Suspended Strength Training in the Martial Art…

And Who is Ernie Pyle?

Before I get into a rather interesting discussion
of real strength in Martial Arts,
and offer a different viewpoint
and training method
for strength training in the martial arts,
let me offer an anecdote of good wishes
and quality of life for this Thanksgiving.

Not many people know who Ernie Pyle was,
but he was a war correspondent during WW2.

Now,
try this one,
Ernst Hemingway.
Everybody knows who he is.
and many even know
that he was…
a war correspondent during WW2.

Now,
bear with me,
Ernst Hemingway
wrote about drinking ancient wine
in hallowed corridors,
invading
and living the life.
Midnight samplings,
caviar,
a conqueror’s dreams come true.

Ernie Pyle wrote about people.
He’d talk about lone figures in a line,
marching into the dust,
half of whom wouldn’t come back.
He’d talk about starving soldiers
sharing their last ration with him
sitting in a foxhole,
heating the ration
in a steel helmet
with a candle.
Rubbing his hands together to keep warm
and seeing the look
in the eyes of the soldier with him–
just glad to be alive
and with another human being.

So
caviar dreams,
or humanity.

Well,
Hemingway blew his brains out with a shotgun.

But the soldiers Pyle wrote about
went on to create
the greatest country
in the history of this planet,
a country that believed in and shared
freedom.

And,
for all my friends in other countries,
bushwah aside,
that’s all us United Statians want,
freedom for all,
not because we’re better,
but because we can all be better,
and I hope that this thought,
my Thanksgiving thought for this yar,
can be shared by the world,
next year.

So let’s talk about martial arts.
and Suspended Strength.

The guy who can lift the most
is the strongest.
Grrr!
He wins.

Well,
uh…
have you ever heard of time?

Let’s say a guy lifts a hundred pounds.
He’s a young kid,
and this is a good lift for him.
But,
when you measure the time it took him to lift
he lifted 100 pounds in two seconds.
One second up and one second down.
so,
200 pounds.

Now,
let’s take his twin brother
give him 20 pounds,
and have him lift it 12 times.

Hmm.
240 pounds.
He’s stronger.

Oh,
you don’t like my math?
Well,
I’m just starting.

Let’s take that evil twin brother,
you know,
the one who cheated to become stronger by lifting less,
and let’s have him lift 20 pounds,
but take take 30 seconds to do it.
15 seconds up and 15 seconds down.
Do the math…
15 times 20…
300 pounds.
He’s stronger.

Not only is he stronger,
but because he didn’t stress his body
there is less chance of injury,
pulled muscle,
or even fatigue.

And,
I’m going to tell you something weird,
his strength is going to improve on a sharper curve
than the two second boy.

Now,
you think I’m talking Tai Chi here,
right?

Well,
sort of,
but sort of not.
Other arts than Tai Chi go slow.
And,
hate to say it,
guys who get old or injured
slow their stuff down.

The point here is that
power comes in different speeds.

Yes,
there is explosive power,
great stuff,
recommended if you want your art to work.
But there is also suspended power.
You won’t lift the most,
but you’ll lift longer,
last longer,
not have injuries,
be able to rehabilitate injuries.

I use to work out at karate hard,
an hour felt like eight.
But,
I can’t do that anymore.
But,
I can work out for eight hours
and make it feel like one.

I just do my forms slower,
and work on suspended strength.

Oh,
WARNING!
be careful when doing kicks or extreme positions slowly,
suspending the leg because you could throw out your back.

When you explode,
you see,
you only use part of your leg,
part at the beginning and part at the end (to stop it).
When you go slow you use all your leg,
and this puts stress on body parts
that never knew stress before.

Okay,
if you want to learn slow,
get stronger than an ox who’s been eating good,
then check out the Five ArmyTai Chi Chuan,

Actually,
there’s three systems on the course.
An easy basics system,
an intermediate system that just sort of explodes on the cerebral cortex,
and then there’s the classical eight animals.

Think about it,
three systems,
a book,
the ability to age gracefully,
a complete art,
only ten bucks a disk.
Whoa,
that’s a Fng deal!

Okay,
guys and gals,
you have the greatest week ever,
and remember
every time you work out
it’s one step closer
to the truth of you.
And,
man,
that truth is grand.

Later…

Al