Palmer Teen Zone

Wing Chung is a martial arts discipline that deals with striking and position control. Wing Chung wooden dummy training is a common way to practice strikes and foot control. The wooden dummy used for training is called a Mook Jong. Wing Chung wooden dummy training allows a Wing Chung student to practice making contact, which is a very important part of the discipline since Wing Chung striking is all about control and precision. You cannot gain precision by punching and striking air. The Mook Jong gives the student a target and allows them to feel the impact of the strike which helps develop his or her sense of touch.

The reason Wing Chung wooden dummy training is so important is that it allows the skin and bones to strengthen and toughen up. When making contact in a real fight, your fists and shins are subjected to a lot of force and pain. Striking air does not get your skin and bones ready for a real fight. Hitting the Mook Jung allows your fist and shins to toughen up so you are prepared in case you ever need to use your striking skills. Your accuracy will also be improved, which allows you to make contact with the intended target on the opponent's body.

Training with a sparring partner is also a great way to improve your striking, but you cannot hit a training partner with your full strength. Hitting the Mook Jung allows you to strike as hard as possible to develop your strength and toughness in a way sparring cannot.

Wing Chung is a very practical martial arts form because it stressed quick and meaningful strikes and control over the opponent with things such as joint locks. Wing Chung incorporates several offensive tools to develop a complete fighter than can succeed in any situation. The goal of Wing Chung is to have as few holes in your game plan as possible and to take control of the encounter in a quick and relentless fashion.

Training in Wing Chung is not about hurting other people, but rather, defending yourself. You train with a Wing Chung wooden dummy in hopes that you never have to use your powerful strikes against a human. However, if you ever have to defend yourself against an attacker you will have the tools and toughness needed to survive.

Since striking is such a large part of Wing Chung developing fast and effective striking is extremely important. Being able to strike as hard as you can against a hard, human-shaped target is the best way to develop all of the aspects of good striking, including speed, power, accuracy, toughness, and control. Wing Chung wooden dummy training is one of the reasons that training in Wing Chung is such a fast and effective way to become a well rounded fighter.

One of the most popular, if not the most popular, pieces of home exercise equipment today is the treadmill. Treadmills are designed to enhance the most popular form of exercise - walking, jogging and running. Treadmills are simple to use, but can be dangerous in the wrong hands or around children.

Some treadmills fold up for easy storage which makes them an ideal choice for those with limited space in a small apartment, small house or condo. Always choose a belt width that's at least of 16 " ands long enough to accommodate your stride. A well-constructed treadmill is a piece of home exercise equipment that every member of your family can enjoy.

Display panels should be easy to read and straightforward to operate. One feature that is absolutely necessary in a home treadmill is an emergency stop button or a safety key that automatically shuts off the power if you should stumble, trip or fall. People, who don't have enough room for a bulky exercise machine, may want to consider a folding treadmill; they collapse to allow for easy storage.

Some treadmills monitor your heart by way of sensors built into the frame that are gripped by your hands, but can only be done if you're walking not running.

A heart rate monitor enables a treadmill to automatically adjust the speed and/or the incline to keep your heart rate within the most optimum zone. Adjustable inclines let you vary the steepness of a hill.

One of the key things to remember is that the larger motors tend to run cooler and usually require less repair and maintenance. The deck is the belt area on which actual running, jogging and walking take place.

When buying a treadmill, the best savings will be for an online purchase, generally saving up to 45% over brick and mortar stores. Warranties can last for ninety days or a lifetime, read the fine print. Less expensive treadmill models may be fine for walkers but may not hold up as well for regular or seasoned runners.

One indication of the likely longevity of any treadmill is to check out the length of the manufacturer's warranty; the longer the better. You'll probably want to buy a unit with a motor that delivers 1.5 to 3 continuous, not peak, horsepower. Make sure to add the cost of shipping when buying a treadmill online; quality models can be heavy and shipping will cost more, but some manufacturers do offer free shipping.

The more incline variation offered in a treadmill unit, the more expensive the model will be. Your club commercial machine may be may be a good choice in a home version; you're already familiar with its features and probably are comfortable using it. The first thing to consider when shopping for a home treadmill is what you need it to do for you.

Be careful not to believe the marketing hype if you're looking for a cheap treadmill; the truth is you get what you pay for. Treadmill manufacturers are competing for your business and price wars are creating big savings for buyers.

