My 100th Blog Post: Fitness and Fun Combined!

Behold the Ultra Machine Super Pitcher!

"Simple but interesting!"

"We all can have fun while playing it!"

And better still, "Even breaking pitch can be free done!"

I picked this little beauty up in Vancouver's Chinatown for a cool $18. Now, I can set up a batting cage right in the living-room. Why? To work on hand-eye coordination of course! Also just so I can have a batting cage in the living-room : )

The sticker on the machine says "Basketball".


Here's a video of me and Tony in the "cage"

It is not necessarily the Martial Art, but rather how you train it!

Further to discussions I have had with my Wing Tsun Sifu, Ralph Haenel...

There has always been a lot of talk about what martial art is the best. Some people prefer the traditional route of Karate or Judo, and some swear that MMA-hybrid training is the way to go.

The important thing to keep in mind is that a well-trained exponent of almost any martial art will be able to take care of themselves in most real-life (ie non-competition) situations. By "well-trained", I mean the martial artist has put their skills regularly to the test under as much pressure as they can allow. After all, if we are training for the however unlikely physical altercation, does it not make sense to train as close to the real-life possibilities as we can?

A great example of this is a Karate black belt I met many years ago in London, Ontario. This 20 year-old had been competing in tournaments since he was 10, and had won many national championships. A year before I met him, he and his brother were attacked by two average-sized gentlemen while walking home at night. He related to me how he had just frozen, was totally ineffective in defending himself and the altercation ended with him beaten up and his brother stabbed in the arm and leg. All of his training seemed to have failed him. What he understood though, was that throughout his 10-year karate career he had never once faced anything like the aggressive, go-for-broke dudes who beat him up. There was always his Sensei or a referee to jump in after a point was scored and the tournament-fighting was all about one hit and little or no follow-up. He was very interested in meeting my teacher at the time, a Combat Kenpo Instructor who had us kicking all kinds of hell out of each other to lower our fears of getting hit and learn to commit to our attacks. After all, you could get beaten up anyway so why not give it your best shot?

In case anyone thinks I'm knocking Karate, here's a great video of a Karate Instructor who obviously trains for real-life. Martial Art notwithstanding, he is cool under pressure and delivers a well-timed and very-effective blow!



It is clear why MMA-style fighting is seen as very effective on the street. I can assure you that in a streetfight none of these guys would risk their noggin and pull someone into their guard from standing, but the aggression, powerful punches and much-lower fear of getting hit on the way in will win most fights for someone training in this way. MMA competitors actually fight on a regular basis in the closest thing to a streetfight you can legally sell tickets for : ) They are truly meeting an aggressive opponent who means in no uncertain terms to choke or knock them out!

At Wing Tsun Vancouver, Sifu Ralph is a big believer in realistic training and as we advance, he gives us the opportunity to raise the stress-level even higher. This is of course a choice as some take WT more for the body-awareness, joint-mobility and spiritual growth. This "softer path" is just as legitimate but will not prepare the student well for a real-life violent encounter. After all, you would not train for a swim-meet by doing the strokes on dry-land!

Here's a short example of what we get up to in our private lessons. Remember, this is not the way you HAVE to train. Training like this is a choice at WT Vancouver. Only the individual student can decide if they want to truly train for effective self-defence.



I've included a couple more WT videos below to illustrate how higher-stress and more intense training makes for a better WT fighter and, of course, a better fighter in ANY martial art.

So next time, before you are tempted to engage in a pissing-match about what style is the best, ask yourself first if you are training as hard and as "well" as YOU can!!!

Do.

From the Dragon Door Forum: Evidence we're becoming a physically weaker species!
Click here to read an article about the book Manthropology - The Science Of The Inadequate Modern Male.

The author, Australian anthropologist Peter McAllister, claims among other things that Australian aboriginals would have beaten Usain Bolt in the 100-metres, given modern training and equipment.

It is indeed true that most modern men and women are far less physically able than they were in the not too distant past. Of course life expectancy has increased due to advances in hygene and medicine, yet the ability of the average person to run, jump and lift things has seriously declined.

Read the article and then ask yourself what you can do to help reverse this trend. Imagine how advanced we could become as a species if we placed the same importance on physical fitness as we do on the invention of new technology!

Thanks to Randy Hauer, RKC TL for posting this on the Dragon Door Forum.

A tribute to a most valued member of our 9am class. RIP Winks the cat.

Winks in repose.

For the past three-years, Winks the cat had been an important part of our 9am class indoor-training. Her agile movements, acrobatic skills and dog-wrangling abilities impressed us most every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning. Winks was also a prolific bird-catcher, despite only having the one eye! She was also stricken with three or more terminal diseases, and had been since I first met her three years ago. You would never know it looking at her. What a cat!

This summer's heat-wave was just too much for our Winks to endure and in July she succumbed to her many outwardly-unnoticeable ailments.

She will be missed. Especially by Bailey, the dog.

Ken hits a PR in the Deadlift!

On September 15th 2009, Ken pulled a Personal Record 330lbs in the Deadlift!

This was a long time coming for Ken as he had an injury setback that delayed his quest for a 300+ lift for a couple months.

Ken now has his sights on 350!

It may be fun TV, but it ain't real!

I came upon a great blog post by Robert dos Remedios at Observations From A Strength Coach.

Robert is the 2006 NSCA Collegiate Strength Coach of the Year and currently is the Head Strength & Conditioning Coach @ College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, CA and a sought after speaker and presenter on conditioning.

