The catalyst for change...

[poidog]

Hello all-

Having perused many of the threads and deciding that I want ALL of Coach Sonnon's products, I am faced with "analysis paralysis". Where do I start? A little about me. I am a 30 year old, recovering fatbody who is looking to drop some serious weight. I'm 5'10" and now weigh 230 - I think 190 would be a good weight for me. I am currently doing kettlebells and have started the NHE diet to facilitate the weight loss. I have 3 main reasons to want to drop weight. 1) I hate what I look and feel like 2) I stickfight with Dogzilla of the Dog Brothers and want to be in great fighting shape for a possible March gathering. I am sick and tired of being worn out in :30 seconds (yes, my cardio is non-existent as well) 3) Vanity - I'm tired of being 'the fat funny one' of the group. I'm fairly ashamed to admit to what I've become over the course of some 6 years. When I was in the Marines, I was a lean 170, but put on a LOT of fat plus some muscle in the subsequent years. So I think right now 190 is a good goal.

Anyway, aside from weightloss, my main goals for training are to supplement my stickfighting/self-defense training. Sorry for the long winded post, but any advice would be much appreciated. Mahalo in advance. Oh yeah, my flexibility is not great either and my breathing technique is probably horrendous as well. All that being said, I am alive...so things could be worse.

Aloha, Kalani


Coach, here's the original post as requested. Mahalo again for all your help.

Aloha, Kalani

[poidog]

Coach Sonnon -

I'll post as soon as my book & video arrives. And the shipping charges weren't quite as steep as I was expecting, so I may order the CBs earlier. Is there something I should be doing in the meantime to help prep myself?

Aloha, Kalani

[crubio]

Poidog,

Perhaps some 2 CB Swipes are in order to help acheive your goals. What book and video are you getting, CBT4CS?

Aloha

[poidog]

Yes, Coach Sonnon recommended I order the CBT4CS book and video and a pair of the 15# CBs. (15=Cruisers, right?) I'm ordering the book and video right away but have to wait to order the CBs because S&H to Hawaii bites. But I can't wait and I'm envisioning this training to be my 'secret weapon' to go forth and smite my opponents on the DB stickfighting field of battle. :twisted: I can barely wait to see their faces a few months into my CB training. I imagine it'll look something like :shock: !

Aloha, Kalani

[poidog]

All right!! My CBT4CS book & video arrived on Saturday and I spent Saturday night watching the video and off and on Sunday reading the book. I just ordered a pair of 15s but they're back ordered and won't ship until next week. See what I get for waiting! :x Oh well, in the meantime I have 2 30" lengths of steel pipe partially filled with sand. They weigh about 5 lbs. each and are going to have to work for now. So Coach Sonnon, if that offer to help me with a training program is still good, I'd love to take you up on it. Thanks again for the great products, the superb information and of course, all the help.

Aloha, Kalani

Poi,

Actually thoses pipes, although a little long, are good to just get used to the basic moves. Actually doing them empty hand works too.

When you get the 15s you'll be in for an evil surprise :twisted:

Bill

[poidog]

My cruiser CBs arrived last night, and so my Christmas started a little early. I took them for a very brief test drive and can't wait until my first full play session with them. :D I'm still unsure of what kind of a training program to put together to help me achieve my goals.

I'm down to 217 (from 230), am following NHE with good success, and have been using a 1 pood KB 6x a week thus far for my training. I want to get down to a leaner 190 as a weight goal and get in good general shape (pure vanity :twisted: ), but the rest of my goals are stickfighting/self-protection skills related. I'd like to increase my muscular and cardiovascular endurance to be able to swing my sticks hard and fast (or grapple with the sticks) for 2 minute fights at a time and also increase my hitting power as it is my true strength in the stick game. The fights are usually equally split between a true kali/krabi krabong game (standing non-clinched, trading sticks and kicks) and a clinch/ground grapple with sticks game. We fight both single (strong & weak sides) and double sticks, so there is a need for symmetrical development. On fight days, we may fight up to 5 or 6 fights over the course of the afternoon, with usually 5 minutes between fights. So I guess I'd also like to decrease my recovery time while in between fights. I'm not good endurance wise in the stand up part but can survive, but if they drag me to the ground my butt wears out almost instantly. I guess the best way to think of these fights are like MMAs with 32" rattan sticks thrown into the mix.

At my disposal are 2 15# CBs, 1 1 pood KB, an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening for pure conditioning efforts and a whole lot of enthusiasm and determination. I hope all of this makes sense and any advice would be appreciated. Oh yeah, the time frame that I'm hoping to be ready for is the next big "tournament" on March 13th.

Mahalo and Aloha

[Scott Sonnon]

I read that your interested in: increased cardio endurance for your stick fighting matches approximately 2 minutes in duration / bout;
decreased recovery time between bouts maximum 5 minutes;
increased strength endurance to last approx. 5-6 bouts / day;
increased your ballistic / explosive strength for maximizing hitting power;
increased upper bodily symmetrical development of both eccentric and isometric strength (the recipe of the clinch game);
increased stamina for the ground game (this regards more effective Selective Tension and use of Performance Breathing techniques);
Peaking for your next event mid-March, 04.
I suggest a (two 20 minute) Double Density approach considering the above factors; one 40 minute single density if you cannot manage two sessions.

Since Olympic Clubbell Sport was originally designed as a strength-endurance sport to carry over to combat weapon fighting, I suggest the exercise selection of Swipes (in the AM to excite the metabolism, explode out of Back Position and store elastic energy) and Mills (in the PM for ipsi and contralateral Core Activation for rotational power transfer.)

To defray the rigors of such, sandwich an 30 minute afternoon Warrior Wellness session for joint mobility and discharging residual muscular tension, and end with a high volume Be Breathed session to address your energy systems and Performance Breathing in ground fighting: 6 sets of 20 (each set a different technique - pike, butterfly, hurdler, knee drop, straddle, shinbox).

Perform your Clubbell Double-D AM/PM split 3X/week. On your off days, continue to perform your Warrior Wellness/Be Breathed session in the AM. Take Sundays to rest.

Expand your Double-D schedule so that you're hitting your numbers by beginning of March. In the two weeks prior, conclude the Clubbell work, and focus exclusively on Skill Refinement with a daily Warrior Wellness session.

Export this to the CST Program Logs Section and diligently record your discoveries and insights to chart your progress, and allow the CST Instructors to contribute and answer questions.

[poidog]

Coach -

Big Mahalos (Thanks) for the program. I just ordered the Zdorovye package including Warrior Wellness and Be Breathed on Sunday night. I'm starting the program today but since I don't have WW yet, do you have any recommendations until the WW & BB arrive? I was thinking that I'd just subsitute a slow fluidity session of kali double stick "flowing". Like a moderate speed "tai chi" with kali movements focusing on fluid flow. Not sure if that makes any sense, but that's what I was planning until the WW & BB arrive.

I'm posting the program to the Program Logs section and will start regular posting to the thread. Again, thanks for not only the program, but all the help and all the information you've provided.

Aloha.