What a wonderful year this is!

I have accomplished a great deal, however one thing I did not emphasize is training my own body. We have to make choices in every moment, and I chose to emphasize my professional development over my development as an athlete.

That said, I do not like to let my self slip too far. Going back about 11 years ago when I was a full time athlete and professional martial artist I took for granted the luxury of having unlimited time, desire and circumstances to facilitate ‘all day-every day’ training lifestyle. Now, that template is long gone, although I am very happy with my life in its current shape–family and professional and global  network centric.

One thing I always could use as a gauge of my general wellness is by how my legs feel. One time about 12 years ago I was fasting and on the 7th day I began to feel some weakness in my legs. That’s when I knew to end the fast because my legs have always been my guide and my foundation (literally and figuratively).

So, recently having completed my travel for this year and being in the general state of holiday cheer and family recreation I have noted that my legs don’t have the same vitality and spring that I like.

So, I know this is where I begin to close out this year and gain momentum on the new year and on my personal fitness and kettlebell lifting goals.

I have added in one set per day of my long-time favorite, the Crane Dip, or more commonly known in modern nomenclature, the Pistol (one leg squat with free leg extended in front of you and held in horizontal place):

I have gained a lot of benefit and become a better teaching with more knowledge of how to easily implement training programs. Much of this credit in recent times goes to my friend, mentor and internationally-honored kettlebell athlete and coach Valery Fedorenko. He has introduced me to the simplicity yet importance of training for time instead of just reps and sets.

So, as I look back at exercises like the Crane Dip, which I have done thousands of over the years, it is interesting to apply the time over reps concept and see how this effects all sorts of BW drills or any  exercise modality.

Here is what I did while the Charger’s game was on the tv:

Crane Dips–BW only @ 4:00 (2 min each leg with no rest) — 90 reps (45R/45L - 1 set)

I’ll stick with this layout for a while until I fill out the entire 4:00 (for now I took a few breaks, meaning stand on one leg with the leg locked out). I’ll first work out to non-stop movement for the entire 4:00, which will probably bring me to about 130 reps (65 each leg); at that point I’ll move to 6:00 min sets and begin with the pacing again until working up to non-stop.

I’m using this to condition my legs for now, I don’t know how far I’ll take it as this is something that is not a challenge unless I get high up to the reps. My initial goal is to do one set of 200 (100 each leg); I will record that, and may record a session or  two on the way there once I feel my legs in shape. The most I have ever done in one set is 160 and that was about 15 years ago, but I am itching to feel that in my legs again after so many years of coasting and living on past accomplishements

I am proud to serve as host to Kettlebell Honored Master of Sport Valery Fedorenko and his American Kettlebell Club coaching certification.

This course will take place in San Diego on January 26 & 27, 2008.

As a professional coach, I do my best to stay on the bleeding edge of all relevant material. For kettlebell lifting, I turn to Fedorenko for fine-tuning under his expert guidance.

If you have any desire to learn about kettlebell lifting, or to improve and refine your kettlebell skills, you will want to be at this course. Fedorenko needs no introduction, there are lots of youtube clips demonstrating his expertise, and his students are making great headway on the Interntional Kettlebell Sport scene.

The course will be held at my friend Tim Larkin’s facility which is the entire 4th Floor at the World Gym in Pacific Beach/Claremont  area on Garnett.

If you wish to register for this course, send me an email with the subject line "Request info for AKC certification" to :

steve@fullkontact.com

This will be a great way to start off the New Year!

If you read this blog, you know that I teach all over the world. Usually I teach solo, however on occasion I will team up with another skilled trainer to share and combine training methods. My bootcamps with Ken Blackburn have been so well received that we have people asking a year in advance to register for the next one.

Here’s a look at the wide-range of complimentary skills that Ken and I bring to our Bootcamps:

Folks have been asking Ken and I to consider turning this event into an instructor certification geared for trainers who are looking to expand their repetoire of physical training methods. We have not made a final decision on that however one thing for sure is we will continue to offer these courses.

So here I am sitting in the American Airlines first class lounge at LAX, after the long flight from Hong Kong.

Now, I have definitely never been a type of person to be starstruck, and I am still not, but I have a funny story.

I view all people as people and if someone is a celebrity, it never really means much to me, even if it is someone I admire.

Sitting here right next to me is the actor Matt Damon. Many people hear or read accounts of celebrities being prima donnas and self-important.

I am really impressed with this guy; naturally several people in the lounge recognized him and want to talk with him and a few asking for pictures. He makes time for every single person and has a very calm, easy-going and friendly manner when  talking to these folks–just a regular guy, who happens to be a world-famous celebrity.

In my (little) world I am I suppose a celebrity of sorts, and when I am in my element, I know what it is like for people to want to hammer me with questions and hang out and act a little starstruck. But of course whatever minor celebrity I have in my fishbowl is not even on the radar compared to a guy like Matt Damon. So it is really refreshing and instructive to see how the guy handles himself, especially when he probably just want to be left alone with his wife and baby after a long flight. I have much respect for that and as a result will support his work by watching his movies (and who doesn’t like Bourne?).

Of course, I chatted with him a bit and he was very friendly. I told him I could help him with the physical requirements of his job and he seemed very interested and took my business card.

Afterall, Bourne needs to be in top condition to save the world!

Very cool, I am now a fan, because of his quality character.

