Following Your True Path Leads To The Freedom You Were Seeking All Along

We all take roads that lead to somewhere. Sometimes we get forks in the road, often change routes and we may even need help with the directions. There isn't a GPS in the world that can truly determine the path you seek or even go in on. What is the true path anyway? Honestly, there is no right or wrong answer cause none of us go on the same path. We may try to follow someone else's path because we were taught to do so in certain aspects but something always hits you with a roadblock. You were never meant to follow another person's journey.

Some seek power, some seek freedom, others get dragged down a road that leads to misery and pain but there is always a road that leads to somewhere. Personally, I believe in the road or path to freedom. Not the kind of freedom where you can just do whatever and get away with dumb shit. The type of freedom I seek and/or want others to seek is to have the freedom to make the choices meant for you and the pathways that get you there. It's not meant to be easy, it's not meant to be rushed but it is something that takes patience, pace and understanding unexpected things will occur whether you like it or not.

The freedom we seek can be different for everybody. Me, it's about training and the ideals that lead to the choices I make in my life like in relationships, seeking knowledge and being with people that matter to me. To me, that's true freedom. The road I've been on in my life was not an easy one, it wasn't meant to be. If it was, I wouldn't be who I am and wouldn't know how to fight for the things I had to overcome. I couldn't speak a full sentence that people can understand until I was 6 years old. Before that, yeah I knew what I was saying but it came out gibberish (almost literally) and going to therapy in order to learn my speech patterns and pronunciations. It was very hard and I could remember hating it and just wanting to be heard. That's just one of the things I've had to overcome next to many things.

Freedom is seeking your own path and working around the obstacles along the way. Sometimes, it'll feel endless, sometimes it feels like a cake walk, but one way or another, you will find things about yourself you didn't expect. That's just part of the adventure. It's a constant learning curve and at times you'll hit potholes or get stuck in the mud but if you learn how to get yourself out of those things and keep moving forward, even if its windy and has sharp turns, you will eventually get to a place you were meant to be at.

The world has many roads to choose from and you can pick routes to go on but eventually, the road will take on a life of its own and lead you down a path you were meant to be on. It's part of the concept of "Everything happens for a reason", you were meant to be on that road because that's where you find those tests of your mental fortitude. You may not have always chosen it, it chose you because there's something there you were meant to find and that is who you were truly meant to be. 

Be amazingly awesome, be safe on your journey and hope your path leads you to the freedom you were seeking all along. 

Indian Wrestling: Two Powerful Souls Consisting Of The Akhara Vs The Olympic Stage

 Good morning everyone. Hope you all had a kick ass weekend. I was thinking last night what I wanted to get into for an article so I did some research into Kushti Wrestling or Pehlwan in contrast to Olympic Freestyle competition and training methodologies (among other things) so this is what popped up and holy shit this is fascinating stuff. Let's see where it leads and diving into a world that encompasses two styles in a region of the world where the two collide yet show patterns of fierce competition.

Two distinctive beasts that share the same DNA for devouring opponents from different sides of the same coin. On one hand, you've got the ancient entity of the Akhara: Red Earth that seems to look like something out of Mars, oil lamps that light up the competition and the Monkey God Hanuman looking down at worshippers as they prepare for practice and developing skills. The other side of this crazy spectrum, the Olympic rooms of the best of the best in Freestyle/Greco-Roman Wrestling: The lighting changes, timed intervals, diets that involve protein scoops instead of Ghee (Clarified Butter) and a mat that squeaks when going in for a single or double leg takedown. Both create monsters of epic proportions yet the way they're built is where the real interesting things come into play.

The Representation That Showcases The Nature Of Either Athlete

Pehlwans: Temples That Share Sacred Ground

When it comes down to it, the Akhara isn't a typical ground of training or a facility. It is an ancient tradition rooted in the life and devotion to the art of Kushti that dates back to the Mahabharata (maybe even further). You're not "going to practice", it is a lifestyle that involves words like discipline, diet and dharma in the same breath or treated as one formality. The sacred ground is the mud pit. It's not about medals, fortune and glory or even aesthetics, it's about the development of functional strength & conditioning that lasts for decades of Grappling. It's about becoming unbreakable.

Olympic Powerhouses: Out Of The Temple And Inside The Scientific & Time Tested Methods That Builds Championship Caliber Squads

The Olympic Style in this case is the bridge that goes from the mud to international glory. The two arts of Freestyle & Greco-Roman on cleaner mats, 6 minutes of pure explosiveness & strategy, near daily weigh ins and the goal to reach the podium. This takes on more of the lines of specialization that brings in scientific entities and prioritizing the maximum points of developing an athlete. 

The Akhara builds lifelong warriors but the Olympic rooms builds dates for a specialist. 

