Here are a few quick pics from our recent kyu test at the Meriden Martial Arts Club. Thanks to all who tested and helped out. Congrats!
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Meriden Martial Arts Club Kyu Test 5.1.16
Posted in Karate
Tagged club, ct, karate, martial arts, meriden, shohei-ryu, Uechi-Ryu
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New Review: Century Tegu Headgear
Here’s another review I wrote for MMA Gear Addict. While I love Century products, this one is a miss. You can read the review here, and here’s a quick video that sums it up. I hope you find it helpful. – Bill
Century Tegu Headgear Review on MMA Gear Addict
New Affiliate: Kataaro
Kataaro is a custom martial arts belt and equipment company that I’m consistently impressed with. Their products are excellent as is their customer service and delivery. Better still–all their products are made in the USA!
Here is a quick review of a few belts I ordered from them and how they’ve held up over the years. Take a look; I hope it helps.
Posted in Affiliates, Equipment
Tagged belt, custom, jiu jitsu, jiu-jitsu, karate, kataaro, MMA
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GORUCK GR2 Review: The One-Bag Solution
The Holy Grail for EDCers everywhere is the fabled “One-Bag Solution”. I think I’ve found it with the GORUCK GR2. I’ve had this bag for about a year now, and it’s served me well during hiking trips, ruck marches, yard work, weight training and calisthenics, vacations and travel, and, of course, every day carry. Check out these pics and videos to see what I mean!
Here are some shots of the GR2 in action. Videos explain the methods to my madness are after the jump.
GORUCK GR2 Rucking Loadout
GORUCK GR2 EDC Loadout
GORUCK GR2 Travel Loadout
GORUCK GR2 Small Compartment Configured for EDC
New Review: Venum MMA Sparring Gloves
I just signed on as a gear reviewer for a new website, MMA Gear Addict. This one’s on a sweet set of Venum gloves that you can get on closeout if you shop around. Check them out! – Bill
Venum MMA Sparring Gloves Review
These are some great hybrid gloves.!
GORUCK GR1 Fitness Loadout Review
There are a lot of reviews for this pack online, but not many explain all its different uses. Here’s one loadout for the GORUCK GR1 used for fitness and rucking. Look for more equipment discussion on the way, including different loadouts for the GORUCK GR2, GORUCK Bullet Ruck, Mystery Ranch 3-Day Assault Pack, the Rush Series from 5.11, and possibly a Kifaru or two!
Why does a martial artist need to worry about bags? What you carry with you and how you carry it are important depending on your goals. You may be rucking for fitness, hiking for fun, training kata or calisthenics with weight, going on vacation, or just lugging groceries. No matter what you’re doing, you need to be prepared for it–a basic tenet of martial arts training. I hope that by discussing equipment we can all be better prepared for what we face each day!
Posted in Affiliates, Equipment
Tagged backpack, fitness, GORUCK, GR1, kifaru, load, loadout, Mystery Ranch, out, review, rucking
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Sandbag DIY Dead-Squat Combo Lift using GORUCK and Mystery Ranch Packs
Here’s another post in the “Silent Ninja Workouts” series. This is a lift inspired by the Dead-Squat bar. It is meant to combine a deadlift with a squat. In this video, the deadlift is done with a 150lbs. GORUCK sandbag and a GR1 loaded with 100lbs. of plates. A Mystery Ranch Marshall pack is used for the squat, and it contains 155lbs. of sand and plates. Total weight for the lift is 405lbs., done for a 5×5 workout. It’s also a great exercise to practice maximum strength without waking up your family by throwing iron around or by wasting hours at the gym waiting for equipment.
Here are pictures of the load out. The video follows after the jump. I hope this starts a trend of busy folks lifting heavy things and putting them down again in creative ways!
Posted in Affiliates, DIY, Equipment, Fitness
Tagged backpack, Dead-Squat, Deadlift, GORUCK, GR1, Marshall, Mystery Ranch, sandbag, squat, training, workout
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GORUCK Sandbag Deadlift
I wrote a post about DIY sandbag deadlifts a long time ago. Here’s a new one using some new, better performing gear. This is a 5×5 deadlift demonstration. There are approximately 330 pounds of sand and plates loaded into a GORUCK sandbag, a GR1, and a 15L Bullet Ruck. The lift ain’t pretty, but it gets the job done with minimal equipment–also perfect for at-home training in the early morning or late at night. You don’t want to wake your family by throwing a bar around!
Let’s call this the first in a series of posts about how to improve strength quietly and efficiently. Maybe we’ll call it “Silent Ninja Workouts” or something. Regardless, a major part of being a martial artist is resourcefulness, so there you go.
You can watch the video after the jump. Here are some pics to show the setup.
Posted in Affiliates, DIY, Equipment, Fitness
Tagged Bullet Ruck, Deadlift, fitness, GORUCK, GR1, sandbag
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New Affiliate: GORUCK
One resolution for 2016 we’re making at the Meriden Martial Arts Club is to train more outdoors. That means kata, kihon, and bunkai all done outside in addition to workouts to improve our fitness and general physical preparedness. One thing we’re planning in particular is to ruck. You’d have to be living under a rock to miss the biggest fitness trend of 2015! Civilian rucking is taken from military training, and what it entails is to carry a heavy bag for long distances. Mix in some other exercises like calisthenics and team-building activities, add some adverse environmental conditions, and you have the GORUCK Challenge.
You can click here or the image below to check out their site for more information about their events and products. I LOVE GORUCK gear, so plan to see some reviews on this end very soon. In the meanwhile, grab a bag, get outside, and get moving!
2015 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog. We post this every year because it’s kind of fun. Thanks for another great year! – Bill and Alex
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 6,900 times in 2015. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.
Posted in Uncategorized
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