What its all about...

"The heights achieved by men, and kept,
were not attained by sudden flight,
but they, while their companions slept,
were toiling upwards through the night!"
- Longfellow

SEX MONEY KISS

With everything else going on, I’ve still; managed to fit in a bit of reading here and there.

I recently picked up “SEX MONEY KISS” by Gene Simmons. You’ve probably caught his new reality show (I haven’t since I don’t own a TV) but if you don’t know who that is, Gene Simmons is the Bass Player/ lead singer for the Rock Band KISS.

Yeah, the guy who spits blood.

You may not like his music or the man himself but one thing is for sure, he began with nothing, seized what few opportunities he was presented with and played his cards right business-wise when he had the chance to.

KISS is one of the most successful bands in history and Gene Simmons, the man, is almost just as successful in his own right.

That’s exactly what the book is about – what has made his life “work” and rule #1 is no losers allowed.

Heres a good passage from page 75:

“On the days when there’s nothing to do a winner will find something to do. On the days when there is no work, a winner will create work. On the day when a winner has won the game, its at the peak of his power and is the actual world record holder, the very next day he will (and should) get up at the crack of dawn and try to break his own world record. Life, when youre a winner, is about achieveing. More. Not Less. A Winner never rests on his laurels. A winner only rests when you stick him six feet under.

Contrary to popular belief, winners are too busy trying to win and turn the other winners into a loser. Winners always try to achieve more, Again, the main word here is MORE.

A winner is, in fact, usually surrounded by losers; a winner is fed by losers. A winner is admired by losers, Losers make excuses as to why they aren’t winners. A winner who hasn’t won will simply try harder next time. But in his mind, hes always a winner. If he didn’t win that race, he’s only lost one battle. The war is still to be fought. Never wait for the fat lady to sing.”

Good stuff, more to come…

According to 'Bombardier' Billy Wells...

In strength training, there are many books that are well thought of as 'classics.'

One great example from way back in 1926 is 'Super Strength' by Alan Calvert, another more recent example is 'Dinosaur Training' by Brooks Kubik

Im talking about the books that are well known and highly regarded, in terms of the quality of information and/or the reputation of the author.

If you are seriously interested in training you cant help but run into classics like these either though word of mount or through your own individual research. Even if they havent read them, most people are at least familiar with the titles and so they are pretty well known in most circles.

There are, however, some outstanding training books that have slipped though the cracks somehow.

To me, these books are like buried treasure since they often contain information written from a totally different perspective than the typical stuff youll find.

You would be every surprised at some of the names who have written training guides - many people you would not expect although most are written by very obscure authors who simply thought enoughof their experience to put it down on paper in order to teach others what they have learned. Quite by accident, I ran across a great training book written in the by 'Bombardier' Billy Wells, a well known English prize fighterfrom the early part of the last century. He was British Empire Champion from 1911 until 1919 and was the winner of won one of the first Lonsdale Champion belts. Evidently he had quite a bit of personality outside the ring and it is certainly reflected in his writing. I think he took up acting later on after his fighting career.

"Bombardier" Billy Wells

Anyhow, as far as what he recommends: plenty of physical training (usually Boxing related drills and calisthenics), fresh air, healthy living, a sound diet, mental clarity, building 'nerve' force and other methods of training that are as simple as they are effective.

He also wasnt afraid to say what was on his mind either and has some pretty interesting observations on a few topics that I will share with you later.

Train hard.
John Wood

P.S. If you havent done so yet, I highly recommend that you zip on over to our Old Time Physical Culture Library and check out some of the classic titles that you may not even know about yet.

How The Focused Mind Can Pierce Stone

First of all, I want to extend a big welcome to Shelby and Bill, the two latest additions to the FHS family. At the moment they are hard at work learning the ropes and so far they are doing great.

Heres one from a little while ago, tis a good one:

Back In the days of high adventure, there lived a man who devoted himself wholeheartedly to Kyudo, the art of the bow.

He practiced for hours each day and never, ever missed a session. After several years of constant and gradual improvement, he had reached a level of skill with a bow and arrow that was far greater than any man who had ever walked the Earth, before or since.

One evening, as he was walking in the mountains where he lived, he saw a flicker of movement in the shadows. It was a tiger with its teeth bared, its back arched and ready to rip him to shreds.

Since this very well have been the last thing he ever did, he put every ounce of concentration he had into what happened in next

Without thought or hesitation, the archer grabbed an arrow from his quiver, notched it, and took aim.