If you're looking for a heavy-duty treadmill that can withstand running as well as walking, be prepared to spend more money. It's definitely possible to find a good model that's not very popular, but is still a good buy.

More and more people every day are choosing to get healthier; the majority of beginning exercisers start out by just walking or jogging. To get even more workouts, think about making your treadmill into a walking, working office by adding a mini-platform to the side rails.

Better quality treadmills provide excellent cushioning to limit the impact on knees, ankles, hips and lower backs. Running or walking on a treadmill is an effective way to workout compared to other more complex cardiovascular exercises.

Besides spending your money on a treadmill make sure you spend time on it! Spend some time shopping around; work out exactly what you need, and then shop online and offline for the best price. Read the various treadmill ratings and treadmill reviews that you find online so you have an idea which models are best for you.

Taekwondo is derived from several martial arts with the main influence being tae-kyon - Korean kick fighting. "Tae" means to kick. "Kwon" means to strike using the hand, in most cases the fist. "Do" refers to the way of the art, like in the examples of Hapkido, Karate-do, Ninjado etc. Thus, the foundation of the artis the use of the hands and feet to overcome an attacker swiftly.

History:


Taekwondo was originally developed in Korea in the 1950s, when a group of leading martial arts exponents came together to unify their respective disciplines under a single fighting system. The inauguration took place in South Korea on April 11, 1955, with Major-General Choi Hong Hi, a 9th dan black belt, being credited as the founder. However, its roots date back nearly 2000 years ago when it was born from an art known as hwarang do, meaning "the way of the flowering manhood".

The hwarang were young noblemen, influenced by Confucian teachings, who formed a patriotic society during the unification of Korea, in the Silla dynasty, around 600AD. The Silla kingdom was the smallest of 3 within the Korean peninsula and was constantly under attack from its two stronger neighbours. It was these constant invasions that led the Silla nobility to develop a fighting system to protect their kingdom.

Towards the end of the 10th century, following the unification of Korea, learning Taekwondo became compulsory for all young men. However, in about the 16th century, the military traditions of the country fell out of general favour and the practice of Taekwondo was kept alive only by Buddhist monks. Following the Japanese occupation in 1909, the suppression of any form of martial art only served to further its decline. The few remaining dedicated practitioners emigrated to China and Japan and hence, the art survived.

Following liberation in 1945, many Korean exiles returned to their homeland and reintroduced an improved version of Taekwondo. The Korean government, as part of its canpaign to reassert national identity after years of Japanese occupation, supported the practice of Taekwondo by officially sponsoring it. This led to a more formal approach to the teaching and grading of the discipline.

Taekwondo spread worldwide from Korea in the 1960s and the first world Taekwondo championship took place in Seoul, South Korea, in 1973. Since 1988, Taekwondo has been listed as an Olympic sport.

Competitive fighting:


Competitive fighting in Taekwondo is purely optional. For those who participate, competitions are split into 3 sections - sparring, patterns and destruction.

Sparring involves 2 practitioners practising fighting techniques to develop their timing, focus and speed. It is performed in a controlled environment so that no unnecessary injuries occur. In competition, the aim is to score points through the delivery of correct techniques to target areas.

Patterns are a set of series of combination techniques performed in a sequential order against an imaginery opponent. This is similar to Karate, which refers to patterns as kata, or Kung fu, which uses set movements called forms.

Destruction refers to breaking techniques in which practitioners learn to break, for an example, a piece of wood about 0.5 to 1 cm thick. The aim is to ensure that the power and skill of the technique are truly effective. It is also designed to focus the mind.

This ten article series will deal with the various components that need to be addressed when considering the utilization of a particular kick in a combat or self-defense situation. These ten components can also be used by the tournament competitor although certain segments would have to be modified slightly for the tournament aspects of kicking, rather than the more intensive nature of using a kick or kicks in combat. Although all of these individual components are important, they are most effective when combined together and utilized correctly when executing a kick.

Although I will only be discussing one of the components in this article, here is the complete list of all ten of them.

1. Your Kicking Ability


2. Your Intended Application


3. The Environment


4. Telegraphing


5. Striking Implement


6. Striking the Correct Target


7. Initial Impact


8. Impact


9. Retraction or Follow Through


10. Return to Fighting Position

Component Nine; Retraction or Follow Through:

Now I was always told from the first day that I started taking Karate that no matter what kick you did, that you never wanted to leave your foot "hanging" out in the air. There were three primary reasons for this and they are as follows.

