Ippo on the Beach

Ippo prepares for the next stage of the Japan East Rookie Tournament by going on a week long training camp with Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura. It's a brutal week in which Ippo builds his ability to turn on a dime. Ideally, you should have access to a beach or at least a long stretch of sand to do this workout. So, here it is. It really is hell, so scale it back a little if you have to.

Ippo on the Beach

Morning

1. Run 3 Miles in sand, with 7 sprints
2. 3 x 3 Minute Rounds Sparring or Mitt Hitting (if partner available)
3. Tennis Ball Catching- 100 Balls

4-6 hours later

1. Run 3 Miles in sand, with 7 sprints
2. 3 x 3 Minute Rounds Sparring or Mitt Hitting (if partner available)
3. 5 Sets of 5 x 3 Minute Rounds (Yes, that's 25 Rounds)

Notes:

• When running in the sand, make sure to really push off with your toes. Otherwise, you won't be able to run as fast and you'll miss out on an important part of the training: making your big toes stronger. You can jog a little slower than normal if you like, because you'll have seven sets of sprints throughout the run. Really push it on the sprints! Remember: Toes, toes, toes!
• When catching the tennis balls, stay on your toes. Have your training partner throw the tennis balls to either side of you (doesn't have to alternate) and you must catch them. Try to keep an even pace at first, but then you can speed up after some time.
• There is a LOT of shadowboxing in this workout. Your rest periods should be from 30 seconds to 1 minute in between rounds and 2 to 3 minutes in between sets. It will look like this. 5 x 3 Min Rounds with 1 Min rest in between rounds. After the fifth round, take a 2 to 3 minute rest and then start the next set of 5 rounds. Although there are rest periods, this is almost 2 hours long.
• You can tone this workout down if you need to. If you take a vacation to the beach, and you are in shape enough, give this workout a try for 5 days in a row or as long as you are there.

That's all for today. Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been busy with work and home life. Hopefully will have some more stuff up tomorrow or the next day. Until then, good luck and train hard.

Martial Arts and Fighting

What is the purpose of the martial arts? What do the parents who sign their bullied 11-year old up for Tae Kwon Do want to gain from the training? What is sold, day in and day out, across the country as the purpose of the martial arts?

Discipline? Confidence? The instilling of virtue in the next generation? Health and fitness? Art, maybe? Sure. I'll allow all those things to be listed as the purpose of a martial art. However, all (and I do mean all) of these things take a back seat to the granddaddy purpose of them all:

Fighting.

Yes, fighting. Fighting is what martial arts is, for God's sake. Think about it for a moment: Self defense without fighting is learning to stay indoors and praying no one breaks in. All real martial arts have their roots in fighting. This may seem like a truism, but with the way many martial artists treat their training, you might be surprised.

I'm not here to tell you what style you should practice. I don't care what style you practice or if you practice one at all. What I am here to tell you is that if you are a martial artist and are not sparring or competing in some type of fighting event, you are missing a vital part of your training. There are valuable tools that are built in sparring, such as timing, distance, and the ability to not curl into a ball when someone attempts to rearrange your face.

A martial arts master who has never fought another human being (even in sparring) is NOT a martial arts master, regardless of the level of skill he or she possesses in breaking boards, doing kata, or what-have-you. How can I say that? Because in fighting another human being, you gain real world experience about combat that you can't gain through other means. You may have gained immense power/speed/technique from your martial arts training, but until you spar/fight with another person, there is no application to what you are doing. Sure, you may be able to drop a guy in one shot with your amazing, super special punching technique, but you don't really know that until you fight someone. You also don't know what will happen if that person just so happens to dodge.

I'm sure there are many who will disagree with me. "Oh, no! My master has been training for 30 years and has never fought with anyone!" --- Then, how do you know if anything he's teaching you works? Because that's what's important. If your style fails you when you need it the most, you might not be able to correct your mistake. You might be dead.

