Toughen Up Self-Defense Training Tips

By Randy LaHaie

Selecting the right sized Kettlebell is important in getting the most out of your Kettlebell training.  A bell that is too light or too heavy is not only a waste of money, but will compromise the safety, productivity and enjoyment of your workouts.

Unlike traditional resistance equipment like barbells and dumbbells, you don’t need an extensive set of bells arranged in small weight increments.  A set of two or three kettlebells can provide you with years of challenging and productive workouts.

Progress can be sustained with the same kettlebell by varying exercises, leverage, intensity, sequencing and work-to-rest ratios to make your training more difficult.

Historically, Russian Kettlebells were measured in “poods.”  One pood equals 16 kilograms or about 35 lbs.  In my opinion it is unnecessary to work with weight increments any smaller than .5 poods.

How To Select The Right Bell For You

At the risk of sounding sexist, men typically over-estimate the amount of weight they can lift properly and women tend to under estimate their strength.  Either extreme, too light or too heavy, can pose problems.

Too Heavy

Keep in mind that Kettlebell training is dynamic.  In the course of a workout you will lift, swing, jerk and even throw that big chunk of cast iron in a variety of patterns, directions and positions.

If you are in over your head with an exceedingly heavy kettlebell, you run the risk of accidents, faulty body mechanics and injuries.

Too Light

When you begin your training, avoid the temptation to grab a “piddley” little kettlebell that is way below your current potential and fitness level.  Some people do so thinking that is an effective way to learn the basics quickly and safely.  That may not be the case.

Training with a kettlebell that is too light posses a different set of problems:

• A light bell will reduce your results in strength development, fat loss, cardio vascular conditioning, and even injury prevention.
• A light bell will not “load” the appropriate muscles needed to support the structure of the body, generate optimal force and may not fully activate the important stabilizer muscles (that may not be firing properly when you begin your functional training program).
• It is possible to train “wrong” with a light Kettlebell and not realize it.  Kettlebell training is much more than “lifting weights.”  A KB is a “feedback” mechanism” that teaches you how to stabilize, align and move your body properly. 

When the size of the bell is appropriately challenging, you MUST perform the exercises correctly or mistakes become glaringly obvious. 

General Guidelines

To dumb it down as much as possible, the most generic advice I can give you is:

If you are an “average guy” you’ll want to start with a 16 kg Kettlebell.  A good “set” of kettlebells for an average male would be a 16, 20 + 24 kg.

If you are “average gal” you’ll want to consider an 8 kg bell for starters.  A good “set” for an average female would be an 8, 12, 16 kg.

Bench Test

In his essential book, “Enter The Kettlebell,” the guru of Russian Kettlebell training, Pavel Tatsouline, provides a rough guideline for men based on the bench press.  If you bench press less than 200 lbs. start with a 16 kg.  If you can press over 200 lbs. start with a 20 kg.  If you are unusually strong (strongman or power lifter) you can probably get away starting with a 24 kg.

Press Test

If you’ve already learned the “clean and press,” another good standard for your primary kb is a weight you can press strictly 3-5 times.

A word of caution -  When people first begin training with KB’s, the device can feel awkward and heavy.  They often perform their introductory session with a lighter bell than the one’s I’ve recommend.   No big deal right?

It could be if after the exhilaration of your first KB workout, you run out and buy the same bell you began your training with. 

What will happen is that same bell becomes too light for you almost over night.  Your initial strength levels will sore as your muscles begin to fire more efficiently and proper body mechanics improve.  You’ve just wasted your hard-earned cash on a dust-collecting doorstop.

If you’re going to err… do so on a heavier bell.  If it DOES turn out to be too heavy for your current level of strength and conditioning, you can downgrade to a lighter bell and work your way up to the heavier one when you’re ready.  Instead of a waste of cash, it’s a logical investment to your future training.

Also, there are a number of legitimate “cheats, tricks and assists” that can be applied when lifting a bell that is a bit on the heavy side.  These techniques will allow you to train with that bell until you develop the additional strength needed for more strict repetitions.

The Optimal Solution

In a perfect world, it would be nice to have access to a variety of kettlebells that you can “play with” and hone in on the right bell for your current level of fitness and conditioning. 

Take some time, focus on technique and “dial in” the optimal size of your “primary kettlebell” over the course of your first couple weeks of training.

For Further Info:

For additional information and advice about kettlebell training and a list of my recommended resources, visit my web site at www.ToughenUpKettlebell.com
 

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Cardio exercise is such a strange thing. In theory, it should work
so perfectly well for all men and women, but as anyone who has
tried it knows, the practicality of it just doesn’t add up.

After all, some men and women do cardio 6 hours, 9 hours, or more per week, and still have belly fat to burn. On the other hand, it works just fine for others.

British researchers wanted to get more insight into this paradox, and studied 35 overweight men and women, who weren’t previously exercising.

(Reference: International Journal of Obesity 32: 177-184, 2008).

Subjects exercised 5 times per week for 12 weeks. That’s a lot of
exercise, but it helped the subjects lose an average of 8.2 pounds, which is great - I was positively surprised by the results.

So cardio will work for some people, however, in my experience, it works best in young men, who need the help the least!

Back to the study, the variance in fat loss between individuals was huge. Check this out…

The best subject lost a staggering 32.3 pounds in 12 weeks, while the worst subject actually GAINED 3.74 pounds.

The scientists think they know where things went sour. They
classified the subjects into 2 groups, called the “Compensators”
and the “Non-compensators”.

The Compensators were hungrier, and as a result consumed an extra 268 calories per day, all but wiping out their cardio efforts.

Therefore, the Compensators lost the least amount of weight, and scientists believe that was due to the huge “compensatory” increase in appetite experienced by this group.

Does your appetite increase when you do slow cardio? If it does,
research shows it will ruin your cardio efforts.

