for now. Until next time, good luck and train hard!

On a side note, we added another FB fan. Good work, guys! Keep inviting your friends and spreading the word!

Retsu Kaioh's Training- Part 3

As a continuation of Retsu Kaioh's Training, here are some more of the 72 Arts of Shaolin.

#6: The Four-Part Exercise- This exercise is a little more extensive than most of the other arts, if only because there are, as the name suggests, four parts to it. the first part is

>Supporting the Sky, Raising the Earth, Adjustment of "Three Heaters"
  -Stand up straight, stick out your chest, draw in your buttocks, and look straight ahead intently. Your arms are at your sides, fingers straight and your feets and knees are together. You will raise your arms up at the your sides, but do not bend your elbows. As the arms reach above your head, form your arms into a circle  and interlock your fingers and turn your palms upward, pushing up to the sky with all of your might. Tilt your head back and look at the back of your hands, while clenching your jaw tightly. Next you will bend at the waist and attempt to put your palms on the ground, without bending your knees at all. You may not be able to do so at first, but this is the ultimate goal. Then, you slowly come back to the original position, pushing up with all of your might. This exercise is to be done slowly.

>Five Damages, Seven Harms, Looking Back
  -Stand up straight and turn your head slowly to the right, attempting to look at the heel of your left foot. When you turn your head, your chest sticks out, the torso stays still, and your shoulders should not tilt. Then, return to the starting position and turn your head to the left, trying to look at your right heel. Finally, return to the initial position. This should also be done slowly.

>Opening the Window to Admire the Moon, Drive Away Fire from the Heart
  -Adopt a horse stance, (you may take whichever form you like), but your chest must be forward a little. Your hands are clenched into fists and pressed to the waist, palms up. Look forward and then push with your left leg and straighten it, as your left arm comes up, elbow pointing away from your body and palm facing out. Then take a step out to the right, toes pointing in that direction now with the knee still bent, and forcefully push your right palm out, your body also turning to the right. Keep your eyes on your right hand. Then, you will make the same movement to the left, the left palm out, stepping with the left, turning to the left, your right leg straightened. Return to the starting position.

>Catching Emptiness, Striking at Emptiness, the Strength will not Give Out
  -Adopt a horse stance again, the fists clenched at the waist again. Throw out a strong punch with your right fist at shoulder level, palm down. The left remains at the waist. The right hands opens and immediately clenches inot a fist again as if catching something, before snapping back to your waist. At the same time the right returns to your waist, the left strikes out now, opening and clenching just as the right did just a moment ago. Alternate this process until your legs are too tired to stay in this position.

For this Art, you can do each of the portions for a time limit in progression or in a cycle for a time period. For instance, you can do them each for 5 minutes or cycle through them as many times as you can in 20 minutes. In general, these are done slowly and are meant to build strength, range of motion, and body awareness. This Art's abilities will manifest naturally in your other skills. You must exhale deeply when bending down and for the first, it is best if you can raise up on your toes a little when pressing your palms into the air. Your breath should not be held, but kept in steady rhythm with your body's movements. This is a further foundation for the rest of your training.

#7: Exercise "One Finger of Chan Meditation"- I, personally, find this skill questionable. Up to the mastery of the first level, it seems practical enough, but after that, I'm not sure if I fully support what the author says. However, if you wish to train this art, by all means, practice with the full intent of success and maybe you can acheive something most think is impossible. The method of practice is from the story of a "well-known master of the Shouther Shaolin school" who apparently studied Martial Arts for 40 years and was never beaten.

This training begins with hanging a weight, assumably at about chest or shoulder height. I would say this weight should be considerable, maybe 40-50lbs or so. The master put the weight in a place he often would pass by and, as he did so, he would poke the weight with his finger. Initially, the weight remained motionless, but after a while it began to move and then it moved easier and easier. Here is where my belief begins to get shaky.

