Tag Archives: integrated strength

21 Day Wuji Standing Meditation Challenge

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21 Day Wuji Standing Meditation Challenge

Why Wuji?

The health preserving and sustaining effects of Wuji Standing have been documented in hospitals and medical clinics across China. 
The reason this practice has such a profound impact on health and recovery from exercise is that the standing meditation acts like a system-wide reboot for the whole body.

It stimulates the nervous system, increases circulation, and raises energy levels, while providing deep relaxation for both mind and body.

Aches, pains, old injuries, muscular tensions, and imbalances are highlighted and brought to the forefront by this method and then slowly dissolved over time and completely released.

The practice provides a way of completely relaxing and letting go of the muscular tensions in the body, while the correct alignment of the bones delivers support, creating a profound neutral and relaxed, almost buoyant state.

As the whole body and mind are exercised, both relax and stimulate the nervous system, increasing circulation, opening the joints, and raising energy levels for a feeling of overall well-being.

This exercise looks easy from the outside. After all, you’re just standing there and not moving. However, there is a lot going on inside: the breath and qi (energy) are moving.

This exercise is a challenging, sometimes frustrating, yet highly beneficial and rewarding practice. The only way to truly appreciate it is to experience it for yourself.

Wuji Standing Challenge Instructions

Learn More…

Shadow Strength utilizes a proprietary set of exercises drawn from traditional martial arts and trained in a unique combination to skyrocket your internal strength, power, and resistance to injury.

Using breath, posture, and martial mobility, Shadow Strength breaks down the barriers to superhuman strength and an unbreakable body.

 

The Strength of Structure (and How to Train It)

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As we discussed in the previous post (see here), all martial movement must be based on a platform of both mobility and stability. Today we will discuss stability.

Kamae is much more than just a stance or ready position. It is the platform from which all movements are made and from which all techniques are delivered. Your kamae is quite literally the foundation upon which your entire martial art practice rests.

A weak, or structurally flawed, kamae will limit the amount of power delivered and reduce the effectiveness of every technique employed. Conversely, a strong kamae is the key to the effective execution of all your techniques. A strong kamae carries the support of the ground and efficiently conducts that power through the user with minimal noise creating, in effect, a transparent power.

“You can’t shoot a cannon out of a canoe.”

Water provides a very poor base of support to maximally fire a cannon ball thus it will not travel very far. This is exactly what happens with a poorly constructed kamae. So much power bleeds off in different directions that the mean effect of the movement is extremely reduced and more energy is required in order to compensate for the inefficiency.

How Do We Build a Strong Kamae?

There are many different forms of strength training but only a few, very specific, methods of strengthening the structure (kamae). The key to strengthening structure, as you will see, is training the connective tissue – fascia, tendons, and ligaments, and strengthening the bones, rather than working on muscle. The benefits of this type of training are enormous; not only does having a stronger structure increase the effectiveness of martial movement and techniques, but also acts as a natural form of injury prevention by improving the strength and elasticity of the tissues and increasing the body’s overall resilience.

We will examine 4 main ones here from the EARTH section of Warrior Fitness working on strength, structure, and stability.

Loaded Carries – These provide a unique challenge to the body as they are a type of moving isometric exercise. Kettlebells or dumbbells are a great place to start, but loaded carries can be done with just about anything.

There are 3 basic loaded carries we will discuss here:

  • Farmer Walk – Hold 2 kettlebells at the sides and go for a walk. Try to maintain a neutral balance and move from center.
  • Rack Walk – Hold 2 kettlebells in the rack position and go for a walk. Try to maintain a neutral balance and move from center.
  • Overhead Carry – Hold 2 kettlebells overhead and go for a walk. Try to maintain a neutral balance and move from center.

Static Holds – Unlike lifting or carrying, static holds can be done anywhere with zero equipment. They also place a great emphasis on strengthening connective tissue for supporting the body.

  • Static Kamae Hold: Pick a kamae and hold it for time. The goal here is to relax in position and allow the connective tissue to do the work, not the muscle.
  • Static Push-up: Hold the top, middle, or bottom portion of a push-up for time. The goal here is to relax in position and allow the connective tissue to do the work, not the muscle.
  • Partial Lifts – Partials allow you to develop the connective tissues and bones in a way that full range of movement lifting cannot. By doing partials you are supporting more weight than you would be able to in a full range lift.

  • Push Testing – The push test is a very practical way of testing the quality of one’s solo training for internal power. The body, when properly trained, acts as an omni-directional structure.  This allows the practitioner to neutralize any incoming force by diffusing it throughout the structure rather than having to surrender to it or resist against it.

