Tag Archives: warrior fitness

Where Do You Locate Your Control?

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Ever feel like everything is spiraling out of control?  Like the only thing that actually responds to you the way you want it to is your TV remote, and lately even that is on the fritz?

How do you reign it all in?

The answer is simpler than you think…

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Internal of External?

Your locus of control determines everything.  Where you source your control is what governs how you live your life.  According to psychology, those people who have allow their lives to be dictated by outside forces have an external locus of control.  These people are all over the map.  They are blown by the wind, allowing whatever happens on the outside to move their thoughts, their moods, their actions.  Because these people allow themselves to be pushed around by external forces they constantly feel as if they are out of control.  And they are.

Conversely, those with an internal locus of control are much more stable and steadfast.  They understand that it is not what happens to them that determines how they respond, but how they choose to feel about it.  The only thing you control in this life, aside from the temperature on your thermostat, is your ability to choose how to respond to external situations.  What happens on the outside, happens to pretty much everyone.  We all get sick.  We all have bad days.  The sun set on all of us last night.  What differentiates these people is their ability to choose how to feel about, and respond to (if they do at all), the bad things that happen to them.  They are in control.

Immovable Spirit

In Japanese budo (martial arts), we have a very similar concept called, Fudoshin.  Fudoshin means “immovable spirit”.  Basically it says that the warrior maintains a calm in the very heart of the storm.  He is not moved by external events and situations, but is able to bring his full capabilities to bear because of this immense mental and emotional stability.  He is in control.

Does this mean that warriors are heartless, unfeeling people?  No, not at all.  Quite the opposite, actually.  They feel anger, sadness, bitterness, regret, frustration, happiness, joy, ecstasy, and yes, even depression.  But, they do not allow these emotions to rule their lives running them up and down like a roller coaster at Six Flags.  They stay the course.

It’s very easy to allow outside events and circumstances to push us around and dictate the course of our lives.  We’ve all experienced it and allowed it to happen at some point.  The key is recognizing it and moving your locus of control back to inside yourself.

Do NOT Go With the Flow

People have all sorts of excuses and rationalizations for being swayed by every outside force.  We even have a very philosophical, quasi-intelligent sounding way of putting it; we say – “go with the flow”.  You’ve heard this, right?  You’ve probably even said it to someone, I know I have.  But here are 2 very important things to remember about why you should NOT go with the flow:

1) You cannot drift to the top.  You’ll never achieve your goals and dreams by going with the flow.

2) Only dead bodies float downstream.

Remain steadfast, Warriors.  Stay the course, my friends!!

Primum Non Nocere

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“First, Do No Harm”

This fundamental precept of medical ethics should apply equally, and perhaps even more so, to the fitness industry.  We, as trainers and coaches, who are dispensing knowledge, skill, and advice to our clients and the general public should be held to the same ethical standard as the medical community to first, do no harm.  Yet in the increasingly growing world of fitness this standard seems to be severely lacking.

The vast majority of the population comes to us, the fitness professionals, to become healthier, stronger versions of themselves.  We have a responsibility to deliver this service to them at the highest possible level we are capably of, and to insure that we are placing their health first in our quest to get them fit.  Yet when we look at the fitness landscape it seems as if health has slipped the mind of many trainers, heck some of them don’t even have the word in their vocabulary!

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In my mind there are a several factors contributing to the madness, but in the interests of time I will list only 2.

Crossfit, A Danger

The first one that comes to mind is the proliferation and popularity of systems (and I use that word loosely), like Crossfit.  It seems the brand has become so popular there’s a new Crossfit box on every corner.  Yes, the intensity is addicting, but where is the accountability?