I am in Hong Kong now and what an amazing city this is. It is sort of like a mix of New York and Vegas but with more people and lots of Chinese signs.

The energy is just buzzing and you can go out anytime day or night and find something to do, something to eat, something to buy.  They say Hong Kong is addictive and I can see why. The major drawback is that the air quality is very poor.

Based on what I have seen so far this trip in Japan, Singapore and now Hong Kong, Asia has really caught up to the West in many ways in terms of economic growth and infrastructure. East and West can really learn so much from each other.

The group of trainers I am working with here are really keen and excited about training in general and kettlebell in particular. Most of them are expats now living here, from UK, Australia and parts of Europe. I didn’t know what to expect, but the level of education among the trainers I am working with is quite high and on par with anything I have seen in North America or elsewhere.

This is also a great place to buy electronics. I found a new Ipod Classic for about $100 less that what I would have to pay in US, so I’m stocking up on Christmas shopping!

Visit Hong Kong if you get the chance, it is one of the world’s great cities. I hope to see a Hong Kong Kettlebell Sport team in the near future.

I have to recommend to you to visit Japan at least once in your life, even if you only visit the airport!

I am flying with Japan Airlines to Singapore and am in the first class lounge. This place is unbelievable. Great food, comfortable enviroment, massage chairs and beer machines! Choices, choices—do I select Asahi or Kirin?

The best part—they offer complimentary massages while you are waiting for your flight! The masseure is absolutely amazing. He found some tense spots that have really been bothering me and now I am feeling great and buzzing all over. For the first time ever, I would not be dissapointed if my flight was delayed and I had to stay here all day.

I highly recommend JAL based on my experience with their service and staff so far.

The Fundamentals of Kettlebell Lifting that I taught Sunday in San Francisco was at a fantastic gym called Diakadi Body.

This is one of the nicest gyms and most professional staffs you’ll ever find. One step inside of Diakadi Body and you will see why they have been names the City’s Best Gym by Citysearch magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle.

The owners Billy Polson and Mike Classen and General Manager Gina Gutierrez run a very clean, high-class gym that also allows and encourages serious training. It may be as fancy and nice as a day spa, but it is a serioius training center. There are dozens of very talented trainers that teach there.

If you need a place to train in San Francisco, check out www.diakadibody.com

This is a pre-release heads up for a new Nintendo Wii game called Ninja Reflex.

It was developed by a client of mine name David Luntz who, along with his wife, have become good friends of mine.

I flew up to San Francisco yesterday to teach a seminar at Diakadi Body in SF, and met with David and Reagan at their lovely home in San Mateo. They wanted to have a private training session with me and also wanted to show me and have me try the game.

I can’t speak highly enough about this game—it is awesome and I am already hooked. Ninja Reflex was developed specifically as a way to develop and increase the reflexes and hand-eye coordination. David did a lot of research developing this game and actually spent some time in Hong Kong studying taiji with a master, who the head master in the game is based on. The game is sort of a blend of Chinese and Japanese influence and there are different chambers in which you, the student, can test your skills. Tests include–throwing shurikens at targets, catching flies with chopsticks and placing them into various spinning bowls, hitting objects thrown at you with nunchakus, defending against samurai sword strokes and cutting in turn, tracking and catchinig coi that jump out of the pond with your hand, catching fireflies. It is really fun and really challenging.

As someone with an extensive martial arts background and pedigree, I think that the Ninja Reflex game is an actual training tool. David is very good at the game and is a 3rd Dan Black Belt–yes, the game has a ranking system and you can test for the assorted ranks based upon your speed and accuracy.

A lot of people who don’t play videogames, do play Wii; if you are a Wii fan or a gamer, you will definitely want to get a copy of Ninja Reflex. It will be released through Nintendo in March 2008.

If you get the game, check the credits–you might recognize one of names

www.fullkontact.com

Is now a new site; I think you will agree that it is a much more functional and user friendly site. Please email me or post comments here with any comments or suggestions, or if there is more of something or less of something that you would like to see and have access to.

There will be some tweaks in the coming weeks. Adding more information and modernizing the blog and forum.

There are 2 new DVDs now available:

Xtreme Kettlebell Workouts:

www.fullkontact.com/training-dvds-xtreme.html

This is circuit workouts that you can follow along with

Encyclopedia of Bodyweight Conditioning:

www.fullkontact.com/training-dvds-encyclopedia.html

An extensive resource with 160 different BW exercises for upper body, lower body and core development

I have some other things to share but will leave it at that for this post.

Here’s a photo of one of the techniques I taught during last weekend’s Fenton Bootcamp:

You can see that I am up in the air. This movement generates power from all 4 limbs simultaneously and absorbs force equally as well. This is one of a series of movements I taught from some of the ancient animal-style training methods of the Chinese martial arts.

This particular techniques captures a springing quality of the pouncing tiger. It exercises the entire spine and pelvis along with the limbs and teaches coordination, timing, flexibility and control.

There are numerous physical therapy based mobility systems that aim to improve (the body’s) movement patterns with therapeutic oriented movements. The traditions of Chinese martial arts address mobility in a different way. By focusing on the intention and ’spirit’ or character of a given animal or elemental force (such as water or fire) the mind leads the body into (over time and practice) effortless application of forces and movement.

The Bootcamp DVD will be available in a few short weeks. You may email me to place an order for the DVD: steve@fullkontact.com