 

I cannot over emphasize how critical this type of training is to your development as a powerful martial artist. Not only does this type of training condition the connective tissues, bones, and muscles, but it forms the body into a cohesive unit that is both resilient and powerful.

Study this well, my friends!

Check out my bestselling Integrated Strength Program for more complete trainiing information…

 

 

 

The Process of Becoming Masterful

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“Remember that mastery is not attained once after a lifetime of practice, but earned every day.”

– Jon Haas

Usually when we think of someone who is a master, be it a master martial artist or the master of some other craft, we think of them as attaining mastery at the end of a long lifetime of practice.
But mastery is NOT something that’s attained once after years or decades of training – mastery is something that is EARNED every day!!
You can be masterful in one moment and then a fumbling fool in the next (ask me how I know!).
The goal of becoming masterful isn’t to wait until some distant future when every move you make is perfect and every word that comes out of your mouth is sage advice, it’s to consciously create those moments of mastery every day until you have more of them rather than less of them.

Daily practice is the key.

Do you ever think about what it would be like to be a master martial artist?

Not just to be awarded the title “master” but to really and truly embody all of the sublime skill of martial mastery at the highest level of human achievement…

What would it feel like to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you could easily control and subdue the most violent opponent with the most minimal effort, like a lion playing with a cub?

What if I told you that mastery is NOT something automatically attained after a lifetime of practice, but is instead conferred only upon those rare few individuals who, through their own efforts, take consistent, specific daily actions to achieve it?

Then mastery would not be just a far away, imagined future state, but instead a real and attainable goal built by taking action every day, right here and right now.

 

Remember This

Remember this – it is critical to your success – EVERY single legendary martial master: Musashi, Ueshiba, Bruce Lee, Kano, Takeda, Takamatsu, Gracie, Hatsumi, etc…

ALL of them began as unskilled, know nothing novices, white belts without a clue.

Their consistent daily training formed them, forged them, into the revered and feared masters that we know today.

“What one man can do, another can do.”

You can choose to follow in their footsteps. You can choose to be masterful, to be legendary.

However, as you follow them, do NOT seek to become them – instead, seek what they sought, the process of mastery.

Find the process of daily mastery <<==

Finally… There is a Researched, Tested, and PROVEN Method for Developing Internal Power and Unusual Strength from Martial Arts…

Kata (Alone) Will Never Build Internal Power

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Trying to develop Internal Power by training kata (alone) in martial art is problematic.  On one hand, you may inadvertently have minor success in creating some internal connection over the course of 20-30 years of training, but you will most likely have no idea how you did it, no idea why it worked (minimally at best), and most importantly, no idea how to correctly transmit it to the next generation.

The only advice you will be able to offer your students and fellow seekers is to keep doing this (kata training) and somehow you *might* get the correct result.  This is insufficient and irresponsible, at best, on the part of the teacher.

Assuming that you want to stand out from the crowd as a powerful martial artist, and Internal Power/Aiki is your goal, then the scatter approach to trying (and for the most part, failing) to build IP through kata alone is a waste of a career.  I say this because there exist clearly defined, step-by-step processes that rewire the body for Internal Power specifically for martial arts.

Solo Training Precedes Kata Training

Power building models as solo training exercises have existed for hundreds (if not thousands) of years  throughout the martial arts from India to China to Japan.  Why anyone would try to reinvent the wheel by attempting to create their own hodgepodge of exercises or think that merely training kata would develop real Internal Power is a mystery to me.  The reality is that solo training exercises burn in specific ways of moving that are not normal which create a very stable, powerful structure capable of absorbing, re-translating, and projecting incoming force.

osensei_tree_kokyu1-272x334

Internal Power training is a type of General Physical Preparedness (GPP) for budo.  The goal of regular GPP for fitness, athletics, or martial arts is enhanced work capacity. This is the ability to run faster, jump higher, and hit harder. When work capacity increases, it allows the budding warrior to adapt more easily to increases in both mental and physical demands. In other words, it increases your capacity and level of readiness to absorb higher levels of specificity.

The solo training exercises for internal power training change the way outside forces act on the body.  The structure becomes dynamically stable so that applied force can either be distributed throughout the chain and dissipated or, at a higher level, simply reflected right back onto the opponent.  When force is reflected back this is what is known in Japanese as Yamabiko, or Mountain Echo.

Just to help further differentiate the two practices, solo training exercises for building internal power (there are other types of solo training exercises, obviously) are always made up of the following: standing, open/close, winding, spiraling, and breathing – all supported by Yin/Yang Theory (the union of opposites) and 6 directions (Heaven Earth Man).