After a while, he would poke at the weight a little distance away (I'm guessing just a few inches at first) and the weight would move without him touching it. He then further increased the distance. After this, the master apparently placed a few lamps in the court and lit them in the evening. He would stand about 25 feet away from the lamps and delivered a blow at the flame with his finger. The flame apparently swayed at first, but after some time of practice, would go out immediately at the strike of the master.

The next stage after this was to cover the lamp with a paper shade and deliver blows at it until a single finger blow delivered in the direction of the flame tore the paper and extinguished the flame. The final stage has the paper shades replaced with glass and finger strikes are delivered in the direction of the flame so that the flame goes out without the glass breaking. With regular practice, (I'm supposing every day practice) the author says that this stage can be reached in 10 years and that if a strike is directed at a man, no wound will be seen but his internal organs will be seriously injured.

Like I said, hard to believe, but train it if you want to train it. I'm just relaying the information.

That's all for today. Retsu Kaioh's Training is going to take a while to complete because there are so many Arts, however it should be a fun ride. Until next time, good luck and train hard!

Yu Yu Hakusho- Genkai's Training for Yusuke

There's not a whole lot of training that we can apply from Yu Yu Hakusho, because there's a lot of energy based things. However, there are some things we can take from it, both directly and for inspiration. This workout is based on the times that Genkai trained Yusuke. We don't see much, but what we do see is pretty interesting.  So, here it is!

Genkai's Training for Yusuke

1. Practice Handstands for 30 Minutes
2. Practice Rock Climbing for 30 Minutes
3. Taking Punches- 3 x 1 Minute Rounds
4. Pushing against an opponent- 3 x 1 Minute Rounds

Notes:

• This is simple, but easily varied and increased in difficulty.
• For handstands, just try to stay in a handstand as long as possible. Eventually, practice one handed handstand and fingertip handstands. The absolute limit of this training is being able to do a one-finger handstand. I'm fairly certain this is an ability that would require years and years of training, if you ever acheived it at all. So, for the sake of your sanity, try to focus on the task at hand and just practice the living hell of your handstands.
• For rock climbing, it's best if you have gear and a rockwall made for training. If you're new and unless you are under the direct supervision of a rock climbing instructor, I wouldn't recommend actually going and training your rock climbing out in the wilderness, because you may die. Seriously-- death is forever. Anyway, if you have access to a rock climbing gym, then go for it! You need to work on speed and mobility on the wall. After you feel very comfortable, you can even race an opponent up the wall. To increase the difficulty, you can also wear ankle weights or a weighted vest.
• For taking punches, you'll mainly be taking them to your midsection, preferably all the way around. Start with light blows and work our way up to harder ones.
• For pushing against an opponent, you can put your hands, shoulders, chests, or backs together and try to push one another as hard as you can. The point here is maximum exertion, although you'll probably be pretty wasted from the rest of the workout at this point.
• The exercises are mostly open so you can train on the principles and the movements, just so you're not always set in a certain way of doing things, because the world is never static and is always bringing you new challenges. Increase the difficulty as you get better at each thing.
• Try to have fun!

That's all for today. I'm not sure if I can get anything else out of Yu Yu Hakusho, but I'm currently taking a second look at a few series I'd previously written off, so expect to see some newer things coming in the next few weeks, amidst our regulars.

Until next time, good luck and train hard!

Retsu Kaioh's Training- Part 2

Here are the first five of the 72 Arts of Shaolin for Retsu Kaioh's Training. There are a lot more, so be prepared to see Retsu's name for a while (I'll spare you from every post). Remember, the author cautions, these Arts are not to be used to harm, but to defend yourself and others. And I wholeheartedly agree.

1. Diamond Finger: Up first, we have the Diamond Finger. This Art is designed to turn the fore fingers of your hands into lethal weapons. The training is simple, but not easy. You'll need to continually poke your finger into hard objects, such as a tree trunks or a wall. Various other objects can, and should, be used. If you have a spare moment, poke something.

