8 Reasons Why YOU Need Striking Power

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Jon

Remember, striking power is not just about hitting harder; it’s about hitting smarter. Here’s a few reasons why this program is something you should incorporate into your martial training:

New, innovative exercises to push through plateaus in your training and stave off boredom.
The right tools for the job – low tech / high yield!
Teach your body how to increase force production through stored elastic energy rather than recruiting more tension.
Efficiency is the key to preserving energy levels. Efficiency is defined as useful work over total work.
Coordinated whole body power in 3 dimensions. Life, sport, and martial art happen in 3D – the same old 2 dimensional exercises are NOT up to task!
Specifically develop angular and rotary strength to augment and assist prime movers.
Target postural and stabilizer muscles to strengthen structure behind the strikes. You can‘t fire a cannon from a canoe!
Solo training is the key to martial greatness – how do you train?

Want to know more about this unique Warrior Fitness product? Click HERE!

The Results Are In!

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Jon

Thanks to everyone who responded to my I Need Your Help post last week. I received a ton of replies via email, which was really cool!

The Top 5 Responses for new Warrior Fitness products you would like to see:

5. Warrior Warm-up (Warrior Fitness style junan taiso)

4. Sandbag Training for Martial Arts

3. Kettlebell Training for Martial Arts

2. Warrior Bodyweight Workouts

1. Ninja Fitness

If you have any additional suggestions, comments or variations on the above 5 topics that you’d personally like to see, let me know – don’t be shy! Email me here, hit me up on Facebook here, or even drop a Comment below. 🙂

Luckily, I’ve already been hard at work on a couple of these topics and will begin fine tuning based on your responses. It also seems that about 99.9% of you out there prefer an e-book or downloadable video type format, which is great. This is gonna be fun!!

One last thing – I really enjoyed the interaction with you guys over the past week – I hope you did too. Let’s keep it going! The more you guys get involved, the better this blog (and subsequent products produced) becomes!! Thank you!

I Need Your Help!

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Jon

This is going to be a different post for me today. A little off track from my usual fitness, nutrition, budo, and motivational fare, but definitely a necessary, maybe even vital topic. First of all, I just want to say thank you to all my Warrior Fitness blog readers and subscribers. Whether you are one of the many readers who have purchased my Warrior Fitness book or Striking Power e-book or not (yet! :)), you guys make this blog a sustainable enterprise; without you all, I’d just be talking to myself! I’m grateful that what I write and how I write it resonates with you and also may benefit you in some small way.

I Was Embarassed!

This brings me to the reason for this post. A few weeks ago at the Underground Strength Coach Certification, see my review HERE, I was talking with Zach Even-Esh about some new product ideas I had for Warrior Fitness. I had been thinking for a while about tons of new product ideas I’d like to develop for Warrior Fitness and wanted to bounce some of them off him. Well, what he said to me blew my mind! Zach said, “Do you know what your readers want?” I kind of stammered and looked at him a little confused and said, “Um… well, no. What do you mean?” He continued on and told me that while I might know what type of products I wanted to create, wouldn’t it make much more sense to know exactly what my Warrior Fitness readers want and need in a fitness or martial arts product and create something great that specifically meets their needs? I was stunned. Flabbergasted actually. It made so much sense and was such a common sensical approach; I’m embarrassed to admit that I’d never even stopped to think about it. Sorry guys! So, in an effort to correct my oversight, what I’d like to do is get your opinion on this…

What Would YOU Like to See?

What type of new Warrior Fitness product would you, my readers, like to see? What areas in your strength, endurance, conditioning, flexibility, mobility, breath control, agility, do you feel need the most attention? What part of your martial arts training do you feel can be enhanced by fitness training? Ukemi – rolling, leaping, falling, changing directions rapidly, taihenjutsu? How about structural strength for kamae? Creating and sustaining Flow?

Some areas for consideration (but by no means limited to these!) are:

Bodyweight training
Kettlebell training
Sandbags
Old school strength training
Odd objects – tires, sleds, stones, logs
Ninja fitness training
Conditioning
Fat Loss
Any combination or other!!

