"MY LESSONS WITH THE MASTERS..." Ari Kandel's personal training blog. #26

LOTS OF GREAT TIPS FROM JOHN, TIM AND AL!
--"Walking with weights" exercises--basically Gorilla Walk with small hand-held weights (1-10 pounds)--same-arm/same-leg walking straight, cross-arms/legs stepping offline--feel plyometric pendulum effect, do not muscle weights--use just enough muscular force to keep them from flying away

--Those exercises translate directly into loose sweeping motions in contact flow that negate both of his hands at once

--Switch feet (just like the "switch foot drill") in very little space to create more space and range of motion up top--in contact flow, don't hop, but place feet silently

--You don't need the contact--if you know where something is such that you can touch it, why bother touching it? Know where it is, and move to kill

--Lighter contact does not equal less control--Because you feel more when you're lighter and looser, you can get ahead of his motion better and take greater advantage of it

--Change in "thought process"--From the first touch or feeling (doesn't have to be tactile), the master "knows" (instinctively, through experience) exactly where your body is going, allowing him to simply place stuff for you to run into--Plus he "knows" several steps ahead of that, allowing him to set you up to run into multiple shots from multiple angles, seemingly out of nowhere

--In fighting, in which he has far more experience, he's always at least three steps ahead of me--If he were to challenge me in my business, where I have the experience advantage, I would be three steps ahead of him--Even if he's teaching me "all" he knows, he'll always have at least a step ahead of me, unless I learn from someone ahead of him

--I'm still doing a lot of movement that has nothing to do with what's really going on

--Don't lean back!

--Don't turn away from incoming strikes!

--I'm plenty loose when everything is okay--However, I tighten up when things get shitty--And by definition, if I'm getting attacked, things are already shitty! Stay loose!

***Five-Second Fight seminar coming up this weekend (6/30/07). This one will be awesome! See you there!