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!

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I'm going to post the first demonstration video for Real Anime Training on Monday, hopefully. After that, we'll try to have one at least once a week amidst our workouts and other things on the blog.

I know the videos are long overdue, but it's better late than never.

On a side note, if you feel so inclined, you can donate to Real Anime Training to help offset my training expenses or, if you know someone who would like to Sponsor us, we'd love to have them.

No workout tonight, but I'll definitely have one up for tomorrow.

Thanks, guys! Until next time, good luck and train hard!

Who Would Win #6: Sakaki Shio vs. Orochi Doppo

In these things, I tend to like to match people up based on their commonalities. This time, we've matched up two Karate masters from two different anime. Sakaki Shio is the "100 Dan Brawler" from History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi (I still refuse to call it Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple) and Orochi Doppo, the tiger-slaying "God of Karate" from Grappler Baki. Let's begin!

Truthfully, this would be a brutal fight, because both of these men know the deepest secrets of Karate and would, thus, anticipate each other's moves with amazing accuracy. The fight would likely be long and arduous and neither man would walk away unharmed. Their experiences are different, with Sakaki being involved in both underground fighting and government missions and Orochi Doppo's life almost fully committed to the day-to-day practice of Karate... and having badass fights in his own brand of underground matches.

I think speed and power go to Sakaki, but experience and sheer toughness go to Orochi. The other thing is that Doppo is not at all afraid to kill his opponent, if necessary, while Sakaki belongs to the "Katsujinken" or "Life Giving Fist." In the end, the fight would most likely end with a single full-power blow from both men, with Sakaki barely snatching victory away from the Tiger Killer.

That's two HSDK vs. Grappler Baki matches we've had. Don't know if there will be more of those, but I've got a couple more ideas for Random Who Would Win bouts.

In a side note, this is the 100th post we've done this year! To match that, if you haven't joined us on Facebook yet, we're still looking to get to 100 fans. We're only 39 shy of that and I've got some cool stuff planned for the blog when we get there!

I'm going to try to get a workout up sometime during the latter part of Wednesday and maybe another one on Thursday. If you have a request for Thursday, leave it in the comments!

Thanks, guys! Until next time, good luck and train hard!

Retsu Kaioh's Training- Part 4

In this edition of Retsu Kaioh's Training, we're going to look at some very interesting Shaolin training methods. The three methods are partially defensive and partially offensive and are, for the most part, a hard-type training method. The first of these is--

#8: Exercise- "Iron Head"- Yeah, this is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. You begin by wrapping your head in several layers of cloth or maybe a towel. Preferably it should be something that you can remove in layers. You will, at this point, hit your head against a wall. That, is, the top of your head. You shouldn't try to go really hard, just focus on getting used to the force and you only need to do it a few times a day, initially.

After a year of training in this fashion, you may remove a few layers (see why the layers are important?) and continue your training. After 100 more days of training, remove more layers and then, you gradually remove layers as is comfortable. After the end of the second year, the layers should be completely removed.

At this point, you will continue the training with a bare head. It will be painful, so proceed with caution, says the author. However, the head will eventually become harder than stone and can be used as a weapon and, obviously, if someone tries to hit you over the head, the damage will be greatly reduced. The author explains that this skill should only be used in defense and never as a first strike.

#9: Exercise "Iron Shirt"- This skill takes a little longer to develop, but you begin in a similar fashion. Wrap your torso in several layers of fabric and massage your chest, stomach, and back (I guess get someone to do this) with force. The author advises you to unbend your elbows from time to time as you do this. He also advises that you sleep on a hard bed in order for your body to get used to hard surfaces. Lastly, you will dig out a little pit and put a bar above it, so you can hold yourself up. Fill the bottom of the pit with about 1/4 inch of fine sand and, holding the bar, drop a body part (back, shoulder, butt, chest, etc) onto the sand with force. You will also have the fabric on your body in this training. Each body part should be hit twice during a training session. This first stage will take three years to attain.

The second stage involves the removal of the fabric from your body as you continue your training and add to your training regimen, striking your upper body with a wooden hammer (I would say with a larger striking surface... not like a framing hammer or something... more like a mallet) and finally an metal one. This training should also take you three years... I would make sure I was comfortable with the wooden mallet before I moved to its metal counterpart.

When the skill is acquired, your body will be able to fend off strikes from human bodies and lighter blunt weapons, the author says, but you should avoid heavier weapons all the same.

#10: A Series of Blows- This is sort of like "Iron Shirt," except you'll start with a flat piece of wood-- a wooden "brick," if you will-- and hit your body with it, lightly at first. You will train this skill once in the morning and once in the evening, picking a portion of your body every time to which you will deliver at least 100 blows (example: both arms, both legs, your chest and stomach, or your sides).

After a year of training, you can move to a normal clay brick and continue training in this fashion. After six months of training, you can move to a metal "brick" and finally after another six months of training, the first stage of mastery for this skill is reached. Obviously, you must continue on with this training in order to develop higher levels of mastery, but at two years of training, this is one of the arts that has the shortest time constraints on it.


Hope you enjoyed these three Arts! There's more on the way in the coming weeks. Until next time, good luck and train hard!

Ippo's Comeback Workout

This workout is for the training Ippo did for his comeback fight with Ponchai. Ippo was just coming off a three month rest period, so he had to build his stamina and rhythm back for the fight. Not to mention, Coach Kamogawa also spent some time in the hospital, so it threw another wrench in the training. The purpose of the skill training during the time, was to build a simultaneous offense and defense. The workout will be slightly different because Ippo is just coming off a rest period.

The result: The Dempsey Roll.

So, here's the workout!

Ippo's Comeback Workout

Morning

• 3 Mile Run

4-6 Hours Later

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

4 Rounds, then

• 3 Minutes Jump Rope
• 2 Minutes Dodging Tennis Balls
• 1 Minute Rope Drill

3 Rounds, then

• Run 2 Miles
• 5 Sets of 100 Yard Wheelbarrow Push or Other Push

Then,

• 3 x 3 Minute Rounds Mitt Hitting
• 3 x 3 Minute Rounds Bagwork
• 3 x 3 Minute Rounds Shadowboxing
• 3 x 3 Minute Rounds Sparring

Notes:

• For Dodging Tennis Balls, you'll have a partner bounce tennis balls at your upper body as you bob and weave to dodge them. It's best to do it, where there is a wall that is about four or five feet behind you so you can be mindful of the balls bouncing off the wall, as well.
• For the Rope Drill, you'll want to have a rope tied at about shoulder height, preferably at a length of about 15-20 feet, so you have enough room to move. First, you'll just move forward, while ducking underneath the rope and slipping to the other side. Then, you'll need to work on throwing a punch with that movement, like a hook or uppercut.
• This workout is intentionally a little easier than some of the recent Ippo workouts, but don't worry, they'll pick up the pace again soon enough.

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

Donations

If you haven't already seen it, I added a donation button on the right side of the blog. Feel free to donate however much you like, because every little bit helps! With the growth we've had in the past few months, it seems an appropriate time to branch out, so I'm working on some more things for you guys.

Thanks so much for reading!!

Ideas

I just want to remind you guys that if you have any ideas or suggestions or just things you'd like to see, let me know in the comments or shoot me an email at realanimetraining@gmail.com.

Good luck and train hard!