So if your cardio program is not working for you, check your
appetite and calorie intake to see if you are “compensating” for
your efforts. If you are, you might be better off using a program
of high-intensity resistance and interval training (i.e. Turbulence Training) for your weight loss efforts.

As Australian Professor Steve Boucher has shown in research,
interval training increases hormones called catecholamines. And
increased catecholamines can reduce appetite, among other fat-
burning benefits.

In the real world, few people lose 33 pounds after 12 weeks of
cardio. Heck, few even achieve an average weight loss of 8 pounds with aerobic exercise.

So again, check your appetite, and consider giving high-intensity
exercise a go for your next workout program.

Beat the curse of cardio with high-intensity Turbulence Training.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
About the Author

Learn about the “Dark Side of Cardio” in the free report from Craig Ballantyne at www.TurbulenceTraining.com. Craig is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

For the past several months, I’ve been searching, studying, reading and investing a ton of time and a small fortune acquiring information and resources that I can use to bolster my own training, the curriculum of my courses and seminars and the content and quality of my Toughen Up Training Guides.

In addition to punching and kicking workouts, I’ve been exploring, reviewing and “test-driving” various combat-specific and combat-compatible training methods that will not only increase your legitimate self-defense skills but improve your health, tone and strengthen your muscles, prevent or rehabilitate injuries, burn body fat and “turn back the clock” on age-related performance problems.

Allow me to refresh you memory about the “Toughen Up Training Philosophy,”

• to use combative training methods to improve health, fitness, functional performance and mental toughness, and…
• to implement conditioning methods that translate directly to your functional performance and fighting abilities.

Over the past several months, I’ve come across information and resources that have lead to a “breakthrough” in my own training and have DRAMATICALLY changed my understanding about training, conditioning and injury prevention.  (And don’t forget, I’ve been searching for stuff like this for almost 35 years!)

That being said, the absolute, hands down, BEST resources I’ve come across have come from a company called, “DragonDoor.com .”

I’ve bought and reviewed several of their books and DVD’s and, without exception, I’m thoroughly impressed!

It’s hard for me to write this without coming across as “pitchy” or like I’m trying to sell you something.  If you know me well, you know that I’m not like that… BUT…

At the risk of being blunt… If you want to get the most out of your combative workouts you want to:

#1 Buy my Toughen Up Training Guides. ;-)  The current guides provide you with the “building blocks” you need to design your own productive and safe self-defense workouts and…

#2 Checkout the ton of free conditioning information and products that I’ll be reviewing and recommending at DragonDoor.com .

In the future, I’ll be writing reviews about some of the Dragondoor.com products that I’ve studied and will be working much of the material and concepts into articles and training guides. (as well as information from other high-quality sources)

In the meantime, I suggest that you download a copy of Dragondoor’s “Hard-Style” Catalogue. 

Without exception, I’ve been thoroughly impressed by all of the products that I’ve reviewed. 

Download the free catalogue.  It’s loaded with excellent articles and training advice.  It will also give you a sense of what Dragondoor has to offer, what I’ve been studying and the direction I’m heading with my Toughen Up stuff.

If you’re interested in downloading a copy of the Hard Style Catalogue, you can do so at a link I’ve set up for you:

Dragondoor Hard-Style Catalogue

Go ahead and download the catalogue… It won’t cost you a thing to take a look and you might just find the articles to be the kind of thing you’re looking for. 

If you do, fire me back an email at Randy@ToughenUp.com with any comments or questions you might have and let me know what you think.

Take care, train smart and stay safe,

 Randy

“Toughen Up” is not about me, it’s about YOU, YOUR goals and what YOU can achieve through combative self-defense training.  That being said… a while ago, I conducted an email interview.  I responded to a number of questions put to me by a fellow self-defense instructor about my background and my views about self-defense training.  At the risk of “talking about myself” (which I’d prefer not to do) I thought I’d post the interview to give you a better sense of where I’m coming from, what I’m about and hopefully how I might be able to help you find the training advice, resources and results you are looking for.

Question: First a little about yourself.  You say that you have been training martial arts for 30 years.  Which martial arts do you know and teach (or did teach)?

I started my martial arts training in 1975 in a system called “Tiger Claw Gung Fu.”  My primary goal then, which continues to this day, was to explore and discover the practical, street-applications of self-defense and determine what does and doesn’t work in a “real fight.”

I expanded my search to include other martial art and self-defense systems, psychology, legal issues, personal development, sports theory and fitness concepts etc.  I trained, and travelled and read all I could get my hands on to gain a clearer picture of street fighting, self-defense and interpersonal aggression.  I wanted to understand the truth about self-defense training and performance and capture what I learned in a simple, functional and realistic format.

I continued to train, earned my “black sash” and ended up teaching martial arts full-time for a number of years.  I conducted one-on-one private lessons during the day and public classes in the evenings.

In 1982, I decided to get into law enforcement.  At the time, it seemed like a natural extension of my role as a martial artist and self-defense instructor.  As a cop, I experienced first-hand what violence, victimization and confrontation was all about and my career added a new dimension to my overall understanding of interpersonal violence.

I served as a patrol officer, detective, shift supervisor and SWAT team member.  I also spent almost half of my career doing two stints at the police academy as an use-of-force instructor and program manager.  My responsibility was the subject control, officer safety and street survival programs for a large, 1200 member police agency.

During that time, I developed numerous programs, was certified in several combative programs, developed policies and liability reduction strategies, provided expert testimony in court and taught 1000’s of law enforcement officers, high risk professionals and private citizens various aspects of self-defense and use-of-force.

Question: You state that you “teach a variety of short-term training seminars and courses.”  Is it possible for someone to attend these courses and attend instruction from you in person?  If so how?

