Living the Warrior Lifestyle

Posted on September 8, 2022 by Jon

Years ago I wrote down what I considered to be the essence of living the warrior lifestyle and I called it “The Warrior Code” – original, I know! 🙂

Just so you are aware, here is my original “warrior code”:

Warriors train to push their body and mind to the limits, and find new ones
Warriors are strong to protect and defend self and others
Warriors know that not fulfilling their utmost potential is cheating themselves and robbing the world of their brilliance
Warriors are knowledgeable knuckledraggers
Warriors strive to always become stronger every day

Not bad, right???

But in the past few years I’ve taken it even further.

From the very start of my warrior journey, I’ve always held that the martial arts are a microcosm of life.

And now, my own personal warrior training has become a metaphor for how I live my live. Essentially, my warrior training has become the overarching guiding philosophy in my life, my business, my teaching, and my interaction with all those around me.

I have reaped the benefits of living the warrior lifestyle and would now like to share them with you.

So I am introducing a brand new coaching program…

Warrior Lifestyle Coaching

We are always told that we have unlimited human potential. But sometimes it doesn’t feel that way.

How do we access it?

One of the hallmarks of many warrior cultures is their ability to delve deeply into the psyche and access the full range of human abilities.

How would it feel to be able to access your full human potential in mind body and spirit?

That’s the goal of this coaching program.

Some of the areas we will cover are:

How to motivate yourself for best possible results
Ninja tactics for goal setting and attainment
Warrior time management – How to get incredible results in your training even on the busiest of schedules. Or perhaps you have too much time on your hands and can’t figure out how to organize it
The Warriors mental training – sharpening your mind to a razors edge to be able to handle and instantly respond to any stress or challenges life can throw at you
Essential Warrior Philosophical principles to incorporate into your life that will guide & streamline your thinking and decision making ability to rapidly and correctly chose the right path for your life
Walking meditation exercises with breath work for problem-solving, deep thinking, rapid change of your energetics state
The Warrior’s Mindset training – the happiness principle]
How to stop the demon of distraction dead in its tracks and really get shit done
And, of course – a completely individualized personal warrior program to get you in the best shape of your life

Sound like something that’s been missing from your training and that you absolutely NEED in your life?

Would you like to reap all the benefits of my 30+ years of knowledge and experience without having to make all the mistakes I made to get here?

Go HERE and complete this uber short application. I’ll review and get back to you within 24 hours!!

(Side-note: if you are unwilling to take the 2 minutes to fill out a short form, are you really ready to make a change in your life? Fill out the damn form like the action-taker I know you are, and let’s kick some ass together!!)

5 Ways to Increase the Effectiveness of ANY Exercise

Posted on March 2, 2022 by Jon

Last night at the gym as I was having a post-training conversation with one of my students, and he asked me – “how do you know how to make every single exercise we do more challenging???”

It’s a good question, is it not?

How do you take ANY exercise and make it more effective?

Well, there’s 5 different ways to do that…

Use a heavier weight. I always say – everything is easy until it gets heavy! This however is not a factor in bodyweight exercise since the weight is always the same. You can however adjust the leverage to make the exercise easier or more challenging.
Add more sets or reps. This, unfortunately, is what most bodyweight exercise programs do – continue to add sets and reps. While it works for a little while, overtime, the workouts simply become monotonous and boring.
Reduce or eliminate the rest periods between the sets.
Adjust the tempo (the speed at which you do the exercise) – making it faster or slower can change the effect and the level of difficulty
OR…. and this is a BIG one ….. Increase the sophistication of the exercise so it creates a greater demand and thus a greater training effect on the nervous system

Inside the brand new Bodyweight Mastery Program we focus on the last type of progression. We incrementally increase the level of sophistication for each new movement to focus on the most effective way to create lasting change in your strength, endurance, mobility, energy levels, and body composition.

Each of the 6 movement patterns have 6 progressions that move in sophistication from basic to advanced over the course of 6 weeks.

6 Movement Patterns Trained in Bodyweight Mastery:

Push-up x 6 Levels
Squat x 6 Levels
Lunge x 6 Levels
Frog Press x 6 Levels
Core x 6 Levels
Isometrics x 6 Levels

Inside the Bodyweight Mastery Program you will progress through 6 unique variations of the 6 foundational (notice I did not say ‘basic”) movements to build a very unique type of strength and flexibility that builds muscle, burns fat, and increases your daily energy all at the same time!!

There is No Off Season for Warriors

Posted on November 13, 2021 by Jon

Get ready stay ready.

There is no such thing as an off-season for a warrior.

As a warrior, we don’t train with the goal of “peaking” for a particular event, fight, or game. That being said, our training requirements are also a little bit different than the average athlete.

We must consistently train for multifaceted development of all-around fitness, conditioning, and readiness rather than training specific strength qualities, or body parts, individually on a cycle-by-cycle basis.

As a warrior, we need to be in a constant state of preparedness, ready for whatever real life may throw at us. Otherwise all of our years of training are no good to us when we actually need them.

