The Effective to Efficient Continuum of Training

Posted on June 9, 2021 by Jon

What’s the difference between being effective in your training and becoming efficient?

When you first started to drive a car, you sucked at it, right? You couldn’t turn on the radio and the turn signal at the same time, and I’ll bet when you tried to wave at someone outside on the sidewalk, you turned the wheel in the same direction too.

In short, you were a disaster.

Gradually, with practice, you got better and better at driving until you became effective. Meaning you could get yourself from point A to point B without crashing or otherwise screwing up.

Now, after years of driving you can effortlessly change lanes, check your mirrors, adjust the air conditioning, change the radio station, and carry on a conversation without even thinking about it. You slowly but surely moved from merely an effective driver (accomplishing the act of driving) to an efficient driver (accomplishing the act of driving with minimum effort AND maximum effectiveness).

Your martial arts training and your strength training are the same.

You cannot hope to progress beyond a basic level if you are just effective at your techniques or exercises. You must move across the continuum from effective to efficient. From mundane to master.

How can we define efficiency?

Here’s the easiest definition – Efficiency = Useful Work / Total Work

Look at any martial arts master at the top of his game. He is supremely effective (otherwise he wouldn’t be a master) BUT he’s also extremely efficient in his movement and energy expenditure. The master moves with grace under pressure, with strength and power refined and focused, and an effortlessness that defies belief. His mind and body perfectly integrated, he can do this all day.

How do you progressively move from effective to efficient?

Yes, it’s a matter of time and practice of course. But what else?

Throughout the ages, master martial artists have developed specific regimens of solo (and paired) training exercises to hack into the nervous systems software and update the code to bypass years of trial and error. This way they have laid out a clear path of progression for the savvy practitioner to follow step-by-step from effectiveness to efficiency to mastery.

Specific Training + Frequent Practice = Massive Results

What are the specific practices required?

That, my friends, is the subject of the next article… 🙂

FREE Stay at Home Workouts

Posted on March 21, 2020 by Jon

Since all the gyms are closed and we are all stuck working out at home for the foreseeable future, I want to hook you up with a free copy of my WarFit Combat Conditioning program.

This hard-hitting program will build serious functional strength, torch fat like nobody’s business, and prepare you to face anything – including zombies!

So go HERE and grab yourself a copy on me.

This program usually sells for $37 but today you can pick it up for $0.

If you are financially able, and would like to donate something for the program, please do so HERE.

If you are not able to do so, don’t worry about it. Train and enjoy with my blessing! 🙂

Also make sure to go HERE and pick up my free follow along Joint Mobility Routine to keep you strong, mobile, and energized!

Health Practices for the Pandemic

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Jon

“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.

Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.

The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.”

– Marcus Aurelius

It’s pandemonium out there.

Schools closing,
Businesses closing,
Sporting events and concerts cancelled,
Store shelves empty like it’s the day before the blizzard of the century.

Outside events ARE out of control. But one thing always remains true, no matter what – You and you alone choose how to respond to these events. Everything is within YOUR internal control.

So how do you respond?

Do you feed into the mass panic? Do you feed into the hysteria and FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real)?

Or do you respond like a Warrior, strong in mind and in body?

We humans have a certain knack for overly complicating simple things. We think that if something is too simple sounding, it can’t possibly work. But often the opposite is true.

Building vitality and creating optimal health are simple provided you follow a certain set of simple sounding, time tested practices.

Top 10 Health Practices for the Pandemic

1. Drink plenty of water. Add fresh squeezed lemon juice first thing in the morning. (yes, you’ll pee a lot. Get over it)
2. Eat more fresh vegetables and fruit (Notice that vegetables come first. That’s no accident. As for fruit, eat mostly berries and cherries – oh and some apples)
3. Eat organic, free range, and/or grass-fed meat.
4. Eat more healthy fats such as grassfed butter, almonds, avocados, eggs – yolk and all!, coconut oil, wild caught salmon – no farm raised fish ever!, extra virgin olive oil.
5. Limit your grains, or at least go gluten free.
6. Take cold showers (find out why here)
7. Get outside on the grass barefoot for at least 20 minutes a day
8. Go for a deep breathing walk in the fresh air and sunshine or practice Qigong outside.