Also, think about what format you’d like to receive the product in – book, e-book form, DVD, downloadable video?

So in effect what I’m asking is – please help me to help you! Let’s get a dialogue going and keep it going. If I don’t know you, I’d like to. Any ideas are welcome! You can respond in the Comments section below, through my Facebook page (hey, do me a favor and “Like” it while you’re there!), email me, or heck if you want to discuss something shoot me an email and I’ll give you my phone number – whatever it takes to really make you a viable part of Warrior Fitness.

Thanks!

Jon

Warrior Fitness is Now Underground Strength Coach Certified!

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Jon

There are great new things happening here at Warrior Fitness! The first being I am now a certified Underground Strength Coach. This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend Zach Even-Esh’s Underground Strength Coach Certification at the world renowned Underground Strength Gym in Edison, NJ. What an amazing weekend – I’m still sore!

Zach is a top notch educator, motivator, and coach. The man not only knows his material, but can walk the walk. He lives the code and it shows through in everything he does. Each person received individualized attention and feedback as well as group instruction from both Zach and his coached. The level of coaching expertise all weekend was top notch. Zach not only taught the participants his Underground Stength system, he created an experience.

As a quick recap, here is what we covered:

Introduction to the Underground Strength Methods
Warm Up & Physical Preparation Methods of Eastern European Athletes
Underground Baseline Workouts
Program Design Methods for all Clients
Odd Object Fundamentals
Integrating Old School Bodybuilding and Powerlifting
Underground Business Strategies
and Tons more!

We learned tons of exercises and variations, as well as progressions and regressions to help make them adaptable for all levels of clients. Together we designed and vetted several workouts for various types of athletes and individuals, then did some of them ourselves! As you can see, this was no simply sit on your butt and listen to a bunch of people talk followed by a multiple choice test certification seminar. All the participants were in the trenches going through the adversity together, getting their hands dirty, learning the system by doing. The level of energy this created in the gym and camaraderie between the attendees was awesome!

Huge thanks once again to Zach and his team of coaches, Big Mike, Travis, and Jen C., from Crossfit Central in Texas to help out with the certification!!

Want to know more? Start by checking out Zach’s Underground Strength Manual HERE!

Product Review: Door Gym

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Jon

Recently the nice folks over at Karate Depot sent me a Door Gym to review. The cool thing about the Door Gym is that it is designed to be used with a multitude of different exercises, not just pull-ups. This is the perfect piece of equipment if you are into minimalist training and need one tool for multiple tasks!

Door Gym is very easy to install. It requires no fasteners, no nails, no screws, and can be installed in the door frame and removed in about one second. Yeah, it’s that easy! My wife also loves the fact that it wedges in and will not mark or damage the door frame. Plus, it took me all of 5 minutes to put it together right out of the package. Which, if you know anything about my assembly skills, is saying a lot!

Door Gym Exercises

Close grip pull-ups / chin-ups
Wide grip pull-ups / chin=ups
Hammer grip pull-ups
Commando pull-ups
Hanging crunches
Hanging leg lifts
Static holds
Virtually any type of deep push-up
Situps
And more…

A great idea for those short on time is the grease the groove method. Simply install the Door Gym in a door frame that you pass frequently during the day. Each time you pass it, bang out a quick set of pull-ups or chin-ups (or whatever exercise you choose). Over the course of a day you will incorporate a ton of volume without burning out. Try it! You can be creative, have fun, and get a great workout at the same time with this piece of equipment.

At $49.95, the Door Gym is a great investment in your health and fitness. Highly recommended by Warrior Fitness!

Warrior Fitness is Going Primal!

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Jon

There are quite literally hundreds of different diet books lining the shelves of bookstores coast to coast. Each one with a slightly, or radically, different approach than the next to helping its reader shed unwanted pounds, improve body composition, tighten up their waist line, and increase health and longevity. And do this all quickly and painlessly to boot! But what if I told you that even though all these numerous programs, approaches, ideas, and methods are valid and do work, to a point, for some individuals some of the time, there is actually only one diet that is suitable for us all? This is exactly what author Mark Sisson asserts in his book, The Primal Blueprint. You see, prior to the Agricultural Revolution some 10,000 years ago (give or take), all humans – everyone on the planet – ate basically the same diet. Of course there were some variations due to geography, climate, and seasons, yes, but basically the same diet. And what if I told you that this one diet kept our caveman (and woman) ancestors leaner, stronger, fitter, and even healthier than we are today? It enabled them to survive and thrive for over 2 million years.

