Stealth Spartan

Well I have officially started my Spartan training, and all though sore as hell, whooooa what a rush, calorie intake is roughly 800 per day, and going to train a min of one session per day for the next 2 weeks.

Today saw a 45 min session at 6.30am, consisted of heavy weights and running basically you do 50 of each excersise before going for a 5 lap run (aprox 200 meters) this morning i focused on chest. did exactly the same drill in cit but focused on shoulders.

no car tonight so i forced Kieran and As to run home with me

cuddling big sweaty bald men

Night off teaching tonight so, put the shorts on and got in with the boys. I absolutely love ground fighting and am actually shocking myself at how naturally good at it i am. I took out 3 very big strong men within seconds and i must admit it was a massive ego boost. more MMA, can't wait till next Wednesday.

on yer bike

Decided I would bike to work today so in typical fashion i decided to challenge myself as to how fast i could do it. did a max speed of 38MPH with an average of 22MPH. then onto the weights did a 30 min shoulder set followed my a 15min arm set this evening whilst taunting steve about being weak, very satisfying

New direction

Had a bit of a rough few weeks, hence the lack of blogging however certain people have been a massive help to me,in particular. It always amazes me that people (including me) under estimate other peoples magnificence. Thank you!

Now i'm practically running Stealth by myself again, it does feel quite refreshing, i'm going to be far more hands on now, like when we first started.  Had a massive marketing week last week, with Ross's help we did 8000 leaflets in one week, a record. We covered somewhere in the region of 30Km as well so did me physically good to. the results are great to got a full intro book this week Yey, just up to Matt to enroll everyone.

Back on the weights to, i've decided that bigger is better and that i want my 52" chest back, pushing 46" at the min so some very sore weeks ahead. Gonna drop the waist down to a loose 34" inch to, this shouldn't be so hard, i'll just do the usual and stop eating crap.

Damon Seminar

Yesterday we had Damon Sansum down to do a seminar. I decided that I wouldn't train with the students so I asked if we could do a session beforehand. Must admit I really enjoyed it, but man is he fast. Don't think he's any faster than when we trained together in Scotland, he's just bigger and stronger now. All in all though a great athlete. Was good to see Chris again too, haven't seen him since he was in my teenage class. Did do a  lot of observing his movement, especially pad work. I've said for a long while this is an area as a club we need to improve on, and it was good to see Damon's take on pad work.

Decided that May will be traditional month, culminating in a traditional Kumite Tournament at the fight night.

Sore as Hell

Well finally looks like we have got the Krav/MMA class back on track. Starting to get cross overs from the sport Karate, which is good. 

Unlike the Sport Karate I'm not frightened of getting stuck in with the MMA boys there all quite big and generally match me on strength, So I don't have to worry about hurting them. With Points Fighting and Continuous in particular I always have to hold back, as I know with my skill level and power, the minute the mist sets in someone gets hurt. With MMA it's a different mindset, you know you are likely to get hurt the minute you start and if you come out unscathed it's a bonus!

We did a 45 min set of wrestling your partner to the ground afterwards it was whoever was locked down had to reverse within 2 min. Great fun but very sore back today, and a scratched nose, neck and leg

The Path is not always a straight one

Im in a really good place at the min, The positivity is oozing and god knows how with the amount of alcohol i've drank in the last few weeks, but the weight is shifting. 

Up'd my own personal training again, I'm still training by myself, I just like the "no pressure to perform" environment. I miss the old days of training with the WKA squad where I was just one of  the guys. Being the boss has it's downsides. However when im training by myself i do rag myself to a near death experience, certainly was the case this morning. I've also started to cycle to work partly to justify the £1000 I spent on it and secondly to compensate for all the drinking. Every summer I go through this phase, Sun comes out Craig drinks beer.......... But im happy with it and don't intend to stop lol. 

One of the things you only realize when you get older is that you are only accountable to yourself, I have achieved everything I wanted to achieve in the Martial Arts hence why I now focus more on the students..... My real passion now is changing lives, this I can do through the Martial Arts as well as other projects. Im approaching the end of the first half of my life, and although I am content I want to spread this contentment to others, to make a real difference to their lives. And to leave a legacy for others to follow.

