Know more. Bruise less.

Martial artists are crazy.

Aside from people in the military, police and bouncers, who really goes around getting into fights on a regular basis?

We put our bodies through hell, all the time, training for something we will (hopefully) never have to do.

Well, I’ve got another reason:

Funny stories.

The crazy hobby that we all enjoy ends up being the source of countless “It seemed like a good idea at the time” and “Check out this scar” stories.

Send me your crazy, funny or just plain weird training stories, and I’ll feature them right here!

I have a few of my own, so here’s a choice cut from the vault of Dan (It’s only fair if I start this off):

Find out what happened

Are you working harder than you need to?

Without realizing it, most people and schools actually do twice the work needed to learn any skill. Even worse, common mistakes can actually hurt your progress.

Muscle Memory – What you need to know

Muscle memory is the reason why the expression “It’s like riding a bike” exists. When an action is repeated enough, the body learns to do it automatically.

Brushing your teeth, tying your shoes and blocking a punch without thinking are all examples of skills learned through muscle memory.

Greasing the Groove – Russian Strength Secrets for Skill Training

The Russians treat strength training like any other skill. Rather than do a set of exercises until their arms drop off, they use a technique referred to as ‘greasing the groove’.

Learn more about Greasing the Groove

Energy drinks are crazy popular, but have you ever stopped to look at their ingredients?

I like to let loose once in a while with some liquid energy, but I’ve also educated myself on the ingredients.

Here’s what I’ve found:

Energy Drinks and Health Risk

While energy drinks seem to have everything from Ginseng to rocket fuel, their main health risk seems to come from their sugar, calorie and caffeine content.

Here’s a breakdown of the contents of common energy drinks and alternatives:

For the sake of this comparison

• Coffee is black (no milk or sugar)
• Energy shots are those little bottles you find at the counter of most convenience stores
• Energy drink scores are a cross-section of the most common drinks, such as Red Bull, Monster and Rock Star

Read the full article

Pareto’s Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, can change your life.

The Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto long ago came up with the theory that 80% of results come from 20% of the work.

Examples of this are:

• 80% of your speech comes from 20% of the words you know
• 80% of your time is spent with 20% of the people in your life
• 80% of your nutrients can come from 20% of an unhealthy diet

Pareto’s Principle is the greatest thing that I’ve added to my training, and my life in general.

When I was working on the splits in high school, I had a series of stretches that I would go through over the course of 10 minutes.

I realize now, I could have spent that ten minutes really focusing on a split stretch, relaxing into over the time I’d spend moving from one stretch to the other.

I’ve recently 80/20′d my strength training workout, seeing that 80% of my strength gain could come from 3 simple exercises: the squat, bench press and deadlift.

The 80/20 principle can be applied to almost anything:

• Muscular Endurance
  instead of dozens of different exercises, could you benefit from a simply routine or sit ups, running and push ups?
• Martial Arts Techniques
  Could you narrow your workout to the three most common techniques used in your art?
• Studying
  Instead of reading every book out there, you could focus on the few that cover everything

Using Pareto’s principle, you can analyze almost every facet of your life, striking out the filler and becoming more effective every day!

Where could you use the 80/20 principle to be more effective? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Photo C/O annia316

I’m looking to add some interview questions to my ebook How to be a Stunt Performer.

If you would like some free publicity for 10 minutes of your time, simply answer some or all of the questions below.

1. What is your training background?
2. What was your first gig?
3. What’s been your most interesting experience as a stunt performer?
4. What’s the hardest part of doing stunts?
5. What do you enjoy most about it?
6. What advice would you give someone looking to get into the industry?

You can submit answers in the comments, or copy and pasting it in a message on the contact page.

Your byline, as well as any promotional stuff (your website, twitter, etc.) will appear in an upcoming article as well as the ebook itself.

I look forward to hearing your answers!

I’d like to announce the upcoming launch of my Ebook:

How to Become a Stunt Performer

The title will probably change, I’d like something a little more catchy. In fact, if you think of a better title, I’d love to here it!

The main rundown of the book will look like this:

• Skills for Stunt Performing
  How traditional martial arts thinking may actually slow your progress
• Where to Train
  Finding schools for the skills you need
• Marketing
  Getting your name out there once your ready
• Social and Family Life
  Convincing you parents/spouse that getting hit by cars is a good idea
• Finding Work
• Safety
• Staying in Shape
• Learning New Skills
  Keeping yourself marketable in a changing environment

I’m also planning on getting some of the stunt performers in my life to do interviews.

The whole thing should be done in three weeks, depending on the availability of performers for interviews.

If you’re a stunt performer and would like a credit/bio in the ebook, send me a message in the comments or on the contact page.

Photo C/O Jurvetson

Tim Ferriss’ blog has an awesome minimalist pure strength workout in its archives. I highly suggest reading it here.

Seeing as how this week I’ve joined a commercial gym for the first time in my life outside of martial arts, it seems like the perfect place to start.

In a nutshell, it comes down to doing three exercises:

• Squat
• Bench press
• Deadlift

You do one exercise a day, and perform 5 sets of 5 reps. I don’t want to feel like I’m stealing content, so you should go ahead and read the whole article.

Something this basic and minimalist makes me really happy. I mean, as a martial artist, there are so many things to worry about. Flexibility, strength, endurance, coordination, cardiovascular fitness…

And somewhere in all that, you have to train your martial arts techniques, to boot.

So, if I can add pure raw strength as easily as possible, I’m taking it.

Depending on the results I get, there may even be pictures. Oh yeah.

Photo C/O jcotherhal

I want to start making some free ebooks for you awesome folks.As research, I’m reading every martial arts ebook I can get my hands on.

Some suck, most are okay.

And then there’s Surviving a Traditional Dojo.

I came across this one yesterday. It’s free and it’s awesome. Honestly, it’s making me intimidated to make my own.

It’s written by Matthew Apsokardu of Ikigaiway.com, a blog which you should check out if you’re into martial arts, which I’m assuming you are if you’re here.

It’s huge (95 pages). It’s loaded with full colour, well-edited pictures (NOT clipart). It’s well-written. I’m not getting paid to say this, I just like passing on the goods.

Did I mention it’s FREE?

Read it!

Free Martial Arts Ebook – Student’s Guide to Surviving a Traditional Dojo

Martial Media’s added a new feature: The martial arts glossary.

If there’s a term you need to know, or something that you’ve heard for the first time, check it out.

Am I missing something? Drop me a line in the comments or on the contact page. I’ll e-mail you the definition and add it to the Glossary.

The Advanced Shotokan Karate Bible introduces something that many books do not:

What to do if you’re already skilled in a martial art.

Written specifically for advanced Shotokan Karate students, this book has insights that can be of value to anyone looking to bring their training to the next level.

Read more about The Advanced Shotokan Karate Bible in the full review