1. The longer your kicking leg is "hanging" in the air, the longer you have to balance on one leg.

As hard as some of you may find this to believe, we humans were born with two legs for a reason, and that is to stand on both of them. We were not designed to be standing around all day like a pink flamingo with one leg "hanging" out in the air.

Now I am all for extensive training on balancing on one leg while kicking and I even have several different training exercises that I do in order to improve my balance. However, the keyword here is "training." When in an actual situation where you have to defend yourself, you want to get your foot up and out to make contact with its intended target as fast as possible, and then immediately get it back down on the ground.

2. The longer your kicking leg is "hanging" in the air, the easier it is for your opponent to grab.

Ever watch a boxing match where one of the boxers has a tendency to leave his punch in his opponent's face, or is just a bit too slow in bringing it back into position? What usually happens to that boxer?

Well, generally if the other boxer is any good, he will land at least a punch or two on his opponent. Why? Because by leaving his punch "hanging" out in the air, he leaves himself wide open for a counterattack. Now as bad as this is, it is many times worse when you are kicking. Not only do you leave yourself balancing on one leg, but you also leave yourself wide open for a variety of counterattacks. These can range anywhere from a punch, kick, or even tackling or throwing you to the ground, and these aren't even the worst.

The worst of all possible counterattacks is to have your kicking leg grabbed by your opponent. Why is this the worst? Simply put, because you then no longer have control of your body, your opponent does.

3. The longer your kicking leg is "hanging" in the air, the longer it takes before you can execute another kick.

Try this experiment:

Take one leg and hold it up in the air at about waist height, now leaving it up in the air, execute an effective and practical kick. Now try throwing a couple of punches while standing on one leg. Does it work very well?

A kick coming up from a balanced position on the ground is far more effective and powerful than one that starts off already in the air. What I mean by this is that the first Roundhouse Kick that you throw from a standing position is far more powerful than the second one that you throw with the same leg before setting your foot back down on the ground.

If you are executing a kick that relies on the foot being returned along the exact same path of trajectory that it traveled to get to its target, this would be called a "retraction" of the kicking foot. The following kicks would be ones that would require you to "retract" your kicking foot after making contact with your target.

1. Front Kick


2. Back Kick


3. Side Kick


4. Roundhouse Kick (with the notable exception of the Thai Roundhouse Kick)

If you are executing a kick that relies on the foot continuing through the target along the same path of trajectory that it traveled to get to its target, this would be called a "follow through" of the kicking foot. The following kicks would be ones that would require you to "follow through" with your kicking foot after making contact with your target.

1. Wheel Kick


2. Axe Kick


3. Crescent Kick


4. Reverse Crescent Kick


5. Hook Kick


6. Hatchet Kick

Training Advice to Improve your Retraction and/or Follow Through:

Under normal standard training practices, the student attempts to execute a kick as fast as he can from a standing position to the target. In this case, I am going to have you do the exact opposite.

This is a rather simple, yet very effective, technique that you can practice in order to improve your retraction or follow up skills. Simply put, what you do is take your kicking foot and slowly place it in the position where it would have made contact with your intended target. As soon as you leg and foot are in position, as fast as you possibly can, complete the kick by completing the retraction or follow through. Always be sure and utilize the correct technique at all times.

Final Thoughts:

As fast as your foot traveled to strike its target, it should be just as fast if not faster returning back down to the ground. Other than improper technique and improper application of the aforementioned technique, leaving your foot "hanging" or "posing" in the air after kicking is perhaps the single biggest mistake you could possibly make when kicking.

This "hanging" or "posing" seems to be prevalent in a lot of the tournament oriented schools more so than the traditional schools. Although I have seen students "posing" kicks in both types of schools.

This ten article series will deal with the various components that need to be addressed when considering the utilization of a particular kick in a combat or self-defense situation. These ten components can also be used by the tournament competitor although certain segments would have to be modified slightly for the tournament aspects of kicking, rather than the more intensive nature of using a kick or kicks in combat. Although all of these individual components are important, they are most effective when combined together and utilized correctly when executing a kick.

Although I will only be discussing one of the components in this article, here is the complete list of all ten of them.

