Victory Flow: Martial Arts Training Involution #211

Victory is attained through flow not by force.

To lead a group you must be in dialogue with its members.  To win a fight you must work with your adversary's openings.  To physically train your body for fitness, you have work with your body or you will destroy it.

Forcing people destroys teams and groups.  Forcing a given strategy onto set of conditions loses matches, fights and battles.  Forcing your body leads to injury.  And please tell me how it's at all possible to force a relationship with your higher power?

The monthly focus and symbol are both related flow, which is the conversation and interplay between contrasting elements -- you and your higher power, you and your martial opponent, the present state and the goal, etc.  Common symbols for this are pictured on the right.

Clockwise from the upper left: The Chariot Tarot card depicts a chariot drawn by two sphinxes, one light and the other dark.  The rider is being drawn along by the flow.  The stag, a crepuscular animal active only at dawn and dusk, is awash in the conversation between light and dark.  The Luminaries are the two heavenly bodies, one to light the day and the other to light the night.  Boaz and Jachin are the pillars of Solomon's Temple, Boaz often depicted as black and Jachin as white, evoking ideas similar to the divine twins astride horses -- one dark the other light -- and  to the taijitu or "yin-yang" symbol -- the unity of opposing forces.

The cross, this month's symbol, is also about flow.  There are four ways of approaching biblical interpretation (allegorical, moral, anagogical and literal) and they are collectively known as the quadriga -- a chariot drawn by four horses -- a call-back to the symbols pictured above.  The cross, which is after all compass and the "X" that marks the spot, warns you that if you fail to acknowledge the flow you will surely lose your way.

Victory Flow: Martial arts Training Involution #211

• Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

• At least 11 minutes of flow drills. Get our your grappling dummy or floor bag and set a timer for at least 3 x 3:00/1:00.  Put in at least 3 rounds on flow drills.  Start with a chain of two moves.  Add one or two moves per round, slowly building up your flow drill from the bottom.  Don't force.  Let the drill modify itself as you go.  See what "flows" and what doesn't.

• Complete this month's constitutional.  Pikes (25), Push-ups, uneven (25), Jump Squats (100), Reverse Bridges (25), Curb Touches (100), Ploughs(25), Burpees (25).

• Contemplation.  Contemplation is about being in, and a part of, flow.  Dump out your intellectual mind for a few minutes, become empty of words, and marinate in the flow.  After you've cooled down for about 3 minutes, set a timer for 10 minutes. Assume your posture of choice and regulate your breathing to insure a slow and consistent rhythm that completely fills and empties your lungs without bearing down on your breath. Eyes open, gently allow your mind to empty and calm itself. Don’t make war with thoughts, just let them pass by, dissipating like ripples on the surface of a pond.

• Record what you did and what you experienced in your training journal.  If you don't measure performance, how do you know if you're improving or not? Only that which is measured improves.

Volition Magician: Martial arts Training Involution #210

Today's the fifth and final T.I. of the month centering around the Cabal Fang symbol the Chalice and the martial focus Striking.  May's a long month which allows us five weeks to get into the weeds of this unique internal and external work combination. The Chalice symbol has many associations, but the one most central is inherence. 

The Chalice is about what you let into yourself, what you choose to allow to indwell in you. 

Although the most obvious symbol on the Magician card is the infinity symbol, the largest one is The Chalice. The Magician understands the concept of inherence like no other, and so should the martial artist.  Why?  Because 99% of magic is brute force.  Most magic tricks are based on the fact that the magician can do things that you assume cannot be done.  And the magician does this by practicing certain movements and techniques over, and over, and over again — cutting cards, memorizing lists, palming objects, etc. Great magicians can fan out a stack of cards, quickly memorize them, and then cut to any card they desire after they are flipped — not with hocus-pocus but with skill. .

Real magic happens when you allow something to fully become a part of you.

What are you putting into yourself in terms of nourishment -- intellectual nourishment (what we read, watch, and concentrate upon), literal nourishment (things we eat and drink), physical nourishment (the things we do and participate in), and spiritual nourishment (things we believe in and worship, Holy Communion, the Eucharist, etc.)? What are you focusing on?  What are you allowing to colonize you?  What is your Holy Grail? 

Volition Magician: Martial arts Training Involution #210

• Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

• 15 minutes of punching half-pyramids for speed.  My old friend Woody understood the magic of repetition and so should you.  Get in front of your heavy bag and throw a half-pyramid of Left Jabs to  4 -- that's 1, then 2, then 3, and 4.  Do that five time -- each set in the most rapid succession as possible without sacrificing form.  Switch stance and do it again with Right Jab.  That's 100 Jabs total.  Now do Left Cross and Right Cross for a total of 100 Crosses.  Go back to the beginning and repeat until the timer beeps.