MCMAP

After being drunk for most of the Easter weekend, new goals needed to be set. The first of these was to get my personal training back on track. So after watching a program about the US Marine Corps Martial Arts Programme I decided to do my own take on it and do it for real with the boys. The out come? incredibly hard work. Will defiantly be adding some of the principals into my final syllabus. Tomorrow it's back to the gym before work.

The Second, to leave something behind! Enter the new life skills program that I have no doubt will help 100s if not thousands of young people escape the mind trap. More to come on this.

Finally I need to refocus my own head so I've dug out Tony and been listening avidly, and guess what? I'M INVINCIBLE!!! (Again)

MAF

Been a busy boy last few days, most of the latter part of last week was spent preparing for MAF which we attended this weekend. Although the Festival wasn't the best i've attended it was worth the effort going and I did re-quaint with some old friends and make some new ones, and to be fair did some good business Stealth Multimedia wise. My only concern is that we sold to many systems and are in danger of over promising and under delivering. Might have to get a new whip and use it frequently on James.

Training wise it's been a little lax of late, manly due to the schedule I have at present but also due to this bloody Man Flu, that just wont go away.

Arranging a good few away days training at friends academies over the next month or so, so will make up for it there.

Been working on my New project quite a lot over the last few weeks, it's almost ready to go, just need to put the right people in the right places then its all a goer!

Martial Arts Festival MAF

Start of a busy week, off to MAF this weekend as exhibitor to launch Stealth Multi media. James and I have created a fantastic system that will benefit any school that comes on board. I know it will be well received and can't wait to demo what we are all about.

Last week ended on a high after the Fight Night on Sat. One of the best so far, apart from one incident that I will be addressing later today.

Even though I know this week is going to be stressful with the deadlines we have to make, I'm feeling really good, and worked hard yesterday. For some reason Ideas kept pouring into my head, was a day of brainstorm overload. Just need to get them all down and put the right people in the right places to act on them. One of my limitations is that I'm a great thinker but not so great at the doing. We are in a period of shrinkage team wise with the departure of Shabs and the imminent departure of another! but one thing the last 3 years has taught me is that people come and go, but the good ones, ....... the ones with the connection...... the ones that share the dream..... and the ones that are true and loyal will always be here and for that camaraderie I thank them. (you know who you are!) 

So time for a re-organize of the ones I have, and the search for the next batch begins.

Tag Test

It was a busy night on the Martial Arts Class front last night, as it was tag night. I decided to include all the instructors on the Tag planning in the Staff session so that it would give them some degree of ownership as well as giving them an idea of what was going on so that they could assist more effectively.

The Jedi's was well attended and it ran far more smoothly than the last tag test 2 months ago. The Tag system is still a new concept and is being constantly refined. By now only doing one drill at a time for the whole group, it makes it far easier for the kids to understand, as well as me to make comment. Matt and I did come up with an improvement that we will implement for the next tag though, from now on we will select 4 teenagers to be pad holders, this will help improve the quality of techniques not to mention having a mini coach on each station.

The next 45 min after Jedi's was spent with one of the parents that is majorly disgruntled with me about her child failing. To be honest after 45 min of trying to help her understand that we are not a belt factory and that her child failed a senior belt because 1. she is nowhere near fit enough. And 2. because her attitude is lousy she still feels that it is my fault, some peoples brains just will not allow them to take responsibility for their own actions and sadly this is passed on to their children. I left the meeting making the promise that if the child truly wanted to succeed I would give up my own time 3 times a week to help her achieve it. The parent left by saying that it was unfair that her child was now behind other kids that started after her! god help me!!!

Next was Adults, good turn ot and excellent work rate, it was nice to see (in both classes actually) that there had been some real technical improvement. The Adult Martial Arts is one of the most knowledge demanding but easy classes to teach as fundamentally they are all their to improve, and train at 100%. after the Tag 4 very tired guys went on to re-grade in the slip test. as one was going for brown and white I put my kit on and did some LC Sparring with him. Although I wasn't particularly in the mood for a fight, I enjoyed the moving around until I dropped him then I thought oops better back off. Afterwards I introduced him to the BRIDGE.... I joined in to and did 20 elevations getting up there in a variety of ways. Very scary coming down in the dark

Krav Baby

Had a good Session on Saturday, went down to Brum with Steve Clews to Train with the Krav Maga boys. They had brought over Zevik Cohen from Israel (one of the top Krav boys and Ex Israeli special Forces) first off it was a two hour seminar with him and then it was their six monthly grading.

