Karl Gotch......May he R.I.P

A true legend in the world of physical culture died this past saturday nearing the age of 83. A man of moral character and a great student to wrestling was known throughout Japan as "the god of pro wrestling" for his shoot-fighting style and conditioning training. In the united states though he wasn't a popular hit so he never became a big figure in the ways of other famous athletes. Up until recently this man was very private and kept a strong eye on the people who felt should be trained for wrestling. He knew that if you werent in condition you're not worth a damn and if all you wanted to do was learn a few moves then he'll kick you out the door. He was considered by a few peers and students as arguabley the greatest wrestler of all-time. He wasn't always a wrestler though, he was a survivor of world war ll concentration camps and became a soilder of the US army. He was an olympian in 1948 and became a pro throughout the 60's and 70's. He put his heart and soul to the sport he loved and created many friends and equally as many enemies but through it all he was just a man that squeaked by with a few injuries and a determained will to keep on fighting. A few years ago, he took on a student that was different then most of his others and taught him the ways of wrestling and conditioning. He turned this man's life upside down and for the better and is now known as "the zen master" Matt Furey. That was just one of thousands of students that he made a wrestler out of. In some circles he was considered brutal, viscious and unmerciful when it came to conditioning. Thats the fun of it cause thats how he was not only hated but also respected knowing that cause thats what he was taught and he made it his own unique style. Be as it may he wasn't the biggest public figure but he was a true loyal man and believed in what he loved and how life should go through one's life. Rest in peice Karl and thank you for the powerful impact you've put on us through your conditioning and ways of wrestling that can never be matched.

Yours in Power & Might

Ben

Is it possible to gain strength/flexibility/stamina all in one shot?

To answer that question you have to look at the type of people who know and those who don't. Its common in todays gym rats, high-tech loving and hardcore trainees who believe without question that in order to get these attributes you need to lift for strength, stretch for flexibility and run on the tredmill for a half hour just to get a decent amount of endurance. Now thats all good for them and they can all of that as much as they want but its not always true. It is possible to get those three major attributes into one exercise. The people i've mentioned don't want to believe that cause thats what they were taught and you don't see trainees talk about the important factors anymore cause its "outdated" and science proves new theories for the fitness industry. Its what I have learned in my 7 years of weight lifting. Up until my freak leg accident I learned an researched the old ways of strength training and decided that weights and scientific theories arnt my idea of conditioning. Mother nature with a few peices of equipment are my choices.

Now back to what I was saying..........When you look at animals in the wild by looking hard enough you notice they don't do seperate things to keep them strong and fit they tie everything together from their body structures and survival skills to keep everything strong. The old-timers knew this and adapted to their styles of training. The thing to remember is don't always look to the future in fitness but look to the way you adapt old styles for the future for yourself. Take in what you know and adapt. Its a lot simpler then it looks just find out for yourself and find a unique way to enhance all three of these attributes. The secret to this is to adapt and improvise never repeat.

Yours in Power & Might

Ben

New Strength Feat

Last night as an experiment I attempted to rip up a phonebook (around 1000) but with sock puppets (using socks as gloves) and got it on the first try. I was shocked and happy at the same time. It took a great deal of strength to pull this off and Isometrics can help you build that power. When it comes to ripping phonebooks you want to start by just tearing it in half. Simple right? Not nessesarely, you have to not only build up the kind of strength just to tear but you want to progress onto thicker books. If you can rip a 3000 page phonebook without too much trouble then you got super-human strength. One of the key elements to ripping a phonebook or anything else for that matter is through the use of isometrics. This particular type of stength training has been overlooked in the last couple decades and to me thats just sad.....Anywho I want to film this feat and prove that with bodyweight training and learning proper technique in feats of strength you can achieve anthing you wish when you use the mind/muscle connection and just sheer will. Until then keep training and have fun while you do it even when it gets difficult.

Yours in Power & Might

Ben

Powerflex In The Air And Of Course On Land!!!!!!!!

I have mentioned Powerflex aka Flexercise in a couple posts but I never mentioned how valuable it is for a traveler or a bodyweight enthusiast. I will be going to Pennsylvania as of tomorrow and gonna do nothing but Powerflex training the entire time there. It'll be great to get an awesome workout using my own resistance and strength to build up. Me and my gf will be going there to visit her best friend whom she hasn't seen in over nearly 2 years. I'm sure glad flexercise will help keep my energy up on the long flights, 3 to be exact in a 12 hour period. I'm very blessed that I know what to take with me to stay strong and energized. I've written about 7 workouts 1 each day while were there and if anybody knows this my specialization training will be on the gorilla flexes and all of these workouts will be at level 2 repetitions. Its gonna be tough but i've dealt with things far worse so this makes me happy. Its gonna be a joy having people look thinking "what the hell is he doing." Jim Forystek created one of the best bodyweight programs around and not many can match it its a program all on its own.