Robert talks about the super-popular television show, The Biggest Loser and how the training methods used are downright dangerous. Wait until you read about how two of the winners engaged in near-starvation to win the money!

From Robert's blog:

According to Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RD, LD, director of nutrition for WebMD Health and the WebMD Weight Loss Clinic, writes: “The Biggest Loser competition might indeed result in big losses, but it defies all the professional wisdom about safe and effective weight loss. That’s because the contestants are not addressing lifestyle behaviors and eating habits that they need to change permanently, not just during a nine-week race. This approach is similar to a fad diet, and we all know about them: You can lose weight on just about any diet, but when it’s over you gain the weight right back — unless you’ve changed your behaviors.” (see her article on Medicine Net). "

I'm not telling you not to watch, but please be aware that what happens on The Biggest Loser is not the way to safely lose weight and effect a positive, lasting lifestyle change!

Click here to read Robert's blog post.

From StaleyTraining.com, The Aerobic Conspiracy!

From the latest Charles Staley newsletter comes an article by National (USA) record-holding powerlifter Phil Stevens (www.lift4hope.org). Phil explains how the myth of long-slow-distance (LSD) cardio as the number one way to lose fat and get toned, got started AND why it is absolutely not true! Phil's opinion is based on the scientific facts of the latest research, showing the importance of weight-training in maintaining muscle mass, bone density, metabolism, hormonal function and cardiovascular health.

He does not say that LSD training is worthless, just that it is time to face the facts on what will really keep you strong, toned, energized and healthy!

Click here to read the article.

A Canadian RKC in Scotland...

This June, my Dad and I went to Glasgow Scotland to visit my Gran and attend my cousin's wedding. I was planning on teaching my Dad a new workout and hoping to be able to get him started on kettlebells.

Where to get a couple bells, I thought? My first instinct was to go to the RKC Instructors page. I looked up instructors in Glasgow and found Dr. Vadim Kolganov (www.dynamosambo.co.uk). Vadim is a former Moscow Champion Sambo competitor and has been competing in Sambo since 1980. He was the 2006 British Sambo Champion and continues to compete to this day! Recently, he was the guest of Dr. Mark Cheng at Kettlebells Los Angeles.

Click here to read about Vadim's visit on Mark's KBLA blog.

I sent Vadim an email asking if I may rent a couple kettlebells for my week in Glasgow. He responded the next day saying he would lend me some. This made me very happy as now my Dad would get to experience the power of the bells!

I met Vadim at a gas station where we transferred the bells from his car to mine. He very kindly met me halfway, shortening my absence from dinner at my Uncle's and thus cutting my Gran's tight-lipped disapproval in half : ) Phew!


The best part was that I was able to begin teaching my Dad in the Hardstyle system! My Dad was my very first fitness influence, up every morning at 5:30 or earlier, running, cycling, rowing or lifting weights. It is because of him that I have such a belief in the positive benefits of physical training. I saw firsthand how his being strong and in-shape projected a great aura of confidence. Now, in his 60s, my Dad is the perfect candidate for the brilliantly scaleable RKC system. Currently, he's working on a strength-program of Deadlifts and Pushups with Wall-Squats, Planks and Good Mornings as his teaching drills. When he arrives in Vancouver in September, he'll have all the patterns ready to get Swinging and Pressing! I am a very happy son : )

I am also very happy to belong to the RKC community, where we all understand each other's healthy obsession with kettlebells and Hardstyle training.

Thanks again, Vadim!

Irv does it again!

You all know Irv from such past posts as, Another Reason I Love My Job and Irv Sumter-Frietag, future Adonis part 2...

Well, Irv has just set another Personal Best! Now that he's in the orthotics courtesy of Physio extraordinaire Steve Nairn, Irv has been able to get back to some short-distance running. When we first started, Irv could only run for one leg of a four-leg soccer-field before having to walk for recovery. Last week, Irv threw down the gauntlet and told me he wanted to go for three-legs non-stop. He did it, I filmed it with my cellphone, and though you cannot really see him for most of the run, the ending is well worth it!!!

Take that 8-bypasses, says Irv!

Click here to read Irv's story at fit4real.ca.

Enjoy...

New West Hardstyle Kettlebell Workshop!

On Sunday August 16th 2009, I went to New Westminster to conduct a private Hardstyle Kettlebell workshop. The workshop was organized by kettlebell enthusiast Rish Koya of teachmeforex.com, for some co-workers, friends and his Bikram Yoga instructor.

I was impressed with how hard they worked AND how it only took about two sets of 15 punishment-burpees to keep their backs straight when putting the bells down!

We covered basic principles of the Hardstyle System, including breathing, tension and power-production, then moved on to the Swing, Getup, Clean, Press and Squat. As the participants would be doing their further training together, I taught them the appropriate partner corrective drills for each lift. A great feature of the Hardstyle System is the use of what we call a-ha drills; safety/form-correcting exercises that have only two performance choices, right and wrong. This makes it very easy for one to continue to improve, even without regular RKC instruction.

I look forward to my next visit to New West, and would like to again thank Herminder Gossal of Bikram's Yoga College New Westminster (http://www.locktheknee.com/) for allowing us the use of her studio!

To arrange your own Hardstyle Kettlebell Workshop, contact me at 778.898.4649 or or mailto:steve@fit4real.caand find out how kettlebell training can make you ridiculously strong, while at work... Plus an additional 12-20mins at home, 3-times a week : )