Whatever style you practice-- you need to spar. That means you need to spar using safety gear, so you and your partner aren't seriously injured. Minimum is gloves, mouthpiece and a cup. If you're just grappling or doing a Kyokushin spar, you can drop the gloves. You should also spar against different styles. If you are a stand up fighter, spar with grapplers. It'll let you know the limits of both your styles when matched against one another. If you're a Judo player, try a wrestler. Spar against anyone you can from any style you can. You and your partner will learn a lot.

If you want to say that sparring isn't realistic, I have two retorts. 1st- It's really the best you've got unless you want to go out picking real fights or venturing into very dangerous areas hoping to get mugged. (Shouldn't have to say this, but DO NOT DO THIS!) 2nd- Self-defense techniques where you defend a single lunge punch you know is coming and then hit your immobile opponent three times or just wailing on your Body Opponent Bag doesn't really rank up there in terms of realism, either.

Of course, if you've been reading Real Anime Training, I've always been a proponent of sparring. And how could I not be with the countless number of fights that happen in the anime that we cover. Goku spars, Kenichi spars, Ippo spars, Baki spars, and a lot of guys just pick fights, but the point is the same. If you are practicing a martial art and you are not fighting-- start now.

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

On "Completing a Workout 3 Times"

Some workouts have a rule that you cannot advance to the next level of a workout until you complete your current level three times. That means you attempt and complete the workout on three separate occasions. For instance, if you've do the same workout once a week on the same day and you complete it three weeks in a row, you get to move up to the next level.

This rule does not mean that you complete the workout three times in one day or three times in a row. Plus, generally, you shouldn't do the same workout every day or two days in a row (although it wouldn't hurt to do the same workout two days in a row sometimes).

Anyway, just thought I'd clear that up.

Let me see what you've got!

If you've got an idea for a workout or have a workout planned out, just send it to my e-mail at realanimetraining@gmail.com and you may just see it on the blog.

Please include:

• The name of the anime
• The name of the workout
• Your first name
• Your city and state (or country, if you don't live in the US)

Thanks for all your support, guys! I really look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Ippo's First Three Fights

This workout is based on the training seen in the anime for Ippo's first three fights. It's similar to the other Ippo workouts but has some differences as well. Hopefully you'll enjoy it.

Ippo's First Three Fights

Morning

• 3 Mile Run (5 Sprints Throughout)

4-6 Hours Later

• 20 Push-ups
• 20 Sit-ups
• 20 Hindu Squats

4 Rounds, then

• 3 Minutes Neck Bridging
• 3 Minutes Headstand Work
• 3 x 1 Minute Heavy Bag "Sprint"
• 3 x 3 Minutes Jump Rope
• 5 Minutes Speed Bag Practice (if available)
• 4 x 3 Minutes Shadowboxing or Heavy Bag work
• 1 Mile Run
• 3 Sets of 20 Medicine Ball Ab Strikes

Notes:

• The workout begins with four rounds of push-ups, sit-ups, and hindu squats. There is no rest in between rounds.
• For Heavy Bag "Sprints," lay into a heavy bag as hard and as fast as you can for the time limit. There is a 1 minute rest period between "sprints."
• The speed bag is useful for developing one's timing. It will take some getting used to, but you'll get it with practice.
• Medicine Ball Ab Strikes can be done by dropping a medicine ball on your midsection while you are laying down, or having someone hit your abs while standing, with your arms behind your head. There is a 1 minute rest in between sets.
• Added neck bridging, so we don't lose all that great neck strength we've built up to this point. If you can do the full three minutes, you can press a weight or hold it on your chest. Also, some headstand work.

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

P.S.- Sorry I haven't put a lot up, I've been sick for a few days and haven't felt like doing anything.

Two Edits

I've edited two workouts to make them more in line with their respective anime. The workouts are the "Himokiri Karate Workout" and "Roshi's Training." Be sure to check them out. I should also have something else up for you guys tonight.