• Contemplation.  Before you can fill yourself up with something great you must first dump yourself out and become empty.  Cool down for about 3 minutes, then set a timer for 10 minutes. Assume your posture of choice and regulate your breathing to insure a slow and consistent rhythm that completely fills and empties your lungs without bearing down on your breath. Eyes open. Gently allow your mind to empty and calm itself. Don’t make war with thoughts, just let them pass by, dissipating like ripples on the surface of a pond.

• Record what you did and what you experienced in your training journal.  If you don't measure performance, how do you know if you're improving or not? Only that which is measured improves.

Have Mercy: Martial Arts Training Involution #209

Today's the fourth T.I. of the month centering around the Cabal Fang symbol the Chalice and the martial focus Striking.  May's a long month which allows us five weeks to get into the weeds of this unique internal and external work combination.

Have Mercy: Martial arts Training Involution #209

• Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

• Mix'n'match pyramid of 5 exercises to 5 reps for power.  A pyramid to 5 reps is 1,2,3,4,5,4,3,2,1 (25 reps total of each exercise).  The five exercises are Bearhug Carry (1 orbit of your training area = 1 rep),  Shots (classic wrestling style), Shovels (sledgehammer, 1/side), Bodybuilders (10-count Navy Seal style) and Heavy Bag Combos (5 combos = 1 rep).  Power is a work/time/distance equation (lots of detail on this inMartial Grit, see below) so everything in this pyramid should be done with full force -- max-power-squeezing of heaviest manageable sand or heavy bag based on size/fitness level, explosive sledge digs, max-power heavy bag striking etc.  Only have one heavy bag and using it for the carries?  Just put on the floor and practice your down strikes from Top Saddle.

• Mercy meditation.  Cool down for 3 minutes, then set a timer for about 10 minutes and assume your meditative posture of choice.  Regulate your breathing to a slow and steady rhythm.  The Chalice symbol embodies the concept of reception.  It is about receiving, accepting, and allowing.  Keep your eyes open as you think about something you've been unable to forgive, allow or accept -- something you know you should let go in yourself or in someone else.  See if you can envision a way to be merciful.  It's very important not to think in words during meditations like this.  Think in images and feelings only.  Let them appear like gauzy dream superimpositions on your visual field.  If the word-monkey starts chattering just ignore him and he'll quiet down soon enough.  When the timer beeps, record your thoughts and experiences in your training journal.

A

Perilous: Martial Arts Training Involution #208

Perilous: Martial arts Training Involution #208

• Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

• 16 minutes of martial fitness action.  Set timer for intervals of 4 minutes.  Shadowbox for 4 minutes.  Then run out for 4 minutes, run back -- (get back before the timer beeps!), and finish up with 4 minutes of weapon shadowboxing with your training weapon of choice.  How many times did you drop your blunt training weapon or accidentally allow the business end to touch your body?  Do 50 Push-ups for each error.

• Want more? Do this month's constitutional -- click here.

• Grail mediation.  Cool down for 3 minutes, then assume your meditative posture of choice and regulate your breathing to a slow and steady rhythm.  Keep your eyes open as you imagine that the glowing Grail is hovering in the air before you, close enough to touch.  The Grail is the cup Christ used when he instituted the Holy Eucharist, and legend has it that one sip from it confers infinite blessings.  How does it make you that make you feel to be in its presence?  Don't think about the Grail in words -- just allow yourself to experience the image and concept of the Grail emotionally, spiritually and inspirationally. When he timer beeps, record your thoughts and experiences in your training journal.

An Excerpt from Alfred Lord Tennyson's The Holy Grail

Then came a year of miracle: O brother,
In our great hall there stood a vacant chair,
Fashion’d by Merlin ere he past away,
And carven with strange figures; and in and out
The figures, like a serpent, ran a scroll
Of letters in a tongue no man could read.
And Merlin call’d it ‘The Siege perilous,’
Perilous for good and ill; ‘for there,’ he said,
‘No man could sit but he should lose himself:’
And once by misadvertence Merlin sat
In his own chair, and so was lost; but he,
Galahad, when he heard of Merlin’s doom,
Cried, ‘If I lose myself, I save myself!’