The drive down gave me the opportunity to talk to steve and maybe just maybe help him to see the simple facts that are just beneath his nose yet fear of the unknown prevents him from seeing or wanting to see. Hopefully after an hour of me ear bashing him it might have sunk in, So when you read this Steve "MAY 31ST".

The drive down was also a funny one Steve having not done an awful lot of reality stuff, was....... well only can be described as shitting himself lol. made the trip down fun though it was like being in the que to the big dipper with a 5 ear old lol.

When we got there the training was fun I was surprised at just how unfit the majority of the Krav boys were though, after what I would describe as a mild warm up lasting 10 min or so most were hanging out of their arses, yet Steve and I had barely broke a sweat, and i'm unfit.

next we partnered up I trained with quite a big guy, I chose him because I wanted to play, when I go to different seminars I always like to partner with someone I don't know. Not only to meet new people and get their insights into their art but also because it adds an air of reality as you don't know what they are going to train like. Unfortunatly all though a really nice guy my partner was new to Krav and after almost killing him with aneck blow I calmed it right down and slipped back into instructor mode. It wasn't till near the end when we were asked to get into 3's that I got to work with Clewsy and his partner aka MAN MOUNTAIN. He had been training for a long time and could hit like a train, I had seen Steve getting bashed from pilar to post throughout the afternoon and in-between wetting myself with laughter, really fanced having a crack at this guy. I must admit he did hit me harder than anyone has in the last 5 years but the might of the Stealth was too much and he tapped within minutes.

I got quite a lot from the Seminar, Krav is a very simple system that is also incredibly practical and devastating at the same time, because of the simplicity. I's not as fancy or flowery as some systems but it doe's do exactly what it says on the tin lol.

Big Thanks to Steve Hay for inviting us to train with them

www.krav.co.uk

Hard at it

Had a busy old day today, absolutely beasted the Squad this morning followed by an hour on the bike for me. Then spent most of the day sorting out the new Sports Bar. 

Decided the Squad needed a wake up call so we did an outside session, basically sprinting, bouncing, hopping and jumping over the railway bridge. Having done it myself I can tell you it is seriously not nice!!!

Blog is Back

it's almost been 2 weeks, since my last entry. My only excuse is that I couldn't be bothered.... So reprimanded myself and I will now commit to a minimum of every other day or I will do 20 sprints over the rail bridge for every missed entry.

Been a busy couple of weeks though took my first  First Aid course and must say really enjoyed it. I thought it best to do one for my guys initially to find my feet, so the usual amount of Fat, Ginger, big nosed, pecker chest,  ugly jokes were a must!!! Also had the runners from the Hermitage Harriers down for a training session after a 2 mile jog down here and an hour of hell thanks to yours truly to of them still managed to get past level 16 on the bleep test WOW

Finally started to get the gym equipment in, although if i'm honest I'm a little disapointed maybe it's because I'm used to top of the range equipment down the gym I usually attend. For now though I'm just going to have to rough it. Have come up with a brill new training aid though! it's called kill to birds with one stone. I put one of the bikes in reception and beast myself whilst watching a Mentoring DVD, so not only does my body get a work out but my brain does too.

This is one of the reasons I feel great at the min, when everyone around me is down in the dumps. gonna make it my mission next week to lend them all a coat and get them to at least a 9. 

Mandy on the other had, apart from still being a raging maniac has been brilliant and a real source of innovative marketing ideas, I need to bring her back into my circle of advisors, when she worked for me not only was it great for our relationship but I remember she has a acute ability to think outside the box. This is something we all need to do occasionally.

Really looking forward to the weekend Off to train with Steve Hay on Saturday at www.krav.co.uk should be a cracking hardcore session, then when I get back it's the innorgural Stealth Gentleman's evening YEY!

Getting back on top of it all

The blog is not the only thing to take to the side line this week. After my routine being thrown out of the window by the First Aid Instructors course last week, I was determined to get back on track this week. 