No Warm-up!

When a sudden, violent encounter happens, or in the event of an emergency, you don’t have time to warm-up. You have to be able to act immediately.

But how do you prepare yourself to move into action without the benefit of your joint mobility routine, foam rolling. preparatory stretches, and warm-up reps????

I keep a 400 lbs tire in my garage gym. Several times a day, with zero warm-up or preparation, I will just flip the tire a couple times and then walk away.

What if you don’t happen to have a 400 lbs tire handy?

Simple.

Here’s a list of a few things you can do to stay ready at a moment’s notice:

Load a barbell with a challenging weight and keep it in your basement/garage/living room. Lift it several times. day with no preparation
Install a pull-up bar in your house. Every time you pass it, do several pull-ups with zero warm-up
Every time you enter a certain room in your house (I use the kitchen), drop down and do a random number of push-ups, squats, or bodyweight exercise of your choice.
Keep a heavy kettlebell next to your desk. At random intervals throughout the day, do 10, 20, 30 swings. Try to get to 100 a day.
Shadow box during the day.
When walking outside, suddenly sprint to a telephone pole or randomly execute some rolls/breakfalls.
Show up late to your martial arts class once in a while and skip the warm-ups (tell your teacher I said so!) 🙂

This stuff is not hard. You just have to be aware of it and do it on a regular basis.

“The warriors heart is ruled by preparedness, and nature’s heart, or God’s heart, is fundamental. The heart also governs the Warrior’s physical kamae. Therefore, if there is no unity in spirit and body, you will never understand the reason for being a martial artist.”

– Masaaki Hatsumi, Bujinkan Soke

Wow – what an awesome idea!

Read it again.

You must train so that you are more prepared than any challenges you have to face in life.

Enhance your own physical preparedness and gain an unfair advantage in your training HERE.

How to Train for the Zombie Apocalypse

Posted on October 30, 2021 by Jon

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!

Alternating Lunges (Jump Switch Lunges for a greater challenge)
Hindu Push-Ups
Bear Crawls
Sit Thrus
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!!

“He Opened My Eyes to Budo…”

Posted on August 23, 2020 by Jon

Way back in 2009 I started studying this weird, rarely talked about, even more rarely taught aspect of traditional martial arts called internal power.

To say it opened up my worldview when it came to martial arts training would be a huge understatement!

Now, to put it in perspective, I’d been training in martial arts since I was 10, and I’d trained with high level masters all over the world. But I was blown away by this stuff!!!

I’m reminded of what Ueshiba (the founder of Aikido) said of his Daito Ryu teacher, Sokaku Takeda who taught him these internal power exercises – “He opened my eyes to budo”

To me, this training is really the underlying essence of budo. It creates a powerful body for any martial artist, no matter the art. And it gives those who are in the know a tremendous advantage!!

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 any and all martial arts or combat sports? 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.

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’.

How Can YOU Learn This?

So when I had the opportunity, I put all my knowledge into a program called Integrated Strength back in 2015. This program lays the foundation of combining internal power with the warrior’s system of functional strength.

Thus in the Integrated Strength Program I have combined the two methods to create a fully integrated system of developing human strength potential.

This complete system of Internal Power Development AND Unusual Strength is presented to you for the FIRST TIME EVER inside the Integrated Strength Training Program.

I refined and added to that body of knowledge in the next installment of internal power training called Shadow Strength in 2019.

Shadow Strength contains a unique set of exercises drawn from traditional martial arts designed to utilize breath, posture, and mobility to build superhuman levels of strength and resistance to injury.

And this year I released the newest program in my internal strength series called The Power Protocol which takes all of the training so far to the next level.

The goal of The Power Protocol program is singular in nature – to cut through the morass of myth and misinformation and give you a practical, proven, results-driven method for building real martial power no matter who you are, what martial art you study, or how you’ve been let down by unknowing or unscrupulous teachers in the past.

This program is your one-stop-shop for developing knock-down, drag out power for any martial art from the inside out and the outside in. After following this program, you will be stronger, tougher, more durable, flexible, and resistant to injury.

Not to mention the ability to hit like a truck out of nowhere and be almost impossible to take down, throw, or joint lock without your express compliance

These 3 programs contain the most powerful training I’ve released publicly to date.

Now you can save 50% on all 3 powerful programs here <<==

If you train in martial arts, you owe it to yourself to grab this package and get started – your training will NEVER be the same!

A Stronger Core, NOW

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Jon

So, I’m in the middle of training one of my oldest clients and one of the exercises in the set happens to be a push-up on a medicine ball.

Now, we’ve done this exercise at least 100 times together, but this time as I demonstrate it she makes an astute observation – “your core is doing all the work, isn’t it?”

“Yup.”

In fact, we’ve had this conversation many times, but repetition is the mother of skill, so I continue…

“Yes. Actually, any exercise, if done properly, is a core exercise.