9. Learn how to do standing meditation (see here)

10. Train for strength and power at least 3 times a week (see here)

10.5. Don’t forget to wash your hands. 🙂

Need more help? I am here to serve you.

10X Your Strength and Your Health HERE <<===

Musashi’s Rules – “Forge Yourself in the Way”

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Jon

If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing every day.

Musashi instinctively knew this. He became the greatest swordsman Japan ever produced by practicing what he preached.

The concept of forging oneself through the rigors of daily training was so important to him that he made it a rule for those who would follow his way of martial strategy.

But this article isn’t about Musashi, it’s about you and tapping into your own innate greatness.

musashi

Forge Yourself in the Way

Forging must be done daily. There is no way to forge body, mind, and spirit into a finely honed blade without constant hammering and firing through the steel tempering process of training.

Half-assed training won’t cut it.
Training only when you feel like it won’t get you there.
Training without a properly focused strategy will not work.
Training the same way over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.

So What Works?

The only answer to the question of how does one become a great martial artist (and I’m assuming you want to be great otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this blog…) is this – TRAIN MORE.

But, like anything else, there’s a caveat.

Train smarter AND Train Harder.

As I always say, there are no secret techniques but there ARE secret (or less well known) training strategies that will improve all aspects of martial performance in much less time.

Training more and training harder are NOT the only variables. Anyone who thinks this way is an amateur.

Click HERE Now to Get All the Details!

The END of Warrior Fitness?

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Jon

I almost dissolved Warrior Fitness last year…

When I began this journey back in 2008 my only students were martial artists. My first book, Warrior Fitness: Conditioning for Martial Arts, was written for martial artists. But since then I have radically expanded my own training (to be discussed later) and my student base. My clients come from all walks of life, age range, gender, and level of physical activity.

My vision has expanded way beyond just the martial one with which I started. My mission has changed.

So with all these changes going on, I began to rethink my original plan for Warrior Fitness and decided that maybe it was time to take a different path and dissolve Warrior Fitness in favor of something more suited to those changes…

Was This The End?

This-Is-The-End-poster

NOPE.

I couldn’t do it. 🙂

As you are all well aware, we currently live in extremely trying and more dangerous times. As a friend recently reminded me in an email conversation, we need MORE warriors going forward, not less.

Therefore 2016 will not be the end of Warrior Fitness, but a new beginning…

A start to something much broader in scope, more comprehensive, and much, much more life changing and affirming – Warrior Fitness Reborn “Training for the Total Human”

As I mentioned above, my mission has changed. Back in 2008 when all this first started my only goal was to improve the functional ability and performance of myself as a martial artist and that of my students through specific physical preparedness training, IE – Warrior Fitness. This I accomplished for martial artists all across the world through my programs such as Martial Power, Ninja Missions, and many others. I began to integrate my internal power training practices with strength training in 2015 through my Integrated Strength Program. By all accounts I had accomplished what I set out to do, very successfully I might add, but to me there was still something missing.

I alluded to it this past summer when I opened up and talked about why I got started down the road as a fitness professional. You can watch it below in my origin story.

My Origin Story

My mission has become broader, and yet more clearly defined. My current work has taken on a more important, more meaningful quality – not that teaching someone how to be a bad-ass, powerhouse of a martial artist isn’t meaningful anymore, it most definitely is!! 🙂

I will layout the new mission of Warrior Fitness Reborn in full detail in future articles, but for now some of it can be inferred from the short piece below on Physical Confidence.

Physical Confidence

There is a certain kind of confidence that comes from being strong. I call it physical confidence.

It’s different than the confidence one feels by being smart, or being good at a job, or being in a secure, loving relationship.

With physical confidence you stand straighter and walk taller. Your head is up and scanning the horizon rather than being bowed and staring at the floor. You look people in the eye and with a nod, acknowledge them and let them know you respect them.

There’s a certain presence, a kind of knowing awareness, about a person with physical confidence. People somehow know that if the proverbial sh*t ever hit the fan while you were there, you would take care of it.

Strength holds us together. Strength is a quiet preparedness wielded by those who watch over and protect others. Strength and capability together create physical confidence. One does not come without the other.

And, how do we instill that Physical Confidence, you ask… ?