You'll have to start with light blows at first and build your way up to hitting harder. This training will take a long time and results will come slowly. Remember not to go too quickly or you may injure your fingertip and be unable to train for a short while, which can slow you even more. These Arts are not something acquired over night, so remember to be diligent in your training. Your fingers will be sore and you may find excuses not to train, but train every day even if it's just lightly tapping objects.

It takes approximately three years, according to the author, to say that you have acquired this skill. That is not to say you have Mastered it, but you have successfully acquired it. When the Art has become your own, the author conveys that you have leave imprints in wood and cause serious harm to a human being.


2. Twin Lock: Twin lock is also a simple exercise, but painful and not easy to continue for long periods of time, both because it is painful and partially embarassing to practice in front of others. To begin, you simply strike your forearms together. You do this bone on bone, bone on muscle, and muscle on muscle. It will hurt and the process will be slow. However, after a year or so of purposeful training, you should here a hollow knock and feel very little to no pain and it is possible to move on to the next stage.

The second stage includes the striking together of the wrists, fists, palms, two fingers held tightly together, and your straightened forefinger. A similar hollow knocking sound and diminished pain should bring to conclusion the second stage-- after approximate two years of total training.

The final stage includes striking at the feet and shins and upper legs with your forearms in the same fashion as the other stages of training. After at least another year of training, you'll have acquired this skill.


3. Striking with Foot: This Art requires that you take an stroll in the morning and evening. That's it... no, I'm kidding. You do take a morning and evening stroll, but on those walks, you go barefoot and kick at small stones or other small objects with your big toe. Gradually, you will work your way up to larger and larger stones and when you can toss a sizeable stone a fair distance, you'll have achieved the first stage. This, of course, is rather vague, so when you can toss a stone around the size of (or maybe a little bigger than) your fist, then you can move on to the next stage.

The second stage of this art requires you to take aiming blows at stones. So, instead of just kicking a larger stone with your toe, you will attempt to kick it at something. If you can regulary aim a large stone with a kick, then you will see that your kicking skill has greatly increased and you will have gained the ability to move even a large opponent with a kick.



4. Pulling Out Nails: This next skill builds your finger, hand, forearm, and shoulder strength. You will take 108 nails that are about 4" long (I suppose a 16d nail should work) and drive them part-ways into a thick board. You will then practice pulling all 108 nails out of the board with your thumb and forefinger. First focus on pulling out the 108 for as long as it takes you, even if it's 6 months. Then, drive another 108 and see how long that takes you. When you can pull them out (on both sides) in a single sitting, you have mastered the first stage.

The second stage requires driving the nails, sprinkling them with water, and then allowing them to rust. So, you may want to have a second set of the nails already rusting, while you're training your first stage. When you can remove all 108 rusty nails on with your left and right (108 each side) in a single sitting, you've gained this ability. The final stage of the training, and the one that leads to Mastery, is when you can pull 1,000 rusty nails on each side. I'm sure you could further complicate this training with thicker nails, but one thing at a time.


5. Ringing Round a Tree: This training requires you to hug trees. I'm not kidding this time. You'll go outside and find a tree that you can reach your arms around and clasp them together. Then you'll attempt to lift and pull with all of your might until you are absolutely exhausted. Do this several times throughout the day. After a year, you should be able to shake the tree.

After two years of training, you'll find your body muscles becoming hard as stone and the tree will move more and more. After three years of constant training, the author says that you should be able to uproot the tree. This makes me believe that you are supposed to use the same tree for three years and it should be one you can easily grasp your hands together or grab your own wrists. However, I'm slightly skeptical of this, however other people have practiced trying to throw or lift trees and have become very strong as a result, so even if you never uproot the tree, you'll build an amazing level of strength.


That's all for today. Just 67 more arts to go! Hope you enjoyed this one. Until next time, good luck and train hard!