Yo! Weekly T.I.s support my martial arts programs — Cabal Fang (non-profit martial arts for personal development) and Bobcat Martial Arts (Frontier Rough ‘n’ Tumble martial arts).
Do at some of the work and post in the comments. People who engage have been to get discount coupons for books and merch from Mitch’s General Store.
Now let’s stop talking and start chalking.
Leaping Lava: Martial Arts T.I. #229
- Warm-up thoroughly for at at least 8 minutes. Do 2-3 minutes each of (a) jumping rope (b) light calisthenics and (c) shadowboxing, forms, or light heavy bag work, or 8 minutes of MBF.
- Mat is Lava drill. 3 rounds x 2:00/1:00 of “mat is lava” — see video below. Start on knees or in quarter position and practice getting the hard parts of your body on the soft parts of your partner — but be nice! If you don’t have a partner use a grappling dummy or a floor bag. For instructions on how to make them, download my e-book Martial Grit from Smashwords, B&N, or iTunes.
9 minutes of real-life action. Find a section of fence near a dead tree, or set up a couple of sawhorses and a 2×4 near one (never needlessly harm a live tree). Take your axe and your weapon of choice, gloves and goggles. If you’re working in a gym, stack up plyo-boxes and sub tire and sledge, dull training weapon and heavy bag. Set timer for 1:30 intervals. Vault over the obstacle for 1:3o, then axe the tree for 1:30, then attack with your weapon for 1:30. Run through twice for a total of 9 mins, no breaks. Beginners, work on accuracy, form and grace and leave tools at stations. Advanced folks, take a dull weapon with you on the vaults, attack as you clear the obstacle, and use a live weapon on the tree. Note: The essence of an axe is accuracy. Even if you are subbing a sledge and a tire, aim to hit a literal pinpoint. If this looks fun, create more sessions in a similar vein using Frontier Rough ‘n’ Tumble Fitness Dice © available here.
Walk and listen. Go for a walk and listen. Do you know the bird calls in your neck of the woods? Being in tune with your plant and animal neighbors has a transformational affect on you inside and out. Don’t know where to start? Use the Cornell Ornithology Lab’s BirdNET app to record and identify bird calls. Here’s my most recent observation — a Common Grackle.
The Luminaries. This month’s symbol is the Luminaries — the two lights that rule the day and night skies (if you missed last week, check out the intro here). Our monthly symbols always have a spiritual bent, but there is also direct, physical applicability. Do you live and work by the sun and moon? Or do you stay up all night and sleep all day? For the rest of the month, try going to bed and getting up at the same time every day (± 20 minutes), making sure you get 7 – 8 hours of sleep. You won’t believe how much more happy, healthy and productive you become.- Journal. Meditate on these ideas and exercises and then write about what you did and thought in your journal. If it ain’t in the training journal it didn’t happen!
TWO MARTIAL ARTS DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAMS AVAILABLE. 100% free and operated through my non-profit, Cabal Fang is a martial arts for personal development, self-defense and fitness. If Frontier Rough ‘n’ Tumble — the fighting arts, survival skills, lifeways and ethos of the colonial and indigenous peoples of North American during the frontier period (1607 – 1912) — is more to your liking, check out Bobcat Frontier Martial Arts, my for-profit martial art project. Click either photo to get started today!
Robert Mitchell Jr. 