Warrior Fitness Coaching Programs

Men, if you picked up your FREE copy of my book, Dad Strength, you know that men, in general, are getting weaker. We can counteract that. I can fix it. YOU can become the strong, Alpha-Male warrior you were always meant to be. You CAN get stronger every day. Find out if you are a good fit for my NEW Warrior Fitness Coaching Program for Men <<===

Women, you also must be strong which is why I have also put together a Woman Warrior Transformation Program <<====

Want to talk? Sign up HERE for a free 10-minute Turbo Coaching Call to discuss your goals and how I can help you become the strongest, most capable version of yourself.

Lacking Workout Motivation? Try This!

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Jon

We all have those days…

You know you should workout on a consistent basis, but sometimes the motivation just isn’t there. Here’s a quick primer on how to set yourself up for success.

1) Have a Goal.

2) Follow a Program. (read “Which Program is Best for You”) It’s much easier to do the work if you know in advance exactly what you are supposed to be doing for each training session and how it is progressing you towards your main goal. Remember – random exercise leads to random results!

3) Make Training Your Default Status. Read THIS if you want to know whether or not to train when sick or injured.

4) Commit to it. Decide beforehand that you ARE going to train. There is no “maybe”…

5) Have a Pre-Workout Ritual. This will get you in state.

no_motivation

To give you an idea of what a pre-workout ritual looks like here’s mine. Feel free to model or copy it outright, whatever works to get you training!!

My Pre-Workout Ritual

1) Get into my workout shorts and t-shirt (yes, I wash them…)

2) Take Hercules Pre-Workout Formula. You will feel the rush of the powerful herbs coursing through your system!
3) Crank up workout music. Currently my music anchor is “Invincible” by TOOL.

4) Stand tall, breathe deep, walk powerfully. Visualize yourself performing the workout. This, along with the Hercules Formula, gets my energy building and heart pumping.

5) Perform my general movement preparation – joint mobility work and resistance band exercises.

6) DO THE BLOODY WORK!!

I hope this is helpful. Please drop a comment and let me know if you have any questions!

Need more help?

Grab over a year’s worth of training at 87% off – all of the details can be hound HERE <<==

Who is the Strongest of ALL?

Posted on November 10, 2015 by Jon

I just finished reading a play with my 7 year old daughter called, Who is the Strongest? The play is about a little red ant who sets out on an adventure to find out who is the strongest of them all. On his way he encounters different animals and forces of nature whom he thinks are strong, but each one tells him about another who is stronger.

For example fire tells him that water is stronger because water can extinguish him. But then water tells him the sun is stronger because the sun can dry it up. The sun the proceeds to tell him that wind is stronger because it can blow clouds in front of it to prevent it from shining… and on and on…

In the end he comes to a huge rock cliff face that he finally thinks is the strongest of all, but the rock tells him that little red ants live inside of it and day by day burrow deeper carrying away pieces of the rock itself….

The moral of the story?

It’s all about how you view yourself in your own mind. Mindset can be an extremely powerful positive force in your life or an extremely powerful negative one. You become what you think about most of the time. If you think you are weak, you will be. So think that you are strong and you will be – believe that you have no limits!

Just because you are an ant doesn’t mean you cannot possess super human strength!

You can use the power of nature to embody the strength of an ant as well HERE <<===

We Were Once Warriors…

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Jon

We Were Once Warriors…

For centuries the warrior has been the archetypical model of physical fitness and power. This is due to the extreme nature of their training and overwhelming odds that they must have had to go through waging war in the ancient world.

The multifaceted development of skills required for the warrior’s brand of life and death combat is second to none.

Warriors needed to be able to carry heavy loads over long distances on uneven terrain, wield heavy weapons while wearing armor, wrestle and engage in other forms of hand-to-hand combat, fight for hours or perhaps even days on end in mud, sweat, and blood, all while continuing to display power, coordination, agility, and speed.

This was not a game with a medal or trophy at stake, but their lives and the lives of their comrades in arms, not to mention the entire village or tribe who were relying on them for protection. All of this placed immense demands on the warrior physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Today’s Training from Yesterday’s Triumph

The skills we know today as fitness, or strength and conditioning, depending on whether your term is all inclusive or a specific subset, all evolved over time from man’s need and ability to wage war. In fact, one of the earliest examples of sport in the western world is from ancient Greece; we now call it the Olympics. These early games were created as a way for warriors to channel their aggressive and competitive natures, while simultaneously allowing them to hone their battle skills, in times of peace.