From the Wikipedia entry on Crossfit:

According to Dr. Stuart McGill, a professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo, the risk of injury from some CrossFit exercises outweighs their benefits when they are performed with poor form in timed workouts. He added there are similar risks in other exercise programs but noted that CrossFit’s online community enables athletes to follow the program without proper guidance, increasing the risk.[36]

Makimba Mimms, who suffered injuries while performing a CrossFit workout on December 11, 2005, at Manassas World Gym in Manassas, VA under the supervision of an uncertified trainer,[37]claimed that CrossFit poses an elevated risk of rhabdomyolysis. He successfully sued his trainers and was awarded $300,000 in damages.[38]

Articles on many websites criticize CrossFit for its lack of periodization, lack of quality-control accreditation standards for trainers or affiliates, and illogical or random exercise sequences.[27][unreliable source?][39][unreliable source?][40][unreliable source?]

Some publications have raised concerns that CrossFit promotes a potentially dangerous atmosphere that encourages people, particularly newcomers to CrossFit, to train past their limits, resulting in injury.[41]

 

The human body simply cannot operate at high intensity all the time.  By encouraging people to constantly push past their limits without regard to waving intensity, recovery methods, periodization, and well, simple common sense, the system itself is broken.  Under trained coaches who know nothing but – “push, push, push…” are a liability and danger to the people who put themselves in their hands.

We must do better.

Yes, there are many excellent Crossfit Coaches out there who do understand how to properly program training and intensity to get spectacular results for their clients, but the vast majority who simply drink the Kool Aid and follow the prescribed WODS need to reexamine how they are training in light of a more balanced, health first approach.

Inexperience

The second problem I see with the fitness industry as a whole which greatly contributes to the lack of a health first approach is the unbelievable number of inexperienced personal trainers teaching in gyms, fitness centers, or setting up shop with nothing more than a computer based multiple choice test judging their ability to be a “nationally certified” personal trainer.  These trainers may mean well, but they simply do not yet have the knowledge and hands-on experience to be effective coaches.  They do not have the education and training to effectively craft well-rounded programs for their clients and fall prey to the “flavor of the month” type training method or protocol.

More study, more knowledge, more training, more experience is required.  A balanced understanding of proper warm-up protocols, training approaches and methodologies, and cool down work is necessary.  As trainers and coaches we have a moral responsibility to our clients to give them the very best results they are looking for, but first we must DO NO HARM.

The Myth of Stagnation

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Many people like to believe that if they don’t take the time to train themselves on a daily basis their skill levels will somehow remain stagnant, like on a plateau.  That their skills and abilities will somehow remain in stasis, neither improving or regressing until the next class, the next workshop, the next seminar, or the next time they can get their Daily Personal Practice on track again.  The truth of the matter is not so cut and dry.

Here’s the Reality

Here’s the reality – if you are not taking the time to train on a consistent basis than you are steadily declining in skill.  Each practice session you skip (not miss – skip.  Skipping is a choice), your skill level decreases slightly, your abilities atrophy just a bit.  There is no such thing as stagnation.  Your body cannot remain motionless if you are alive and breathing.  Either you are getting better through your daily commitment of consistently going deeper into your practice or you are getting worse.  No middle ground.  No fence sitting.  One side or the other.  Stop fooling yourself.

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The good news is, once you accept that stagnation is a myth, you can begin to look at your practice objectively and actually begin the steady climb to create real progress.  You see, real progress is not a sudden flurry of activity followed by a lull.  Real progress is only achieved in consistent, incremental steps day by day.  It’s the little things that count, not the big ones.  It’s the little steps that build and accumulate.

Do you think your yearly pilgrimage to Japan (or your martial arts/fitness training Mecca of choice) is causing your skill level to jump?  Nope.  It’s not.  Yes, it’s motivating.  Yes, it’s inspiring.  Yes, you are learning new things, getting corrections (hopefully!), and gaining new and deeper insights.  BUT – how do all those new insights come to fruition?  You don’t own them until they become assimilated by your nervous system.  That takes time.  That takes practice.

Deep, consistent practice.

That deep practice is the slow and steady grind of your consistent daily training.