Yours in Power & Might

Ben

Having Fun Whenever You Can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are times when people worked hard all day and need to just eat dinner and go straight to bed. There are other times when you need excitment and feel left out from doing something either cause your bored or you just dont feel like you fit in. No matter how bad life gets no matter how hard wee ourselves feel like we do something but never do it heres what I gotta say: Have some fun man even if you act like a goof and just cant stop yourself at times just think of it this way. Its better then nothing.

Tonight was one of the best times of my life. Went to a concert where a couple buddies of mine were playing in the battle of the bands. It didnt matter if they won or not the important thing is they put on one of the best shows in their careers and nobody would stop them from having the time of their life and neither were us arrowheads. Life goes by fast and theres always that one regret we have that we didnt do. Most of the people in this world regret far more. Never regret anything and do what you feel shoul;d be fun for you. Take advantage of what you have cause it might not happen again. I choose to go to concerts played by my friends and no matter how bad I feel during the day they always cheer me up by letting me hang with them and just being guys talking about this and that.

Its one of those things that cant help but feel good inside cause you get to show your true self. It doesnt have to be a concert but no matter what find whats fun for you and take advantage of it. You never know if its going to end or not. We always tell ourselves "Man i wish i could've done that" dont wish do it. No matter where we go or what we do in life at least one time just time you want to say to yourself "That was one of the best times of my life." My late stepdad once told me "Never sit around thinking somethings gonna happen. You need to make it happen." I've stood by that saying since he last talked to me man to man just before he died. I'll never forget it as long as I live and i'm not gonna stop listening to those words in my mind.

We never know how long we will live so do what you can to make the best of it cause things dont just come out of thin air you gotta make it happen.

Yours in Power & Might

Ben

Hindu Push-Ups

Some people call this exercise too stressful to the shoulder, some call it the same version of a dive bomber and others call it the the greatest exercise in the planet. Here's a little history of this exercise and then I'll state my opinion.

 For thousands of years this exercised was being demonstrated in Chinese culture, Indian culture, yoga, it was even possibly used in the new America before the name Columbus was mentioned. This exercise was knowingly used in Indian wrestling cause it builds tremendous strength, endurance and flexibility. The great Gama used this very same exercise in his training and know how he did, won 5000 matches. Now for my opinion.

 This exercises should be used in any regimen in strength & Fitness cause once you start performing it a very intense and unique level you develop a power and mind that most exercises can't touch and you need that kind of sense of training. When you feel like the wave-like movement you put in it becomes a sense of power and strength you cant get any other way.

Yours in Power & Might

Ben

Musical Conditioning

Music brings power, joy, sadness, grief and happiness to us all. When we work out theres a variety of music people listenining to all sorts of music from opera to rap. Many people have different opinions on what kind of music works in order to workout. They'll sometimes tell you "Dont listen to that its not gonna get you pumped" or "If you listen to this you will work out harder and better then ever." You know what I gotta say to those guys. Go listen to yours and i'll do the same. You're only gonna get pumped by what you listen to not theirs or anybody elses just yours.

For me it hard rock or heavy metal because I go a little faster but I always watch my form while I train, I dont listen to death metal like canibbal corpse no more like metallica, Iced earth or my boys archer at www.archernation.com. It gets me in the mood to go higher and higher reps like in the 300 range for hindu squats or 10-15 handstand push-ups. We all have different tastes but dont tell me what i can and cant listen to. You can have your opinion i just won't apply it. Never listen to people who tell you what you can or cant listen to. Its your choice and your preference.

Find the music for you and see what works for you

Yours in Power & Might

Ben

The Practice Of Deep Breathing!!!!!

When you take a breath you're not only giving power and oxygen to your body, you're taking in life-force. Breathing deeply over a period of time and practice can turn you into somewhat of a superhuman. Look at some of the most famous practioners of this subject:

Yogies

Shoalin Monks

Military Personell

Old-time Strongmen

Wrestlers

Gymnasts

Thats just to name a few but you get my point. Deep breathing creates your inner power and with a focused mind, you can control anything in your body you want. This type of practice is not for people who like to rush things and rather focus on the outside then on the inside. When you wake up in the morning, take in a few deep breaths and realize how energized you get just doing a few of these. Training is not about rushing it but going along with it smoothly and with flow. Never believe those people who say "Deep breathing doesnt make you strong and you have to run and do aerobics to get lung power." Nothing can be further then the truth, truth is when you practice this not only will you be stronger but your organs will make everything in your body do things you never thought possible.

