Bubble Buster: Martial Arts Training Involution #193

“Bubblegum Bubblegum in a dish
How many pieces do you wish?
1,2,3,4,5,6,7
8,9 10 and then 11
Bubblegum Bubblegum in a shoe
How many pieces can you chew?”

Do you remember from when you were a kid the old jump rope rhyme beneath the picture on the right?

Well, around these parts we believe jumping rope was great for you back then and that it’s still good for you now.

Are you one of those naysayers who says that jumping rope doesn’t benefit martial artists?  Well, this T.I. is your bubble buster.  Shut your pie hole until you’ve worn out a few ropes.

BUBBLE BUSTER: MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING INVOLUTION #193

  • Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes.  I like to do 2 or 3 minutes each of light calisthenics, shadowboxing, and dynamic stretching — or I just do 8 minutes of MBF.

  • 3 x 3:00/1:00 on the heavy bag.  Do all three rounds with your focus on mobility.  Lots of slips, circling, lumberjack hooks, décollage kicks, etc. Up, down, back, forth, in, out!

  • 15o kicks vs. the heavy bag as fast as you can.  Really get after it, but don’t let your power level get below 75%.  If you cannot get this done in under 5 minutes you should do this drill more often.

  • Jump rope conditioner.  Set a timer for 1:00 rounds, no breaks.  Alternate rounds of jumping rope and Bodybuilders for 10 minutes.  See how many Bodybuilders you can complete (I got 32) and how few jump rope flubs you can make (I made two).

  • 10 minutes of meditation.  In Cabal Fang we use various symbols to access universal truths about ourselves the world we live in.  Pick one of the Cabal Fang’s twelve symbols — Quill, Hourglass, Hand of Mysteries, Bell, Candle, Rose, the Luminaries, Chalice, Book, Cross, Pentangle or Staff.  Set a timer for 10 minutes, have a seat in your meditative posture of choice, and regulate your breathing.  Visualize the symbol and meditate on it until the timer beeps.  Do not think in words — you want to experience the symbol outside the linguistic/logical spectrum.