Tag Archives: mace

How to Train for the Zombie Apocalypse

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If I were to train you to survive the zombie apocalypse, how would I do it?

Well, you will need to be all around functionally strong, possess no-quit endurance, and incredible amounts of sheer grit, or mental toughness!

What determines whether or not you survive the approaching zombie horde?

To me, it comes down to 3 things.

1 – Training/Preparedness

2 – Mental Toughness

3 – Luck

Training/Preparedness

Are you strong? And not just one rep max strong – that won’t serve you too well when fighting a horde of zombies all night long or when they are chasing you and you need to carry your kid or spouse, or best friend to safety.

Do you have strength endurance? Do you possess a high level of work capacity?

Are you able to perform at peak levels for an extended period of time?

Do you have usable, functional strength?

Strength that integrates the entire body and allows for strong, 3 dimensional movement across all planes and throughout all ranges of motion?

Or do you train in isolation?

What tools would I pick to develop this type of strength and conditioning?

My top 3 would be kettlebells, sandbags, and some sort of club/mace/sledgehammer.

Why?

Because all are extremely versatile, super low-tech tools that build raw, rugged, all-around enduring strength. And also they are all a hellova lotta fun to train with at the same time!

Mental Toughness

Mental toughness, simply put, is the resistance to failure. It is a series of qualities that allows you to persevere through adversity without giving up. When we are being overrun and the dead are turning into newly minted zombies at an alarming rate all the while trying to kill you, this is an extremely necessary quality to possess!

Luckily, mental toughness is a quality you can develop with the right training.

Doing feats of strength endurance like high rep kettlebell swings or snatches or long distance heavy farmer walks interspersed with high rep body weight exercises or other kettlebell work will build that mental fortitude.

Pushing the threshold of the body requires pushing the mind since the mind navigates the body.

One way to train for this is to put yourself through a severe challenge test of strength endurance/work capacity once a month or at least once a quarter. Pick a goal and just go with everything you’ve got!

At the end you will be spent physically, but will feel great about all that you’ve accomplished!

Luck

Sometimes just being in the right place at the right time is a factor in survival as well.  Let’s face it, not everyone who is the most prepared survives all the time. Usually, in war it’s the bravest warriors who die first since they are at the front!

Although, I do think that being physically strong, mentally tough, and having a positive mental attitude that things will work out in your favor goes a long way in creating your own luck.

The “Unofficial” Zombie Apocalypse Workout

 

Day 1 – Combat Conditioning – This workout will test your physical limits and mental fortitude!

 

Sandbag Shouldering with Burpee x 10
Rope Pull-ups x SM
Sandbag Zercher Squats x 10
Sandbag Rows x 10
Med Ball Slams x 10
Sandbag Clean & Press x 10

Protocol: Perform 3-5 rounds. Rest 30-60 seconds between rounds.

 

 

Day 2 – Bodyweight Conditioning – Not for the faint of heart!

 

  1. Alternating Lunges (Jump Switch Lunges for a greater challenge)
  2. Hindu Push-Ups
  3. Bear Crawls
  4. Sit Thrus
  5. Sprawls

 

Protocol: Each exercise is done for 90 seconds followed by 30 seconds or rest. Repeat 2x’s.

 

 

Need more?

Apply HERE to work with me one-on-one through my Warrior Distance Learning Program!!

Training with Mr. Maceman – A Review

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In the early morning hours of Saturday September 25th, 25 people from all over the Tri-State area gathered at the Martial Strength Training Academy in Branchburg, NJ for a Mace Training Certification Seminar. The group was made up of martial artists, fitness professionals, and regular folks alike who all had 2 things in common – a love of mace training and the desire to plumb the depths by learning from the best in the world, Rik Brown aka Mr. Maceman.

 

As I got out of my car making sure to grab the 2 maces I brought for the day plus my cup of coffee, I ran into 2 veteran mace swingers in the parking lot. Fred Mohr (Steel Mace Nation) and Andrew Emsley (Sleepy Monkey Training Academy) who, between the 2 of them, were carrying at least a dozen different maces of all shapes, sizes, and weights. With all these great people and tons of different maces in attendance, I knew it was going to be a great day!

 

The real highlight of the day though was meeting Rik Brown in person after years of talking to him online and on the phone. 

 

Rik’s engaging manner and incredible depth of knowledge on all things mace, allowed everyone at the seminar to, not only be comfortable and have a great time, but work hard and learn all the finer points of the techniques, coaching cues, and how to fix common mistakes.

In fact, everyone, and I mean everyone, was not only put on the spot to demonstrate their mace swinging technique, but also how to properly coach someone else through each point and quickly fix any errors in the movement (THE WALL!!)

