Smear Campaign: Training Involution #90

One of the reasons I started Cabal Fang was because I thought martial arts should incorporate fighting realism and fitness realism. 

For a martial artist, the only thing worse than zero fitness regimen is a fitness regimen that’s irrelevant.  

If you don’t spend any time on fitness, that’s more rounds boxing and wrestling, and that sure won’t hurt your strength or stamina.  But although hours spent on treadmills, ellipticals or steppers might be good for your health, they’re not helping your martial fitness.  I’m not smearing exercise.  I’m smearing waste.

The third Vital Grace of Cabal Fang is Frugality.  Barachiel’s First Lighting is Keep Only What is Valuable.  The average violent encounter lasts under 2 minutes.  The max round length in combat sports is 5 minutes.

1. Map your fitness training against martial landmarks.
2. Train to be a wildcat, a honey badger, a goddamned Tasmanian devil.
3. Select and/or modify exercises so that your fitness mimics martial movements whenever possible.
4. Keep your fitness training short, focused and close to max output.

With that in mind…

Training Involution #90

• Scuffling, grappling and wrestling HIIT.  Set a timer to beep every 40 seconds.  Whenever it beeps take a 10-second break and then start the next exercise.  Cycle through the following 6 times for a total of 16 minutes: Smearing Push-ups, Cross-arm Clinch Lunges (maximum cutting power!), Leg Triangles and Splay-n-Punch.    See video below for details.
• Training journal review.  Sit down with your training journal and do a review.  Is your fitness training martial focused?  I’m no better than you are — I found some holes.  Let’s go plug them together, shall we?  Adjust your training regimen as needed.
• If you do not keep a training journal you are not training.  Take a 100 Jump Squat penalty.  Immediately purchase a spiral notebook and begin logging your training sessions!