1. Your Kicking Ability


2. Your Intended Application


3. The Environment


4. Telegraphing


5. Striking Implement


6. Striking the Correct Target


7. Initial Impact


8. Impact


9. Retraction or Follow Through


10. Return to Fighting Position

Component Seven; Initial Impact:

As an afterthought, I guess I should have entitled this particular component, "Initial Moment before Impact," because everything leading up to this particular moment is essential to the effectiveness of your kick upon its intended target.

Your entire body should have been in what I refer to as a "relaxed state of tension" from the moment you first initiated your kick until right at this exact moment. A relaxed muscle is faster yet weaker, while a tense muscle is slower yet more powerful. To give you an analogy of this, let's look at the following scenario.

You have a brick wall that needs to come down and you have two vehicles at your disposal to complete this task. You have a Lamborghini and a bulldozer. Which one would you use? Obviously, you would use the bulldozer. Now let's throw in another factor. Both vehicles are approximately 1 mile away and you have a time limit of one minute to knock the building down. What do you do?

Well, its going to be pretty hard to go one mile in a minute with a bulldozer, but really easy to do in a Lamborghini. However, I don't know about you, but I sure wouldn't want to use a Lamborghini to knock down a brick wall. Unless of course it belonged to someone that I wasn't too fond of, Hee Hee Hee! So how do we solve this problem? Well, if we had the ability to morph the vehicles into one, you could use the speed of the Lamborghini traveling at say 200+ mph to cover the one mile distance and then immediately prior to impact, you transform the Lamborghini into the bulldozer. Just imagine what this would do to the wall.

This is exactly what you want to do when delivering your kicks, or any striking technique for that matter. Immediately prior to making contact with your intended target, your entire body should momentarily tighten up in order to put the entire weight and momentum of your body into your kick.

Final Thoughts:

An excellent training method to develop this technique is to literally kick a wall. How you want to do this, is to execute your kick at a very slow speed while maintaining strict form and control. As soon as your foot touches the wall, tighten up your entire body as you attempt to push your foot through the wall. This should be a momentarily tightening of the body, not an extended effort. After tightening your entire body for just a moment, immediately relax and slowly bring your foot back down to its original starting position. I recommend performing this training technique with all of your primary kicks at least 10 repetitions on each leg at least twice a week.

Please make sure that you do not actually put your foot through the wall. This can get very expensive and usually doesn't make certain people (landlords, parents, significant others) very happy.

As you can imagine, when I tell people what I do for a living, it raises quite a few eyebrows.

"You mean like a Karate teacher?" most ask.

"Not quite", I always respond with a chuckle.

"What we teach are true, documented, and proven methods of self-defense and personal protection", I explain. "No theory, no mysticism, no B.S. Just exactly what it takes to protect yourself, your loved ones, and your home."

Now some sneer at this statement and say, "That's a job for the police", or "Aren't you a just a little paranoid?" That's when I know they're paying attention, and the lesson really begins…

Do you have the training necessary to throw the devil out of your house when he comes a knockin'?

What if I told you there was a racist religious cult that were making their way house to house, murdering people on the orders of their leader?

Can't possibly happen? Can't possibly be real?

Well, about 40 years ago, that's exactly what happened as the bloodiest of the 35+ murders committed by the followers of Charles Manson took place.

A violent career criminal that played at being a religious prophet, Manson became leader of a group of fanatics whose attacks and murders were beyond brutal.

On the night of August 9, 1969, a killing crew of Manson's followers descended on the posh Beverly Hills home of film director Roman Polanski and wife Sharon Tate.

While Polanski himself was away in London making a film, his eight and half month pregnant wife was still in the house while being kept company by a number of family friends.

After cutting the phone line and killing an exiting guest, the killers moved quickly into the house. Posing as common robbers to have the startled wife and guests comply, the murderous thugs began tying everyone up in the living room.

Two of the victims tried to run but all the guests were slaughtered like cattle.

Tate, begging for the life of herself and her unborn child, was shown no mercy.

The police arrived the next morning to find a grizzly scene.

None of these followers had any "training". In fact, 99% of criminals, murderers, thugs, rapists, and even terrorists, only prey on those whom they feel would not fight back.

This type of evil does not care about prison, consequences, or going to "hell". However, they certainly care about getting hurt!

In fact, never once did Manson's group ever put up a fight with police officers. Heck, big bad Charlie himself was found cowering under a sink when he was arrested.