II

…When the hermit made an end,
In silver armour suddenly Galahad shone
Before us, and against the chapel door
Laid lance, and enter’d, and we knelt in prayer.
And there the hermit slaked my burning thirst,
And at the sacring of the mass I saw
The holy elements alone; but he:
‘Saw ye no more? I, Galahad, saw the Grail,
The Holy Grail, descend upon the shrine:
I saw the fiery face as of a child
That smote itself into the bread, and went;
And hither am I come; and never yet
Hath what thy sister taught me first to see,
This Holy Thing, fail’d from my side, nor come
Cover’d, but moving with me night and day,
Fainter by day, but always in the night
Blood-red, and sliding down the blacken’d marsh
Blood-red, and on the naked mountain top
Blood-red, and in the sleeping mere below
Blood-red. And in the strength of this I rode,
Shattering all evil customs everywhere,
And past thro’ Pagan realms, and made them mine,
And clash’d with Pagan hordes, and bore them down,
And broke thro’ all, and in the strength of this
Come victor. But my time is hard at hand,
And hence I go; and one will crown me king
Far in the spiritual city; and come thou, too,
For thou shalt see the vision when I go.’

Amazon Babylon: Martial Arts Training Involution #207

Long before the 2017 movie, Cabal Fang was using an 8-point combat clock called the Star of Ishtar -- a universal symbol for the divine feminine associated with the ancient Babylonian goddess Ishtar.  You will note that the star on this fictional Amazon's diadem is a star of similar design.

Symbols colonize our subconscious minds and permeate the world's cultures. 

It's quite possible the artists and costume designers working on the film didn't consciously change the original 5-pointed star from the comic books to an 8-pointed Star of Ishtar.  They probably did it without even realizing they were doing it.

In the meantime, for this week's involution we're going to take our training inspiration from Amazon warriors and ancient symbols...

Amazon Babylon: Martial Arts Training Involution #207

• Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

• 10 minutes of crams.  Get on your forging post, pell or war-post and work your crams.  If you don't have a post, use your grappling dummy today -- and then go put up a post in your gym or back yard tomorrow.

• Practice the Star of Ishtar drill for 10 minutes.  Don't know it?  It's in the Cabal Fang Study Course.

• 10 minutes of heavy carries.  Want to be Amazon strong?  The ancients had no barbells -- they carried loads and lifted stones.   Set a timer for 10 minutes and bear hug or shoulder carry your heavy bag (or appropriate substitute based on your fitness level) until the timer beeps.  Put the weight down and take a break as few times as possible.  Finish the whole 10 minutes without putting it down and you're either a monster or you picked too light a load.

• 1 mile run.  The ancient Greeks were big on running.  Cover a mile as fast as you can.

• Contemplation.  Cool down for about 3 minutes, then set a timer for 10 minutes.  Assume your meditative posture of choice and regulate your breathing to insure a slow and consistent rhythm that completely fills and empties your lungs without bearing down on your breath.  Eyes open.  Gently allow your mind to empty and calm itself.  Don't make war with thoughts, just let them pass by, dissipating like ripples on the surface of a pond.    

The Galahad Maneuver: Martial arts Training Involution #206

New constitutional, focus and symbol for May 2020

The Galahad Maneuver: Martial arts Training Involution #206

• Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

• Martial Arts Mix and Match.  4 rounds of action (beginner/intermediate 2:00 each, advanced 3:00) for a total of 8 to 12 minutes.  Take as few 12-second breaks as you need.  Do one round each of Lunges, Clocks, Low Crawl, Sled Pulls/Yanks.  Video below.

• Not enough exercise for you?  Do this month's constitutional.  See photo above left or click here.

• Practice the Galahad Maneuver.   Pick something you know that's not good for you and make a substitution -- a food or beverage, a form of entertainment, or even a person who's a negative influence.  Just 5 minutes of serious thought will reveal a list of stuff you know you shouldn't be eating, watching, doing or associating with.  Start with one of the easy ones and substitute a better choice.  This is the trail-head that leads to the mountaintop of sacrifice.  Keep going and perhaps one day you'll come to see the world the way that Sir Galahad saw it when he said, "If I lose myself I save myself."  Remember, Galahad was the only Knight of the Round Table who saw the Grail. You are not your tastes, your needs, your wants, your favorites, or hobbies, or any of that.  You are something much more than that.  But you have to strip some things away to begin to see it.  By the way, this drill is associated with the Chalice symbol and it first appeared in The Hourglass Way: Transform in 12 Weeks with Cabal Fang which contains about 11 more exercises that are equally powerful.