He let the arrow fly…

It was a direct hit right to the head of the beast. The entire incident had only taken a few hundredths of a second. Without stopping to examine the dead animal, the archer continued on his way.

The next day, he became curious and returned to that spot. Upon his arrival, something seemed amiss as there was no dead tiger to be found. He was about to give up his search when he saw it...

There is was: The arrow he had shot the night before, embedded in a huge
boulder.

There had been no tiger after all, but the archer’s concentration had been so intense and so meaningful and his shot so powerful that his arrow had driven into solid rock.

From this incident came the famous Samurai maxim about concentration and power in any Way of Life: 'Ichinen iwa wo mo tosu' - The focused mind can pierce through stone.

Often people will ask me what one thing they can do right away to improve their training. I tell them to Concentrate harder and more intently on the things they already do.

Few people listen.

Just as the archer did, if you can put every ounce of concentration that you have toward only a few simple tasks, the results will defy belief.

Training itself is a simple thing to understand. The real secrets lie not necessarily in 'what' you do but how you do them. There are forces that can aid the mind that are hardly dreamt of by the average person.

If you’re going to be training tonight like I am, let the Tigers beware.

Train hard.

John Wood

P.S. Legendary feats happen with intense focus and the right tools. To build stronger, more powerful hands, you need a full set of Iron Mind Captains of Crush Hand Grippers.

Worth Seeing

Got a chance to check out "The Illusionist" over the weekend. I dug it- very well done and definately worth seeing.

John Wood

Five Years Later

Five years ago today, a Tuesday, I hit the snooze button a few times and woke up around 8:40 AM

Without catching breakfast, I quickly rode my bike up State Street toward Angell Hall to catch my 9:00 class.

I was going into one of the double doors on the first floor when, a guy coming the other way asked if I “had heard the news.” With sleep still in my eyes I said “no” as he mentioned something about a plane hitting a building. I didn’t quite know where he was coming from but I figured it was no big deal.

Without realizing the gravity of the situation, I went to class.

About twenty minute later a secretary came to our class room and explained the situation. She informed us that all classes had been canceled.

The girl next to me, who was from New York, had an uncle andseveral friends who worked in the WTC and started understandably freaking out.

Class dismissed and I got on my bike and went back to my house towatch the latest updates on CNN.

Just a few days before, we (the Michigan Football team) had just returned from a trip to the West Coast to play Washington so “planes” were in my immediate mindset. As most of you know, the rest of that day and many days after were very surreal in an “I cant believe that I’m really watching this” kind of sense.

Here we are five years later…as we have seen recently, tragedy often brings out the best and the worst in people.

We have rebuilt, we have gone on…we have had no choice.

Never forget what happened that day and those who paid the ultimate price at that time and in the time since then.

John Wood

P.S. Ready for anything, ready for everything.

Hand-Balancing Courses are in

Just a quick heads up, this morning I received some great news. The printer finished the latest run of Hand Balancing courses ahead of schedule and we will have them in hand by 3:00 pm today.

We'll be filling orders til the wee hours of the morning tonight and braving the Michigan football Saturday traffic to get those babies in the mail first thing tomorrow because we know you've beenwaiting patiently.

If you havent ordered yet, Nows your chance, get a copy here.

Train hard.

John Wood

P.S. Remember, if you are located overseas, please contact us for ordering instructions. Heres that link again.

Know One Know All

Here’s a quick one to meditate on this afternoon:

With so many different ways to train, it’s easy to get lost at times.

You’ve got barbells, you’ve got machines, and you’ve got sandbags,
hand grippers, barrel lifting, chest expanders, kettlebells, thick bars, bodyweight training and many more that I could think of if I sat down and decided to make a list.

A lot of people seem to think that each individual 'way' of training and even each exercise needs its own 'mojo' that is to say, some special training procedure that is specific to that particular exercise and that exercise alone which allows you to train it correctly.

Aside from the correct form and possibly a few other small details, the truth is that the same factors which allow you to gain strength in any exercise are the same factors which allow you to gain strength with every exercise... whether you’re lifting a barbell, a rock or anything in between.

And since everyone is alike is some very fundamental ways, those same factors are at work in everyone, regardless of genetics.

So really, when you know 'how to train' you understand how to get stronger in any exercise, in any way, shape or form that you want - its just a matter of knowing what to do then taking action.

Train hard.
John Wood

P.S. Dr. Kens Log Bar is making waves in a big way. Grab a Log Bar and an exclusive Training Guide From Dr. Ken Right Here.