Fred Perrin makes some incredible stuff. This photo is just the tip of the iceberg.

Doing Front Squats can be a problem with a Barbell or a pair of Kettlebells. Coaching must almost be individual since the most detailed explanation can fall short when it comes to individual limb length, height, and flexibility. I remember when years ago Arnold would criss cross his arms to hold the weight. This seemed to be a Gold’s Gym sort of style. Steve Michalik on the East Coast would simply hold both hands near his throat to stabilize the bar in the rack. Weight lifters use shoes with heels to help their base during competitive lifting. Gym rats use boards under their heels. Pavel Tsatsouline gives extensive instruction in his DVD’s on proper squat form, movement, and the drills necessary to expedite this process. Dan John has an excellent suggestion of learning the Front Squat through doing Tabata Thrusters. This would be timed intervals doing a Front Squat with an overhead Push Press. Pavel actually used this idea in the Enter the Kettlebell supplements. He uses the “Long Push Press”, which involves a squat, flowing into an overweight press. The Front Squat forces rigidity in the torso and therefore enhances the pressing process by increasing body tension, abdominal stability, and irradiation.

Amongst my training group we have had great luck with Single Indian Club Thrusters. This exercise has the unique ability to lock down the torso, clean up the squatting form, and help shoulder girdle strength. It is a different groove from the KB press, but the muscle building effects are rather pronounced. The oddly weighted Indian Club, when it is heavy enough, requires a tightly controlled path that will immediately teach a pure, textbook-like squatting style. The press requires shoulders to sink in their sockets and stay tightly packed. You must use your lats to amazing degree, and the constant fear of losing the Indian Club keeps you vigilant. Many of the steps needed to teach Kettlebell squatting may possibly be skipped if the trainee is allowed to experiment with Indian Club Thrusters and/or Front Squats.

Several suggestions are appropriate here. One, start light, Indian Clubs are awkward.
Two, Maintain good posture, good base, and press with the lats, keeping the shoulders packed tight with latissimus strength.

The Tabata Cycle is but one repetition scheme. Indian Clubs are not Barbells and the heavy squat stimulus is not like Front Squatting 315lbs. If your skills are high, your strength is good, and fortitude are great, …try using TWO Indian Clubs during your squatting and Thruster workouts.

When you go back to other forms of Squatting you will feel all those good habits transfer from this simple little exercise.

–Tom Furman

The ability to outrun a donut is an interesting one. It provides a colorful image of an important issue. We are aware that activity is perhaps the most important component of successful weight management, but maybe that fact is overstated or under examined.

Dieting, or altering ones caloric intake through various macronutrient variables is by far the most common means of reducing body fat. Statistically speaking, it is highly unsuccessful, and almost always doomed to failure. The very idea of, “going on a diet”, assumes (making an ass out of you and me), that you will, “go off the diet”. That somehow, when you lose the weight, it will be OK to eat like normal people again. You have knocked off the weight, and it is gone.

Anyone with a basic understanding of high school physics must understand that energy in, equals energy out. It is that simple. If you eat adequate calories and burn adequate calories you will maintain weight. If you eat more than you burn, you will get fat. If you eat less than you burn, you will lose fat. It must be included at this point that the body tries to constantly conserve energy. It will make small adaptations to prevent shifts in energy management. These become very apparent the leaner you get. It is easy for fat people to get thinner. It is hard for the fit, athletic, person to get even leaner.

No secret macronutrient ratio will beat the energy formula. None. You cannot defeat the simple physics of eating less and being more active. It is even more valid to understand the numbers. Exercise, even very active exercise does not burn up that many calories. An hour of raquetball may burn anywhere from 600 to 1000 calories. Running or walking for one mile burns around 100 calories. Activity has many benefits besides simple calorie burning, but these numbers are important. A pound of fat contains 3500 calories. Now do the math, or use a calculator if you are challenged.
Who is going to win, a professional athlete playing hard, or an eating champion gobbling down pecan fudge pies? Can you burn faster that you eat?? No you can’t.

