Footwork is without question the most important element of martial arts. It's the foundation for everything you do. One expression my Boxing coach always likes saying is "You box with your legs, not your hands!". Anyway in the video I go over some basic exercises that can be used to develop the footwork. There are four drills in total.   1. Half Step Drill 2. Full Step Drill 3. Two Step Method 4. Four Corner Stepping  

There are many misconceptions about Qigong. I've heard everything from people stiffening $10 bills to some idiot who told me I was dealing with satanic energies! The fact is it's nothing more than coordinating proper movement and body rooting with breathing. Make no mistake, it takes a long time to really develop this ability. But there's absolutely nothing mystical or supernatural about it. Watch the video to see what it's all about   For information about In-Home or Online Virtual Personal training click here

Qigong is one of those things you may or may not have heard of. However Qi or Chi is something many people have heard of. It's been featured in countless movies and tv shows. It was even spoken about in the movie Kung Fu Panda! So what is Qi and what is Qigong? Qi is your life energy or life essence as some people like to call it and Qigong is the method which cultivates it. However unlike how it's portrayed in movies or by scammers, it is NOT some type of magical power or energy you have in your body.…

This is a killer workout I learned of recently from my Boxing coach. It's called the Walkin' 25s. Here's how it works. It's a circuit with several exercises done back to back and done in a ladder format. With ladders the reps for each exercise increase by 1 with each subsequent circuit. Start with 1 and increase all the way up to 25. After every 5 sets some of the exercises change, but there are some that remain the same all the way through. You can of course change the exercises, but for the example in this post, the exercise that stay the…

We're living in a very chaotic time right now. In December , nobody knew what the Coronavirus was and now it's all over the news in what seems reminiscent of the Spanish Flu of the early 20th Century. We will get through this with positivity, social distancing, and being careful and responsible. In the meantime however, managing stress is super important. And one of the best ways I know of is through Qigong Meditation. I've practiced it for many years now and it's really helped me at particularly stressful points in my life.   There are many ways of practicing this. It…

Let's face it. Anxiety and stress is a part of life. Not a particularly pleasant part of it, but if you don't learn to cope with it somehow you're going to have a very hard time to say the least. Now I'm sure we've all heard that we need to live a stress free life. However when you hear some bad news, that may prove to be a little difficult. What we need therefore is a way to cope with it and even better than that, eventually not even needing to turn it on and off.   We all know about the valuie of…

I'm pretty sure most of you have done Paint By Numbers art projects before where a number corresponds to a specific colour. With punching in Boxing and Martial Arts, it's the exact same thing. Except that the number corresponds to a punch! This can really help in a number of ways. It helps familiarize yourself with the punches and also when hearing combos being called out spontaneously, it's much quicker to just say the number than the words. It makes things a lot easier when you're taking notes as well. Another benefit is that of having to think and respond quickly.…

There are tons of different opinions on this. All I can do is give you my opinion as well as the reasons behind it. Hopefully it will make sense to you. It certainly does to me, but you'll have to decide.   So to start with, I remember I used to work at a gym where there was this other trainer about the same age as me. He always changed his client workouts every workout. I don't know if I every saw his clients doing the same thing twice. He would justify it by saying that it's for muscle confusion and to…

A question I get asked sometimes is whether or not I feel the time and effort invested in fitness is worth the sacrifice. It's true that I do spend a great deal of time working out, researching, pondering, etc. As a result, I'm not able to spend as much time doing other things such as watching tv shows, gaming, and other similar activities. I'm very selective about which shows I watch as I only have limited time. I do however make time for playing music, spending time with my family, art, and some other interests. But nonetheless, there are things…

Body conditioning is an exercise that is traditionally done in the martial arts. There are numerous benefits of this. One is obviously conditioning your body so you won't bruise or feel as much pain. Another is that you'll be able to strike harder. However one more benefit to it and one which is important regardless of your fitness goals is increased blood circulation! In fact the effects are similar to getting a massage. Also there is a ton of myofascial release. Watch the video to learn more!  

No matter what activity you engage in, footwork is buy far the most important thing. In today's video, I demonstrate some martial arts footwork and body connection drills, but they can be applied to any activity. Remember that without good footwork and strong legs, it is very similar to a car with a pitiful engine. It may look fantastic, but if the engine is useless you won't be going very far or fast.   In the video I go over a few exercises. The first two are Qigong exercises taken from the Bagua system of Chinese martial arts. The third is a…

The youth of today are our future of tomorrow. Therefore it's  super important for them to be healthy and fit. There are of course many distractions that exist today that didn't when I was a kid. Internet, video games, social media, etc. Unfortunately as a result of this, kids are now more sedentary than they've ever been before. So there's the problem.   HOW DO WE GET KIDS INTERESTED IN FITNESS?   Of course as I'm sure you already know, people won't do something unless it's fun. Hardly a revelation, but it still needs to be pointed out. Personally I think the best way is…

There are many misconceptions about self defense. What it is and what it is not. But most of it boils down to what your goals are. Similar to fitness goals, if you don't have a clear idea of what you're trying to achieve, there's no way you can possibly know how to get there.   First, let's get something straight. Your goal is not to win a fight! Your goal is to survive and get home in one piece. If it's possible to do it peacefully, do it! Getting into a street altercation never ends well. Even if you win the fight,…

Most people have probably heard the term HIIT before. In case you haven't, it stands for High Intensity Interval Training. A very solid method of training particularly for fat loss. In fact, some studies have actually shown that it can be up to 3 times more effective than steady state cardio.   Not that anything is wrong with steady state cardio, but for maximum efficiency HIIT wins. Of course this concept is hardly new. A round of boxing is interval training as well. 3 minutes of work followed by 1 minute of rest. And of course, as an alternative to timing your…

Yin And Yang In Fitness

Many people think of meditation being something that must be done in a quiet room with incense burning and Buddhas. And while this is a form of meditation, it certainly isn't the only one. Basically anytime you're doing something with mindfulness, awareness, and focus, paying attention to things like your breathing and body position, you're meditating! Whether it's moving meditation practice like Qigong or whether you're doing more conventional exercise such as Planks, Squats, Running, etc, it's ALL meditation! And thinking of exercise in this way helps to have it make sense. It's not something you turn on for certain exercises and…