A Perspective On Who Trains For Longevity And Those That Train To Win

GOOOODDDD MORNING VIETNAM!!!!

Hope you guys are having a bad ass Monday so far and hope you're already having success in your endeavors. So far today, I got in my Joint Loosening Routine and my 2 & 1 Sapate HIIT Workout. With the big workout, I added a couple rounds so it was 30/90 For 10 Rounds and managed 6 Reps each time. Totaled 60 Push-ups and 120 Squats in under 20 minutes. 

I was watching a podcast the other day from Stories With Brisco & Bradshaw that had Scientific Wrestling's Jake Shannon on as a guest talking about Karl Gotch and their book No Gas, No Run. It was a few months ago when the episode aired but I thought I'd get into it. Really interesting stuff about Karl and his philosophy on things while Jake was being realistic about his opinionated thoughts on things and his rugged interior. Worth the listen.

Towards the end, Jake brought up a distinctive outlook that caught my eye (or my ears since I was listening intently) and I wanted to share my perspective on the idea and accurate approach to athletes or those that want to be fit......

He had said there were two different people and the distinctive differences to how their bodies become later on in life. There were those that train for longevity and well-being and then there are those that train to win. From a fitness perspective, those that train for longevity tend to have a greater quality lifespan and work towards protecting the body from injuries as much as possible and be able to function for the long haul. The second was more talked about from a wrestling idea but this can apply to any athlete, it was about those who train to win. In this case, a person who's a pro or whatever athlete, have a specific duty to work on their sport and do whatever it takes to overthrow the competition. 

In more of the case of those that train to win, it's pushing the body to its absolute limit in order to formulate skills that help the person win in their chosen sport. Football players have specific positions and train for skills that make those positions their specialty on the field that correlates to working as a team. In the case of wrestling which is the roughest sport anybody can do, you develop skills by drilling and conditioning the body to withstand and control an opponent. Defending or going on the offense using takedowns, holds and pinning/submitting someone. It's extremely hard on the body and over time, the body eventually will break down. 

In many cases especially these days, athletes have shorter careers and accumulate more and more injuries. In baseball, it's almost become mandatory for a pitcher to have Tommy John Surgery or a football player sustaining concussions, torn ligaments, broken bones and knee/hip replacements before the age of 50. Bodybuilding has lost it's roots when it comes to health, the sport itself today has many men and women pushing beyond limits of what the body can take both physically and supplementally. Several have dropped dead before the age of 45 and many these days never see 60. Training to win has become a sacrifice to one's health and well-being. From a statistical point of view, way, way less than 1% of athletes ever come out of a career with very little injuries and live a long life. 

In the case of the episode I watched, Jake was honest about what guys like Karl & Billy Robinson had done to themselves to be the best catch wrestlers in their respective generations. They both sacrificed their bodies and although Karl was the fitter of the two old timers by the end, it's still a thing to look at that after doing so many matches, so many drills, so many hindu squats & push-ups that the road leading them to having several body parts replaced is a sad thing to look at even though there is great respect for what they have done in the sport. The philosophies and outlook between Karl & Billy were very different. Billy looked at conditioning by pure wrestling and building up the stamina, Karl took the approach from learning to condition the body through calisthenics and such from guys like Benny Sherman & the Wrestler that taught Karl the Hindu Style along with Club & Mace Swinging. Both weren't wrong in how they did things and were among the very best in the last 60 years. 

Winning does come with a cost beyond the physical and for many, it has destroyed their bodies and it's a miracle some have lasted this long. As we get older, the ability to adapt becomes something we don't have a choice in the matter. We can't train the same way at 50 or 60 from when we were 25 or so. When you go so hard for so long, it will come back to haunt you if you keep it up. Longevity is about patience, awareness, adaptability and individual reactions to certain methods. Training to win becomes a necessity to do whatever it takes and do what must be done to overthrow an opponent. Like I said earlier, very very few can walk away from that life maybe not completely unscathed but know what their body can do or can't do anymore and can consciously be able to understand what's more important in the moment than chasing fame, fortune and glory. 

This doesn't mean I don't respect an athlete's sport or doing certain things to win a game or a match. I may not like the methods and degrees of sacrificing themselves but I do respect how they perform in the sport. I loved watching guys like Sammy Sosa & Brian Urlacher do the things they did, it was incredible and pound for pound, Rickey Henderson was the greatest scorer and base stealer of all time. Guys like Kurt Angle & Brock Lesnar were phenoms in the WWE and had some of the best matches from a technical and even entertaining stand point. However; the things they did in order to make those things happen were beyond what a person's limits was able to do. Henderson out of the list of people I mentioned was one of those extreme few athletes that had a very long career and took care of himself. 

What would be your perspective on this subject? Let me know in the comments or DM me through email. Let's read your take on things. 

Be amazingly awesome and keep killing it everyone.      