I continue to conduct seminars and courses on various aspects of self-defense and confrontation management.  The majority of my training commitments are for government agencies, corporate clients or private groups.  On occasion I run “open to the public” seminars promoted by word of mouth.  I have never had to advertise.  The best way to attend a seminar is to contact me directly by email or telephone.

Question: Would your Power Punching Guide and accompanying manuals be beneficial to someone involved in a sport such as boxing as well as for self-defense?

The Power Punching Guide and Toughen Up Manuals are beneficial to ANY ONE in ANY KIND of striking sport or system.  They lay out the bio-mechanics of proper hitting and how to use various pieces of combative training equipment safely and effectively in workout sessions.

The Power Punching Guide was never intended to be an eBook.  In developing a number of self-defense courses I realized that many people lacked effective striking skills.  It wasn’t enough to simply teach striking skills if the person lacked the coordination and conditioning that comes from ongoing training.  Even experienced martial artists were developing bad habits and getting injured when using equipment such as heavy bags, focus pads and boxing gloves.

Either that or they “wanted” to follow up and build on their initial learning experience at a course or seminar with on-going combative training but didn’t know how to go about it.

The manual was originally intended as a supplement and resource to my seminar students so that they could use to continue practicing and building on what I taught them during our training sessions together. 

I knew from years of training that it wasn’t so much what they learned during the seminar but what they did with that knowledge AFTER the seminar that made the biggest impact on their health and personal safety.

 I also learned that I could dramatically improve the results I obtained with police officers if I provided them with a strong foundation of striking skills before covering more “job-specific-skills,” like subject control, firearm retention and baton skills for example.

Question: Do you think that someone that studies your mini series and your Power Punching Guide would be capable of effectively defending themselves against bigger stronger attackers?

Applying the concepts in the Toughen Up Combative Training Guides and building intelligent, consistent workouts around them will DRAMATICALLY increase someone’s ability to fight off an bigger, stronger attacker.

Not only will those workouts improve your health and fitness but also your legitimate ability to protect and defend your health and fitness from the violent actions of others.

Question: What is the single most important thing in self-defense?

TRAINING!  Without out a doubt, the “KEY” to getting the most benefit out of the study of self-defense comes as a direct result of the training process.

Knowing how to detect, avoid and defuse potentially violent situations is largely the result of effective mental skills but regular, intelligent, vigorous workouts will provide the biggest pay off for any student of self-defense.

Combative workouts will burn fat, build muscle, develop fighting skills and improve your health on several levels.  You’ll also find the self-confidence and athletic qualities of movement that you’ll develop reduce the potential of even becoming a victim.

Human predators select their intended victims on their perception of your ability or willingness to fight back.  They don’t go after strong, confident targets.  That vast majority of people who undertake self-defense and martial arts training never have to put their skills to the test because the training changes the way they look and move and makes them less desirable to the bullies, rapists and muggers of the world.

Question: You say you are a veteran police officer. What besides learning the local laws can a person concerned with self defense do to get along with law enforcement?

Every violent encounter creates the potential for criminal and civil liability whether you “started it” or not.  Quite often in a street fight, the legal ramifications boil down to his (or her) word against yours.

It is important to first and foremost avoid an encounter if it is at all possible.  All street fights can be a major hassle whether you “win” or not.  If a physical response is inevitable, there are things you can do that will solidify and support your ability to justify your actions after the fact.

It is important to do what you can to solidify your role as the “victim” and not the instigator of the encounter.  If you are serious about self-defense, you should be crystal clear about your legal and moral rights to defend yourself long before you even have to.

In terms of “getting along with law enforcement,” here is the number one point I’d suggest to anyone.  Keep in mind that I’ve been to hundreds of violent encounters myself as a police officer.

When the police arrive to the scene of a violent encounter they do not know the details of what happened, who started it or who the “bad guy” is.  Their highest priority is THEIR OWN safety and their goal is to quickly assess the situations, identify the “players” and bring the matter under control.

As soon as they arrive, here’s what to do… CALM  DOWN AND SHUT UP!  As emotionally upsetting as the encounter may have been to you, it’s important to regain your composure and cooperate with the police.  They don’t know who you are or what your involvement was.

If you are upset, screaming and hollering, demanding that they arrest so-and-so etc. your behaviour is more likely to project that of the troublemaker, not the victim.  Keep that up and you’re the most likely candidate to end up face-down on the ground with the handcuffs on!

Remember too in a “your-word-against-his” incident, the more reasonable and intelligent you come off to the police, the more likely it is that their investigation will end up in your favour.

Question: If someone wants to buy your Power Punching Guide what other tools do they need to train?

The Toughen Up Combative Training Guides are intended to assist anyone in designing safe and effective combative workouts.  The equipment you need to do that depends on your goals, your budget and your training environment.

You can apply the advice in the Power Punching Guide with nothing more than your body.  Adding a pair of bag gloves, focus pads and a heavy bag can add a huge dimension to your training sessions.

My current projects are adding a “Power Kicking Guide” and a “Frequently Asked Self-Defense Training Questions Report” to the series of Toughen Up Training Guides.

With the existing and future training guides, I will be providing advice about a variety of different training methods and equipment:  sparring & boxing glove drills, Thai pads, kettlebells, free weights etc.

Ultimately my goal is to provide you with everything that you need to tailor your workouts specifically to what you want to get out of them.

Question: I read your “Reach Out and Punch Someone” article.  Do you think that taking up boxing and combative impact training would be a good idea for someone concerned exclusively with their personal safety?

Definitely, I think that “impact work” (hitting and being hit) is essential for anyone who is serious about self-defense and street fighting. 

For example, I teach police officers how to punch, kick, grapple and spar.  My intent is not so much to teach them how to “fight” as much as provide them with “building blocks” they need to participate in “Stress Inoculation” training.

Stress inoculation is a progressive training program designed to reduce their fear and stress levels in a violent or volatile encounter and, in doing so, allow them to remain more composed and effective during a critical incident.