This has been done for millions of years if not billions. Deep breathing is the healthiest form of exercise there is and when you add other exercises watch your strength, stamina, agility, flexibility and lung power skyrocket. Its the ultimate anytime, anywhere way of training and if you're a bridging practioner, your timing will go through the roof and you would think you wern't it that long when you were holding for a long time. Theres an old saying from an old-time wrestler "Deep breathing alone can make a weak man strong and a sick man well." Try it sometime and you'll know what I mean.

If you'd like read some articles on this subject and see for yourself how powerful this life-force is.

www.mattfurey.com

www.transformetics.com

Yours in Power & Might

Ben

Wrist Rolling- Strength Training for the Grip

Grip Strength these days at most gyms are very neglected and yet is one of the most important training elements in Strength & Conditioning. When I'm talking about grip strength i'm not just talking about the hands and foearms no i'm talking the entire lower arm: Elbow, Foearms, Wrist, Fingers and most importantly the tendons that give all of these the strength to grab and pinch things. There are many ways to strengthen these areas, wrist curls, fingertip push-ups, holding onto a pull-up bar and doing wrist flexibility but as of late one of my favorite peices of equipment for strengthening the grip is Wrist Rolling.

You can do this almost with anything you can imagine, take a long smooth stick about 9-10 inch and roll your hands up and down. Another way would take a smaller stick, wrap a string around the middle and let a long peice hang, put very small pounds on it and roll it up until the weight reaches the top and let it drop and repeat. Now the way train the wrist roller is having whats called the Sports Grip from Lifeline USA. Its a thick 10 inch rubber line with black foam covered and you twist it, bend it, grip it, roll on your neck, shake it pretty much anything you can try. I like to grip it pretty tightly and start rolling it back and forth and visiualize i'm rolling up 100's of pounds and making my grip as strong as possible and it doesnt take that long to start feeling it.

Now i'm all for bodyweight training I can go all day doing it but its nice to have a change of pace and train on something to get strong tendons. Because of using this and doing the combo grip and roll I have been able to bend tough nails, screwdrivers and tearing phonebooks. Wouldnt you want to be that strong. Train the grip and you're strength training will skyrocket.

If you want strong tendons and dont want have to hit the gym. Heres the place take your grip to the next level.

www.lifelineusa.com

Yours in Power & Might

Ben

The benefits of Steel Bending and Phonebook Tearing

When you look at an old-time strongman like Dennis Rogers, Slim The Hammerman and Pat Poviliatis and the best of them all The Mighty Atom, They seem to be strong from how they look but how strong are they? Heres your answer: Hours upon hours upon hours of training and practicing. They make these feats a way of life and some of the time it could possibly kill them. People see impossible feats happening before their eyes but do they really realize what benefits they get out of it, heres how I break it down:

Steel Bending- When you can take a wrench and I mean a 10-12 inch steel wrench and bend it into a pin holder or in a "S" shape or take a 6 inch spike even a 6 inch ironmind red nail and bend it into a "U" you're building some powerful joints and ligements and it shows when you shake their hand or ask the to pinch you. Your tendons will be almost bionic and have strength beyond imagination. Now steel bending can be dangerous if you don't do it correctly or if you make a slip you can puncture your skin and really hurt yourself. No one in the world is a greater short steel bender then Pat Povilaitis, he can take a short steel rod and bend it at chest level and these take 100's upon hundredes of pressure. Talk about super strength.

Phonebook Tearing- When properly trained you can destroy the thickest of phonebooks and take grip strength to a whole new level. No one on the world can do it better then Dennis & Pat they are the dynamic duo of phonebook tearing and Pat just keeps one-upping by tearing a phonebook in 5 peices. Its just surreal. Take a phonebook, have a post arm and pulling arm, your post arm pushes down on the book to keep the tear in place and your pulling arm with enough strength destroys the book. Thats one way of doing it and probably the best way cause most people you see today would take a book and try to "pop" it by squeezing the pages together and press down to rip it. My best tear is 886 pages, my goal is get up to a thousand by the end of the year.

The only way to master these feats is by doing them, not training certain exercises to make the feats work, thats all fine if thats what you want to do but if you want to be super strong then practice the feats themselves. If you want to bend steel then practice bending or if you want to rip phonebooks then progress ripping phonebooks dont just go with something that the feat needs or is required. Simple and easy to understand. Never think you're too small to do these things cause 3/4 of these are at average height of 5'9 and average weight of 160 pounds.

www.dennisrogers.net

www.functionalhandstrength.com- (Look for the quantuple tear)

Yours in Power & Might

Ben