So, are you going to be a victim or are you going to fight and win?

Trust me. Crazy cults and murderous killers under orders of a strange leader did not die with the 1960's. I mean seriously, do you even remember 9-11?

When you're dealing with a fanatic there is no bargaining, just your will to fight and live.

Moreover, you certainly cannot assume a "common" criminal only want your processions and will be content to leave once they have taken what they wanted.

When someone puts a knife to your throat or points a gun towards your family there are only two choices: You can die, or you can fight.

This ten article series will deal with the various components that need to be addressed when considering the utilization of a particular kick in a combat or self-defense situation. These ten components can also be used by the tournament competitor although certain segments would have to be modified slightly for the tournament aspects of kicking, rather than the more intensive nature of using a kick or kicks in combat. Although all of these individual components are important, they are most effective when combined together and utilized correctly when executing a kick.

Although I will only be discussing one of the components in this article, here is the complete list of all ten of them.

1. Your Kicking Ability


2. Your Intended Application


3. The Environment


4. Telegraphing


5. Striking Implement


6. Striking the Correct Target


7. Initial Impact


8. Impact


9. Retraction or Follow Through


10. Return to Fighting Position

Component Six; Striking the Correct Target:

No matter how well you execute your kick, it isn't going to do you a damn bit of good if you don't strike a specific vital or vulnerable point on your opponent. Sure, for the most part, hitting your opponent somewhere on his/her body is better than not hitting them at all. However, you risk not only having a less effective kick and possibly prolonging the confrontation, but also the very real possibility that you may end up injuring yourself instead of your opponent.

Imagine for a moment that you are confronted by an opponent and are left with no other options than to resort to an actual physical confrontation. An opportunity presents itself where you are able to execute a Roundhouse kick to your opponent's ribcage. Only instead of connecting with the lower ribs, you end up hitting his elbow instead. Now anybody that has kicked someone's elbow with the instep of their foot will tell you just how bad that hurts and how little, if any, effect there is on your opponent. Now imagine being presented with the opportunity to land a kick to your opponent's head and hitting his shoulder instead. How effective do you think that kick is going to be?

Knowing where to kick your opponent is just as important as knowing how to kick your opponent. If you are serious about learning how to defend yourself, you need to study as much as you can about the physiology of the human anatomy and its ability to withstand blows, as well as, deliver them. This knowledge is beneficial not only for inflicting damage upon your opponent, but also for knowing what to defend on yourself in order to keep from getting seriously hurt. Remember; only use that amount of force necessary to stop your attacker from hurting you. Never use excessive force!

Here are a few things that should be considered concerning vital/vulnerable points.

1. Is the proposed target a vital point or a vulnerable point?

A vital point is generally defined as an area of the body where, when struck
results in either incapacitation or death. A good example of this would be the
groin. Any man who has ever been kicked in the groin knows how bad it hurts
and how incapacitating it can be. If you are lying on the ground and unable to
move, how hard do you think it would be for your opponent to inflict a significant
amount of damage on you or even kill you. Another interesting fact that you may
not be aware of is the fact that if the groin is struck just right and with a sufficient
amount of force, that you can actually kill a man by striking him in the groin.

A vulnerable point is generally defined as an area of the body where, when struck
results in slight to moderate damage. A good example of this would be the nose.
Depending upon the amount of force used, a blow to the nose can result in as little
damage as a localized pain and watering of the eyes to a broken nose resulting in
an inability to breath through the nose combined with intense pain and blurred
vision due to a watering of the eyes. This is far from incapacitating, although it
can and usually does impede your ability to defend yourself.

2. The actual vital/vulnerable point being struck should be considered to be no larger than the diameter of a dime.

The more focused and concentrated you can make your attack the more effective it is going to be. There is a line in the movie "The Patriot" where Mel Gibson's character asks two of his sons what he had taught them about shooting, there response was, "Aim small miss small." This is very good advice not only for shooting, but for any activity where you are required to hit a specific point or target like say for example, kicking. Imagine how effective your kicks will be when you can consistently place them in an area the size of a dime.

3. The amount of force needed to affect a particular vital/vulnerable point.

Although basically built the same, each human beings physical make-up and tolerance for pain varies from individual to individual. Therefore, the amount of force necessary to affect a particular vital/vulnerable point on an individual may vary from one to another. This is very important to know so that you can gauge just exactly how much force is needed in order to gain control of a particular situation. You don't want to strike a person and inadvertently cause more damage than what is necessary. On the other hand, you don't want to use too little force either if the situation warrants the use of serious or even lethal force.

