Real Martial Arts for Real People
Had a new student added to my class last night. That’s up to 5 in three weeks. I must be doing something right.
Classes are every Tuesday & Thursday Night at
First Southern Baptist Church of Paradise Valley
16033 N. 32nd St., Phoenix, AZ 85032
6 pm – 7:15 pm
Cost: Donation
I’ve added the book Tai Chi Chuan Martial Applications by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming to my collection.
Book
This is what Ali did to create the most functional physique of all time- strength, power, speed, and stamina. Ali was one of the best fighters that has ever strapped on gloves only because he trained like one of the best. Ali was a hard-working guy and knew that nothing came easy. Yes, he talked a big game, but boy, did he back it up with his effort in the gym and in the ring. Maybe if you follow the routine you too can float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.
Ali started his day off with early morning runs at 5:30 AM. He would stretch beforehand and then would run 6 miles a day in army type-boots in under 40 minutes. Ali made sure he ate a wholesome breakfast- all natural foods, oranje juice, and plenty of water. After he ran, he would perform some exercises, stretching, and then go back home to get washed up. Ali then went to the gym at 12:30 PM for 3 hours until 3:30 PM. After the gym, he would get a massage rub down, then get washed up. Then he would talk with the TV people, go out and enjoy himself, and then eat dinner. Ali said in his book, “I always ate good: chicken, steaks, green beans, potatoes, vegetables, fruit, juice and water”. After dinner, he would go for a walk and relax by watching TV. Ali made sure he trained 6 days a week with one off day a week where he’d relax and ease his body and mind.
A look below is what Ali did during his training while in the gym for 3 hours.
He didn’t perform weighted workouts as he felt it would slow him down, yet he had a very ripped physique. This just goes to show you that you can build muscle by doing calisthenic exercises and hitting the heavy bag.
Warm up:
– side to sides
– torso swivels
– jumping around on toes to limber up
(15 minutes in total)
Shadow boxing:
5 X 3 minutes rounds, working on footwork and speed punching (30 second break in between rounds)
Heavy bag:
6 X 3 minute rounds, working on combinations and stamina (30 second break in between rounds)
Sparring: built up sparring as camp progressed
Floor exercises:
– 15 minutes (300 in total)
– bicycle crunches
– sit ups with medicine ball
– leg raises
Speedball: 9 minutes (1 minute break)
Skipping:
20 minutes (Ali always moved around while skipping, never staying in the same spot)
Shadow boxing:
1 minute, walking around with light shadow boxing
http://www.muscleprodigy.com/muhammad-ali-boxing-workout-arcl-1051.html
My karate class at First Southern Baptist Church of Paradise Valley starts tonight at 6pm
16033 N 32nd St
Phoenix, AZ
‘A little voice in my left ear was telling me, “Go on, this is history, kill him, you’ll always be the guy who killed Elvis.” In my other ear was another voice saying, “You can’t kill him, it’s Elvis Presley – wound him instead, you’ll only get a few years!” ‘
However, it seems Presley was just messing around with Cooper as he quickly disarmed the singer.
Cooper said: ‘A fraction of a second later Elvis did a flying kick on the gun, and sent it flying, before tripping me and pinning me to the ground by my neck, announcing, “That’s how you stop a man with a gun.” ‘
Lately I’ve been spending some much-needed time practicing Naifanchi Kata. This has always been one of my favorite forms. It can be found in every major karate system in various degrees. It was Sokon Matsumura (1796-1893) who is said to have brought Naihanchi into karate. ‘Anko‘ Yasutsune Itsou (1830-1915) a student of Matsumura specialised in Naihanchi and believed that it was both, “the easiest and hardest kata to learn”.
It is my belief that Naifanchi Kata is a complete fighting/self-defense system in its own right. There is much depth in the kata that many students never understand nor take the time to master. One of the reasons is that the kata is broken down into three steps, (Shodan, Nidan & Sandan) to make learning the form much easier and I believe to hide many of the “truths” of the kata.
As I have traveled the world and practiced in many dojo, I have found that there are very few Martial Artist that practice all three parts of the form and even rarely putting the three parts together to complete the whole form. Most school & styles practice Shodan with some having learned and teach Nidan. Many of the instructors I talk to say their instructors know Sandan but they themselves haven’t learned or been taught it. And over the years I’ve only talked to a few that say they knew it was one whole kata broken down into three parts.
Each time I practice the kata, I learn more and more about it. In thinking about the techniques that are in the form, I find that it is a well-rounded form. To think that Nifanchi is a fighting system all on its own is not hard to believe nor is it all that far-fetched. It used to be said that in order to master (understand) a form, it must be practiced daily for three years. Being broken down into three parts, we find that it actually takes 9 years to master Nifanchi. I have been practicing it for over 30 years now and am still having insights to its techniques. Even after all these years, I still feel if I haven’t achieved mastery of the kata yet. (Will I ever?)
Choki Motobu (1871-1944) taught many grappling and throwing techniques all from the Nifanchi Kata and was the kata he emphasised in his teachings. If you’re interested in having highly effective close in fighting techniques, then Nifanchi is the Kata you need to study and master. Not just one part of the form either. You must seek out and learn all three aspects of the form, putting them together as a complete form and you will find great insight to how many of your techniques you will begin to understand with deeper meaning.
Lion's Roar Kempo Karate & Jitsu 