The sensible approach of eliminating calorie dense foods, reducing overall intake, and combining sensible calorie burning activity such as mild aerobics and resistive exercise is a time tested approach. You will always be able to out eat exercise. Therefore the best exercise may be pushing yourself away from the table and choosing activity over forcing mass quantities of consumables down your pie hole.

–Tom Furman

I am very fortunate in my life to have met and trained with a number of incredible martial arts instructors. One of these individuals is Bruno Cruicchi. He is an Italian born, Venezuelan citizen. He also spends a great deal of time in the United States. He is known for his martial arts skill and world travels, but makes his living as a linguist. Fluency in 8 or 9 languages have given him the ability to travel abroad and communicate with many people. Extensive Korean Martial arts, Indonesian Martial arts, Italian Martial arts, and Filipino Martial arts are part of his resume. The art that he currently is promoting and training extensively in is Venezuelan Garrote Larense. I am presenting here,an overview of the system. I am simply being introduced to the basics in South Florida with a closed door, invitation only group. This training group also shares Silat, Military Combatives, Arnis, and Grappling. What follows is my training notes, along with an outline presented by Guru Sean Stark some years ago. If there are technical errors, I will try to correct them and include further notes of training sessions.

Garrote- Stick for fighting.
Larense- From the Venezuelan State of Lara.

Origin–1- A stick/blade art unique to South America
Origin–2- Influenced by Spanish Fencing
Origin–3- Influenced by African Stickfighting
Origin–4- Influenced by SouthEast Asian Stickfighting.(very controversial idea!)

The art contains the 34″ Lemonwood stick, the machete, the knife, and more recently the stick and knife (From Bloody-Stick Style).
There is no double stick in Venezuela, but there may be in Colombia.

The more you train with stick, the less it looks like machete. The knife is hidden in the rear belt and used for close quarter shanking. The blade is held in forward or reverse grip. I have been introduced to knife vs knife material, as well as empty hands vs knife.

The empty hand is used at close quarter and involves high percentage movements such as slaps, palm heels, headbutts, elbows, knees, footstomps, elbow wrenches, and an osoto-gari type sweep.

Footwork- The footwork initially takes place on the Cuadro. This is a cross that teaches body displacement to 90 degrees. This is an important issue since the idea is to avoid getting hit or killed by a machete. My opinion is this is where Garrote shines. How to stay alive in a Machete fight.

Strikes–There is no angle system, but more of a vital template. The strikes have names. Some teachers teach more strikes, some teach less.

Blocking- Displacement footwork and a type of safety factor check is the primary method of defense. Getting the hell out of the way is paramount. Obstruction of the two handed variety are called “TOPA”

Drills (General ones) Cuadro–Using the cross, give and take.
Vista (view)–Barehanded vs weapon. Mezquino (cheap) To rob the attacker of a handstrike by withdrawing the hand. Free Garrote– To play and free spar.

Definitions of Strike terminology–

1-Franco–To be bold,..downward stepping forehand
2.Reves–Reverse, downward step and slide backhand
3.Puyah–Point,..Stepping thrust
4.Barricampo–Clear a field,..Bottom to top diagonal backhand, with a stepping palm heel.
5.Atravesado–Across,..Horizontal forehand.
6.Pezcuesero–Neck strike.
7.Huevero–”Egger”,..strike to groin.
8.Corrvarro– Back of the Knee.
9.Perrero–Dogger–Diagonal Backhand High to Low.

For each strike there is a footwork for offense and defense. There is hand to hand switching which takes alot of getting used to.

Some styles that Bruno may explain are the Tocuyo Style, Guarico Style, and the Humocaros Style. I snatched these from a translated Venezuelan article.

The guy responsible for the revival of Garrote in Venezuela is Eduardo Sanoja,who learned from an old,now deceased Master,called Maestro Mercedes.There are still a handful of old Maestros around. The Bloody Stick stylist is called Maestro Felix Garcia. This was a closed door sort of system, taught to family members,and a few close friends,up till now most Maestros only have a only a handful of students.

Garrote Teaching Patterns.