That’s where the magic happens.  It happens in the grind.  In the regular training.  In the ordinary time.

That’s where REAL skill is built.  That’s how masters are made.

The Law of Threes – Part 2

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Form of the 3 Hearts

 

In The Law of Threes – Part 1, we discussed the 3 physical components of Alignment, Movement, and Breathing, which form the basis for technique in the Warrior Fitness Training System.  The next trinity of principles we will look at is the sanshin no kata, or Form of 3 Hearts.

The 3 hearts I am referring to here are body, mind, and spirit.  While the prior 3 components make up the internal physical expression of technique, these 3 represent a unified metaphysical approach to technique.  It is the integrated use of mind, body, and spirit which brings life to and actualizes the practice of Warrior Fitness.

The following is how I distinguish the 3 Hearts:

Mind – Intent, concentration and focus along with an understanding of the interrelationship of the exercises and how they integrate with and enhance the way we move in the world.

Body – Forging a strong body to carry us through the challenges we face.

Spirit – Pushing the edge to consistently increase resistance to failure.

When just one of the 3 hearts is absent or somehow out of balance, the technique itself becomes just a shallow, superficial representation of its true, powerful form.

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The techniques of both fitness and martial art must, by definition (at least the Warrior Fitness definition) engage the complete human being – body, mind, and spirit – to have the most lasting and transformative effect.  Without full commitment of the 3 Hearts not only is the technique itself a weak expression of its true power, but the person executing it, by default, does not receive the comprehensive benefit of the exercise.

“It is much better to deeply practice an exercise just 3-4 times while being fully engaged than to practice it 100 times without.” – Jon Haas

 

The Law of Threes – Part I

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In the following 3 (or more) part series I will begin to lay out the specific philosophies of training in the Warrior Fitness System.  In each segment we will examine a particular set of principles, all of which happen to come in groups of 3; thus the entire series together is named, “The Law of Threes”.  These principles are the beginning of how to teach and train technique within the Warrior Fitness System.

In additional upcoming articles, I will also begin to delineate the 3 Paths of Warrior Fitness Training, as well as the 4 Levels of Training Preparation.

Today though, let’s begin with…

The 3 Physical Components of Technique

Within the Warrior Fitness Training System, there are 3 main components which must be present in order to express the correct form for each physical technique.  These 3 components are:

  • Alignment – how the structure of the body is used for the maximum expression of stability, power and efficiency.
  • Movement – how the body moves itself, with a weight, or with weapons to express maximum mobility, power and efficiency.
  • Breathing – how the body breathes to unite movement and alignment to correctly express energy, power and efficiency.

“It is the breath that gives life to and actualizes the techniques” – Masaaki Hatsumi, Bujinkan Soke

Each of these 3 components must be taught correctly and integrated within the body of the trainee before they can be said to be executing the correct form of the technique.

The components of Alignment, Movement, and Breathing relate to both fitness and martial art techniques.  For example, skills like the kettlebell swing, bodyweight squat, or push-up in fitness, as well as martial techniques like throwing a punch, striking with a stick, or cutting with a sword.

No matter what particular outer expression of the technique takes, these 3 physical elements of Alignment, Movement, and Breathing must be united within the practitioner to create whole body power and maximum efficiency.  Only in this way can one be said to be doing the techniques of Warrior Fitness accurately.

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Mobility, Mobility, Mobility

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What is, hands-down, the most effective, efficient, and time saving daily practice you can adopt for greater health and longevity?

In one word – Mobility, Mobility, Mobility!

I’m sure you are familiar with the phrase, “move it or lose it”, right?  But how seriously do you take it?