The Diet: Ghee & Almond/Breads Vs. Specific Foods & Hydration

Food is strength in the world of Indian Wrestling. Many wrestlers devour around 5000-7000 calories a day (if not more for larger athletes). Lots of Almonds, Milk, Butter, Bananas and Curd. Meats do come around but some skip it. 

Pros: More natural and Nutrient Dense food with almost no supplementation risks. Food that is heavily used to aid in recovery, build strength for tendons and bone density along with being able to utilize real world power in the muscular system. 

Cons: Several athletes have a higher percentage of bodyfat and there's very little weight cutting. Because of the constant training through thousands of push-ups, squats, club swinging, rope climbing and wrestling, these heavy foods tend to stick around longer in the system and more induced to bulking in order to stay within the grind. Almost no hydration protocols in order to make weight cutting effective.

Olympic Dieting: Balanced & Specified

Micronutrients such as Complex Carbs for energy, lean protein (Fish, Chicken, Eggs) that repairs tissue, fats that balance out hormones and making hydration one of the top priorities. It's almost a religion to drink water before, during and after. Pre-Competition meal prepping are timed out around a couple hours or more beforehand that eases the digestive process. It builds the science behind weight cutting because making weight is a lot more crucial (unless you're a heavyweight or bigger). More supplementation  are key factors as well like Whey Protein, Creatine and Vitamin D. 

Pros: More Precision and Strategy to hit specific weight goals, recover well and be able to go on command. Also creates greater output due to the higher Muscle Glycogen. 

Cons: Weight Cutting can be brutal and even one pound more or less can shatter dreams of making it through competition. Supplements do have a risk of being contaminated if used on the cheap and food must be cooked to specific needs for the bodies of athletes cause not all of them are able to eat the same types of foods due to allergies and/or digestive issues. 

The Training & Crazy Conditioning: Variables Vs The Heavy Volume

For the wrestlers in the art of Kusht, they train very early in the morning and would go for many hours doing extremely high rep exercise. Gama was said to do thousands upon thousands of Squats & Push-ups per day. Heavy gada swinging, running, rope climbing, bridging and spending time in the uneven pits. Traditionally, there are no time limits so you either devour an opponent or you get gassed out. Metabolic Conditioning that makes athletes go for hours. 

Pros: Base is about as unmatched as you can get. High repetition that recruits the nervous system to wrestle for extended periods of time even in compeition.

Cons: Greater risk of overtraining, periodization is virtually non-existent and doesn't have an easy transfer from Mud to Mat (although some athletes even at a young age have trained on mats that some gurus or coaches used). Heavy joint damage from endless reps is at a high level as well. 

Olympic Methodology:

Freestyle & Greco Roman Mat Based Wrestling requires greater demand on higher efforts of intensity. Strategically broken into energy systems such as: Simulated 6 Minute Matches, Explosive Shooting/Takedowns, Pummeling and Scrambling. The Strength Work is heavily more in tuned to Conventional Weight Training, Bodyweight Training in specific formats and Plyometrics to create explosive power. Conditioning is utilized in drills and technique building that's pretty fucking fast. Not to mention more sports specific and tactical. 

Pros: Greater Specificity. Training so you can go within the rule sets competed under. Manageable recovery and planned out peaks of gas tanks.  

Cons: Although Bridging is essential, it may not be as devoted and along with Olympic Athletes showing greater Aesthetically pleasing physiques that are strong and conditioned but function is a bit less on that end of the spectrum. 

So who's really better here? The real truth.....The best wrestlers in this part of the world have done both and utilized what they learned in the mud pits to transitioning into a world of specific methods that have brought them to places beyond their wildest dreams. Some made it to be the very best in the world, others hit their stopping points where medals were just in their grasp but couldn't reach the mark. They're still devoted warriors to the sport and should be respected either way. At the end of the day whether in the mud or on the mat, a wrestler makes the ground sacred and gives hope to those who have aspirations to become their country's best. There's history in those pits but there are also memories of blood, sweat and tears on the international stage that resides in the spirit of a wrestler. 

I hope you enjoyed and learned a thing or two. I sure as hell did and wrestling in that part of the world is an incredible subject. Be amazingly awesome, get your training in and kick ass today to kick off the week. Shoot me a comment or use the Linktree to send me an email. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Can't Always Take Life Too Seriously

 

There's a time and place to be serious in certain situations for sure but throughout many aspects of life, it's important to enjoy the little things and be as happy as you can. Some people don't know how to be happy or think its some kind of weakness when in reality, they're just bitter people with nothing better to do. 