The week started off fantastic with myself and Steve Clews traveling to Mansfield to train with Zara Phythian and her Total Combat Fight System. Zara is a fantastic publicist as well as a fantastic Martial Artist. Her online videography is one of the reasons I enrolled on my college course. She is incredibly pro-active in getting her art "out there" and this is something I feel we at Stealth need to get on top of.

The training session itself lived up to expectation, and in-fact in many areas exceeded it. Mandy and George Johnson, were incredibly knowledgeable about their field and I was truly impressed in what they taught. TCFS is a program I defiantly want to explore more of, and intend to attend any further seminars they hold. My only criticism was that at 3.5 hours it was a tad to long not only because of my being so knackard and bruised I could barely stand, but the amount of techniques taught was hard to soak in.

Monday was a massive buzz day, felt great about the weekend but must admit my body was proper broken. Matt reported to me that Stealth Scaffolding was exceeding all expectations. 

Then Tuesday came............. Lots of bad shit, and to be honest has put me in a downer mentally which in turn has caused my back injury to flare up again, which in turn has stopped me from training, which in turn has left me feeling like shit and so the downward spiral continues.......

At the min I do feel really down and alone bearing the brunt of all the problems as usual, however as a keeper of the Secret I do know this pattern must be stopped and the cycle broken.

At times like these I normally turn to Gerrard, but for one reason or another I am compelled to call Jon Jepson, so I have arranged to meet up with him tomorrow. Jon is one of the most positive and successful people I know, and I also know after our Lunch date I will walk out feeling reborn. His personalty is infectious and to be honest is a mentor I would like much more contact with along my path to 4th Dan. Bring on the 10 coat.

Where did this week Go?

Well it's Saturday afternoon and I really don't know where this week has gone! The First Aid Instructors course that Matt and I did this week has literally thrown everything out of the window. Hardly any training nothing in the way of marketing and no college. 

I made it once more to the gym this week but my mind wasn't right and so it was a very light session. However did do Dozers grading this afternoon and did a couple of miles with him followed by about an hour of sparring. From the side lines it might of looked like i was bullying poor Dozer, but nothing could be further from the truth. I did go hard on him but at the level he now is that is how every fight is going to be. After the session I used my legendary tact and diplomacy to tell him that he'd never be a points fighter in a million years, however he could if he applied himself become quite a proficient continuos fighter (in my opinion a WAKO BRITISH VET title is not beyond his reach). Hopefully he will heed this advice and train accordingly.

The new style grading went well last night, and I am looking forward to the presentation evening tonight. Even though I can't really drink as Steve and I are off to Mansfield to train with Zara Phythian tomorrow.

Weekend of Gluttony

Didn't write about anything this weekend as my feet didn't touch the ground. Basically took class Saturday morning then got on the bus to Wales. Thats where all the problems started, after stopping off to get a sociable can of light ale to drink on the way down I then proceeded to down 10 cans of the wonder stuff before we even arrived. By the end of the night I must have done at least 20. Night was ace though and most of the fighters did really well putting in some good personal performances, the camaraderie of the group also shone through and away matches is defiantly something I would like to do more of this year.

Suffice to say after Saturday Nights escapades Sunday was a total write off, the only exercise I did was trying to lift my head off the pillow (with little success)

This morning was a time for me to get back on the wagon got a busy week ahead so hit the gym nice and early after team training, Did 30 min progressive on the cross trainer from level 14 to 21 (still struggling) then 3 sets of 50 pokers. Took all classes this evening and worked them on kicking and power shots. Joined in and was quite impressed with my legs very quick and sharp for saying I hadn't kicked in a week or so.

Brain Training Galore

Had a really good day yesterday first off I had a visit from my friend Nash from the sport nottingham Arena, Just a catch up really but we did speak about some possible exciting future projects. I also have one of my fighters taking part in one of his shows next week. In the afternoon I went for my monthly meeting with Gerrard Turvey at NEST Management. I really look forward to these sessions, every time I spend time with him I come away buzzed up and excited, not because he has taught me anything new, just the fact that he reiterates what I already know and empowers me to do it. I look upon him not only as a good friend but as my closest advisor and mentor. 