A complete mobility practice moves each joint in the body through its complete range of motion bathing it in synovial fluid.  Movement is the only way your joints get nutrition!  Each session can range from a quick 5 minute recharge to a 30 minute in-depth deep practice.  It’s up to you and how your body feels on a particular day.  For example, did you do a ton of heavy lifting or a super intense metabolic conditioning session the day before?  Maybe a longer, deeper mobility session is required to aid in restoration and recovery.  Or, did you just get out of bed and maybe only have 5 minutes before you have to get ready for work?  A 5 minute quick-n-dirty mobility session will charge you up and get your body moving (literally!).

Daily Practice

I have been performing my mobility practice almost every day for over 10 years now.  However, there have been a few times when I decided to forego it for several days in a row just to see if I could notice a difference.  After 3-4 days without it I began to notice.  Muscles were tighter.  Movements were less fluid.  Joints were crunchy.  When I finally stopped my no mobility experiment on day 5, the contrast was amazing!

In my experience, mobility training and breathing exercises are the biggest bang for your buck daily practices that will only reward you more and more with each passing year.

Benefits of Mobility Training

Spine mobilityIn no particular order, here are some of the benefits of mobility training:

  • Lubricates joints and allows them to receive nutrition through synovial fluid
  • Aids in removal of toxins
  • Reduces joint pain and inflammation
  • Increases range of motion (flexibility in motion)
  • Increases energy by reducing unconsciously held tension
  • Prehab for injury prevention
  • Mobility is foundation of all sport, athletic, and martial movement
  • Decreased mobility leads to increased pain and stiffness

Looking for a fantastic resource on mobility?  I would suggest checking out my Martial Power Program or Ninja Missions Program 1.  Both of these courses contain a different, yet highly effective mobility routines that will keep you healthy, active, and pain free for life!

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Ninja Mission Cover

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No matter which program you choose, mobility training is the gift that keeps on giving – it literally pays health dividends that increase over time.  Establish a daily practice and keep going!!

Brand New Services from Warrior Fitness!

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Warrior Fitness is going mobile!!

You may have heard the news that I am closing the physical location of Warrior Fitness Gym this week.  This is not a bad thing.  The Warrior Fitness Training System existed prior to the gym location (I wrote the original Warrior Fitness book in 2008), and it will go on after it.

Now that I am no longer shackled to a brick and mortar location I have the ability to expand my global reach and provide even more coaching, teaching, and results to you.

This change allows me much greater adaptability and mobility to train my local clients here at home and also frees me to teach more workshops, seminars, and classes in other locations, both here in the US and abroad.

With that preface, I am introducing 3 brand new services from Warrior Fitness:

 

1) Local Warrior Training.

There are 3 new options here: Weekly Warrior Bootcamps in the park (see Class Schedule HERE) and Warrior Personal Training at your home, office, or other location.  Corporate Warrior Training is also available – short, intense, highly effective workouts for the busy executive and employees to train both mind AND body!

Email me for details on scheduling and pricing.

 

2) Seminars and Workshops.

Topics include:

  • Warrior Fitness Training,
  • Building Martial Power,
  • Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu,
  • Building Power and Flow in Taijutsu,
  • Women’s Self Defense,
  • Combat Conditioning,
  • Introduction to Internal Power for Bujinkan Martial Arts.

Email me for details on scheduling and pricing.

3) Online Coaching Opportunities.

I will put together an individualized program specifically tailored to you and your training goals.  Check HERE for all the details.

 

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End of Summer 50% OFF Sale!

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All Warrior Fitness Training System Programs are 50% Off!

Sale ends Labor Day, September 2nd, at midnight!

 

 

Ninja Mission Program 1 – “The Sword Master” 

You will train like the ninja of feudal Japan preparing body, mind, and spirit through rigorous physical training and martial practice.  Every Ninja Mission will include:

  • Brand New Combat Conditioning Workouts!
  • Solo Training Drills for Building Martial Flow & Power!
  • Advanced Breath-work and Energy Drills!
  • Ninja Flexibility Training!
  • Ninja Weapons – Unique Drills for Flow & Power!

