As you may have noticed, martial arts training and conditioning to develop the proper levels of fitness, mechanics, technique, attributes, and that  all elusive sense of flow can be difficult, repetitious, and sometimes downright boring, to be honest.  So how do we keep going in our daily training?  How do we push ourselves through the plateaus and dry spots with enough intensity and consistency to break through to our own personal greatness? (See what some of the historical martial greats had to say about it in this article here.)  My advice is to embrace the suck – yeah, the suck.  Learn to love it.  Crave it.  Become friends with it.  So when it hits, you not only can push through it, but actually embrace it.  Dostoyevsky said to “love your suffering.”  The Chinese martial artists call it, “eating bitter.”  We here at Warrior Fitness call it “embracing the suck!”

Does this make you weird?  Well, yes, but only in some circles.  But for the most part it earns you respect.  Why?  Because most people can’t do it.  Being able to embrace the suck and keep going  distinguishes you.  It differentiates you from the pack.  It makes you a leader.  If you want to be a leader, there’s only one way to do it – lead from the front.  That’s the only way to inspire people – by your own example.  What example do you set for your students, your family, your friends, your kids?

Learning to embrace the suck allows you to, as the great method acting coach Stanislavsky once wrote, “make the difficult habitual: what is habitual will become easy, and what is easy will become agreeable.”  So even embracing the suck is a process which allows us to continue to train with greater intensity and focus, and thus push through even greater levels of suck.

However, the best part about embracing the suck is when the suck ends and you come out on the other side.  You’ve fought the good fight, pushed through the barrier, and overcome the adversity once again.  You’re a stronger person for it.  You know it.  I know it.  So go out and live it!

Related posts:

1. The Warrior Fitness Guide to Striking Power is Here!

Embrace the Suck! is an original post on the Warrior Fitness blog. If you are not reading this on WF, please visit today to support the content's creator.

Bujinkan martial arts are the wellspring from which my concept of Warrior Fitness sprung as a natural outcropping.  So as my philosophy of Warrior Fitness continues to evolve, it naturally gravitates to this type of structure for me to express it.  In keeping with the trinity of mind, body, and spirit, here is how I see it for Warrior Fitness:

Mind -Concentration and focus along with an understanding of the interrelationship of the exercises and how they integrate with and enhance the way we move in the world.

Body - Forging a strong body to carry us through the challenges we face. 

Spirit - Pushing the edge to consistently increase resistance to failure.

The Sanshin no kata consist of 5 forms which are called, Chi no kata (earth form), Sui no kata (water form), Ka no kata (fire form), Fu no kata (wind form), and Ku no kata (void form).  Those who have read Miyamoto Musashi’s famous work, Go Rin No Sho – A Book of 5 Rings, are most likely familiar with the terminology as well.  Here is how each is expressed in Warrior Fitness:

Earth - Building strength, stability, and structure in movement and stillness

Water - Freedom of movement through all ranges of motion, flow state

Fire - Metabolic conditioning to ignite fat loss and sculpt lean muscle

Wind - Breathing exercises to vitalize every cell in the body

Void - Pushing the edge of our limitless potential

Hone Your Mind, Invigorate Your Spirit, and Make Fierce the Body with Warrior Fitness!

Related posts:

1. Your Sanshin No Kata Under a Microscope
2. Unlocking Flow in Your Taijutsu Practice
3. Create Your Own Adversity!

The Sanshin of Warrior Fitness is an original post on the Warrior Fitness blog. If you are not reading this on WF, please visit today to support the content's creator.

Philosophers and sages throughout the ages have consistently extolled the virtues of facing adversity for the purposes of becoming a better, stronger person.  No matter what form this adversity takes, wisdom dictates that it must be faced head-on, weathered through, and successfully beaten by coming out the other side, maybe scarred, but assuredly battle-hardened and spiritually tougher.   Oftentimes, adversity comes to us unbidden simply due to the path we choose to follow, or even for no fathomable reason at all.  It tends to be one of those things life throws at us unexpectedly to “help” us prove our mettle and forge our character.

It has been said that “God comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable”.  If this is so, perhaps creating your own adversity isn’t a bad thing at all. 

The goal in creating your own adversity is to design a challenge that will push the limits of your physical strength, mental toughness, and spiritual fortitude in order to propel you forward to the next level in your training.  For the warrior, this process is known as Shugyo.  Shugyo (修行) may be defined as “conducting oneself in a way that inspires mastery”.  These periods of severe training were usually undertaken by warriors to achieve a type of enlightening experience which opened their minds by destroying their concept of previously perceived limits.  It is the same for us today.

Ueshiba Morihei, the founder of Aikido, was well known for taking his students up into the mountains for periods of Shugyo.