An Inch Wide and a Mile Deep

At the beginning of the seminar, Rik promised us one thing. That he would teach us all he knew about traditional mace swinging. He would not show us dozens of techniques or exercises but he would show us a few things going an “inch wide and a mile deep”.

Mastery is not the product of learning many things superficially but it is the product of learning a few things deeply. 

To start off the seminar, Rik led us through a series of mace specific warm-up exercises designed to prepare our grip, shoulders, core, and cardiovascular system for the rigors of mace training. 

Rik then began to instruct us on the finer points of mace swinging. As he promised, “an inch wide and a mile deep.”

We began an extremely detailed and exacting look at 2 exercises I was familiar with from clubbell training, but that were taken to an entirely new level by Rik with the mace: The Mill and The Bullwhip.

 

From there we got into the meat of the training, the Mace 360 and the 10 to 2. Two handed, one-handed, standing, sitting, and kneeling. These exercises are the essence of mace swinging. For when it comes to the mace, there is nothing new under the sun. In fact it is old. Extremely old. And in this ancient practice lie all the secrets of training the body for warriors.

 

Why the Mace?

As a lifelong martial artist as well as a strength coach by profession, what drew me to the mace originally was its long history of specific physical preparation of wrestlers and warriors for the rigors of both armed and unarmed combat. Anything that has stood the test of time and been successfully utilized by so many, in my opinion, deserves our full attention.

The mace is a multi-joint, multi-planar 3 dimensional strength training tool. This is just a fancy way of saying that it builds both strength and mobility together throughout the entire range of motion while also improving the practitioner’s resistance to injury. The long handle and displaced center of gravity of mace create a leverage disadvantage which means one can use a relatively light weight to achieve phenomenal results without the usual wear and tear on the joints and susceptibility to injury that often accompanies the lifting of heavier weights.

At the end of the seminar each of the newly certified Mace Coaches was called upon to showcase all that they had learned to train a group of people who had little to no exposure to the mace. This final test cemented the lessons Rik had taught us all day and allowed us to be even more confident in our ability and skills to pass on the training we had received.

Honored to be a fully certified Mace Instructor!

 

My professional opinion of the day?

Rik is a highly skilled teacher with an enormous love for the mace and an incredible depth of knowledge. After swinging clubbells for over 15 years and being a strength coach for over a decade, I learned a ton from this seminar. If you have a chance to attend a mace training workshop with Rik, go for it!

 

History of the Mace (taken from Rik Brown’s Mace Training Manual)

The Mace is at least 1,000 years old and has been used as a war weapon by numerous cultures. In India, the Mace is called the Gada, and has been used as a war weapon, but is also used as a training tool by the Wrestling Gyms (Akhara).

In the world of sports, India has used the Mace (Gada) to develop strength for wrestling, the worlds’ oldest sport, and has appreciated the Mace’s enormous benefits so much that Mace swinging competitions are held in India still.

 

RGI Conflict Resolution Course Review

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Last week I had the very special privilege of attending the RGI Conflict Resolution Certification Course.  Resolution Group International (RGI) is a conflict resolution company specializing in: Ethics presentations, Leadership training, Tactical Communication, Cross-Culture Conflict Resolution, and Defensive Tactics and Combatives.  It was hosted in Spring Lake, NJ and taught by a panel of experts in the field of conflict with decades of real world experience and credentials behind them. 

The RGI seminar format utilizes a unique teaching methodology which blends values-based lessons, conflict communication skills, and ethics with physical training and exercise to activate and clarify the principles being taught.  The interchange of movement with the classroom style lecture increases the absorption and retention of the intellectual and values-bases lessons.  This concept is backed up by latest research into combining education with physical exercise.  Check out the book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey, MD for a more detailed discussion of the science behind it. 

RGI’s Conflict Resolution course starts with a premise: in order to resolve conflict one must be moral, knowing right from wrong; one must be ethical, putting that morality into action; and one must have the physical skills and confidence from which to proceed.  The Dual Life Value (DLV) theory is the linchpin holding the course together.  It permeates the philosophy, intellectual discussions, physical skills, and emotional stories.  The DLV states that we are all equal because my life and the lives of my loved ones are as important to me as your life and the lives of your loved ones are to you.  Further, the life value is a universal value by which all other values are judged.  If they support the life value, they are moral, if they don’t, then they are not.  This is a very high level summary of an extremely important concept.  To really gain a full understanding and appreciation of the DLV theory, you really need to attend the course and be immersed in the philosophy.  This review can do nothing more than offer a taste to whet your appetite.  I hope it makes you hungry!