Many people come into law enforcement with no previous exposure to or experience with violence.  They’ve never been in a fight before.  They’ve never been hit hard or had to hit someone else in a real world encounter.  That “lack of experience,” increases the potential of them extremely stressed and even “terrified” in their first knock down, drag out clash with a violent person.

That’s not good.  Stress inoculation training is intended to combat that and increase their “comfort level” in a critical incident.

It’s no different with ANYONE who wants to perform effectively in a street fight or self-defense encounter.  The more you can inoculate yourself to the fear and stress of a confrontation the more effective and successful you will be at defending yourself.
The training starts with a solid foundation in striking and hitting skills and then progresses through a variety of combative training drills that will not only develop legitimate fighting qualities but a more confident and composed mind set as well.

Question: Do you have anything new coming up at www.ProtectiveStrategies.com and www.ToughenUp.com ?

Actually I have a lot happening in relation to ALL of my web sites.  My “big picture approach” to self-defense is to produce seminars, information products and resource recommendations in three general areas:

http://www.ProtectiveStrategies.com/

Personal safety advice focused at understanding, recognizing, defusing and responding to threats of violence and victimization.  I’m laying out my Seven Components To Self-Defense Curriculum as a comprehensive self-defense solution.  This also includes Confrontation Management for people who come into contact with volatile situations in the course of the professions.

www.ToughenUp.com

Toughen up provides training manuals, advice and resource about how to design and conduct your own combative workouts for health, fitness and street fighting.  Whether your interests are in protecting yourself or just getting healthy and fit, the Toughen Up Training Guides will provide the information needed for safe productive workout sessions.

www.Street-Fighting-Strategies.com

This site, presently hosts my free multiple attacker mini-course but was developed to address the need of people interested in winning in a street fight.  I provides real-world, back-lane street fighting strategies intended to physically defeat attackers in a violent encounter.

There it is…  I hope this information is useful to you.   If you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to write me at Randy@ToughenUp.com

Take care, train smart and stay safe, 

Randy

Self-defense instructors often encourage students to interrupt or discourage victimization by “pretending to be tough.”   Tiny, out-of-shape women, for example, are advised to stand tall, take an aggressive stance, sneer and blurt out insults and vulgarities in an attempt to intimidate a larger, stronger predator into backing off.

It makes sense on the surface.  “The Law Of The Jungle,” states that predators target their prey on the basis of their perception of their willingness or ability to fight back.  They are in search of the passive, weak and meak.  So, in theory, the “tougher” you come across the less likely a criminal will follow through on his attempts to victimize you.

In my self-defense program this is called “Defiance,” and it’s one of five response options available to you in a confrontation.  And SOMETIMES it IS the fight thing to do.  Projecting the image of a tough gal or tough guy CAN send a bully, mugger or rapist searching for a easier target.

But should you ALWAYS do the defiance thing?  Is it really that simple?  Do you think advice like this has the potential to backfire?

In reality people who “pretend to be tough” have to consider two factors of success:

1.  Will my”bluff” be convincing?

2.  What will I do if the my bluff only makes matters worse?

People who are confused or doubtful about their response options, no matter how convincingly they attempt to come across, will not project the signals that they need to discourage aggressive behavior.  Just like you can’t fake strength or endurance, it is also very difficult to fake the “non-victim” behaviors and body language that will send a potential assailant looking for someone else.

When you know EXACTLY what your response options are and you are confident in your ability to carry them out, you will project very different “signals” to the nutballs, retards and shitheads that get off on victimizing people.  The knowledge and experience you gain through the active study and ongoing practice of self-defense will have a significant impact on your “circle of influence” and your ability to defuse a volatile  situation.

Bottom line?… Defiance and de-escalation skills are not about bullshitting, bluffing or pretending.  They are skills to be learned.  They are enhanced only by a “legitimate” knowledge of your options and your ability to carry them out. 

Solution?  Keep studying the dynamics of self-defense and if you’re not already… get started on an intelligent, on-going combative training program.

There, I’ve said my piece… I feel better now.

In my last post on the “Four Pillars Of Combative Conditioning ,” I identified four essential aspects of a comprehensive combative conditioning program.  In future months, I will be building the Toughen Up Training Programs around three elements:

Combative Training Methods
Using fighting techniques, like punching and kicking, as forms of exercise to improve health while developing self-defense skills.

Body-weight Exercise
Equipment-free methods to condition, strengthen and coordinate your body in ways that will improve your street fighting abilities, and of course…

Russian Kettlebells
Kettlebells are an affordable, efficient and enjoyable way to achieve your combative training goals much faster than with more traditional conditioning methods.

Kettlebell training is an excellent strength and conditioning supplement to a combative workout.  Here is a list of some of the benefits of a well-designed kettlebell program:

Generating Power From The Hips: 

In the martial arts, or any other sport that involves power generation, power comes from the hips.  Without mastering the ability to generate energy with your hips, knockout striking power is IMPOSSIBLE.  Ballistic kettlebell exercises strengthen your hips and program your nervous system in a way that will add tremendous power to your combative techniques.

Core Training: 

It is also impossible to generate hitting power without conditioning your “core.”  The core includes the muscles of the midsection: abs, obliques and lower back.  Without core strength you’ll never be able to “transfer” the power of your entire body into your fighting skills.  You will also be very susceptible to injuries.  The core strength developed through KB training will allow you to integrate your entire body into your actions.

Tendon & Joint Resilience: 

Joint and tendon problems are often considered a “natural consequence” of any intense training.  The accumulative “wear and tear” is thought to be a natural consequence of “abusing your body” in the pursuit of fighting skills and “tough guy” fitness programs. 

Eventually, especially in “mature athletes,” the aches and pains add up until we need medical intervention (pain killers or surgery) OR have to give up training all together when we get “too old or worn out” to do it any more.  WRONG! 