Having fun doesn't always have to be being loose either, it's going about the journey and taking things in stride. Relax a little bit and get a perspective on what's possible. For me, it's my training where I can learn to do bad ass stuff and give whatever comes to mind a go. Doesn't matter if it's playing around with the Dopamineo Bands, messing with Thor Hammers or doing the Sapate, there's something cool to do and figure out what it can do for you.

Life is already hard for many and maybe the hard stuff is what makes them happy who knows but a lot just sink into this hole of because of how hard things get, that's all they know and being happy is some kind of luxury and wish it wasn't. Being happy in general is more of a mindset than anything but plenty fake being happy or think they need to act happy to protect an image or something. True happiness is an individual thing but I believe it's when despite the bullshit that goes on, there's a piece within us that can have the courage to smile genuinely and make the most out of it. That's just me but it may be different for somebody else. Some of my best moments of happiness is being with family or with the woman I love, other times are in my training sessions and just getting into it with passion. Like I said, it's an individual thing.

In certain cases, there are people who are envious of other people's happiness and are obsessed at what they have and weaponize it in order to suit their little pity parties. They even go as far as to rant about it constantly to an audience that really doesn't give a shit and will eventually die out because nobody wants to see someone bitch about another grown man for so long that it consumes what they're trying to promote. The trouble is, those people are just flat out bat shit crazy and think being happy and having fun is unmanly when in reality, they're just bitter souls with no hint of a life that means anything. 

There is nothing wrong with being genuinely happy. Cheering on another person's success, them cheering you on, making a PR, laughing with the people you care about and making a living that keeps things flowing. That's just some of the things to be happy about. Taking things way too seriously too often can bite you in the ass whether intentionally or not and it's a choice to become something that will never be able to crawl out, or blast through the fucking walls and see things for what they are without punishing your own mental health and even physical well-being for it.

Taking certain things too seriously ages you and will devour anything that can be good and overcome aspects of adversity. I understand what that's like. I know what it's like to be bitter about things but these days, I laugh them off and some are just so damn ridiculous and to a point where it's just noise and isn't affecting my life. I get to enjoy things that I love and don't take them for granted. Hell, I get to go to places for my birthday this year that I've never been before and don't know what to expect. It's exciting man and get to do it with my partner in crime. 

For real though, do what's possible to enjoy life as best as you can. This is the only life we have and it's important to not be so angry and overwhelmed with bitterness. Some are just so pissed off and blame others without taking responsibility for their own messed up situations or taking responsibility for their actions against people that want nothing to do with them. Their anger and obsessions are their own problems and using others as a shield of those problems will come back to haunt them. It's just a matter of time before they learn what others are truly capable of and realize they can't beat them and know that those who are truly happy can take things for what they are and win above all else while those who choose to rot in their own mind and body will continue to go down a black hole of misery and despair while slowly and painfully dying inside. Find happiness, it's better than the alternative. 

Be amazingly awesome and have a kick ass Friday everyone. Be sure to email me, shoot me a comment and/or sign up to get articles like these sent to your email. Make your weekend bad ass and fun.   

Staying Consistent With The Sapate HIIT Workout

 As of today, I've done 11 Sessions of the Sapate HIIT Workout. Keeping things consistent and seeing some small changes but there's till some time to go before anything truly show up. Many want that quick fix and want results like some wizard can wave a fucking wand and poof LOL. Doesn't work that way.

Did a slight change to the exercise by getting my handles and did the movement with them in the vertical position to get deeper and have a better flow sequence. It was still a challenge but I was able to work the reps very efficiently and as crisp as I can. Next Workout, the handles will be in the Horizontal Position. I'll Film both versions separately in time but for now, just feel the high and enjoying the journey man.

That is one of the missing ingredients in many people's training is that its the journey. They push themselves so hard it just wrecks them and the more they put themselves through that, the more its going to bite them in the ass. There's still that mentality of "No pain, no gain" and it's pure bullshit. Punishing yourself in a workout is a recipe for disaster and going extreme too often will have you most likely needing a walker or crutches sooner rather than later. Whoever tells you to go Extreme basically on a daily basis is a fake ass charlatan that only cares about their bank account, they don't give a shit about your health and well being. It's a marketing scam and they're fake as a person in general and never do what they claim they do. 

Be able to last when it counts and train to be as injury proof as possible. I'll admit, I understand the need to push yourself hard to the brink of injury; I've torn skin bending steel, My nose bled during workouts, had near concussions from falling into a bridge, had problems with my wrists and elbows when I was a shot putter in high school and wrecked my back a time or two. Now in my 40's, I like going hard some days, lighter on others but hit a certain threshold so I don't risk another injury yet also find things that are challenging or worth my time doing. 

