The Yagyu were the Tokugawa shoguns’ personal instructors in swordsmanship. Arguably the best sword fighters (see also close quarter combat specialists) of their time.
The motto of there school was; Katsujinken Satsujinken
“The sword which kills is the sword which gives life.”
Or more explicitly translated in English as “The sword which cuts down evil is the sword which preserves life.”
Tanren is the process during the forging of a sword in which the blade is hammered and folded, reducing the carbon content and eliminating impurities to create a strong foundation for the remaining steps of forging.
If you are a professional, if you are paid to protect the innocent, you are society’s sword. You cut down evil to preserve life. If you take on that responsibility, you owe it to your self and the people that place themselves in your care to regularly go through a tanren process. To routinely hammer yourself to remove impurities and create a strong foundation
A painting of the blacksmith Weyland (Norse mythology)
I like to use a poker analogy. You have to play the hand you are dealt. Meaning your martial art has to work for you no matter your age, gender, size or fitness level. But you should always strive to improve your hand.
Your martial art skill should not depend on you being more fit than your opponent. Also big muscles don’t mean you are a skilled fighter, or that those muscles are good for anything besides looking sexy.
That’s a picture of my buddy Stephen. I’ve been encouraging him to come back to the Dojo (he was a Shodan in Aikido and trained in Japan
My point is if martial art is not a hobby for you. If combative skill is a requisite of your job (or your survival) you owe it to your self to be the best you, you can be.
Martial art shouldn’t be reliant on fitness but it sure can be enhanced by it. If we use tanren as a metaphor for regular fitness training with the intent purpose of improving martial performance in combat then regular workouts become a process of hammering yourself to eliminate impurities to create a strong foundation for the remaining steps of your martial arts training.
Martial art shouldn’t be reliant on fitness but it sure can be enhanced by it. If we use tanren as a metaphor for regular fitness training with the intent purpose of improving martial performance in combat then regular workouts become a process of hammering yourself to eliminate impurities to create a strong foundation for the remaining steps of your martial arts training.
I feel that all Dojo time should be used on martial art training. Far too many instructors cover their lack of skill or knowledge by filling class time with “conditioning drills”. Many people are lead to believe that the more intense the training is, the better it is. Having survived an intense situation creates an emotional buy in to the training. Sadly this intensity over quality is used to create by ins to training that lacks practical application and is marketed at that 18-24 demographic that will survive despite their training not because of it. Or to possers and wannabes who want a magic solution to their fears (or fantasies)
I can get conditioning drills at yoga booty ballet boot camp. But it won’t make me a better fighter
Someone can develop the greatest martial art specific work out program in the world and it won’t do a lick of good if you don’t do it. So, inversely the best work out is one you enjoy doing, and will actually do.
I advocate Dojo time for skill building. I encourage regular fitness training with the intent purpose of improving martial performance in combat as a supplement to your Dojo training.
The first step in developing a supplemental fitness program that you will actually do has to be time management.
The first step in developing a supplemental fitness program that you will actually do has to be time management.
Time Management
Make a chart:
- 7 columns Sunday- Saturday across the top
- As many rows as you need one for each hour from when you wake to when you go to sleep
- Block out the must do’s
- Work
- School
- Anything that has to be done and it has to be done at a certain time
Now look at the one hour blocks that are open. If there are none you are going to have to wake up an hour earlier. I realize that’s not easy, but being a professional warrior is not an easy path.
Ok so let’s break the topic of performance based fitness into three subtopics
Strength
Cardio
Martial art specific
Three different workouts twice a week (48-72 hours rest between the same workout is repeated) means a six day a week commitment.
I know we can all find an hour a day to train. The key is to get the most bang for you buck.
If you can dedicate an hour for training you want to use that hour to train. If you have to drive 20 minutes to the gym and 20 minutes back that only leaves 20 minutes to train.
That is why I am a huge fan of body weight training.
Body weight training:
Is free
Can be done anywhere
Can be done any time
And develops practical strength (Go muscles not show muscles)
Here is a link to a site with tons of great workouts you can try
From that site this is one of my favorites and a great place to start if you are not already strength training.
The Pyramid 
If you take a look at one of the pyramids, you will notice that it is numbered on both sides. It goes from 1-5 on one side, with the number 6 on the top, and then 5-1 on the other side. Each number represents a step in the pyramid. Your goal is to climb the pyramid all the way up, and all the way back down. So you can consider each step a "set" of your workout.