Kettlebell training is an awesome way not only to prevent these injuries but also to recover from them.  The unique shape and weight distribution of the KB strengthens the muscles that stabilize and protect the structures of the bodies and have worked wonders for people with long-term and chronic problems.  

I personally used kettlebells to “fix” and fully recover from chronic pain and mobility problems in my shoulder that I’d had for years!  Many back problems, shoulder and rotator cuff injuries, elbow pain can be remedied with KB training.

Energy Deceleration: 

Chances are, even if you’re well-read about working out and combative training, you didn’t come across this term before.  Even in my Toughen Up Training Manuals, I talk extensively about how to PRODUCE energy, how to TRANSFER it into the target and even how to WITHSTAND the consequence of that energy on your body.  I’d never read that much about decelerating energy.

Energy Deceleration is your ability control, re-direct, dissipate and and absorb kinetic energy.  In combative situations, this includes punching and kicking, rapid changes in direction, falling or being knocked to the ground without injury etc.  This aspect of “energy management” is often neglected in training.

With KB training you throw, drop, swing and lift a heavy, cast iron ball over your head, through you legs and around your waste.  You learn to produce AND control kinetic energy in a way that will improve performance and prevent injuries.

Kettlebell Training Is Time Efficient:

The “best way” to improve your performance at anything is to do it!  If you want to improve your fighting, spend more time fighting (punching, kicking etc.) and the less on non-fighting activities like jogging or lifting weights.  That being said, supplementary activities that strengthen and condition your body are essential to long-term, injury-free  training.

The beauty of kettelbell training is that you can work strength, flexibility and endurance all at the same time in short multi-purpose workouts.  This allows you to achieve your conditioning goals in less time than with conventional workout methods and spend more time refining your martial arts abilities. 

Kettlebells are excellent for full-body circuit and interval training that allows you to accomplish much more in much shorter workouts.

Grip Strength And Wrist Protection

The ability to grip hard and endure the impact of your own punches is essential to a street fighter or martial artist.  In proper punching you “have no wrist.”  You imagine that your fist is “welded” solidly to your forearms. 

As you develop more power in your punches, weak wrists will buckle on impact and the energy that should have gone INTO the target “spills” out or worse still results in an injury.

The “fat metal handle” on a kettlebell develops tremendous grip strength.  Some practitioners will even soap up the handle to make it that much harder to hold onto in order to activate grip involvement.  You’ll have to grip-your-brains-out just to keep the KB from flying out of your hand.  (make sure to do this one outside)

KB training also reinforces perfectly straight wrist alignment at all times.  When lifting KB’s you NEVER allow you wrist to buckle, bend or collapse.  As with punching, you have to maintain a straight line through your forearm to your fist.

KB Training Fixes “Energy Leaks.”

I write about energy leaks in the Power Punching Guide.  An energy leak is a physical flaw in your body position that allows kinetic energy to “spill out” of a striking or kicking technique. 

In a punch for example, energy is generated from the ground, through the hips and torso, into your arm and finally to the fist.  Every joint between your foot and your knuckles has the potential to leak energy.  That’s a bad thing obviously because it either means that you’ll hit “like a little girl”  OR that energy could cause an sprain or fracture.

KB training teaches you how to use your body as one efficient, well-coordinated unit.  NOTHING is left to chance.  Limb position, posture, breathing, balance, weight distribution and joint extension are all perfected as you increase awareness of your entire body.

Bad body position, sloppy joint alignment and haphazard technique often associated with sloppy punching mechanics, improper weight training etc. can not only be counter productive to your combative goals but down right dangerous.

 Tension/Relaxation Skills

If you are too tense you will be slow, clumsy and will tire quickly.  If you are too relaxed you will be weak and vulnerable.  To master your fighting skills you must be able to switch from being relaxed to tense to relaxed again in milliseconds. 

Kettlebell training is not like traditional weight lifting where you maintain tension in a muscle throughout a slow, controlled repetition.   With kettlebells, you learn when to relax and when to tense at the appropriate times for optimal performance and safety.

 Cardio Training/Mental Toughness

I eluded to this earlier but it deserves further mention.  In the “Four Pillars” post I talk about how important it is for a fighter to be able to produce efficient energy despite fatigue and be able to explode aggressively if and when an opportunity presents itself.  Kettlebell training combines high-repetition ballistic actions with slow, deliberate strength moves.  Kettlebell training more closely simulates a fight by integrating explosive bursts of activity with slow ones.

The kettlebell practitioner does not train to failure (which could be disastrous in a street fight) but instead learns how to balance exertion with recovery to maintain a high level of performance throughout the workout.

The intensity of certain KB drills develop mental toughness in ways like the “blitz training” does that I write about in the Toughen Up Guides.

Body Hardening

The final aspect of KB training that I’ll touch on is body hardening.  I am often asked not only how to generate tremendous hitting power but also how to withstand being hit when you are on the receiving end.  I don’t care how good you think you are… if you get yourself into a good knock-down-drag-out-street-fight YOU’RE GOING TO GET HIT. 

Whether that hit pisses you off or puts you on your ass is largely a result of your ability to absorb and withstand impact energy.  What can you do to reduce the likelihood of being knocked out, winded or seized up with a Charley horse?

KB training teaches you how to use proper breathing and muscle tension to protect your body and absorb energy.  For example the “pressurization method” used to protect the spine when lifting a KB is similar to the skill needed to withstand a hard blow to the midsection.  In some KB exercises, there is light contact of the metal ball with your muscles which will also improve your resilience.

Enuff Said.

If you’ve read this far, you might be getting the “hint” that I’m pretty high on Russian Kettlebell Training.  If that’s the conclusion you’ve drawn… You’re right.