Enter the Primal Blueprint. According to Sisson (and considerable research), our genes have remained virtually unchanged since pre-agricultural times. We are quite literally cavemen in business suits – some of us more so than others! The Primal Blueprint premise is that our current genetic expression is influenced, positively or negatively, by our lifestyle. So that how we eat, how we exercise (or don’t), how we rest, play, and sleep all combine to create the body we have today. This means that we literally have the ability to optimize our genetic potential one forkful at a time. Sisson lays out 10 Primal Blueprint Laws to help us begin reprograming our genes by changing our lifestyle behaviors.

Law #1: Eat Lots of Plants and Animals

This is pretty self-explanatory. Vegetables, fruits, and meat should make up the bulk of your diet. Round it out with nuts and seeds. These foods formed the diet that fueled human evolution for 2 million years. The whole plan is laid out in the book.

Law #2: Avoid Poisonous Things

You’ll notice grains and other processed foods at the top of this list. Yes, even the supposedly healthy, whole grains. Why? Simply because humans did not evolve to digest grains properly. They make us fat and unhealthy. Remember our genes have not changed since pre-Agricultural times. Want to know more? Read the book.

Law #3: Move Frequently at a Slow Pace

Hunter Gatherers spent a lot of time walking. This very low intensity aerobic exercise provides a great base upon which to build physical fitness.

Law #4: Lift Heavy Things

Brief intense muscular efforts to climb, lift, carry, drag, pull, etc. were required by our caveman ancestors. These functional, full body movements prompt improvements in muscular size and strength.

Law #5: Sprint Once in a While

Whether running for your life or sprinting to take down a kill, the ability to run fast was definitely a skill needed 10,000 years ago and today.

Law #6: Get Adequate Sleep

This is a hard one for us. Studies constantly tell us Americans do not get enough sleep. Usually 8 hours is recommended as the average, but how many of us get more than 6 hours a night? Find out why sleep is so important in the book!

Law #7: Play

Hunter Gatherers had much more down time than we do today. Take some time to get outside in the fresh air and enjoy yourself.

Law #8: Get Adequate Sunlight

Regardless of the term, Caveman, our prehistoric ancestors did not spend much of their time in caves. They were outdoors most of the day. Adequate sunlight exposure is one of the best ways to obtain sufficient Vitamin D.

Law #9 Avoid Stupid Mistakes

Back before emergency rooms and doctors for that matter, a careless injury which would sideline us for a short time today would be deadly to a caveman. They had to maintain awareness – zanshin anyone?

Law #10: Use Your Brain

Creative expression for mental health and well being.

Does It Work? My Primal Experience

Let’s get down to the real question though – does it work and how difficult is it to implement? Well, I’m half Italian so I love my pasta and bread, and my wife is Filipino so we love our rice and noodles. I’ve always been taught grains are a staple and necessary for energy not to mention healthy – bottom of the food pyramid, right? However after reading The Primal Blueprint and understanding why grains are not necessary for you and really not as healthy as we’ve been led to believe, I was more than willing to take Sisson at his word and give it a try. Dropping grains out of my diet wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Many of us, me included, have strong emotional attachments to our food. The Italian part of me was literally screaming – no bread? No pasta? Are you nuts??? But once I got over the initial hump, it was actually pretty easy. The fact is though no matter how much I tell you about my own experience you won’t really know until you try it for yourself. I went cold turkey on the grains – can you? Give it a shot. You’ll be surprised at what your body can do!