In This Program You Will Receive:

  • Ninja Foundations Workout Video 1
  • Ninja Foundations Workout Video 2
  • Ninja Sledgehammer Workout Video 1
  • Ninja Sledgehammer Workout Video 2
  • Ninja Metabolic Conditioning Workout Video 1
  • Ninja Metabolic Conditioning Workout Video 2
  • Ninja Flexibility Video
  • Ninja Mission CoverNinja Mobility Video
  • Sword Flow Drills Video 1
  • Sword Flow Drills Video 2
  • Sword Flow Drills Video 3
  • Sword Flow Drills Video 4
  • Sword Cut Flow Video 1
  • Sword Cut Flow Video 2
  • TenChiJin Breathing Video
  • Ukemi with Sword Video
  • Ninja Challenge Video 1
  • Ninja Challenge Video 2
  • Ninja Mission 1 Calendar (PDF)

This program contains over 95 minutes of video footage plus a complete calendar of how to put it all together.  

No guess work involved!

All of this is instantly downloadable for you upon purchase!

 

The entire 30 day program of daily ninja training is now available to you for just $40 $20!!!

Your Mission, Should You Chose to Accept It….

BuyNow

 

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By Jonathan Haas
Forward by Jack Hoban, Shidoshi

Since ancient times, stories have abounded about the legendary physical prowess of martial artists.

Today’s lifestyle, coupled with a lack of knowledge about how to combine fitness and budo, has led to a rapid decline in martial artists levels of strength and conditioning.

Warrior Fitness will help you and your students attain a new level of strength, flexibility and endurance — quickly and with little chance of injury.

 

Warrior Fitness combines old school fitness with modern exercise science.

Warrior Fitness covers:

      • Flexibility
      • Joint mobility
      • Flow drills
      • Breathing exercises
      • Strength exercises
      • Conditioning exercises
      • Recovery
      • And much more…

 

E-Book Version Only $25  $12.50 USD via PayPal (no shipping cost!):

Take advantage of technology and save on shipping with our e-book version of Warrior Fitness: Conditioning for Martial Arts. Instantly downloadable to your computer upon purchase. No shipping cost. No waiting. Instant access! 

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Warrior Fitness Guide Striking Power – Level 1 (e-book)

by Jonathan Haas, 9th dan Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu and certified Underground Strength Coach

  • WF UG Cover1Specific 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!

  • Pure, 100% actionable content – no fluff, no BS, no filler!

  • Sample Workouts!

Buy Now for only $25 $12.50 USD!!

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Martial Power Cover1Martial Power Program

 

  • High-Intensity Fat-Burning Circuits: each Martial Power Workout can be completed in less than 30 minutes, yet those 30 intense minutes melt fat faster than hours of mind-numbing cardio-style exercise.

  • Complete Joint Mobility warm-up program and Active Recovery: specific low-intensity mobility exercises will increase your level of readiness by stimulating blood flow to prepare the body for work while lubricating each joint.

  • Real Martial Applications: each exercise has been carefully selected to create the highest level of specific conditioning while building and reinforcing your martial skill sets.

The Martial Power Program includes:

4 Video Workout Briefings that will help you BUILD LEAN MUSCLE and TORCH FAT so you can train like a true NINJA while building up more strength, conditioning, and powerful athleticism! ($97 Value)

 

Video of Jon’s Personal Joint Mobility Routine. This is the routine from my daily personal practice that will prepare the body for training, increase local blood flow to muscles, and aid in removing toxins from the body! ($37 Value)

 

Martial Power Program Manual That will lay out the workouts, 8 week programming schedule, pictures of the exercises, and advice on active recovery training. ($37 Value)

 

**BONUS** Video on Sanshin no Kata Training Drills That Will Take Your Training to a Whole New Level and Increase Your Martial Power! ($37 Value)

 

You Will Be Transforming A Whole Lot More Than Just Your Body… You’ll Be Transforming Your Mindset, Mental Toughness, and Martial Skill As Well!