First stroke is taught.(Franco), and it is walked, with a hand switch to re-enforce the hand switching component of Garrote.

The second stroke(Reves) is added. Therefore the pattern goes,.Franco-Reves, switch, etc.

The third stroke is added.(Puyo). Franco-shuffle-Reves, switch, Puyo.

The fourth basic is added(Barricamp). Franco-shuffle-Reves, switch, puyo, Barricampo, palm heel.

This pattern continues throught the nine strokes.

Body displacement is taught along the lines of the CUATRO. Each stroke has a specific movement to avoid getting cut or struck. Every Maestro may have a variation on his interpretation of the Cuatro.

There is much more to this art,..this is just a glimpse.

–Tom Furman

The Pistol, or one leg squat is a simple exercise that requires a high degree of tension and specific balance. It can be made more challenging by adding weights in the form of barbell plates, kettlebells, or even rocks in a knapsack. Where you hold the weights is also a variable. You can hold the bell in front of you by the horns, ‘handcuffed’ behind you in the hack position, at your side, ’suitcase style’ , racked at the shoulders, or locked off overhead. In the case of the racked or locked off position, you also have the variable of loading both arms or one arm or the opposite arm.

A few years ago, a gentleman using Indian Clubs suggested cleaning the ‘clubs and then descending into a pistol. He called this variation a “Shotgun”. I guess this implied that the new exercise had the potential for more firepower in the form of balance, stability, torso strength, and sheer grit.
Using kettlebells or dumbells for this variation would be doable with a slow one legged deadlift eccentric, with a slightly more explosive concentric to a one legged clean. Then proceed with the pistol. This would give you a KB Shotgun.

A mainstay of many conditioning programs is the “Thruster”. It is a front squat followed by a press. This exercise uses large amounts of bodymass and therefore it’s impact is dramatic. It can be done heavy and slow with lots of rest for size and strength, or light and fast for metabolic conditioning. One set of these is all it takes to convince the skeptic.

How about a more challenging, but elegant form of a “Thruster”? Well let’s try the “Derringer”. A derringer is a small caliber gun. At close quarters, it has a bold effect. I grew up watching actor, Richard Boone, in the TV show, “Paladin”. He carried a regular side arm, and a hidden derringer. His motto was, “Have Gun, Will Travel”. I later carried a derringer doing security work. The idea of simplicity and effectiveness seems to be common sense.
Let’s apply the gun analogy to “Thrusters”. Why not rack a kettlebell with one arm, proceed to a racked pistol, then on the concentric or positive motion, use your leg thrust and hip snap to drive the kettlebell out of the rack to a overhead press? Can it be done? You tell me! Remember, the kettlebell can be held with either hand and this further challenges the pressurizing and stabilizing skills of the trainee. The important idea here is to lighten the load and error on the side of caution. Build up slowly to allow time for the nervous system to organize an efficient process of skill development.

And if that is not enough of a challenge, and you want to go beyond the cutting edge to the bloody edge,…try the “Bang Stick”. That would be a one kettlebell clean (one legged deadlift, followed by an explosive clean), to racked pistol, then an overhead jerk/press. Try hopping to the other leg and repeating. Tabata format anyone??

When it comes to exercise, as the saying goes,..”The mind is the ultimate weapon, all else is supplementary.”

–Tom Furman

This will be the first of many posts with this theme. The term instructional biography means there are lessons in the history of this person’s life. They may or may not relate at all to your life. They are not good or bad, right or wrong. They simply exist.
Real life is not all about victories, clever situations, or being flawless. It is about failing, problems, depression, and the ability to deal with them. Conflict is not cured, it is managed.
Following is a link to a web page about Bernie Lau. He was an undercover cop and has been a profound martial arts practitioner. He came from the old school. This, to me is refreshing in a day when shaved heads, tattoo’s, and TV cameras are more important than focus, discipline, and respect.

Take a look– http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsart_svinth_1101.htm

The Renegade Row is a unique exercise. First off, it uses a standard, highly productive format,..the rowing motion. Second, it requires huge amounts of body tension. This activates irradiation, and also has us develop the skill of dealing with body tension in a dynamic format,(side to side shifting). Third, and certainly not last, it forces wrist stability through bracing and holding the kettlebell handle.