Later!

Ryouzanpaku Master Workout #4- Akisame

This workout is based on HSDK's master, Koetsuji Akisame, the Philosophical Jujitsu Master. It's a little hard to pin Akisame's training down, primarily because traditional jujitsu training doesn't have a large amount of physical conditioning beyond constant repetition of techniques. However, Akisame is not a normal jujitsu practitioner and has used a massive amount of physical training to turn all the muscles in his body into intermediate types capable of both explosive and long-term movements. Although, it's probably impossible to change the muscular composition of one's body, it's still fun to think about. This is the first workout for Akisame and there will also be more workouts for the other masters, as well. As always, remember to check the notes at the bottom.

Morning:

1. 3 Mile Run
2. 500 Yard Bear Crawl

4-6 Hours Later:

1. 50 Pull-ups
2. 100 Push-ups
3. 200 Sit-ups
4. 300 Squats
5. 10 Minutes "Toe Training"
6. 30 Minutes Jujitsu Practice

Notes:

• When your time for the three mile run gets down to 21 minutes, begin to pull a tire on the run. Add 10lbs to the tire every time you get the time down to 21 minutes again.
• You can bear crawl on flat ground or up a hill. When you get to the point where you are pulling a tire on your run, also pull a tire during the bear crawl. The weight on the tire will also correspond to the weight on it during the run.
• For the pull-ups, you can do wide grip, close grip, supinated grip (chin-ups), behind the neck pull-ups, towel pull-ups, or basic pull-ups. I'd recommend switching every time you do this workout. When you can do 50 reps without stopping on a few of the variations, hold a 10lb weight in between your knees or feet, hang it from your weight belt, or wear it in a weighted vest. You can add 10 more pounds each time you get to 50.
• For the push-ups, you can do the basic push-up, wide push-ups, diamond push-ups, push-ups with fingers facing each other or away from each other, push-ups on the backs of your hands or whatever. Switch like with the pull-ups. When you can get to 100 reps without stopping on a few of the types of push-ups, wear a weighted vest with 10lbs. Add weight when you get to 100 again. You'll probably need to do the push-ups with your hands and feet on blocks after you wear the vest in order to get the range of motion back.
• For the sit-ups, after you do 200 reps without stopping, I recommend doing them on an decline bench. After you get to 200 again, you can either devise a way to do hanging sit-ups or you can start to add weight to your decline sit-ups. Hold a 10lb weight just behind your head to add weight to the sit-ups. Be sure not to tug on your own head to assist in the movement. Also, as always, when your do sit-ups make sure to really focus on "curling" up with your abdominal muscles instead of keeping your body straight.
• For the squats, you can do conventional squats, sumo squats, hindu squats, or lunge squats (it's 300 per leg if you're doing lunge squats). When you get to 300 reps on the squats, add 10lbs to the exercise by holding dumbbells in your hands, a barbell on your back, in the crux of your elbows, in the front on your shoulders, holding a small sandbag (which will obviously get bigger as you add weight), or by wearing a weighted vest.
• "Toe Training" is anything that will workout your toes. You can pull a dumbbell or barbell across the floor by hooking it with your toes, or pull down on a cable machine by hooking the handle with your toes. You can just hold onto the edge of something with your toes like a table or a metal bar and flex your toes up and down on it or pull down with your whole leg. You can also kick your toes into a sandbag (be careful) or flex your toes through sand, pebbles, or steel shot. Train your feet like you train your hands. It may seem strange, but strong feet and toes are better than weak feet and toes.
• For all exercises, you may do them fast or slow or with pauses. Change it up every now and again.
• Jujitsu practice can be practicing breakfalls or throws or submissions. I would go so far as to say any grappling technique, just so you have something to do. 

That's all for today. This workout first builds middle level strength and endurance with bodyweight exercises and slowly adds weight to those exercises, in order for you to build both strength and stamina. Good luck and train hard!