 “Once a year, Morihei took several of his best disciples to train with him on Mount Kurama, located near Kyoto. The small group lived on rice, pickles, miso soup, and wild herbs. Morihei would rise at five AM to pray. After morning prayers and misogi, they would swing heavy swords five hundred times and then practice footwork. From ten AM to noon they trained in body techniques. Afternoon training ran from three to five PM; the disciples took turns acting as Morihei’s partner as he ran through series after series of techniques. In the evenings the disciples would review the day’s training. Every three days, Morihei would announce at midnight ‘time for night training’…”
Excerpt from “Invincible Warrior”, by John Stevens pg. 125

Now, do you have to seclude yourself in the mountains for several days in order to practice Shugyo?  No.  For most of us, that’s not realistic or practical, but that doesn’t mean we can’t create the same type of experience for ourselves.  So, how do we do it?

Create Your Own Adversity!

Caution:This type of training is not for everyone.  Before you begin, there are a few common sense type precautions you should take.  First, prepare adequately.  For example, you would not go out to run the NY Marathon tomorrow if you’ve never run more than 5 miles.  Second, if you decide to conduct your Shugyo outdoors, let someone know where you’re going, what you’re doing, and how long you’ll be gone, or better yet, take them with you!  Third and most importantly, think before you do and plan accordingly.

1.  Pick a time or day that has personal significance to you – it can be your birthday, New Years Day, or the anniversary of something important in your life.  Is this absolutely necessary?  No.  You can pick next Tuesday if you’d like, but I think tying your Shugyo to a significant day makes it more special.

2.  Decide what form your Shugyo will take.  This must be unique to your goals and capabilities.  Choose something that is currently beyond your reach, but not so far as to make it completely unattainable.  You want to focus and hone your physical, mental, and spiritual abilities, not your imagination.  Some examples are:

• Run a marathon
• Climb a mountain
• 1000 cuts with a heavy bokken (wooden sword)
• 1000 Kettlebell snatches
• 1000 reps of any basic techniques or combination of techniques
• Sparring 20 opponents in a row, nonstop
• 1000 Push-ups/Squats/Sit-ups

While any of the above would more than qualify as Shugyo, my personal preference is to plan an entire day where the whole becomes greater than the sum of the individual parts.  Some recommendations for the parts are:Junan Taiso warm-up, run (distance TBD by you), practice the basic strikes, kicks, and footwork of your particular martial art, Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu for me (high reps to push your limits, of course!), weapons practice (sword cuts, spear thrusts, bo swinging, etc.), high repetition bodyweight exercise(s) or workout with weights (dumbbells, kettlebells, clubbells, sandbags), end with an extra long yoga session to wring out all the tension accumulated throughout the day followed by meditation and rest.

3.  Create a training program to get you there.  Let’s face it, most of the above examples are not something most people can decide to do in a day, they take time, preparation, and work to bring the goal within reach.  Remember the “6 P’s”: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance!

4.  Get to work!!

Creating your own adversity through Shugyo has the effect of focusing not just your mind, but your entire being for the purposes of expanding your potential.  Push yourself harder than you ever thought possible and blow through your preconceived limitations – remember, the only limits that truly exist are those set up in your own mind – there are no limits! 

“God brings men into deep waters, not to drown them, but to cleanse them.”  ~John Aughey

Related posts:

1. The Sanshin of Warrior Fitness
2. The Warrior’s Key to Greatness – The Way Lies in Training!
3. A Day in the Life…

Create Your Own Adversity! is an original post on the Warrior Fitness blog. If you are not reading this on WF, please visit today to support the content's creator.

Masaaki Hatsumi

How many of us training in the Bujinkan, or any other martial art, can truthfully claim that ability?  How long can you train?  How far can you push yourself?  In martial art, endurance, or the ability to “keep going” is defined in years, not minutes, hours, or days.  How can we create an effective training program that will instill in us the ability to continue, to endure?

Physical Endurance

Let’s begin by examining the concept of physical endurance.  There are 3 basic types of physical endurance:

1. Aerobic endurance
2. Anaerobic endurance
3. Strength endurance

We discussed the body’s 3 energy systems and how using the Tabata Protocol can effectively improve both the aerobic and anaerobic systems here.  Strength endurance is defined as the ability to effectively maintain muscular functioning under work conditions of long duration.  There are two basic ways to increase the ability of your body to do more physical work.  One is the continuous adding of weights, sets, reps, and time to push the body to create an adaptation to allow it to perform more work for a longer duration.  As we discussed previously in the article on GPP, the body’s capacity is expanded.  Progress is incremental and continuous for as long as one is able to keep increasing driving forces in the body.  The next one, however, is often overlooked in our “just add more volume” culture.  More is always better, right?  If one vitamin is good for you, take 4, that’s even better (please dont’!).  But, there is another way to allow the body to continue training in addition (no pun intended) to adding more work.  By removing restrictions in your body, like unnecessary tension or extra body weight or lack of flexibility/mobility in a particular area, you then free up resources in your body that were spent holding that tension that you weren’t even aware of on a conscious level.  These restrictions, once removed, allow even greater leaps in performance than simply adding more work.  When the 2 are combined, it’s a powerful combination!