So we can see from this quick look back in time that originally almost all athletics and sport competitions were based on the martial skills of the warrior and utilized as a way to sustain and practice those skills.

Now, working backward this time, is there a way to reverse engineer a warrior’s training regimen and use it to improve the components of martial skill, conditioning, AND athletic performance? Absolutely!!

Try This Warrior Workout on for Size

1) Heavy Sandbag Carry (Zercher carry, bear hug carry, over head carry) – 3 x 300 ft.

2A) Pike Push-ups on Fists – 4 x 10

2B) Mixed Grip Pull-ups (change grip each set) – 4 x SM

2C) Loaded Airborne Squats (load up with clubbell, Kettlebell, dumbbell, or sandbag) – 4 x 5/5

3) H2H Touch & Go Kettlebell Swings x 100

If you train in MMA…

NOW go punch, kick, knee, and elbow a heavy bag or have a partner hold focus mitts for 3 rounds x 3-5 minutes each! How is your performance?

Or, if you’re really daring and want to test your mettle, now is the time to go spar with a completely fresh opponent for 3 rounds of 3-5 minutes! How has your performance changed?

If you train in Bujinkan or other form of combatives…

Do the same as above but utilizing the basic techniques of your particular style. For Bujinkan peeps that means try out all the Kihon Happo on a fresh uke!

My brand new WarFit Combat Conditioning Program is perfect for the warrior athlete who wants to build superhuman strength, endurance, and conditioning:

Momentum Based Training

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Jon

I’ll let you in on a little secret…

I can be a little lazy when it comes to cleaning up my house. I like to leave dishes in the sink overnight. I don’t mind dropping clothes on the floor as I remove them for the night. Some days my kitchen table looks like a tornado hit it. Yes. I can be sloppy. But once I get going picking up one or 2 things, I start cleaning more. Suddenly the clothes are in the hamper, the dishes are washed and put away, the table is neat, my desk is orderly, heck even the bathrooms are clean. How does all this magic happen??? Easy. One thing at a time. One small task completed leads into another and another and another until, before you know it, it’s all done. My house is cleaned by momentum. Once I get started, it all falls into place.

Sometimes the cleaning and straightening up leads into my becoming even more productive in other areas of my life. It’s like the small success in one seemingly unrelated area leads to improvements in other areas. For example, this morning as I cleaned the kitchen, did the laundry, and started cleaning the master bathroom, I suddenly started having more ideas for my website, new workouts for my clients, my training programs, etc. As soon as I finished the cleaning I used the momentum I’d built up and channeled it into brainstorming and writing. As a result I now have several new ideas for Warrior Fitness 2015! You’ll begin to see the fruits of my labor in the coming weeks and months as I produce and share it with you.

But does it have to be about cleaning?

Well, no. That’s just the example from my life, today. It can be anything. Do 1 push-up and it leads to 2, then to 20, then to 100. Eat one more vegetable each day for a week and see the effect. Take a short walk every day and breathe deeply. Do small things and build momentum. Train for 5 minutes and let it lead to more. Make one class a month. Then one a week. Stand for 5 minutes, then for 10, then for 30. The key to training is consistency. Build it through small victories and allow the momentum to accumulate. By this time next year, looking ahead to 2016, you will be amazed at all the progress you have made! Do it now!

Stronger Than Fear

Posted on November 16, 2014 by Jon

Are you stronger than your fear?

Or do you stay in your comfort zone and allow fear to get the better of you? You can tell every time when you start to push against the edge of your comfort zone – you begin to feel afraid. Maybe you don’t call it fear. Maybe it’s resistance. Maybe it’s discomfort. Maybe it’s just a queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach that goes away if you you stop pushing forward. Call it what ever you want. I know what it is. I call it by it’s true name – fear.

How do you become stronger than fear? By feeling it, acknowledging it, and doing the thing you fear anyway. As Mark Twain once said, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not the absence of fear.”

One way to face fear and push past it is by enduring brutal physical training. This type of training is NOT for the faint of heart. However, when you go through it, face it, and come out on the other end, you are a stronger person – mentally, physically, and spiritually.

Here is a sample of one conditioning workout with an MMA fighter I am currently training:

Warrior Fitness

Old School Training for the Modern Warrior

Category Archives: Spirit