 

 

The Martial Power Program ONLY $37 $18.50!

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Learn unique and powerful breathing exercises drawn from martial arts, qigong, and yoga that will teach you how to Adapt AND Perform Under Stress!

Evolve Your Breathing Program

  • Evolve Your Breathing Video containing Jon’s private Breathing Workshop for Warrior Fitness Gym clients only, complete with detailed instructions and demonstrations of each breathing technique. This course is about how to use the breath to aid the body in adapting to and performing under stress!

  • Evolve Your Breathing Manual containing background, detailed written instructions, how to incorporate these powerful techniques into your daily routine, basic programming information, much more…

Get your copy NOW and start improving your performance today!

Evolve Your Breathing Package only $49   $24.50!

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Breathe Through Your Heels

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Chuang Tzu (c.370-286 BC) said, “The breathing of the superior man comes from his heels, while men generally breathe only from their throats…”

 

When performing these types of exercises it is important to realize that breathing is not simply a mechanical process where we see our lungs operating as a kind of bellows, drawing in and pushing out the air.  Rather, we should understand that breathing is a complete physiological process of cellular respiration – our entire body breathes!

Mental imagery or visualization can aid in increasing the effectiveness of the above exercises.  When inhaling, imagine the body filling up with calm, relaxing energy; feel it permeate the entire body, pouring through every cell.  When exhaling, visualize all the metabolic waste products, stress, and unnecessary tensions being exhaled from the entire body.  It’s a very simple add-on, but it works wonderfully.  Give it a try!

From my book, Warrior Fitness: Conditioning for Martial Arts

 

Chuangtzu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want to be a truly Superior Man?  Learn how to Evolve Your Breathing!

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How to Train More Every Day

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The only way to go from average martial artists to outstanding is to train more.  You may be limited in how many classes you can attend on a weekly basis or how many seminars you can attend on a monthly basis, but you are not limited in how much solo training you can do on a day to day basis.  The key to greatness lies in solo training.  This is how you build yourself up to mastery.  Step by step, session by session, day by day.  There is no other way.

That being said, I humbly offer the following 4 suggestions on how to train more every day.

 

1)      Awareness, Awareness, Awareness

Keep your eyes, ears, and senses open to your surroundings.  Make it a habit to not allow anyone to sneak up on you or surprise you.  Make a game out of knowing where people around you are, even if you can’t “see” them.

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2)      Don’t Just Walk, Ninja Walk!

Take the opportunity no matter where you are to practice your balance, footwork, and movement skills.  This doesn’t mean you have to stalk your boss in the company restroom – unless you want to get fired!  But when you move, whether it’s in the office, walking down the street, in the grocery store, or out in the woods, pay attention to your balance, body control, and coordination.  Raise and lower each foot purposefully.  Do not let your walking be “controlled falling”.

3)      Mini Training Sessions

All of us seem to think that if we can’t dedicate a solid hour or so to solo training than we just don’t have the time to do it.  My solution for you is this – train in 5 minute increments.  No matter who you are and what type of work you do, you have 5 minutes to spare during your day.  If you look for it, you probably have many blocks of 5 minute increments during your day.  Don’t waste them!  Use them to train.  In 5 minutes you can practice all the Sanshin No Kata 5 times each side.  In 5 minutes you can do 100 push-ups (maybe!). In 5 minutes you can practice ukemi.  In 5 minutes you can do a flow drill.  Be creative, figure it out!  All those mini blocks of 5 minute training sessions add up to huge amounts of time over a week, month, year, and decade.  You’re in this for the long haul, aren’t you?

4)      Set a Goal

Figure out what your own personal training goals are and write them down.  Give yourself a deadline to achieve them.  Add actions steps to help you reach each one.  Develop a plan of attack and hold yourself accountable.  Need help developing a plan?  Ask me.  I can help you.  It’s what I do.