Yesterday, I had a great deal of fun (well, my kind of fun) trying out a multiple Tabata style workout with the use of my Bulgarian Bag and a good old-fashioned skipping rope.  Not a difficult or highly complex workout, but it certainly got the heart, lungs and muscles fired up!  Sometimes, simple is best, so I thought I'd share it here :-)

It's been a little while since I added to my blog and now that I'm finally starting to get back on track after returning from my last trip to Okinawa, I'll be looking add some more posts over the coming months to help correct this.

As most who follow my work will know, I like think of traditional karate as being the integration of three main components, which in contrast, differs significantly from the more modern-day 3K (kihon, kata, kumite) approach. These components are Kata (physical form), Ohyo (functional application) and Hojo Undo (supplementary training). Acting like a like a jigsaw puzzle, all three pieces must be present before the ‘whole picture’ can be seen and each component must be able to connect to the others in accordance with the main context and objectives of the art.

 

To help bring in the Chinese New Year, I thought I'd share with you all a great workout that I like to perform on occasion, which features some high intensity 'Tabata' style intervals. The whole thing only takes around 20 minutes, so its quick, efficient, but very intense...You'll be working like a horse! :-)

Being relatively active on my website, blog and social media means that I'm fortunate to have the opportunity to network with fellow martial artists from all over the globe. I always enjoy corresponding with like-minded karate practitioners and of course, I am always grateful for their kind support.

One such karate practitioner is Garry Lever From the Shinsokai (Goju Ryu). We first made contact a couple of years ago and although we haven't yet met in the flesh (something we're working to resolve very soon), we've always maintained regular emails and messages. Garry was instrumental in helping me plan the itinerary for our Okinawa sightseeing trip when we were in Naha last year and shared with me in confidence some amazing locations of historical significance that I would have never have even known about otherwise!

A few weeks ago I received a unexpected package through the post from Garry. I opened it up to find a complementary pre-release copy of his new book, 'The Essence of Goju Ryu Vol II', which as with the first volume of the series, he has co-authored with his teacher Richard Barrett Sensei.

Avid readers of my blog will recognise the name Brett Barrell from an earlier post back in January on traditional conditioning and iron palm training. He specialises in this field and has developed quite a level of skill.

Well, he's just uploaded a new YouTube video to personally thank a number of his keen supporters and friends etc who love martial arts (see below). I'm humbled to have found out that he added my name to this list and mentions me at around 10m26s.   

He makes the comment that "for whatever reason, Chris decided to include me in his blog". Well, Brett the reason is simple my friend. I think you're a genuine martial artist who is self-motivated to continually expand without resting on your laurels, I really enjoy your videos and I think that your contributions provide a fine inspiration for others to follow.

Thanks for the kind mention Brett and keep up the good work!
Chris