For example, when you assume the push-up position, your legs are tight and heels pushed back – squeeze the quads. Your glutes are tight – squeeze your butt. And you must brace your core isometrically.

This means you tighten your entire midsection as if you were about to be gut punched – got the image?

ALL movement and strength translate through your core, so the better you can integrate your breathing with your movement with your alignment through the center of your body the stronger, more powerful, and more injury-resistant you will be! (read that again)

The BEST “Core” Exercise

“In fact, I continued, do you know what the best “core” exercise is? A heavy overhead press.

Why?

Because, as we said above, all strength translates through your core and your entire midsection must be braced to support the weight over head. This isometric bracing of your core is a powerful way to get very strong!

Now, when you do that in every exercise (bodyweight or kettlebell or otherwise), guess what you are doing?

That’s right – you’re training your core to fire in every movement which not only stabilizes the body but enhances your strength and power output as well. Add in the breathing and you are superhuman!

Here’s a video on how to perform the perfect push-up.

Note the emphasis on the core tightening and the breathing!

Looking to take your push-up game, and your core strength, to the next level?

Master your strength with the Push-Ups for Internal Power program

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 <<===

Conditioning the Fists for Striking

Posted on September 6, 2018 by Jon

One of the most underdeveloped aspects of the martial artist’s arsenal is the conditioning of his fists for striking.

The tendon strength, wrist strength and flexibility, and the overall structure of the strike is an exploitable weakness that needs to be addressed.

In this article we will examine several different push-up variations and isometric exercises to fortify the structure of our strikes.

This type of training will work to enhance the power generation of all manner of striking.

Do these push-ups slowly and purposefully with full attention to the movement. These are not meant to pump up your beach muscles, rather they will strengthen the connective tissue in your hands, wrists, forearms, and shoulders to build structure and encourage the correct alignment for all your strikes.

Fudo-ken (fist) Push-ups

Place the weight of the body on the fists. Make sure the wrists do not bend. After performing several repetitions (or as a separate exercise) simply hold the body in the Fudo-ken push-up position. Relax as much as possible and allow the correct structure to support the body on the fists. Try this in the upper position, lower position, and halfway point of the push-up.

Do the same isometric holds with each exercise.

Shuto (sword hand) Push-ups

Hold the hands in the form of a shuto strike. They should close to a 45 degree angle with the thumbs supporting the fingers. The weight is on the meaty, inside portion of the hand.

Fingertip Push-ups

Place the pads of the fingers on the ground like you are clawing it. Try to squeeze the ground as you press up.

Wrist Push-ups

Place the wrists on the ground. These will be very difficult at first if you have not done them before. Take them slowly. If necessary, perform them on your knees to build strength.

Train these basic exercises thoroughly. Study this well!

Be sure to check out part 2 of this article, 5.5 Principles for More Effective Strking in ANY Martial Art.

Learn exactly how to upgrade your striking skills in ANY martial art with these resources from Warrior Fitness Training Systems…

The Process of Becoming Masterful

Posted on January 16, 2018 by Jon

“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…

What is Specific Physical Preparation for Martial Arts?

Posted on August 28, 2017 by Jon

Every once in a while it’s fun to think about how much the exercises we train on a daily and weekly basis actually translate, or carry over, to the activities for which we’re training.

Depending on your training program this can either be a great way to confirm that you are moving in the right direction, continuing to make progress and see results, or it can be a bit disheartening to realize just how little what you are doing actually carries over to your chosen field of endeavor.

In the case of budo (martial arts) practice, like any other sport or physical activity, there must be exercises specifically crafted to enhance performance. A solid base of General Physical Preparation (GPP) is necessary, but not sufficient.

What is GPP?

The first step in ensuring you are building martial skills on top of a solid foundation is General Physical Preparedness (GPP). The goal of GPP 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 in training. In order to be more, we must become more.

When talking about the martial arts, which tend to be seemingly limitless, one must possess the physical, mental, and spiritual endurance to “keep going!”

Moving From GPP to SPP

While the goal of GPP is muscular adaptation and general readiness for training, the main focus of SPP is neurological adaptation — to train movements, not muscles.

Specific Physical Preparedness builds on GPP by increasing the development of characteristics necessary for a particular sport or activity — or, in our case, martial arts.

It is a uniquely designed and targeted system for enhancing strength, flexibility, endurance, and conditioning which builds on the GPP base by furthering development in the exact physiological profile of the martial art.

Therefore, GPP helps to make you effective while SPP makes you efficient. The end stage goal is of course to be both effective and efficient in each and every movement.

The Training Process Cycle

If your strength and conditioning program is stuck in the GPP phase of development then you may not be realizing the type of performance gains that are possible with a specifically crafted SPP level.

Strength and conditioning training must eventually approach as close as possible to the demands of the activity to maximize the training effect.

Since your body adapts specifically to the stresses placed on it, you improve according to the type of training you do. This is exactly why your training program must cycle through from the general to the specific.

Ready to take your martial art training to the next level?