PT with Joe Marine

Joseph C. Shusko AKA “Joe Marine” is a decorated veteran who served the United States Marine Corps for over 30 years.  He is now serving as the Deputy Director, Marine Corps Martial Arts Center of Excellence overseeing the Corps’ Martial Arts Program.  Joe Marine is also known as the “combat conditioning guru”.  He took the class through 2 morning PT sessions Thursday and Friday.  The Thursday morning PT session began with a discussion on health and fitness in which Joe Marine shared his outlook and really brought home the importance of taking care of oneself, especially as we get older.  We then proceeded to go through a simple, yet highly effective workout Joe calls “5-10-15-20”.  It’s basically a plug –n- play type workout template which uses a variety of bodyweight exercise for the prescribed number of repetitions, 5, 10, 15, and 20, respectively.  The set is repeated as many times as possible in 10 minutes.  This allows trainees to work at their own pace and to their own fitness level.  But as Joe says, you only get out of it what you put into it!  Friday morning’s PT was a real treat as we moved the location outdoors to the beach on Spring Lake.  This time the workout was done in teams of 2.  This really pulled the participants together as they struggled to overcome the shared adversity of the physical challenges together.

In addition to being the combat conditioning guru, Joe Marine is also known for his “tie-ins”.  These are values-based stories which serve to illustrate points and drive home the intellectual or physical lessons with an emotional impact.  Never miss an opportunity to ask for a tie-in!

Maneuver Martial Arts

Maneuver Martial Arts is the term RGI President, Jack Hoban uses to describe RGI’s approach to physical conflict.  Jack is a speaker, writer and Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the U.S. Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP).  His business and military experiences, as well as an extensive 30-year background in martial arts, give him a unique and interesting perspective.  Jack, along with co-instructors Craig Gray and Artie Mark, skillfully introduced the participants to the concept of tactical movement, striking, escapes, takedowns, submissions, and protecting others.  Tactical movement and being able to control the tactical space around the opponent(s) was emphasized as primary, over and above the concept of technique.  This allowed the participants, some of whom had no prior martial arts experience, to gain an understanding and quickly absorb the principles of martial movement as the seminar progressed.  As a martial artist of almost 30 years of experience myself, it was hugely gratifying to watch this process unfold!

The crown jewel of RGI’s martial arts training though is really the protecting others piece.  As Jack mentioned in his introduction to this section, in a typical martial arts school setting, if 100 techniques are taught, 100% of those techniques are geared towards defending yourself.  How many look at how to defend others?  Usually none.  This segment of the training served to rectify that deficiency in current martial arts training, as well as to drive home the importance of the universal life value of self and others – all others.  Protecting others activates the life value and solidifies the concepts, principles, and ethics in a very real and effective way.

Conflict Communication

RGI’s approach to conflict communication is both an art and a science.  Gary Klugiewicz is employed by PoliceOne as a police and corrections subject matter expert. He is retired from the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department after 25 years of service where he was promoted to the rank of captain. Gary has been a Verbal Judo Instructor for the last fifteen years.  Gary expertly distilled the essence of Dr. George Thompson’s Verbal Judo, to give the participants a highly beneficial introduction to tactical communication.  Take a look at what Verbal Judo calls the 5 Universal Truths and see if they resonate with you.  They certainly did with me.  Also, try them out on your kids.  You’ll be amazed at the level of compliance!

5 Universal Truths

  1. All people want to be treated with dignity and respect.
  2. All people want to be asked rather than told to do something.
  3. All people want to be told why they are being asked to do something.
  4. All people want to be given options rather than threats.
  5. All people want a second chance.

Real world experience in conflict communication from both the ER and out on the street from a law enforcement perspective was also shared by Joseph Lau, RN, veteran police detective Arthur “Artie” Mark, and decorated veteran detective James Shanahan.  Additional presentations were given by heavy hitters such as Brian Pensak, Marine Corps Martial Arts Program Instructor Trainer and SME, and Bruce Gourlie, Special Agent of the FBI.  There is so much experience, expertise, and information to unpack from just one of these gentlemen’s presentations that it’s impossible to delve into in a short seminar review.  My advice?  If you deal with any type of conflict in your job, in your family, in your life, get to an RGI Conflict Resolution course ASAP – you’ll never look at conflict the same way again!

The RGI Conflict Resolution Course has a synergistic effect whereby the whole is much, much greater than the sum of its individual parts.  The combined impact of the instructors’ professional presentations, the interchange of physical skills with values, morals, and ethics, and the engaging course material create an outstanding professional development course. 5 out of 5 stars – highly recommended!!

For more information on RGI upcoming events and seminars, please click here.