Old Time Wrestling & How It Can Turn You Into A Machine

When it comes to conditioning for wrestling there are many ways to do it. Look at how Dan Gable conditioned the most dominant team at University Of Iowa for 21 seasons with 15 National Titles. His methods were second to none and should be learned by any type of coach for the sport or athlete for that matter. At the same time there was a man who took conditioning to a very unique level and because of his teachings he conditioned a wrestler by the name of Frank Gotch. His name was Martin “Farmer” Burns.

In his course Lessons In Wrestling & Physical Culture he uses a form of deep breathing to help regain and maintain health, strength and fitness. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything in this course and I highly recommend you check it out at http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Burns/lessons/lesson01.htm.

 Without question he was one of the most unorthodox wrestlers/teachers there was at the turn of the 20^th century. He developed techniques in both fitness and wrestling to create the ultimate package to see who is tough enough and who is willing to take his training to a whole new level. Farmer himself had wrestled sense he was very young and had a staggering number of victories losing in only 7 matches. At age 50 he can still take down and mangle an opponent within seconds. At that time being 50 was ancient and the average age wouldn’t go beyond 60 let alone 50. So that should tell you how powerful this small man was and weighed no more then 175 pounds. The techniques he taught not only gave a wrestler a chance to win matches but also to save his own life. This was important for the common man of that period when survival was needed the most.

 Another key factor that he taught was very important and that’s pacing ones self. For a wrestler it’s a game of chess and you must be steps ahead of your opponent but it must not be quick nor faster then needed. When you get accustomed to the conditioning it teaches you to pace yourself and conserve your energy while your opponent wears out his. This became very complex and effective that it still stands today for MMA Fighters. Its no wonder the Farmer was ahead of his time.

Because of these effective strategies it was passed on from generation to generation. One of them was a wrestler who took the name Gotch and made a name for himself in Europe, Japan and a stint in America. His name was Karl Istaz (Gotch). Like the Farmer himself Karl took conditioning to a degree far beyond what most would consider today as insane or brutal. Either way it became apparent that if you want to wrestle your conditioning comes first. This goes hand and hand like a horse and carriage, one without the other is worthless.

If you want to see Gotch & his students in action then go to Scientific Wrestling and pick up a copy of Conditioning For Combat Sports 1 & 2. There might be a Interview DVD in there as well which in my opinion is treasure among treasures as Karl sits with Scientific Wrestling Owner Jake Shannon as they discuss the old-timers, a bit of Karl’s Career and his fond of conditioning. If you choose to do so I would also recommend you pick up the Authoritive  Encyclopedia Of Scientific Wrestling series. It’s a series of books filled with interviews, wrestling techniques and definitions of wrestlers and holds. It even has some on the Farmer. As a man of history and Physical Culture I encourage you to find your own history and learn from the best in the game. 100 years ago Burns helped carry on a wrestling tradition that still stands today and his techniques are not only more unique but even more effective today but yet is becoming a lost art. Help carry on a tradition that is sacred and willing to fight for.   

My Detication Workout To The Late Karl Gotch & My 6 Year Anniversary

Yesterday was the 6th year anniversary of the day I broke both my legs in a cliff jumping accident. Since then I deticated workouts to celebrate what I had accomplished over the last few years and this time was no exception and added a twist to it. So what I did was for this particular workout was the Karl Gotch Bible that the old-time wrestler created to make one of the greatest conditioning elements in the world. Karl Gotch always said to work the foundamentals push-ups, squats and bridging. I took out one of my decks of cards, shuffled them around and hammered out what I could. I varied the push-ups to work different muscles from different angles but stuck with the hindu squats/jumpers. I finished the whole deck in 21min. and 13sec. Thats a new PR for me.

After that I did some bridging and stretching/energy drills and finished the workout in less then 45 min. Now I don't know about you guys but it was fucking tough and whoever tries it is in the ride of your life. This takes toughness to a whole new level. This was a very high moment for me because when I first started walking again I couldn't do 10 cards let alone regular hindu push-ups and hindu squats so to say this was a huge accomplishment would be an understatement. I've done plenty of workouts to be a bit of an expert on how tough you have to be to pull off certain exercises. Now what if you wanted to be a conditioned athlete and take your workout to a level only the elite can achieve. With enough practice and by your creativity you can become somewhat superhuman and achieve a level of conditioning that the average joe only dreams of.

Take a look at Conditioning For Combat Sports by The Great One himself as he puts a young man through a workout that will blow you away. Also if you want to see some true conditioning elements take a look at Submission Master by Gotch student Yoshiaki Fujiwara. His students demonstrate along with him the brutal tactics of Catch-As-Catch-Can Wrestling with some very important exercises for the whole body. Its in Japanese but it gives you certain points and helps you understand key factors. I believe you won't be disappointed.

Scientific Wrestling