On to todays training! we were up for squad training at 6.30 as usual, numbers seem to be dwindling, I think most people have stayed away due to us going away to compete tomorrow. However this just is not playing for the team and these people will be dropped from the squad until they prove to me that they want it. It was only a real light session today anyway.

7.30 Back in the Gym (can't wait till we get our own) really went for it on the cross trainer this morning 40 min incremental from level 14 to max 25, I also varied between arms and leg, legs only and arms only as well as going backwards. This session hurt! finished of with 3 sets of 50 pokers (they Hurt too) I weighed myself at the end off the session as I plan on doing every Friday and I've dropped 2.5 KG not bad in a week, I'm not looking to go ballistic and loose it all quickly again. I want to maintain a steady drop of between 2-3kg per week until I hit my target of 100KG then we'll look ant putting 5-10 kg back on in lean muscle mass, but until then light weights only.

Big Fun

Took a little walk with Matt and Kieran this afternoon and got about 300 leaflets out in about 25 min Yeah that was quick probably walked about 1 mile in total. 

As I wasn't taking classes this evening I thought I'd take advantage of in between classes and go for a little jog did 3 laps of the Stealth Circuit (1.5  Miles) Then had a play with a little Full contact with the Krav boys, For big guys they do not like getting hit, think I shocked Ash by just how hard I can hit lol. was about 20 min before I saw the red mist and I recognise I had to stop before one of them got hurt, even now after all these years as gentle as I am, when I get going it just comes over me, luckily I've always been quite a non-aggressive type and always know when to walk away.

Back in training

I didn't write anything yesterday, because I didn't train. but after reflecting on the day I realised that I probably did by best Training of the week so far my brain! I attended a Business seminar over at Rolls Royce. I went thinking "what are the going to try and sell me" but was pleasantly surprised. The two Speakers Mr Stephen Megson and MR John Copeman from Quiet Storm were excellent, really motivational. After 3 hours listening to them it totally reiterated what I already knew about positive thinking, but sometimes don't always live by the rules. I left wearing my "10 Coat" as my freind and mentor Gerrard Turvey would say.

New day and no excuses, I actually felt gilty about not exercising yesterday, I passed over the Instructor training session to Matt so that I could finish of an article for the local paper. Then it was down to the gym. I decided to go for it today. not brilliant for podge pounding but a hardcore session lifts me. I did 15 min at level 14 on the cross trainer (I really like these, brilliant for people with chocolate knees like me) then onto a 3 set Poker sit up routine. Back on the Cross trainer and 30 min endurance at between levels 14 and 21 (like walking through sludge) I kept the rpm at between 120 and 14 (Quite fast considering the resistance). Then on to weights, shoulders again today, i'm really trying to get my left shoulder to strengthen up, just in case I do fight again.

Well thats it for this morning but I will be training this evening as well as I don't teach on a Wednesday.

Rest Day

After four days straight , I decided to have a rest day today, well sort of. I went for a mile run this morning at 6.30 and followed it up with a shoulder and chest dumbell set, lasting about 30 min. topped it all off with 3 sets of 50 crunches.

Sunday morning blues

I did have all intentions of getting up early and going to the gym, however I didn't get up till 8.30. Still I sorted myself out and got to the gym by ten only to find that it was heaving with "springies". I wasn't prepared to wait to use the equipment so undeterred I went to Stealth and set about planning what to do. I have noticed that already I am becoming quite obsessive about my training, a good sign, but I am conscious I don't repeat of the 2000 training regime, it's easy to get carried away and put everything to one side. I'm not prepared to do it again.

To start off with I decided to do the bleep test, I wasn't expecting miracles since yesterdays run was my first since November. To be honest I was a little disappointed with the level 9-10 I achieved however I am looking at it as a starting block from which to build.

Next (still heavily out of breath) I decided to create a strength/low intensity fat burning circuit. It compromised using A Box, A Heavy Kettle Bell, 2 x Kettle balls, A pad and A med ball. (see accompanying photo's) I started with Military push ups (hands shoulder width, chest touching the pad each time). i did 25 followed a two min run around the dojo (slow pace) then 20 and a 2 min run then 15 and a 2 min run and finally 10 with a 2 min run. so here I had designed my circuit, for every exercise I did it would be followed by a 2 min run, each ex decreased on each round. Next i did crunches (feet over box) then Angels (with kettle balls) then med ball press and finally Shoulder kettle lifts.