How Do We Program It?

By programming our workouts so that we effectively build in both the removal of restrictive forces, while also increasing driving forces, we can maximize our progress.  This idea is present in traditional methods of Hatha Yoga in the form of balancing strength and surrender.  Contrary to popular opinion, yogi’s do not simply work to become more flexible.  They actively work to increase both strength and flexibility as complimentary opposites in order to achieve a state of balance.  Now, I’m not asking you to become a yogi here, merely pointing out that this is not a new concept at all, but has been used by traditional arts for thousands of years.  Our program for developing ninja-like endurance will utilize both joint mobility exercises and yoga asana (poses), as well as breathing exercises, to aid in the removal of restrictive forces binding your training and slowing your progress.  Next week I will be putting out an article on breathing exercises that can be used for relaxation, stress management, removing residual tension, and also for increasing energy – keep your eyes out!

For an example of some easy yoga postures that can start helping you right now, head over to my good friend Josh Sager’s excellent blog, Fretterverse, and check out my article on Yoga for Guitarists.   A free sample joint mobility training program can be obtained simply by signing up for the Warrior Fitness Mailing List at the top right of the page.  Sign up now and begin working on removing restrictive forces today! 

And, don’t forget to check out Warrior Fitness: Conditioning for Martial Artists for more exercises, options, explanations, and program design!

Stay tuned for a sample Strength Endurance Workout coming soon!

Related posts:

1. Ninja Endurance – Part II
2. How to Train for the Endurance of a Ninja
3. Ninja Walking

So Ya Wanna Be a Ninja? is an original post on the Warrior Fitness blog. If you are not reading this on WF, please visit today to support the content's creator.

That is the bad news.  The good news is that a lot can be done to counter-act the effects of ageing via exercise.  This can be divided into circulatory, respiratory, structural and the nerves.

How Does Exercise Help?

As mentioned the heart output decreases with age, generally a very fit endurance athlete has developed a large heart capacity.  That is the volume of blood per pump has increased as a result of training.  If age means that the heart will pump less frequently and become less powerful then what can be done?  Quite simply the best thing to do is make better use of the blood that is being sent around the body.  Exercises that improve blood circulation to the extremities are extremely beneficial at all ages and very useful for combating age.  Joint rotations, light resistance frequent repetition exercises are excellent for this.  Walking is perhaps the best of all.

As many biology students know, a major purpose of blood is to transfer oxygen around the body so focus should also be paid to the respiratory system.  It should also be mentioned that the oxygen in the body is very useful for cell reproduction too.  Breathing exercises not only help with good quality respiration but also assist with the structural stability of primarily the upper body but also the body as a whole.

Structurally speaking the body may be divided into bones, connective tissue and muscles for simplification.  As stated good blood flow and breathing will already provide a boost to these systems.  Perhaps we must accept that due to age repetitive actions will not be maintained to the same count as was possible in youth.  But what about strength?  Scientists have been studying muscle strength and age for at least the last 15 years and concluded that muscles can grow and remain strong at any age.  This means resistance exercises such as moderate and heavy weights will be very useful for maintaining structural strength.  Also bone mass is related to muscle mass directly, so strengthening muscles reduces the risk of damage to bones and increases calcium absorption.  Studies have shown that laboring women in areas with limited calcium in the diet have less cases of Osteoporosis than sedentary women with high calcium diets. In other words resistance exercise not only maintains more youthful strong muscles but also increase the utilization of chemicals like calcium in bone tissue.  Joining the muscles and the bones are connective tissues which get stiffer and less elastic if under utilized.  Lack of flexibility results in lack of mobility, this in turn impacts the benefits of exercise and increases the risk of injury.  Flexibility training such as Yoga or Makko-ho is very useful for combating decreased flexibility and also rejuvenating connective tissue.

Stretching and structural organization is beneficial not only for maintaining mobility but also because it opens up an often forgotten part of the body called the nervous system.  It is not possible to strengthen nerves directly and again age will deteriorate nerve function.  But, by using muscles and working on flexibility the nerves can be stimulated to be more effective in function.  This is important for not just general co-ordination but also the non-voluntary nervous system which is responsible for among many things, yes, the heart.