Movie Time: Martial Arts Training Involution #205

Sim Webb

Locomotive fireman who survived the wreck of the Cannonball Express

Movie Time: Martial arts Training Involution #205

This training involution plays out like an old western movie.  Imagine you are a mild-mannered fireman on a coal-fired locomotive.  The train is robbed by bandits who capture you and take you for ransom, planning to sell you back to the railroad at the next town.  What they don't know is that the railroad is about to go under, and there will be no ransom paid.  You must make your escape!  You manage to flee in the middle of the night, evading all but one of the bandits, but your hands are bound.  As dawn is breaking you free your hands just in time for the climactic fight scene in which you defeat the bandit.  The credits roll as you stride into a deserted town ready to make a new start.

• Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

• Sim Webb fitness drill.  Simulate a few minutes in the life of a locomotive fireman -- named after Simeon T. "Sim" Webb -- Casey Jones' famous fireman and survivor of the wreck of the Cannonball Express.  Get a sledgehammer and complete this twice through: rake the coal to the box (20 Paddles w/ sledge), check the box (2o Sprawls), check the pipes (5 x 50 yd sprints w/ sledge), shovel the coal (20 Shovels with sledge), check the fire (20 Squats).  See if you can beat my time of 10:21.  If you want more drill like this, click here.

• 1/2 mile P.O.W. Run.  Run 1/2 mile with your fingertips touching your ears or with fingers interlaced behind your neck (my time was 5:57).

• Constant contact drill.  Square off with your heavy bag and get after it as fast as you can with meaningful contact.  See how long you can go without gassing out.  If you do this immediately after the run and you make it past 2 minutes you're doing fine.

• Walking contemplation.  Walking at a leisurely pace, regulate your breathing to insure a slow and consistent rhythm that completely fills and empties your lungs without holding your breath.  Gently allow your mind to empty and calm itself.  Don't make war with your thoughts -- just quiet your internal dialogue, stop thinking in words, and let yourself slide into relaxed awareness.  Just be.  Simply exist and move and breathe for about 10 minutes.

Sprawl 'n' Crawl: Martial Arts Training Involution #204

No sparring allowed during the pandemic kids.  You're going to have to stay fighting fit via the solo training route.  How?  By doing stuff that's as close to real fighting as possible of course!

Keep it real, keep it relevant, and keep it rigorous.  REAL means you're doing stuff that's as close as possible to what real people do in real life.  RELEVANT means that it relates to what you want to get better at.  And RIGOROUS means that you are paying attention to doing the work properly in terms of technique and intensity.

This week’s T.I. on the chalkboard in the C.F. Temple

Sprawl 'n' Crawl: Martial Arts Training Involution #204

* Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.

* 15 minutes of floor bag work.  Get out your floor bag (a heavy bag with the chains taped up) and set a countdown timer for 15 minutes.

1. Sprawls.  Lay floor bag on side and Sprawl with forearms to the bag 4 - 6 times based on your fitness level.

2. Bear Walks: Approx 25', 4 - 6 times based on your fitness level.

3. Shots:  Stand the bag on end, back up a couple of steps, and shoot in on the bag for a takedown.  4 - 6 times based on your fitness level.

4. Bag Lifts. Get the bag from the floor to your shoulder any way you like 4 - 6 times based on your fitness level.

5. Bear Hug the bag: Stand up and squeeze with it with max power cutting bone pressure of the forearm until you gas out. 

6. Repeat until the timer rings. 

* Contemplation.  Cool down for about 3 minutes, then set a timer for 10 minutes.  Assume your meditative posture of choice and regulate your breathing to insure a slow and consistent rhythm that completely fills and empties your lungs without bearing down on your breath.  Eyes open.  Gently allow your mind to empty and calm itself.  Don't make war with thoughts, just let them pass by, dissipating like ripples on the surface of a pond.    

Hell Fire: Martial Arts Training Involution #203

Yesterday was Good Friday and tomorrow is Easter, the days we commemorate Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection respectively.  That makes today Holy Saturday, the day we reflect on Jesus lying in his tomb — the day many Christians contemplate the Harrowing of Hell.

“Harrow” is a very old word that means comb or rake.  In the old days a giant square device with teeth was dragged across the fields behind a plow horse to break up the larger clods of dirt, smooth out the earth, and pull out weeds.  Nowadays that task is done by a disc harrows.  This prepares the soil for planting so that seeds can sprout and grow.