What about my results so far? I’ve been following the Primal Blueprint laws, as laid out above for about 2 weeks now. I feel great! Energy levels are high and steady, no post meal crashes. I’ve already begun to lean out some more and am looking forward to even greater fat loss while increasing lean muscle mass. The best part for me is that I’m not constantly hungry. Usually, as those who know me can attest, I’m the first one to be ready to eat at meal times. Now I hardly even notice what time it is, I just eat when I’m hungry. I am even able to skip meals with no sluggish side effects. Warrior Fitness workouts align very well with Primal Fitness concepts (brief high intensity sessions, no chronic cardio) so I have not really made too many modifications there. Although, I am definitely looking to add some sprinting in to round out my training week now. It just seems like too much fun not to do it.

My opinion? The Primal Blueprint is intelligently written, well researched, and also quite entertaining to read, and it just might save your life. Highly recommended!!

For more information, check out Mark Sisson’s blog, Mark’s Daily Apple – HERE!

Prepare Yourself Every Day

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Jon

Ever have one of those days when nothing goes right?

The alarm clock is blaring yet you hit the snooze again for the 5th time dreading the prospect of getting up and facing the day. When you finally drag yourself out of from under the covers and realize just how late it is, your heart jumps into overdrive as you rush through your morning routine desperately trying to get out of the house to make it in to work on time. If you have small children to get ready for school, daycare, or other activities as well, that simply throws more chaos into the mix.

In your rush, you forgot to eat breakfast and left your steaming mug of coffee sitting on the kitchen counter while you ran out of the house. Traffic sucks, of course, because you’re late, and when you finally get in to work there are 6 messages from your boss wondering why you missed the morning project meeting… and your day goes downhill from there.

Some days it just seems like the universe is conspiring against you and this time it’s personal!

What do you do?

How do you respond to the myriad changes and vicissitudes life throws at you?

Do you find yourself tossed about like a small boat on a rough sea constantly overreacting and over-correcting with each wave?

Or, do you have a quiet calm reserve of energy and strength that allows you to maintain a state of fudoshin – “immovable spirit”?

Fudoshin is a state of mind that remains undisturbed and not easily upset by either internal thoughts or external factors. It is the even keel that keeps your craft steady and on course during rough seas of life.

How do you develop fudoshin though? How do you cultivate that quiet reserve of strength and energy?

Prepare Yourself Daily

Daily preparation is the key. A reserve of strength must be built up gradually and nurtured daily, even when you don’t need it, especially when you don’t need it, so it’s there when you do. Like a savings account you invest a little bit each day so that when the unexpected happens the funds are there for you to draw upon. So let’s get to the nuts and bolts.

How do you prepare yourself daily? Here’s what I do…

Get up earlier each morning. Yes, earlier. Allow 30 to 45 minutes BEFORE you actually need to be up to get ready for the day.
Grab a cup of coffee. I love my coffee; there’s nothing like that first sip in the morning. Feel free to skip this step if you don’t drink coffee. 🙂
Head outside for a breath of fresh morning air (feel free to bring your coffee). According to Chinese Medicine, early morning is the springtime of the day and thus best for planting seeds to cultivate good health.
Stand tall, feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, spine straight. Raise the arms laterally up over head breathing in slowly and deeply with the movement. As you inhale imagine the oxygen and energy carried by the breath is filling up your entire body. Hold the full breath for a moment or two, then slowly exhale completely bringing the arms back down. On the exhale, imagine the body is expelling tiredness. Repeat 3 to 5 times. Feel free to add other imagery to this exercise as well. For example, on the inhale imagine drawing in the positive qualities of strength, health, and confidence, and on the exhale imagine the breath drawing out and expelling negative qualities of weakness, sickness, and fear.
Perform a full, head to toe joint mobility routine to further wake up and enliven the body. For a complete discussion on joint mobility work and much, much more, see my book, Warrior Fitness: Conditioning for Martial Arts.
Depending on how much extra time you have, relax a few more minutes enjoying the strength and energy you have cultivated – and finish that cup of coffee before heading in to start your day!

Life is Stressful – Prepare Yourself!

