Back to the basics

I've been really bad at keeping up with this blog, but I am going to make an concerted effort to post on a more regular basis.

Today I want to discuss my current training plan, back to the basics.  I'm not talking about the core exercises or movements of my art, I'm referring to the day 1/week 1/month 1 movements.  Those movements you teach beginners to ingrain the muscle memory that will lead to good form.  I'm going back to those basics.  I'm throwing a 1000 jabs, a 1000 crosses, 1000 round house kicks, 1000 side kicks, a 100 breakfalls...you get the point.  I'm doing all of these slow and concentrating on good form, just like I would expect a new student to do.  Sometimes I wear fist and ankle weights for the punches and kicks, sometimes I don't.  In my nearly 25 years of martial arts practice I've never stopped doing any of these, but this is the first time I've gone back to the basics through the eyes of a beginner.  It's enlightening and I wish I had done it earlier.

Give it a shot, whether it's one workout, or a month's worth of workouts.

Favorite conditioning workout

One of my favorite conditioning workouts is a 12 round boxing drill I found in an issue of MA training.  Give it a try:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pNJzdXj_qk5X_3LmiPVpcDeduV7OtsfwHpnWcoCKQR4/edit?usp=sharing

It's a 36 minute workout when done completely.  When I'm short on time or need a good warmup, I'll do 12 rounds of 1/2 time.