This exercise can be done with dumbells as well. With this more stable format, the Gladiator position, or alternate side snatches while prone are acceptable variations.

The flaws consistant with the training skill are the limited range of motion, and the body’s failure to sustain tension will proceed the pulling muscles strength. In simple terms,..you will fail to hold the pushup position long before you exhaust your lats and rear delts.

The solution is the use of simple tools and techniques. One variation is to replace one kettlebell with a RubberMaid step stool. These cheap training aids will hold 300lbs according to the manufacturer’s label. You can now use the same Renegade Rowing motion now, except all the reps will be done on one side, and the platform will be a more stable one. You lose the wrist strength component, but you add the ability to drive the lats, delts, and arms to a deeper state of activation.

There is still a problem here. If you do the RR for total body strength, it is not apparent, but if you do it to strengthen your lats, then it stands out like a sore thumb. Your arms will weaken and become depleted long before your lats. The corrective measure is to use the RubberMaid step stool again. This time pad it with a thick folded towel and do pullovers on it. Don’t do those short range Gold’s Gym style ones either. Use the kettlebell standard of moving from pubic bone to fully stretched overhead, with elbows locked. You will preceed your Renegade Rows with a Kettlebell Pullover to reduce the strength level of the lats and abdominals. Your hip flexors, quads, and forearm flexors will be fresh. Now you can jump into your RR’s with a new appreciation of how the body works as a unit.

The last morph of the Renegade Row is to increase the range of motion. This can be done by using higher platforms for the non-activated arm and the feet. Two sturdy chairs or weight benches can be arranged to elevate the body and actually have the working arm hang free. This will elevate body tension and add new challenges to the Renegade Row. If this elevated, free hanging, one sided row is preceded by a solid set or two of KB pullovers,…well,…the fun begins.

–Tom Furman

7.6.06

Imagine 14 hours in a cavernous complex blocks from the beach amidst tropical storms.
Deprivation of sunbeams from morning till night. Hundreds of screaming children, remixed latin music and glaring theatrical light. Don’t forget the cold predigested air. That was my day,..if yours was similar,…skip training. I didn’t…

Jumpstretch Stretching/Strengthening. Traction work as well. Some foam roller on the IT bands. Also some Blade basics. Footwork with 5 basic angles, Pikal and SakSak grip. Also some use of “hit” grip, and played with “Piper” motions of blade switching.

This was a short one.

–Tom Furman

7.5.06

Aside from athletes, women as they approach middle age, are morbidly undermuscled. This is what getting old is about. The most dangerous component of this affliction, is the weak neck. I see more women with a forward projected, skinny neck, than I can shake a stick at. Aside from injury and poor posture, an undermuscled frame is the cause. General strength training with overhead lifting will increase trapezious and neck strength to a degree. So will deadlifting and pulling exercise. You will not find this in Pilates, Yoga, or Spinning. Weight machines frequently isolate to an abnormal degree, proper muscle function. Actually picking up heavy stuff and lifting it is the first step. The second step is direct exercise for the muscles of the neck region. I’ll cover this further in a future article and I will feature it in my upcoming DVD, “Concrete Conflict and Conditioning”.

Today. Long day at work and the normal crappy commute.
Joint Mobility/Punching, Kneeing, and Elbows.
Snatches/Pistols/Russian Hot Potato, Neck and Reciprical Inhibition Stretching.
Low Volume since I have a hectic week.

Dinner–Broiled Curry Salmon. Avocado over mixed greens. Glass of Merlot.

–I’m just warming up.–Tom

7.4.06

The North Korean’s fired some ICBM’s. The Space Shuttle took off. We live in interesting times.

30 Minutes of Cardio, Bandwork, and some Stickwork tonite. (Kali, and Venezuelan Garrote).
Dinner is Buffalo Feta Burgers over Summer Greens, and a glass of Merlot.

Alot more to come.