Martial Arts Work Outs to Put You in the Best Shape!
I always chuckle when I see people spending big bucks for a martial arts work out. As if spending money is going to change the texture of your sweat. Well, perhaps it will, but not in the way one thinks.
This guy worked out at home!
I bought my first kicking bag for $2. It was a duffle bag from the war surplus store packed with free sawdust. I kicked it until it fell apart, then had the cobbler sew it back together for a buck and a half, and repacked it.
What is it? $50 or $60 bucks for a monthly membership at your local gym?
Instead of riding on an exercise bike, I had a real bike, put ten or twenty miles a day on it. You can pick up a bike cheap these days, and do without the monthly dues, or the payments for an exerbike.
Instead of running on a treadmill, I just go out and run. On the rolling belt thing I use the same muscles, on the street, I use a variety of muscles, and I have to stay alert and watch where I am going.
I guess the message here is that the martial arts should be as natural as possible. I have nothing against looking good, or getting a bag, but I think it’s silly to pay money so you can go hang out in a place with people in leotards, obsessed with their bodies, instead of being obsessed with the martial arts.
Heck, save that money and use it for DVD Martial Arts Courses, or karate books, or kung fu books, or something like that.
My first punching board was a pair of rug samples tacked to a tree. I beat the holy heck out of that thing, and it was free. The samples were free, the tacks were free, the tree was free…and my sweat was freely given.
My first home made martial arts dojo was a rug I picked up for free on the street, the martial arts equipment I have described here, and I filled it amazing amounts of sweat and fun.
You don’t need to pay big amounts of money to get in shape, or to learn the martial arts. All you need is the desire. And maybe a few martial arts DVDs from, ahem, me. They are inexpensive, just like a martial arts work out should be.
THIS is the kind of article that i like. informative and as such, a guiding light. Because it lets me make up my mind, and gives me tools to find my way. Thank you Al. Really appreciated.
Thank you Lewis, for those kind words. Have a great work out. Al
You are always welcome. Truth comes from people´s actions and results, not statements and promises. And that you keep going, after i took your class some 19 years ago, is testament of THOSE results. (AND that my learning from those classes have actually moved me forward in skill, focus and motivation all this time). I WILL have a great workout.