I’ll leave it at that for now and decide how much deeper to get into the topic of Kettlebell Training by how much interest (or lack of it) you show after reading this.  If you’re interested in more info about kettlebells please add your comments to the blog or email me at Randy@ToughenUp.com .

If you’d like to do a bit of your own research, then go for it.  The best place to start is to check out Pavel Tsatsouline (the undisputed Kettlebell Guru) at: Russian Kettlebells , DragonDoor Publications , or Enter The Kettlebell .

Send me your thoughts.

The combative training advice offered by “Toughen Up” is NOT your average, run-of-the-mill approach to working out.

You will not see photo’s of someone doing “bodybuilding exercises” in a karate uniform or kickboxing shorts.  I wouldn’t insult your intelligence.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a hardcore, fight-for-a-living mixed martial arts marathon training program, then perhaps you need to keep looking.  If you have aspirations of making a living as a prizefighter, there are people much more qualified than I to show you the way.

I’m assuming that you are a lot like me:  A mere mortal, about average, maybe even a-bit-lazy guy or gal who wants the best results possible in the shortest amount of time with the least amount of wasted energy.

I’m almost 50 years old.  I like beer, my big screen TV and cruising around on my motorcycle. I’ve got better things to do with my time than sweat and toil for hours a day for low-return results.

My days of rock’m sock’m, 6-hour-a-day, push-til-you-puke self-defense training sessions are behind me. Been there, done that.

If only I knew then what I know know.  I would have avoided a lot of wasted time, unnecessary sweat and painful/nagging injuries.  I would have gotten a lot better, a lot fitter, a lot faster.

The bottom line… I’m sure you don’t want to spend hours and hours grinding away at inefficient activities only to NOT achieve the results that you’re after.   I’m with ya on that one.

I’ve spent a lot of money, logged a lot of training hours and done ton of research looking for the shortest path from where I am to where I want to be.

Three things that I want to achieve with my workouts:

Number 1:   Get in great shape quickly and stay healthy as long as possible.

Number 2:   Design workouts that improve health,  avoid injuries and enhance every-day-performance (a.k.a. functional fitness)

Number 3:   Develop the legitimate ability to fight my way out of bad situation should one ever come my way.

Self-defense is 80% mental and 20% physical.

Your ability to stay safe is very much a matter of preventing, avoiding and defusing a volatile situation BEFORE you find yourself so deep in the middle of it that the only solution is to fight your way out.

However, in that 20%… when the threshold of violence is crossed, your fitness and skill will determine the outcome 100% of the time.  As I have written many times… A fight is an athletic event.

The WRONG kind of workout program can be useless and even counter-productive to real-world performance. You could waste hours and hours doing shit that won’t do you a bit of good in a street fight and STILL get your ass kicked!

I don’t want that to happen to me and I think’n you don’t want it either.  So let’s both make sure our training addresses the…

Four Pillars Of Combative Conditioning.

1. Strength/Endurance

Strength OR Endurance doesn’t mean squat in a street fight. One without the other will leave you over-powered OR gasping for air.   In the self-defense biz we have a term for that.  We call it “NOT GOOD!”  A combative athlete must be able to exert high-intensity effort for as long as it takes to end an encounter.  There are no “rounds” or rest periods in a street fight.

By the same token, he or she must be strong enough to scuffle, push, pull and produce exploisve, bone-crushing power to end the encounter fast when an opportunity presents itself.

Combative conditioning must integrate a balance of strength and endurance with low rep strength training and high-rep conditioning.

2. Mental Toughness/Body Hardening

Mental toughness in a street fight is the ability persevere and keep fighting through fear, pain, injury and exhaustion.  The vast majority of “victims” who are seriously injured in a violent encounter, are injured after they give up and go defensive.  A “never-give-up” attitude can be developed through proper training and will save your life in a self-defense situation.

Body hardening is the physical equivalent to mental toughness.  It’s the ability to take a hit, deliver hit, and withstand a collision with the ground or another person without incapacitation or injury. This too can be developed.  If you don’t believe me, go clunk shinbones with a trained kick boxer!

3. Martial Specificity

Training to be a fighter can get you into phenomenal shape, but being in great shape doesn’t make you a fighter. 

Conditioning is specific to the activity that is trained.  Swimming won’t improve your running.  Running won’t improve your lifting.  You could be a phenomenal hockey player but brutal on the tennis court.  Your training must mimic the activity that you want to excel at.

The philosophy of Toughen Up (which you’re probably getting sick reading about) is to use combative training AND combat-compatible exercise to improve your health and your ability to fight.

There’s no sense building a healthy, beautiful body if some drunken piece of doo-doo can pound you out, steal your wallet, sexually defile you AND put your in the emergency room.  With all due respect, bodybuilding, jogging and aerobic dance won’t help you in a street fight.

Training must compliment and enhance your functional fitness and in particular your ability to physically defend yourself. 

4. Skill Aquisition

The foundation of a combative workout is the flawless exectuion of the techniques needed to generate destructive energy and transfer as much of it as possible into the intended target. 

Unless, you master the basic body mechanics of punching for example, don’t be wasting your time pounding on a heavy bag.  You’ll do nothing more than waste your time and injure yourself.  That’s why the “Power Punching Guide“ is the prerequisite of the heavy bag and focus pad workouts.

Technical Skill involves performing your combative technqiues… the strikes, kicks, throws, submissions etc. effectively.  It is getting the job done with the least amount of wasted effort possible.

Watch a high-level athlete and how he or she is able to perform amazing feats with apparent ease. No straining, no wasted action, no trying-too-hard.

You have to know when to conserve your energy and when to EXPLODE. I have seen extremely “fit” people try too hard and do very poorly in a combative situation.

Much of what you learn in your combative workouts teaches you how to optimize your movements, conserve energy and avoid excessive effort that will quickly deplete your resources and lead to bad habits and training injuries.