You start at the bottom of the pyramid, at number one. For each set, you multiply each set number by 1 and that tells you how many pullups to do. You multiply it by 2 to get your pushups, and multiply by 3 for situps. You keep progressing until you get to the top of the pyramid, or your maximum effort at muscle failure. At step six you perform 6 pullups/ 12 pushups/18 situps. Now, you start working your way back down the other side and continue on step 5 on the way back down. So, you'll do 5 pullups/10 pushups/15 situps. Keep going until you work all the way back down to one. Listed below is a number summary of the pyramid:
Go Up the Pyramid:
(or half pyramid workout)
- Set/Step 1: 1 pullups/2 pushups/3 situps
- Set/Step 2: 2 pullups/4 pushups/6 situps
- Set/Step 3: 3 pullups/6 pushups/9 situps (Your first few set are basically a warmup)
- Set/Step 4: 4 pullups/8 pushups/12 situps
- Set/Step 5: 5 pullups/10 pushups/15 situps
- Set/Step 6: 6 pullups/12 pushups/18 situps (Here is where you may fail/max out)
Go Down the Pyramid:
(or reverse order pyramid)
- Set/Step 5: 5 pullups/10 pushups/15 situps
- Set/Step 4: 4 pullups/8 pushups/12 situps
- Set/Step 3: 3 pullups/6 pushups/9 situps (Finish cool down)
- Set/Step 2: 2 pullups/4 pushups/6 situps
- Set/Step 1: 1 pullups/2 pushups/3 situps
For cardio jumping rope and running are also free, and available anytime any where
Martial art specific training is where you need to be creative. Find training methods for improving your performance of your art. The book “Best Judo” has some great suggestions for this, so does “Judo training methods”. For striking all of Mas Oyama’s books have great training drills. Gyaku Homma's books have fantastic weapons training drills. Take their fundamentals and work out a program specifically for you.
"Subjecting yourself to vigorous training is more for the sake of forging a resolute
spirit that can vanquish the self than it is for developing a strong body."
~Mas Oyama~
spirit that can vanquish the self than it is for developing a strong body."
~Mas Oyama~
The key point with any of this training is to find a time, place and activity that works best for you to improve your combat performance. AND STICK TO IT!
If you would like help developing your own program you can click
Or call 763-300-3456
Forge a better sword, cut down evil and preserve life.
Military exercise site is cool.
ReplyDeleteRoss Enamait (http://rosstraining.com/blog/)has some fantastic, low-cost resources on training (and a bunch of free stuff) on his site. Very useful for martial artists, especially those without access to large scale commercial gyms.
Yup Ross is an awesome source for great training drills especially fighting specific training
ReplyDeleteThanks for putting up this post (although I know it wasn't specifically for me haha). Tonnes of references/resources here.
ReplyDeleteThat's become our motto- train smarter to fight harder. For info on Fitness for the Fighting Arts consultation and workshops on activity-specific injury prevention and performance enhancement, drop us a line:
ReplyDeletewww.yourfitnessfixes.com
Thanks for your information, it was really very helpfull..
ReplyDeletedoes it work
I spend a lot of time in airports, including 4 hours Sunday in
ReplyDeleteSt. Louis. But I always look on the positive side and try to get as
much magazine reading or article writing done as possible.
Heck, I even wrote this email to you from Gate A18 while waiting for
my flight and watching the Patriots-Colts game.
This reminds me of a time about a year ago when I was stuck in the
Newark Airport, and I was reading a copy of Men's Fitness that
contained the legendary TT success story of the Kuhn Triplets (you
can see the fat loss story on my site at
http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com).
Here's some of the tips we used in our plan to help the 3 brothers
lose that last 5 pounds of fat in the last 10 days of the
transformation.
NOTE: These advanced tips were only used for 10-14 days. That's the
maximum time for this advanced plan.
1) Start your day with water and fiber. I truly believe drinking
12 cups of water over the course of the day helps you stay alert and
stops you from feeling too hungry. As for the fiber, you can get it
from fruit or nuts. Research shows starting your day with fiber
helps control your blood sugar until the afternoon.
2) Eat 1 cup of raw vegetables prior to eating your regular lunch
and dinner. This will help control your appetite.
3) Eat only almonds, raw vegetables, & fruit between meals.
4) Don't eat more than 40g of carbohydrates at any meal.
5) Don't go to bed full. Eat only a small protein snack in the
evening to control calorie intake.
6) Drink 6 cups of green tea per day (3 in AM, 3 after lunch)
Advanced Exercise Tips
1) Add 10 seconds to each work interval.
2) Add in some bodyweight circuits (10-20 minutes per day) done in
the morning or evening.
If you do your regular TT workout in the morning, then do your
bodyweight circuits after dinner. Alternatively, do the bodyweight
circuits first thing in the morning, and then do your regular
workout at lunch or later in the afternoon or evening.
3) Add one set to the first superset you do in each workout.
Use these strict tips for no more than 2 weeks before returning to
normal exercise guidelines and carbohydrate intake.
Go here to get started: ===> Advanced tips to lose inches from your waist <=====
Train hard but safe,
CB
PS - For maximum fat loss...
If you have dumbbells, a bench, and a ball at home, you can lose
fat in the comfort of your own home with Turbulence Training.
"At the end of week one, I lost 3.5 pounds and I was feeling great.
Yesterday was the end of week two and I lost 3 more pounds! Six and
a half pounds in two weeks and I feel outstanding. Not the least
bit tired or weak. I've never been so enthusiastic about each
workout. I didn't bother to take a 'before' photo, but I may still
do that. I would have touched base with you sooner, but with work,
school, training, etc., I'm always pressed for time. And of course,
that's what makes Turbulence Training such a convenient program."
Chuck Fager
Click here to get Turbulence Training: ===> Fast fat loss workouts... <=====
"As a professional firefighter, personal fitness is very important
to me. I found the Turbulence Training program to be an excellent
way to keep my workouts fresh and high paced while achieving my
desired results. I would recommend this program to anyone who is
serious about losing weight and reaching their fitness goals."
Chris Gaylor, Professional Firefighter