The idea of the Harrowing of Hell is that, after the rock was rolled over the door to his tomb, Jesus descended into Hell.  After having spent his life ministering to the living, Jesus then spent his death ministering to the dead and sharing their experience.  Just like an agricultural harrow prepares the soil for its spring reemergence, Jesus prepares the dead for their ultimate resurrection.

The night of Holy Saturday is also called the Easter Vigil — when bonfires are made from which to relight the sacred candles which yesterday were dark, when new catechumens (adult converts) are baptized into the faith, and so on.

HELL FIRE: MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING INVOLUTION #203

• Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. I generally do 8 minutes of MBF or either 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work.

• Try to set a PR (personal record) at one of your martial metrics. I hope you have some!  How many minutes can you go all out on a heavy bag without taking any breaks?  How fast  can you complete 250 kicks vs. air?  How about 150 max power kicks vs. heavy bag?  How many times can you hit your pell with a tomahawk in 4 minutes?

• Complete this month’s constitutional.  In Cabal Fang we create a new constitutional every month and we complete it twice a week.  This month’s is sandbags.  Video below.

• Harrowing meditation.  Wait until after sundown and make a fire in your fireplace, in a fire bowl on your back deck, in the chimenea on your patio, or in the burn barrel in the alley if the fire codes allow.  In the Middle Ages, Easter — tomorrow — would have been New Year’s Day.  Consider that the greatest of us brave the darkest places to help the those who are lost and in danger.  Think about the fact that it is the sacrifice of self that leads to rebirth.  Before you go to bed, write a few words your journal about how this speaks to you as a martial artist.  Cool down for about 3 minutes, then set a timer for 10 minutes.  

Beat It: Martial Arts Training Involution #203

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The Alchemical AZOTH — The Universal Medication — the Fiery Water — the Secret of Transformation

Setting goals is not optional.  If you are not setting goals and doing what it takes to hit them, like establishing performance metrics and tracking methods, developing programs, setting benchmarks, etc., you are not going to get past the intermediate level -- at anything.

In this week's T.I. you are going to start setting goals, and maybe even beat the old man at his own game.

Beat It: Martial Arts Training Involution #203

• Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. I generally do 8 minutes of MBF or either 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work.

• 150 max power kicks vs. the heavy bag.  Warm up by doing 8 x 5 kicks with each leg at 50% power, alternating legs each set.  Take a 1 minute break and then start your stopwatch.  Kick the bag with maximum power 150 times as fast as you can.  Switch legs as needed.  Write down your time me and make regular attempts to beat it.  The first elder’s personal record (PR) is 4:00.

• Constant Contact Drill.  Walk off the kicks for 3:00.  Now glove up and go after your heavy bag with hands, feet, elbows etc. with maximum speed.  There should be some part of your body in contact with that bag pretty much at all times.  See how long you can go before you have to stop.  Write down your time me and make regular attempts to beat it.  The first elder’s PR is 2:27.

• Balboa Run.  Start a stopwatch and run your chosen distance -- punching the air the whole time.  Beginners go 1/2 mile, intermediate and advanced, 1 full mile.  If you have to rest, do so in place and leave the clock running.  When you finish, write down your time me and make regular attempts to beat it. The first elder’s half mile PR is 6:15, 1 mile is 14:29.

• Reflection.  Cool down for about 3 minutes, then sit down with your training journal and do a goal review.  Are you hitting goals, establishing proper metrics, setting PRs, structuring your training in order to hit goals and PRs, etc.?  If you don't keep a training journal you had better start! 

Survivor Mix: Martial Arts Training Involution #201

Survivor Mix: Martial Arts Training Involution #201

• Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 8 minutes of MBF or either 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work.

• Wrestling and grappling mix.  Select a sandbag or heavy bag appropriate to your size and fitness level (I used a #70).  Set timer for 3 x 3:00/1:00.  Do Scarf Hold Switches from hip to hip until you can't do any more, then drop the bag and run Wrestling Clocks until you fail.  When you do, put the bag in your Bottom Scissors and squeeze until you gas, swap your ankle wrap and squeeze again until you gas.  Then go back to Scarf Hold Switches and repeat until the bell rings.  When it does, shoulder the bag and walk laps for your 1:00 "rest."  When the 1:00 is over, pick up where you left off and do that two more times.  When you're done you should be "moist."

• Sprints.  Set a timer for 30-second intervals.  Sprint for :30 and then walk for :30.  Repeat 9 more times for a total of 10 minutes.

• Contemplation.  Cool down for about 3 minutes, then set a timer for 10 minutes.  Have a seat in your posture of choice and regulate your breathing.  Leave your eyes open, and do not fidget, wiggle or scratch.  Now think about exactly nothing.  Clear your mind as completely as you can and allow yourself to stop thinking in words while maintaining total awareness of your surroundings. 