Taking the Holistic Approach

We have come full circle and this is an important point.  When we are younger we can focus on weights, or marathons and any kind of activity we like.  This is because our general health is fine and we simply pursue excellence in whatever activity we choose.  As we get older however the general health starts to decline if not maintained.  That is why aging persons should take a holistic approach to training to ensure all the important body systems are being stimulated.  The circulation, the breath, the structure and the nerves must all be improved upon.  It is very tempting to wait until the effects of age are experienced before reacting to change.  Of course it is fine to start exercising and focusing on health at any time.  However the best solution to aging is to prepare early on for the kind of body you will need as you do age.  Combine light exercises and breathing with heavy exercises and stretching now and save making major adjustments tomorrow.

About the Author

Tony Notarianni has been training in martial arts since the age of 12.  Up to this point, although quite active, he had very little interest in sports and fitness but that all changed over the coming years.  He started studying Sport as a subject at school and finally graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Sport and Exercise Science in 1998.  Although not a typical sportsman and not a great fan of any one sport, Tony was always keen to try new activities and considers the world to be literally full of physical experiences to explore.  Before graduation he was working at a sports complex where he was a lifeguard and could join and observe many different forms of exercise.  He also taught circuit classes and was a qualified personal fitness instructor.  After graduation he chased the dollar and ended up working in Software Development.  Although becoming more sedentary he still has a deep rooted interest in improving himself physically and developing his knowledge.

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Training as You Grow Older is an original post on the Warrior Fitness blog. If you are not reading this on WF, please visit today to support the content's creator.

Today, we are moving from the boardroom to the gym and looking at ways to apply a scaled-down version of Six Sigma methodology to improving your health and fitness.  Right now, you are the product and we are looking for ways to foster continuous improvement in you!

What is DMAIC?

Let’s look at one of the basic methodologies for Six Sigma projects called DMAIC and see how it can be applied to improve your fitness program.

DEFINE the problem and project goals specifically. 

• What are your fitness goals, right now, today?  Whether it’s to lose a certain number of pounds in an allotted timeframe, or be able to do a one-arm push-up at 40, it doesn’t matter.  Here is where we define our objective.

MEASURE key aspects and collect data.

• What is your current weight or dress size or waist size?
• How many push-ups can you do in one session?
• How many calories, carbohydrates, and grams of protein do you eat daily?
• How many servings of fruits and vegetables do you eat daily?
• What is your resting heart rate?  Blood pressure?  Cholesterol numbers?
• How fast can you run a mile?
• Or, any other measurements that pertain specifically to the goal you outlined in the Define section above.

ANALYZE the data to investigate and verify cause and effect relationships.  Determine the root cause of the problem.

• Do you have 3 sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches from Dunkin Donuts daily and notice that your cholesterol has sky-rocketed, your blood pressure is too high, and your waist line has expanded?
• Do you run out of breath climbing a flight of stairs?
• Or, not have enough energy to play with you kids in the park?
• Do you aspire to run a marathon this year, but can’t get motivated?
• Look closely at the data you gathered above and figure out what is holding you back from achieving your goal.

IMPROVE or optimize the process based on the analysis.

Here is where all the real work gets done, but also where you may encounter a stumbling block.  You’ve defined your goal, measured key aspects as they relate to your goal, analyzed all the data and determined the root cause of the problem, but what do you do now?  This is where having a knowledgeable fitness professional comes into play.  You need someone who can review the findings above and determine the best possible solution for you.  This includes:

• Knowledge and understanding of exercise methodologies and how to apply them on a case-by-case basis.
• Ability to design an individualized fitness plan for you.
• Ability to communicate, break things down, and respond accordingly to questions and concerns.
• Ability to motivate and keep you on the path.

CONTROL future state process to ensure any deviations from the target are corrected before they result in defects.

• Here is where your progress is charted and tracked to make sure slippage does not occur.  If slippage does occur, it can be noticed and corrected for immediately to assure the project – a fit and healthy you – remains on track!

Many companies and organizations have applied these principles to better their businesses, increase production, reduce costs, and improve their overall business processes.  Why shouldn’t you be able to take the same ideas and apply them to your health and fitness?

Want to know more?  Check out Warrior Fitness: Conditioning for Martial Arts!

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Applying Six Sigma Principles to Your Fitness Plan is an original post on the Warrior Fitness blog. If you are not reading this on WF, please visit today to support the content's creator.

The problem is that things will never be different unless you actively do something to make them different. You want to lose weight? Start now. You want to be in better shape? Start now. You want to improve your athletic performance or martial art skill? Start now. Don’t wait. Don’t let those excuses become so entrenched in your psyche that you actually start believing them. Start now.

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The “I Don’t Have What I Need to Start” Myth is an original post on the Warrior Fitness blog. If you are not reading this on WF, please visit today to support the content's creator.