I enjoyed the workout and throughout I was thinking how I could adapt it for classes for the first part of the week, so far I have come up with about 6 different variants, all of which i intend to go through with the instructors in tomorrow mornings staff training.

Early Bird freezes his balls off

Well after reading something yesterday that was an obvious personal attack on me by an old mentor, probably designed to try and belittle me, it has in fact had quite the opposite effect and strengthened my resolve towards my new regime. To be honest as much as I dislike the way he now conducts himself and his delusions of grandure, part of what he wrote doe's ring true. So If he should ever read this, I thank him for the kick up the arse! and for some reason that I haven't got a clue why, given the way I have been treated by him I still like the twat! I did feel a real bond with this guy, and in the years we were together he did help re-shape my future, and for that I will always be grateful. 

6.30am and well bellow freezing I was to be found jogging around the Stealth Black Belt Academy grading circuit. I am still training well within my comfort zone but the next few weeks are designed to be fat burning sessions. In the weeks to come once the podge starts to shift I intend to be pushing myself to the limit! but for now it's one step at a time. After the 1.5 mile Jog I went into the Dojo to use some light weights. I did 3 sets of 10kg dumbell fly/press supersets at 12 reps per ex. Next came the daily 25 Military push ups. Time flew and it was time to start the business training session with guy's but just before I had a little play with Dozer and made him tap in about 20 seconds flat.

Well day one started in earnest. up at 6.00am to train the squad fighters, quite a poor turn out this morning. No doubt I will get the usual when I don't select people to go away, but i will reply "you gotta be in it to win it. It always amazes me that the Naturally talented are always the ones that only put in half the effort and it's the not so natural that have the burn in their bellies.

I planned the class the evening before to be a seriously tough session. My reasoning behind this was that I wanted the fighters to understand that being a squad fighter is not about having the latest uniform or traveling around the world, it's about having the burning desire to succeed no matter how physically demanding the session is. The one's that want it the most are the ones that find that extra bit no matter how empty their tanks are. The session was a simple one, each fighter was given the brief of "use your favorite 3 techniques and work them" a brief that through fatigue not one of them followed. 4 cones were layed out and the fighters began to jog around it, only stopping to take part in a 2 minute bout in the centre of the cones, once the 2 minutes were up back to the running. This continued for over 30 min.

7.30 am It was my turn to train, I prefer to train in private, namely so that I don't get lazy and take the easy option of slipping into instructor mode. I went down to the gym where I did 30 min on the cross trainer at level 14. This was the first time back since my illness, and boy was it hard going, i was sweating that much you could have made a pan of chips. Next was a light shoulder set using 10kg weights I did 3 sets of angels (designed to strengthen up my weak left shoulder)

This was just a light session to get me back slowly into training. I weighed in at 123kg. I have set my target weight at 100kg and intend to achieve this by june 2009 (note to self cut out beer)

Jeet Kune Do Seminar

Although my training officially started today Stealth Black Belt Academy was host to a Jeet Kune Do seminar, taught by Kwoklyn Wan on Saturday past. Throughout the seminar he taught various JKD techniques that included trapping and foot work.

The Start of my 4th Dan training

This is the first entry in what i'm sure will be many of my online training log. I've decided that now is the time to expand my Martial Arts knowledge and take the step towards training for my next Dan grade.

The easy option of course would be to speak to one of my friends in the Martial Arts world and accept a honorary Dan grade, as there is no requirement for me to grade anymore. However I have decided to write my own grading criteria and present it to Sensei Jason Charlesworth , a martial artist whom I have great respect for, and upon me completing it hopefully impressing him enough to warrant rank promotion.

I have decided that in order to better understand Martial Arts I am going to spend six months training with as many different instructors as I possibly can. Not just instructors from my own style of Sport Karate but every style I can gain access to. I truly believe that every instructor has something to offer and intend to share my experiences by harvesting the best of these teachings and not only pass them on to my own students but record and document them into a unique syllabus that I can publish in a DVD format for anyone that is interested. This final DVD will also be submitted towards my HND in Interactive Media that I am currently studying at the Stephenson College in Coalville.