UPDATE: Cabal Fang Coronavirus Safety Plan

CABAL FANG CORONAVIRUS SAFETY PLAN

All meetings are discontinued for further notice.

Training outdoors in small groups significantly reduces the likelihood of transmission. But just driving around town can lead to contact by increasing the frequency of gas tank fill-ups and by normalizing travel.

Even though our meetings are generally less than ten people, we are leading from the front by canceling our meetings.

Obviously the pandemic is still evolving, and this policy is subject to change, so watch this space for updates. And please follow the advice of the CDC to stop the spread of germs.

Stay Safe,

~Robert Mitchell

Founder and First Elder of Cabal Fang

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ANTIVIRAL: MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING INVOLUTION #200

Antiviral: Martial Arts Training Involution #200

ANTIVIRAL: MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING INVOLUTION #200

Gyms are a great place to expose yourself to diseases of all kinds.  Good news is, you can exercise just fine at home with this zero-equipment, solo training session.

• Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. I generally do 8 minutes of MBF or either 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work.

• Complete this month’s constitutional.   Intermediate and advanced folks should be able to get this done in under 15 minutes:  Lunges(50), Push-ups(50), Get-ups(25), Crunches 3-Way (25), Prisoner Squats (50), Wall Touches (100), and Sprints (25).

• 250 kicks as fast as you can.  Set a timer and complete 250 kicks vs. air.  Don’t to them in static isolation — do them in combos while you move around realistically.  Intermediate and advanced should be able to get these done in under 10 minutes.

• “Antiviral” contemplation.  Cool down for about 3 minutes, then set a timer for 10 minutes.  Have a seat in your posture of choice and regulate your breathing.  Leave your eyes open, and do not fidget, wiggle or scratch.  Now think about exactly nothing.  Clear your mind as completely as you can and allow yourself to stop thinking in words while maintaining total awareness of your surroundings. 

Drag Strip: Martial Arts Training Involution #199

"There's no sense getting serious about my training until..."

Stop delaying.  Stop surfing YouTube for the perfect training tricks, drills, tools and secrets. Stop combing magazines and books and websites searching for the perfect program or tool.

Strip away the bullshit. The training you do right now is 100% better than the training you put off until next week.

Shut your laptop, turn off your tablet or phone, and complete the training session below.  Tired,  weak, sore?  Old?  Rehabbing from an injury?  Modify the exercises to suit your limitations.  Lower the weights, reps or intensity as needed. Anything you do is better than nothing.

Strip it down.

Drag Strip: Martial Arts Training Involution #199

*  Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. I generally do 8 minutes of MBF or either 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work.

*  16 minutes of survival martial arts.  Set a timer and complete 2 minutes each of Drags, Strikes, Shoulder Rolls, Strikes, IMT Sprints, Strikes, Drags and Strikes.  Take as few 12-second rest breaks as you need to finish.  For the the striking rounds, you can shadowbox, work a heavy bag, or do whatever you want.  I did tomahawk swings, braces, toe and eye strikes and cocking drills. Here's how the rest work.

• Drags: Go out to the shed or garage and find something to drag.  Here's a rig I made with a trashcan lid.  Cargo straps make perfect harnesses. 

• Shoulder Rolls: If you're a martial artist and you don't know how to do a shoulder roll, that's a problem.  Watch this.

• IMT Sprints.  IMT stands for Individual Movement Technique, and it means running, dropping to avoid being targeted, and popping up to run some more. Read more here.

*  "Stripping it down" meditation.  Set a timer for 10 minutes.  Have a seat in your meditative posture of choice and regulate your breathing.  Leave your eyes open, and do not fidget, wiggle or scratch.  Now think about what makes you special.  What makes you unique?  Your favorite foods, colors, movies, books?  Your behaviors, your little quirks?  No, that's just the bullshit that make you just like everybody else.  Meditate past your mask and seek the "true I."

STUBBORN: Martial Arts Training Involution #198

We are here to stubbornly remind you that you need to make sure that your fitness work dovetails with your martial work as closely as possible.

STUBBORN: Martial Arts Training Involution #198

• Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. We generally do 8 minutes of MBF or either 2-3 minutes each of (a) something aerobic, like jogging of jumping rope (b) some light calisthenics like Half Squats, Push-ups on knees, Touching toes, Arm Swings etc. and (c) shadowboxing or light heavy bag work.