Being consistent with this specific workout has been quite fun actually. It doesn't take up a ton of time and it works many muscle groups all at once and keeps things old school. The sapate has different variations like anything else but overall, it has a better flow than the typical burpee we see today. Nothing wrong with doing Burpees in and of themselves but you also want to have them be effective and not just an exercise where you do so many reps they become sloppy as hell. One man in his 70's that does them, makes them effective for him and doesn't go so hard it's going to wreck him. His channel is PieriniFitness, here he is doing 100 Burpees on his 71st Birthday. That's impressive as shit for a man that age and is inspiring. 

Conditioning is your greatest asset and this type of training will give you those qualities. It's not about how many you can do, it's about making the effort to make it a flow that seems effortless yet challenging. If you're training for a sport like wrestling, form isn't going to be the biggest priority because that's the nature of the beast in that sport, it's not going to have flawless technique so they do what's possible regardless of the situation. If you're training to be fit and have a better quality of life, form has more of a priority there. Some will blend between the two and some have pretty bad technique and either bend too far forward or swing a little too much doing a pullup. Seriously, some of their form is shit yet act like a hypocrite and say someone else is shitty and they're flawless. It's hilarious.

Keep at it, be amazingly awesome and even the smallest fraction of progress always leads to the bigger picture. You got this, kill it and have a blast. Shoot a comment or send me an email through the linktree.   

Conditioning Priorities

 Hope you all had a great 4th of July Weekend and nobody got hurt or worse during fireworks and BBQs. My weekend was pretty good, just getting in my typical workouts, playing around making random Youtube Posts from Song Lyrics to quotes from Comic Books/Movies and my own thoughts on things. Even went up into the mountains for a little while.

Yesterday, I got up and went to the park to do a Dopamineo Circuit Workout for 45+ minutes in the open air and just letting the rhythm flow. Great conditioning and keeping things mobile. Felt high as a fucking kite afterwards and went back home to chill out for a bit. Before the workout, I took some Hercules Pre-Workout Capsules with my Spark & Rehydrate mix of energy and hydration. Made the workout that much better and didn't feel a crash afterwards. Actually felt very energized.

After a while, we went up into the mountains to check some stuff out before a thing that's going on this week. Beautiful area and although I'm not the biggest fan of heights, I loved seeing the river/lake below and other mountain ranges along the valley. Being in the forest and mountains just gives off different vibes man. 

This morning, got up, had my mixture and did some Joint Loosening for a few minutes before getting into my Sapate HIIT Workout of doing 8 Rounds 30 on, 90 off. Don't know what the rest of the day will bring but I know it's going to involve some neck training with the Neck Flex. That's just part of the factors of making conditioning a priority. Being ready for what lies ahead and having the strength and stamina for even the small things. It's just the way I like things to go. 

Fitness is more than just developing a body, it's about learning your capabilities, being aware of how the body responds and letting things flow. Go hard at times, a little lighter on others and being intuitive. I never truly force anything, sure I push myself but I don't go so hard that it's going to bring a high risk of injury. I don't enjoy pain, I'm not like a Goggins or some exaggerated and baseless guru who enjoys hurting themselves in order to prove how fit they are. Goggins has some qualities when it comes to training like the admiration of seeing what is possible but what overshadows that is putting himself through agony and physical pain in order to be fit. I'm sorry but that guy is going to burn himself out or worse, be crippled in another 10 years if not less.

Conditioning should be a priority but it is also important to be aware of what your body can do. You can't be extreme forever, it's going to bite you in the ass and it may just kill you and nobody will ever really remember you, hell some aren't even that famous and act like they're better than everybody when no one cares about their fake ideals. They're just dust in the wind that comes and goes. In reality, make it a priority to condition yourself that not only makes you last but keeps you as injury proof as possible. It's one thing to try and kill yourself to see how far you're willing to go, it's another to find that balance that gives you a supply of attributes well into old age that gives you opportunities to continue the journey with vitality and enthusiasm. 

Prioritize your health, physically and mentally. Don't waste time and energy just poking the bear and scratching and clawing for attention. That's just going to bring misery, obsession and turn you into some kind of Gollum looking creature that will die a painful death in the end. Live with passion, youthful creativity and keep things simple but also fun as best as you can. There's a time and place to do what needs to be done and be serious when shit hits the fan but if you only live in paranoia, pain and living a narcissistic/bully existence, it won't end well. 

Keep at it, be amazingly awesome and never stop progressing because even the smallest fraction of it, leads to the big picture. Get a hold of me using the linktree or shoot me a comment and let's read your insights. 

One more thing, on top of being in condition, sleeping is also a priority and it's not always easy calming the mind so if you need a little help with that, come check out the Sleep Bundle from Lost Empire Herbs. Be able to recover well and be in that deep state that gets you to wake up and feeling like a new person.