The training advice from Toughen Up is built around those 4 pillars. I get into the specifics of how to achieve them in my Training Manuals and subsequent posts.

Enuff said.

What does morality have to do with self-defense?

Well a lot actually.  People’s behavior is directed and controlled by their beliefs and values.  There are a couple reasons why I think its important to clarify, and perhaps correct or modify your beliefs and values, if you want to develop an effective self-defense strategy.

First of all, you have to get clear on your belief in your god-given right to feel safe and secure in your life.  You have to be clear on your right to stand up and protect yourself even if it means challenging, confronting, injuring or even killing your attacker.

Believe it or not, some people have a hard time with that.  There are people who will allow themselves to be bullied, victimized and abused because they don’t feel that they are important or deserving enough to be protected.  That’s just plain wrong.

Violence, in and of itself is not necessarily, “BAD.”  Violence can actually be “GOOD.”  Its a matter or application and context.

Is it BAD for a child to fight off a pedophile trying to drag her into his vehicle?  Is it BAD for a woman to inflict a serious injury on a rapist or serial killer?  Is it bad for a good Samaritan to intervene on behalf of a weak, defenseless victim being pounded on by some dysfunctional piece of criminal shit on a street corner?  I DON’T THINK SO!  It’s good!

Violence is only either good or bad as a result of the context in which it’s applied.  If you don’t have a crystal clear sense of this “righteous application of violence,” your ability to successfully protect yourself and your loved ones is in jeopardy.

The second thing that you need to do is sit down and take a good, hard look at what is worth fighting for and what isn’t.  People have been killed trying to protect trivial possessions or fighting over issues that aren’t worth fighting for.

When a stressful incident activates our sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response) our thinking and decision making skills deteriorate.  Sometimes, in a confrontation we panic and either fight for something that isn’t worth fighting for or fail to protect what IS significant and important in our lives.  Sometimes we lay down and give up and then spend the rest of our lives wishing we’d fought back.

For the purpose of our discussion, lets get clear on a couple of definitions:

Values are what we place great importance on in our lives.

Belief is our sense of certainty about the way thinks are.

Your efforts to think about this and figure it out BEFORE you find yourself in a threatening situation is crucial.  I encourage you to do some soul searching and examine your beliefs and values about self-defense by answering these questions:

1.  What do I believe about my right to protect myself from physical harm; even if it means hurting or killing another human being?

2.  What do I have in my life that’s worth fighting for, even if it means that I might be beaten and seriously injured trying to protect it?

3.  What do I have in my life that is NOT worth fighting for and running the risk of death or a serious injury if I do?

4.  What would I lose or miss out on if I was killed or seriously injured by the violent actions of another person?  What am I prepared to do, so that never happens to me?

5.  What am I prepared to do TODAY to prepare myself for a threatening encounter that may or may not happen to me in the future?

6.  What are the positive benefits I can gain in my life by investing time and energy into self-defense training even if I end up never having to defend myself?

People behave, whether deliberately or by default, on the basis of the values and belief’s.  You need to examine your values and belief’s and determine whether they are “empowering” in that they help you get what you want out of life or “disempowering” in that they prevent you from achieving it.

If you have disempowering belief’s, that compromise your ability to successfully defending yourself,  you need to change them.  Belief’s are like habits, the best way to change a bad one is to replace it with a good one.  Once you do, seek out evidence to reinforce the validity that your chosen belief is true.

What do you believe about your ability to defend yourself?

Belief And Value Clarification Exercise

Grab a pen and paper, or fire up a blank document file on your computer and brainstorm a list of the beliefs that you have about your personal safety and your right to feel safe and secure.

Here’s a few examples to get you started:

• I have the right to be left alone, not be hassled, harassed, bullied or taken advantage of by others.
• I have the moral and legal right to protect myself and my family, even if it means injuring another person.
• My physical, mental and emotional well-being is important enough for me to take the necessary steps to protect it.
• My body is sacred and I have the right to maintain, condition and protect it.
• I am totally responsible for ensuring my own personal safety.
• My health and my family are my top priority and I will do anything to protect them.
• My religious beliefs are in harmony with my right and willingness to do what I have to protect myself.

… you get the idea.

Getting clear in your own head about your values and beliefs about self-defense and personal safety BEFORE something happens will have a significant impact on your performance in a confrontation.

Enff said.

In a self-defense encounter, there are essentially FIVE response strategies available to you in dealing with a violent or volatile situation.   Far too often, self-defense advice comes in the form of “tactics” or specific things that you should do to bring about a certain outcome.  The problem with a “tactical approach” is that the tactic may not necessesariliy produce the result you want. 

Any self-defense system should begin with a clear “doctrine” or an overall mission or philosophy about what you want to accomplish in a volatile situation.  Before you can select the most appropriate “tactics” to apply, you need a broader undstanding of the strategies you are trying to implement. 

I define a strategy as: a general game plan based on principles, rules and concepts that affect your ability to produce a desired result.

Before we get too deeply into the discussion of self-defense response strategies, it’s probably a good idea to give you an overview of what they are.

In one set of circumstances, a specific strategy might be your best bet at dealing effectively with a situation.  In other circumstances, that same stratey could backfire big time and make matters much worse.  Its important to know when and when not to apply a given strategy.

For now though, I’ll just give you a list to keep in mind when we’re exploring response options in more detail.

1. Compliance

Compliance is simply giving in or cooperating to the predatory demands of your assailant.  Some things in life aren’t worth fighting for. Property for example is seldom worth the risk of being killed or sustaining a serious injury trying to protect it.

2. Escape

Escape is simple putting as much distance between yourself and your assailant(s) as possible. Sometimes, the solution to a self-defense situation is a simple matter of running like you’ve never run before and keep running until you are out of harms way.

3. De-escalation

De-escalation is the use of communication to lower the intensity of a situation that has not yet turned violent.  It involves defusing an emotionally charged situation before it escalates to the point of a fight.