• 20 minute pyramid of  6 martial fitness exercises.    Jump, Sprawl 'n' Punch, Smearing Push-ups, Shoulder Carry, Switches, and Step-ups.  This will really build the kind of strength you need for grappling and self-defense.  Get yourself a heavy bag you can manage (I used a #45) and set a timer for 10 minutes.  Start with 1 rep of each exercise, then 2, 3, 4 etc.  Climb until the timer beeps.  Finish the set you're on and then descend.  If you don't slack off, you should finish up just before the timer beeps. See video below for details. A full pyramid up to 6 is a nice target number for this drill.

• 10+ minutes of sacred reading.  Pick a book that's good for your spiritual development and spend some time reading.  Doesn't have to be overtly religious, like the Holy Bible or the Tao Te Ching -- it can be something that promotes mindfulness, wisdom, or philosophy.  Read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Occidental Mythology, Modern Man in Search of a Soul or whatever you like.  Meditation, contemplation, prayer and spiritual reading are the four cornerstones of the spiritual life and none should be neglected.

TCB: Martial Arts Training Involution #197

TCB means "Takin' Care of Business," which is also the title of a great song by Bachman Turner Overdrive about how working hard at what you love isn't work at all, whereas punching a clock doing something you hate is a "slaving job to get your pay."

If you love your art you will do whatever it takes to make it. Sometimes we do not want to do certain things.  For example, this month’s constitutional is really hard. But it makes our art "prettier" — if that makes sense. Sure hope it does.  Because if you don't find a way to love and appreciate the things you need to do in support of your martial arts, you're training is going to be either laborious or lopsided.

TCB: Martial Arts Training Involution #197

• Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. I generally do 8 minutes of MBF or either 2-3 minutes each of (a) something aerobic, like jogging of jumping rope (b) some light calisthenics like Half Squats, Push-ups on knees, Touching toes, Arm Swings etc. and (c) shadowboxing or light heavy bag work.

• 3 x 8 Grappling drill.  Complete 3 sets of 8 reps each of Throws (I picked Seoi Nage), Clinch Maneuvers (I did Cross-arm Clinch Rear Lunges), and Bear Walks (15').  Use a grappling dummy, floor bag, or weighted duffel bag for the Throws and Clinches.  Your final count should be 24 Throws, 24 Clinches, and 24 Bear Walks (300' or 100 yards), all in about 10 minutes.

• 11 minutes on the heavy bag -- all-in for power.  Break it up into round lengths appropriate to your fitness level.  Beginners: 4 x 2:00/1:00, intermediates: 3 x 3:00/1:00, advanced: 2 x 5:00/1:00.  Go at your bag with the intent to do as much damage as you possibly can.  Punch it.  Kick it.  Body lock it and squeeze as hard as you can.  Don't hang on it -- but do practice clinching, stepping into cross-buttocks position, etc.

• 10+ minutes of sacred reading.  Pick a book that's good for your spiritual development and spend some time reading.  Doesn't have to be overtly religious, like the Holy Bible or the Tao Te Ching -- it can be something that promotes mindfulness, wisdom, or philosophy.  Read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Occidental Mythology, Modern Man in Search of a Soul or whatever you like.  Meditation, contemplation, prayer and spiritual reading are the four cornerstones of the spiritual life and none should be neglected.

Warrior Rising: Martial Arts Training Involution #196

Tough constitutional this month.  Most take a little over 20 mins to start but get knocked down to ~15 by the end of the month.  This one took 30+ the first time and still hasn't been done in under 20 yet.

The fifth exercise is generating questions so here's the low-down.  Whether you're in Japan or Joliet  there's only so many ways for a warrior to kneel and stand while maintaining a stable base for fight or flight.  The Japanese Get-up is the traditional method employed by Japanese and Korean martial artists, and it's mostly universal.

Warrior Rising: Martial Arts Training Involution #196

• Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 8 minutes of MBF or either 2-3 minutes each of (a) something aerobic, like jogging of jumping rope (b) some light calisthenics like Half Squats, Push-ups on knees, Touching toes, Arm Swings etc. and (c) shadowboxing or light heavy bag work.

• Heavy bag ziggurat for power.  In architecture, a ziggurat is a stepped pyramid in the ancient Mesopotamian style.  In training terms, a ziggurat is what I call a stepped pyramid for time instead of for reps using 30 second (:30) increments.  Set timer to beep every :30.  Strike heavy bag with full power for one :30 interval then then rest for :30.  Then strike for two intervals (1:00) then rest for :30.  Then do three (1:30/:30), four (2:00/:30) and finally five intervals (2:30/:30) and go back down again.  That will be a total of = 16.5 minutes of oxygen sucking goodness.

