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Train Hard and Train SMART
Over the last 15 or so years I have been very fortunate to
meet some of the Worlds most gifted and talented Martial
Artists. I have been even more fortunate to train with these
people, learn from them and become friends with them.
During this period my training routines have been heavily
influenced by the likes of Peter Consterdine, Herol “Bomber”
Graham, Eddie Stokes and of course Grand Master Rick Moneymaker.
These training methods have enabled me to improve much quicker
than previously in all areas of my Martial Arts. Just because I
am well known for Pressure Points does not mean that I do not
train in other areas as well!
I always thought I trained fairly hard till I trained with Peter
Consterdine. It was then that I realised I needed to up my
training regime considerably. Thanks for that Peter! Still not
forgiven you! I must say that Peter Consterdine has been an
absolute inspiration to me in many ways. I consider myself very
fortunate to have met and trained with such a genuine person as
Peter. A true Martial Artist in every sense of the word and one
of the hardest and smartest trainers you will ever see!
Grand Master Rick Moneymaker introduced me to principle based
training as opposed to technique based. Rick totally transformed
my Martial Arts. Rick Moneymaker was and is an inspiration to me
like you could not believe. Always totally honest, brutally
honest sometimes! One of the Worlds greatest ever Martial
Artists and a real friend.
Herol Graham showed me what it is like to train fitness and
conditioning at World Class level! What a quantum leap that is!
Body sparring for one round with Herol is like doing 10 rounds
with anyone else, believe me! I still have nightmares from those
sessions. Especially the 2 hour non stop skipping sessions, when
I thought it would just be 6 or 7 rounds to get warm!
How do these people get so fit and conditioned without spending
8 hours a day training? What makes their training so different
to what most of us do or most of us did?
The answer lies in how they train. Not just the sheer effort and
willpower they bring to the table, not just training very hard,
but training very hard and very smart.
The ideal way to train is to make your training specific to the
tasks required. A pure Boxer for example does not need to gain
massive flexibility in the legs, does not need to train kicks,
locks, grappling etc. His training has to be geared around doing
up to 12 x 3 minute rounds of non stop action.
He needs to be supremely fit, able to keep going for long
periods of time, able to make sudden very fast, explosive,
powerful movements in blitzes and all the time be conditioned
enough to absorb blows. He needs to keep his concentration at
all time highs for three minutes at a time and to be able to
recover from near exhaustion back to ready to fight in just 60
seconds! Then keep doing that for 11 more rounds!
So, how do we as Martial Artists adjust our training routines to
get every last ounce of benefit from every second we train?
Train Smart!
What is Smart Training?
To me, it is the best possible utilisation of your training
time. How many people in a weights gym do you see, standing
around chatting? How many MA’s do you see going through the
motions? How many people do you train with who are always
stopping to ask a question or just to talk trivia? This is
complete time wasting.
Most of us lead very busy and hectic lives, so we must get
everything we can from our training.
Firstly you decide what you want from your training. If it is
purely a good all round level of fitness, then that is what you
train for. A good mix of running, circuits, bag and pad work
should sort that one out.
If you are a MA who wants to train for competition, then first
write down what type of competition, the main techniques you
will use, the way the fights usually go, the timings and when is
the competition.
If it is points style stop start Kumite for example, you need to
train for speed. Power is not required if you are not going to
actually hit anyone! You train your main techniques for speed
and explosiveness. You drill them like mad. Once you are nicely
on the way to being warmed up, start to make these techniques
part of your warm up, then drill them, then utilise those
techniques against different training partners with increasing
levels of non-compliance. Get used to different heights, shapes,
sizes of opponent. Get used to “knowing” your correct distance
from each different body type. Keep away from exercises that are
opposing the muscle movement you are looking for. For example,
bicep chins do not help with punching speed. Biceps pull the arm
in, not send it out. To punch fast you need lithe and strong
triceps, back and shoulder muscles.
Training at my Centre is geared towards Fighters. We have a mix
of Boxers, Kick Boxers, Thai Boxers and now we are just getting
some MMA fighters. There are of course many who just want to get
fit, they do what I call “White Collar Fighter Training”.
We take a technique in isolation, maybe jab, cross, hook, low
kick, takedown or in combination and drill that for warm up. But
make the exercise harder, bend your legs more than normal,
crouch lower than normal, move in further than normal, spring
back further than normal.
When stretching, stretch in the form of the various techniques
that you going to apply. This way, your body gets used to the
movement, used to being in that position. The muscle memory
takes over eventually and your techniques become crisper and
much more fluid. The other key to your training is the old one
of effort. You only get out what you put in after all. So when
you train smart you do not train easy! Still put in 100% effort
all the time. It will take a few weeks before you notice any
differences to your MA ability by adopting this method, but it
is well worth the wait.
In your next Karate Class, watch what is happening. Are you
being taught to train smart? Are you warming up with specific
goals in mind? Are you drilling specific movements for a
specific task. Blindly going up and down in lines is NOT what I
mean! The training smart methodology is what I incorporated into
my Pressure Point training. It enabled me to go from novice to
Internationally recognised as something of an authority in
Pressure Point Fighting in a relatively short period of time.
It is this training method that I am using to bring along more
people in this field. Eddie Stokes utilised the self same methods to
become unbelievably good at PP’s. I rate Eddie Stokes as the
most complete PP fighting machine I have ever seen. His
knowledge is second to none and his ability to apply that
knowledge is quite simply the best I have ever seen, anywhere.
Those that have met and trained with Eddie never forget the
experience. Some training days are etched in my memory,
alongside the knuckle induced dents! People talk about reality
training. Eddie is reality training!
I am fortunate at the moment to train with various Olympic
Boxers, along with fighters in other disciplines from all over
the World. Training with these people is an inspiration and
utilising the methodologies of training smart, leads to big
improvements, in short periods of time.
These same methods can be utilised to understand your Kata
Bunkai correctly, your self defence training in fact they can
and should be used for any / all your training requirements.
Russell
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