Walking with Mickey Mouse

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Jon

Before leaving on our 11-day family vacation at Walt Disney World in Florida, I was a little concerned about the possibility of missing my regularly scheduled Warrior Fitness workouts. While I was looking forward to the family time and the amazing experiences that only Disney (and Universal Studios – Harry Potter was awesome!) can provide, I was also trying to figure out how I could escape from the parks and get in some Warrior Fitness style training every day. Well, it turns out I couldn’t break away. We were in the parks almost every day from opening to dinner time, and sometimes back after dinner for fire works too! But, since I’m a good ninja, I adapted! Here’s how…

It’s amazing how much walking you do on a daily basis at Disney. Whether it’s with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy in the Magic Kingdom, or walking through 11 different countries in Epcot, exploring Hogsmeade and Hogwarts Castle at Universal Studios, or hanging with the mammals over at Animal Kingdom, you are walking or standing in line literally all day long. So, the question for the warrior is, how do you put all this walking and standing to good use? Train while you do it, of course! While the walking alone is good enough for most ordinary folks, warriors require a little more. So here’s a little sample of what I did to enhance it:

Push a child in a stroller as you walk. Add a backpack to increase the weight.
Carry that child intermittently while walking or standing in long lines. A child is an odd object – who needs kegs, kettlebells, or sandbags when you can carry a kid! They constantly move, squirm, change posture or position while being carried!!

Focus on moving and pushing the stroller from the core (hara) and not from the shoulders.
Balance – stand in line on one foot. Do it while holding your odd object (child).
Grip training – crush grip the stroller handle for 5 seconds. Rest and repeat. Do left, then right, then both hands. Contract the core, exhale hard and crush the handle. Also, isometrically try to “bend” the handle – first make sure it’s sturdy enough, your wife will kill you if you actually succeed!
Breathing – there are tons of opportunities to enhance walking and carrying through breath training. Match your breath to your steps. 1 step inhale, 1 step exhale. Try to make it up to 10 steps on an inhale followed by 10 steps on an exhale. Or, 5 steps inhale, 5 steps hold full, 5 steps exhale, 5 steps hold empty. Try to see how many steps you can take carrying your child on an empty breath hold. Do the same on a full breath hold. Don’t forget to ride a rollercoaster too – screaming and laughing are great breath training!
Bodyweight squats while holding your child in line.

These examples above will help keep you focused, training, entertained, challenged, and present while your kids have a magical time in the parks.

If you have any energy left when you get back to the hotel room, bang out a few sets of push-ups to round out your workout for the day. And, lastly, joint mobility and yoga asana are a great way to prepare your body for the rigours of Disney. Don’t neglect your 10 minute warm-up in the morning before heading out. It’s a life saver!!

Trust me, there are ample training opportunies outside of your regular workouts. You just have to be a little flexible and creative.

The Warrior Fitness Guide to Striking Power is Here!

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Jon

by Jonathan Haas, founder of Warrior Fitness Training Systems

Specific Physical Preparedness for ALL striking arts from old school Traditional Martial Arts to modern MMA!
Learn how to build a powerful structure to stabilize punches, kicks, and martial movement!
Discover how to use low-tech, high yield tools to strengthen strikes throughout a range of motion!
Sledge Hammer for force production, rotational strength, grip strength, and old school conditioning!
Medicine Ball for explosive strength and rotational strength!
Resistance Bands for force production, rotational strength, increased stabilization!
Bodyweight Exercise and Isometrics for structure and stabilization!
Discover how to use Intelligent Tension rather than general tension to power strikes!
Learn Breathing and vibration exercises for recovery and restoration!
Over 50 pages of pure, 100% actionable content – no fluff, no BS, no filler!
Sample Workouts!

Buy Now for only $15 USD!!

Warrior Fitness Guide to Striking Power is a downloadable e-book. No physical products will be shipped. After you order, you will get INSTANT ACCESS to download the e-book and all the bonus reports onto your computer. The e-book format is adobe acrobat PDF, which can be viewed on Mac or PC.

Special Offer – Warrior Fitness Book + T-Shirt!

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Jon

Special Combination Offer

(good while supplies last!)

Warrior Fitness

Old School Training for the Modern Warrior

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