• Complete the February constitutional.  Beginners take care -- this one's real peach.  If you can only do half, that's fine.  Carve away it and maybe you get through all of it by the end of the month.

• 10 minutes of eyes open contemplation.  Set a timer for 10 minutes, have a seat in your posture of choice, and regulate your breathing.  Remain completely motionless.  Do not fidget, wiggle or scratch and do not think in words.  Simply sit and experience reality in stillness.  

Crop Circles: Martial Arts Training Involution #195

This training involution is called "Crop Circles" because (a) you go in circles and (b) it contains exercises that can are based on real chores one might do on a farm raising crops.

Crop Circles: Martial Arts Training Involution #195

• Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. I generally do 8 minutes of MBF or either 2-3 minutes each of (a) something aerobic, like jogging of jumping rope (b) some light calisthenics like Half Squats, Push-ups on knees, Touching toes, Arm Swings etc. and (c) shadowboxing or light heavy bag work.

• A Frontier Rough 'n' Tumble pyramid.  Get yourself a weight -- a sandbag, large bucket full of rocks, or even a dumbbell if that's all you have.  Suggested weights beg/sm #40, int/med #60, adv/lg #80.  Set up a bench, shelf, truck bed, etc. to load onto.  Beg/sm 3' high, int/med 4', adv/lg 5'.  Mark off an 8' - 10'  diameter  circle.  Cabal Fang folks, and others who fight unarmed, go empty-handed.  FRT folks, stick a sheathed tomahawk in your belt.  Others who train armed, select your dull weapon of choice.  Pick up the weight in one hand and Suitcase Carry it around the circle once.  Then pick it up and load it onto your bench/shelf, release, then pick it up and put it back on the ground.  Deploy your weapon and pursue an imaginary enemy around the circle one time with maximum malice.  Next, with weapon in hand, complete one shoulder roll.  Then walk 2 circles, load your weight 2 times, pursue the enemy around the circle 2 times and do 2 shoulder rolls.  Then 3 of each, 4 of each, and 5 of each, then go back down to 1 of each.  Take as few 12-second breaks as needed to finish.  Your goal should be to complete this in 20 minutes or less.

• 10 minutes of eyes open contemplation.  Set a timer for 10 minutes, have a seat in your posture of choice, and regulate your breathing.  Remain completely motionless.  Do not fidget, wiggle or scratch and do not think in words.  Simply sit and experience reality in stillness.  

Pull and Hit: Martial Arts Training Involution #194

This is the last involution in the striking series for this month.  In the video below you can see Athanor Robert experimenting with a Rough 'n' Tumble, Hatmaker-styled pulling towel for street-ready fighting combos.

Obviously this approach assumes clothing, which means that it wouldn't work in a shirtless MMA environment.  But in the real world there's almost always a shirt of some kind, and this time of year there's often a coat -- even better.

By all means at least try putting a towel on your heavy bag.

Pull and Hit: Martial Arts Training Involution #194

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

• 3 x 3:00/1:00 on the heavy bag with the towel.  Experiment with both one and two-handed pulls.  Which do you like best?  Make sure when you give the bag a yank that you pull down as much as you do inward.  You want your opponent to get off balance and, if possible, for his head to come down so you can clobber him with a rabbit punch to the back of the head.

• 3 x 3:00/1:00 sparring with the pulling technique.  Obviously you never want to strike your training partners with a rabbit punch!  But what you can do is put shirts you don't care about and practice your quick grabs and yanks.  If you do get your partner's head down, substitute a hammer strike to the bicep or lats.  Really get after it -- this is the great thing about grappling and wrestling: you can go really hard without too much risk of injury.  It's the striking, and risks of concussion, that present the highest risks.  Play safe, modify, adapt, and overcome.

• 10 minutes of meditation on why you're doing martial arts.  Set a timer for 10 minutes, have a seat in your meditative posture of choice, and regulate your breathing.  Spend the time meditating on your reason for practicing martial arts.  Do not think in words.   Step back.  Imagine that you are watching your martial arts highlight reel playing on television,  It plays backwards from the moment you shut your eyes all the way back to the moment you first started your martial journey.  Experience the mental images without linguistic thinking until the timer beeps.  Pick up your training journal, write down what you saw and learned, and then begin to explore in words why you're doing martial arts.  The answer may be different than you think!

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.