Kata are for the purposes of patterning correct martial movement.

These solo training exercises are trained BEFORE kata to condition the body for powerful martial movement. They are not martial movement drills in and of themselves like sanshin no kata, kihon happo, and kata.

Kata – The Slow Boat to China

The reason it is so difficult to train IP via kata is that the vast majority of students get caught up in learning the movements of the kata correctly.  They get caught up in the application of technique and the idea of trying to make it work correctly.  What they don’t realize is that having a correctly trained body built by solo Internal Power exercises makes all the kata work much better and easier.

If you have a choice – why not learn a proven step-by-step method of developing unusual strength and Internal Power?

 

 

Join My New 21 Lessons on Internal Power Coaching Program <<==

Following a clearly defined path up the mountain is much faster and more effective than wandering around the base working on kata for 30 years and thinking you will somehow magically arrive at the summit.

Caution – While I did just say “more effective and faster” I by no means meant easier!!  Internal Power takes a lot of dedicated work.  Do not think it is a shortcut!

Theme for 2015 – Integrated Strength

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New Years Day, 2015

Warrior Fitness HQ

Happy New Year, Warriors!

When I first began Warrior Fitness way back in 2008 the goal was simple – utilize my knowledge, training, and experience from several different disciplines under the broad heading of Strength & Conditioning to enhance the performance of martial arts.  I began by creating a unique series of functional training exercises that encompassed mobility, flexibility, strength, conditioning, balance, agility, coordination, and endurance. Continue reading →

Martial Software or Martial Hardware?

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Remember in The Matrix when Morpheus downloaded those dozens of different martial arts programs (software) into Neo’s brain and he instantly could perform all the techniques from those arts?

That is a perfect example of a software upgrade.  Techniques instantly available at your fingertips – literally! Continue reading →

Internal Power and Bujinkan Training

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When I first began talking about internal power in the context of Bujinkan training, I realized that many people might be skeptical of this type of training at the very least, or have many preconceived misconceptions that would not allow them to even consider the method as a viable form of training for budo.

Therefore I decided to write this blog post to gauge the interest of my readership and how accepting you might be of internal power training and my interpretation of its role within Bujinkan training. I hope you find it helpful!

What is Internal Power?

I think it’s best to start with the basics.  What is internal power and how can it useful to the practitioner of Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu?  Let me state this at the outset to hopefully clear up a rather unfortunate misinterpretation of IP.

Internal Power is physical.

It’s not some mystical mumbo jumbo or a throwing chi balls type of nonsense.

It is actually a way of conditioning the body through specific solo training exercises and paired partner training. The training method spans thousands of years and has been handed down through the ages within the warrior traditions of India, China, and Japan.  It is a body technology with a set method and detailed process of instruction that simply cannot be learned by osmosis.  It must be explicitly taught.

takamatsuSensei

The basis for the method is what is known as the union of opposites or In Yo Ho, in Japanese.

By creating opposing forces within the body (up/down, left/right, front/back) through the use of intent – your own mental direction using imagery, feeling, and visualization – we begin to increase the mind-body connection to a remarkable degree.

Through the solo training exercises we condition and strengthen the entire fascia network, as well as tendons and ligaments, throughout the body.  This process serves to create a connected body through the center so that when ‘one thing move, everything moves’.

The Ultimate Ukemi

Internal Power training changes the way outside forces act on the body.  The structure becomes dynamically stable so that applied force can either be distributed throughout the chain and dissipated or, at a higher level, simply reflected right back onto the opponent.  When force is reflected back this is what is known in Japanese as Yamabiko, or Mountain Echo.

At first blush it may sound like a party trick, but the budo applications are quite staggering.  Think about it.

How does every martial art technique work?

What is the first thing you are taught to do prior to applying a technique?

Break the opponent’s balance, right?  Get kuzushi.

What if no one can compromise your structure?

What does that do to every throw, lock, and take down applied to you?  Yeh.  You’re getting it now, aren’t’ you?

And that’s just the beginning.

Every time you move, you are completely and dynamically stable, balanced.  You gain the ability to hit like a truck using the full mass of a connected body without dedicating your weight.  (Remember – when one thing moves, everything moves.)

This becomes very profound, especially when you start to incorporate weapons.

And, since you are connected through the middle of your body due to the specific solo training exercises, you will finally and probably for the first time, actually be moving from center, hara, or dantien.

Sound interesting?

You can learn my full method of integrating and training the mind-body system HERE.

 

I am also more than happy to share what I know about internal power training, especially in the context of how it can be fully integrated into our Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu practice.  I teach it in my weekly classes and seminars upon request. Contact me HERE.