4. What type of damage can be caused by striking a particular vital/vulnerable point?

As I previously stated above, a good example of this would be the nose.
Depending upon the amount of force used, a blow to the nose can result in as little
damage as a localized pain and watering of the eyes to a broken nose resulting in
an inability to breath through the nose combined with intense pain and blurred
vision due to a watering of the eyes.

Final Thoughts:

The subject of vital/vulnerable points and how to strike them is a very serious matter and one that should never be taken lightly. I personally am very leery about teaching people about them and usually only give a generalized description of them.

Two excellent resources on the human body and vital/vulnerable points are Black Medicine, Vol. #1 by N. Mashiro, Ph.D. and the classic text, Gray's Anatomy. I highly recommend both books for further information on the subject.

I remember when I was younger and first started hearing about these mystic warriors in black clothing wearing their masks so as to never show their identity to any one, and dealing with whom ever would get in the way. They did all the really cool stuff I always thought to myself as being a great warrior and to never be seen. The thing that really did it for me was the sneaky factor, that they would be gone without a trace, not to mention all the cool weapons.

I grew up right at the end of the ninja boom in the 80s but the reminiscence of it all remained, and I kept it alive, at least for myself, with my magazine, movies, and toys. If it was even close to ninja I had it. Then at the age of nine I finally got to experience what it was like to be a ninja at a dojo in my very own little town of Sunbury. Back then it was known as Miller's Martial Arts, now Warrior Concepts International. I trained there with a full heart for 4 years, but like most kids I couldn't keep doing something that was good for me for long, at the age of 12, (a little while after earning my junior Black belt) I quit. If I had a time machine I would go back and kick my butt. I was still intrigued by the ninja and everything related to them so I kept watching and learning more about the shadow warriors.

At the age of 14 I read some books by Stephen K. Hayes and Masaaki Hatsumi that I "stumbled" across in my searches. Had I only remembered the stories that Mr. Miller told us about his teachers, (which where Shidoshi Hayes and Hatsumi Sensei) my search would have been a lot quicker and easier.

I kept practicing at my home and any where else I could. While others went and got drunk and partied I was out was out training. I didn't go back to the dojo because of money problems but also I was ashamed of quitting and I wasn't going to go to any other dojo because no one else taught ninjutsu and I knew that ninjutsu was the only thing for me, it felt so right and I felt so bad not being a part of it anymore. So, 3 years later when I finally got my head on straight and I was bound and determined to get back into training and never look back, "odd" things in my life drastically started to change. I saw more fliers for the school for different seminars and watched all their demos. I even went into the dojo and talked to Mr. Miller and the other instructors saying that I was coming back and they would see me soon. Well I was wrong. My grocery store job at that time wasn't paying me enough to go train and help with bills but I was still hopeful. After almost being there for two years a job opened up at a meat warehouse that the grocery store I worked for owned. There we go, "I said," "lots more money then I can do it! I can become a ninja again!" Wrong again, I got the job but I spent all my time just working, I hardly even got to see my family but I was still bound and determined to get back. I kept trying to think of ways, but nothing was coming to me. Until one day something great happened to me....

I twisted my ankle and got fired. It was a little bit before Thanksgiving. So there I was, 21 years old, no job, hardly any money, no way of getting back to training. I couldn't even go and practice for almost a week. This was the pits. All I could do at that point was to think of any way to try and get back. I saw Mr. Miller from time to time and we would chat a little and I told him my situation on being fired and having no job but I was still coming back to train. (I had been saying that to him for almost 2 years at that point) I tried getting others jobs, but it seemed no one was hiring any where. This was around Christmas time. Later in January I got my big idea I would try and work at the dojo and pay off training that way. So, yes, finally my big break after all this time. Nope, wrong once again. Every time I tried to go to the dojo it was closed or Mr. Miller was not there but that didn't stop me. In late January of 06 as I was returning a movie at the video store right down the street from the dojo and I was on my way home, a train came by and blocked my path. Well it was after lunch time and money was dwindling down so I thought what the heck I'm going to go back and buy a hotdog. As I passed the dojo I saw a class was being held. Screw the hotdog I'm going in to get training supplies so when I come back I will be prepared. To my surprise, the class was just ending and the instructor told me he would go and get Mr. Miller so we could chat and I could finally get my chance to see about a job. He came out and we chatted for a bit and then it happened the opportunity I have been waiting for "are you still unemployed." he asked me. "Yes" I told him and no sooner did I say that, "Come back at 3:00 for an interview." (Insert music here)HALLELUJAH the angels sang and the universe did come to me and say here you go, now stop whining ninja boy.