4. Defiance

Defiance is based on the fact that predators seek out a potential victim that they believe is unable or unwilling to resist.  They are looking for an “inferior victim” who they feel that they can dominate and control.  Defiance is the act of projecting a strong, defiant and even aggressive demeanor to call the assailant’s bluff and send him looking for a more cooperative victim.

5. Fighting

Fighting back is what most people think of when they think about self-defense.  In actuality, fighting is a small part of dealing with volatile situations but it is a very, very important part. The more competent you are at physically dealing with a violent situation the safer you will be.

It is important however that you realize that there are different degrees of physical response options to deal with a resistive of violent situation and bring it under control.  You need a range of physical response options from restraining someone, netralizing his ability to fight without inflicting a serious injury or, in worste case scenarios, resorting to methods that could seriously injure or even kill your attacker.

I’ll leave it at that for now.  Later, I will get into the circumstances that will point you in the direction of one response strategy over another. I’ll also tell you when each strategy is a bad idea that can backfire and make matters worse and provide you with guidelines and instructions to carry out each strategy for maximum effect.

Feel free to comment.

Every self-defense situation, every street fight, every act of interpersonal violence is not a life-or-death encounter.

Quite often self-defense instructors get a little carried away and “pretend” that every conflict in life that turns physical, or has the potential to, should be considered a life or death situation.

They argue that to respond in a manner that is less-than-lethal is to dilute your fighting skills, expose yourself to unnecessary risk and compromise your “survival” in a street encounter.”

My main response to that type of advice is… “BULLSHIT!”  Give your head a shake “ninja-boy” and take a good hard look at the real world.

Sure, I don’t deny that there are situations in the real world of interpersonal violence that need to be taken very, very seriously.  They may even require a response that is likely to cause the death or a serious injury to your assailant… but then again, there are also a lot of situations that don’t.

If you take such an over simplistic view of life and lump ALL self-defense scenarios into life-or-death, do-or-die, kill-or-be-killed responses, you are going to get yourself in a heap of trouble.

If you have some time on your hands, fire up Google or your favorite search engine and run a search on “street fight video clips.”

You’ll come up with a list of sites that offer short video clips and market DVD’s that contain thousands of “real world encounters caught on tape” depicting people involved in knock-down-drag-out scraps.  Girls on girls, guys on guys, girls fighting guys, multiple attackers etc.

(we won’t even get into the adult-oriented “catfight stuff,” I’m just doing this to prove my point… bear with me)

Let me ask you this?  How many of those fights result in a death or serious injury?  How many of them end up with the loser being crippled or permanently disfigured?

Or, do  you notice that in most of these incidents, the combatants pick themselves up, dust themselves off and go their separate ways with not much more than a bruise ego, a fat lip, a shiner or a handful of hair missing?

How practical, moral or realistic would it have been if one of those combatants produced a knife and slashed their opponent’s throat?  Or perhaps gouged out an eye or slammed their opponent’s face into the curb?  Probably a bit excessive don’t you think?

Don’t get me wrong, there ARE some serious confrontations out there.  Threats so severe that if you don’t do something extreme and aggressive, somebody is going to get killed or seriously injured.  That too is a reality that you should include in your self-defense thinking and training.  The law allows for self-preservation and in those rare cases you are legally and morally justified to take a life to preserve your own or someone else’s.

Once again…  I’m NOT saying that deadly force is never appropriate or justified, because sometimes it is.

What I’m saying is…  if you want a realistic and functional self-defense skill set, you need to be able to respond to a variety of encounters.

Allow me to offer up three degree’s physical response for your consideration.  Which one you resort to will be dictated by your “Reasonably Perceived Vulnerability.” (I wrote an earlier post on this subject if you haven’t read it already)

Control and Restraint

This level of response involves subduing and controlling a resistive or aggressive individual who is not particularly threatening to you. Perhaps it is a drunken buddy or relative or a person smaller or weaker than you.

Control and restraint tactics include joint locks, holds and pinning methods that will restrain the individual for your safety and his (or hers) without busting them up or creating a serious injury.  You’d be surprised how often these types of scenarios occur.

Street Fighting

Although a street fight CAN be a life-or-death situation, in most cases they are not.  I consider a street fight to be a “scuffle or a scrap.”  It quite often takes the form of a punch-out or wrestling match but seldom escalates to something that is likely to result in death or a serious injury.

In cases such as these, you’ll probably find your most appropriate response is to neutralize your assailant with strikes, kicks, vascular chokes or submissions.  Hard strikes to nerve motor centers in the major muscles can cause cramps that will take the fight out of your assailant without a serious injury.  Stunning techniques can be applied to leave your opponent daze but uninjured.

Having response options that are suitable to the degree of vulnerability you perceive yourself to be in are safer because you will be less hesitant to bring the matter under control quickly and efficiently before it escalates to a more serous encounter.

Life or Death (Deadly Force Encounters)

Deadly force is justified when you reasonably perceive yourself or someone else to be in imminent danger or death or a serious, disfiguring or permanent injury.

As I said, sometimes, it is necessary to take a life to preserve one… but these cases are rare. I think “deadly force tactics” are an important part of a realistic approach to self-defense but you also need another skills.

Sometimes bones have to be broken, windpipes crushed, testicles “gripped and ripped.”  But ALL THE TIME?  Give me a break.

Note: If you’re interested in developing a strong foundation of “ballistic fighting skills,” I encourage you to check out my Toughen Up Training Guides at http://www.ToughenUp.com/

There is a balancing act between under-estimating and over-estimating the severity or threat potential of a physical encounter.  Responding appropriately will only happen as a preparation, common sense and a self-defense response suitable for the situation.

Please feel free to add your two cents (agree, disagree, challenge or call BS) in the comment section.