I believe every thing that happened to me ever since I put my mind on getting back to the dojo and training all happened for a reason. (All the fliers, demos I just happened to have a lunch break for at the same time, twisting my ankle and getting fired all lead up to this.) Once you hold something so close to your heart and with all your being strive to get that thing you want, nothing can stop you. I am here to tell you this and I experience this with everything I want because I believe I can have it and so can you. One of the greatest lessons I have ever learned is "I have control of my life."

I have been at Warrior Concepts International for a little over a year now I am an assistant Instructor and some day will be the head of my own school under WCI. I just earned my adult black belt and am still training to my fullest potential. I have made lots of great new friends and I will continue to grow in all aspects of my life to be the best ninja I can be.

What's the difference between the you who enters the gym with command determination and purpose, and the you who essentially just "shows up" – the you
whose focus, drive and intent either notably wavers, or is not set at all?

Why sometimes can you begin to feel a pump in the body part you'll be training before you even walk through the gym doors? While other times you don't feel remotely worked – even after a set?

Why sometimes do you sense you're in such control that the weights feel "light", and you feel every fiber in the muscle you're working contract - and exert - to the max? While other times, even your warm up set feels heavy, and your whole workout, if you last through it, feels like the weights, and not you, are "winning" the battle?

Yes, why! What's responsible for these two night and day conditions? It has to do with what part of yourself you bring into the gym.

With each positive condition cited above, you're naturally on what I call Power Identity/Purpose Mode; you know who you are, you're connected with your power, and you wholly embrace a well-defined, driving, indeed, feverish workout purpose.

With the negative conditions I cited, you're in-decisive, emotionally wavering, and "hope" you can get it going once you get into your workout; maybe you will – likely you won't.

How many times has this negative condition plagued you (no doubt too many times)? And you already know this condition leads to wasted time, wasted energy, and no results! How great would it be if you could project a take charge and triumph attitude and drive…consistently? Yes, the laser focus and purpose which drives you right on
through the demand, the burn, the pain, and - with each set - wins the battle between you and the iron?

Hmmm…nice to consider, huh? Let me give you some sound counsel to help move you in this direction.

Priming Yourself With The Power, Purpose, And Intense Drive Of The MAXIMUM YOU!

• (After you've turned your enging off, before you exit your car to walk into your gym) gently close your eyelids down, and recall the very last time when, before you even performed your first rep, you knew - deeply knew - you would have a thoroughly commanding, mega-impact workout. Something within just let you "know", indeed, likely "told" you that rep after rep, set after set, you'd be locked-in, and would work the muscles you'd train down to the very bone (and you did)!

• Isolate this time clearly in your mind, and notice exactly what you thought, felt, assumed and what you were singularly driven toward.

• Next, once this time is clear and vivid in your mind, think these thoughts…now. Feel these same feelings…now. Assume what you assumed…now. Intentionally embrace the same drive and purpose you did then…now!

• As you continue replicating this thought, feeling, assumption and attitude framework, choose one word you feel embodies you as this Maximum You. And silently, mentally exclaim it to yourself three times -- with aggressive intensity and passion.

• After you've mentally exclaimed your key word three times, clearly, graphically envision an impression of the Maximum You – from the look upon your face, to your body posture. Stay mentally focused upon the facial expression of this Maximum You for ten full seconds—sensing the overall message the look upon your face is boldly communicating. Then, inhale deeply, let your eyelids open, and proceed to enter your gym.

You've now subconsciously primed the Maximum You part of yourself, which you already know starts off strong, stays strong, and finishes strong. And as a power boost, if you feel you need to, you can just mentally exclaim your key word once before each set of your workout to ensure the Maximum You blasts through each rep of every set.

Go ahead and use this process to weed out all those tendencies which result in no progress workouts. "Uh, wait a minute", you may say; "it's as easy as that?" Yes -- it's as easy as that!