And The Bells are Ringing Out for Christmas Day

Just got back from an early morning walk with my Sister. Walks are always important but I think even more so thistime of year as it is a great opportunity to start focusing on the past, present and future.

In China they have a saying, something to the effect of 'walk every day and you'll live to a hundred years' Something to think about for the sluggabeds out there.

Also, since today IS a Monday, sometime between opening presents, football and the Holiday roast, I'll be getting in a great workout.

Anyhow,
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Feliz Navidad
Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun
Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Hyvaa jouluaJoyeux Noel
Mele Kalikimaka
Nollaig Shona Dhuit
Buone Feste Natalizie
Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr!
Boze Narodzenie
Chung Mung Giang Sinh

However you say (or celebrate) it, everyone here at FHS would like to wish you and yours all the best this Holiday season.

Train hard.
John Wood

www.functionalhandstrength.com
www.oldtimestrongman.com

The Return of The King

There hasn't yet been a man on this Earth who could duplicate this feat. Guess who makes it look easy? Learn how to train for it right here.

Why I Didn’t Train Yesterday

Just a quick one:

As I write this, the clock on the wall says 1:41 am. I just woke up from a 5 hour “nap” which I was in dire need of. With all the holiday excitement it has been increasingly difficult to find time and energy to train but I have been very good about doing so.

I finally crashed this evening – my body is telling me that I need the rest more than anything else.

While I certainly could “gut out’ a workout, I know I will be better off waiting until tomorrow and as soon as this email is finished, you can bet that I’m going to go back and hit the hay. Tomorrow is a big day and I need to be on point.

In this case, taking the night off is the right thing to do. I know this because I know my body and I also know that the next time I do train, it will be that much better.

I know I always talk about never missing workouts but it should also be understood that there is a time and a place for doing so.

You see, there will be times when missing a scheduled work out is the smartest thing you can do. (Although this should not be confused with laziness.)

Listen, and pay attention. - When it comes to your physical wellbeing, your body will tell you all you need to know.

Train hard.
John Wood.

P.S. Been getting a lot of questions about Bill Hinberns New Hand Balancing
Course. It has been our top selling training guide this year and you can get
a copy ASAP for yourself or someone you know right Here.

Busted Teeth and Broken Noses

Fifteen years ago, everyone thought real 'Combat' resembled something right of the movies; flashy roundhouse kicks, one punch knockouts and the like.- You know,real James Bond type stuff.

Then all of a sudden in the early 1990s, something called the Ultimate Fighting Championship came along and all hell broke loose.

The concept was simple,- put warriors of different disciplines in a ring to duke it out and see who had the best and most effective style

It was certainly, entertaining too; like something right out of a videogame.

What happened next was very interesting:

There was a very clear difference between styles - there were the 'Strikers' - kung fu, karate, boxing etc which depended on punches and kicks

and then there were the 'Grapplers' - wrestlers and jiu-jitsu playerswho took the fight to the ground and submitted their opponentswith a choke, arm lock or leg lock.

Early on, the grapplers had a big advantage since most real fights went to the ground which few strikers practiced doing. Of course then the strikers got smart - with all that knockout power they had,what if they learned to grapple, then they would have an advantage?

Then the grapplers figured it out too, and they started to learn striking. (Truth is, some of the 'strikers' needed to learn striking too - they had never been shown how to do it correctly in the first place).

Of course, both camps had to essentially start over at square one and it became obvious that an 'Ultimate Fighter' had to be a terror on the mat and strike like lightning during a standup.

A good friend of mine has been working on a special dvd set devoted specifically to learning to strike correctly for a long time now. I'm not talking about just being able to punch someone, but the kind of thing that is going to put some real firepower in your fists.

Heres a look at some of the things he covers:

- How To cause maximum physical damage using Your Fists, Elbows And
Forearms

- 3 ways To Use Your Head As A Weapon To Split Your Attackers Mouth
Wide Open Or Push Their Nose Back Into Their Face

- How To Use the 'Shovel Hook,' To Break Your Attackers Jaw Even If They
Are covering up like a turtle

- The Simplest Way To Defeat The Standard Boxer's Guard

- How to Make Your Attackers Hit Themselves In The Face With Their Own
Fist.(Youve gotta see this one)

- How To Do A Dirty Trick With Your Foot That will Freeze And Distract Your Opponents Giving You A Knock Out All At The Same Time.

- How To Turn Your Shoulders Into Extra Fists

As you can see, this isnt 'wax on, wax off type stuff'

I recommend high tailing it on over to this page and picking up a copy of this
dvd set for yourself or someone you know who would like it:

Here's where to get more info:

Train Like a Rock Star

A few months back, my girlfriend and I won tickets to a Redwings game at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit which we thought was being played last night.

The thing was, as I was driving into downtown Detroit all they could talk about on the radio was the Aerosmith Concert which was about to start at Joe Louis Arena.

Uh oh.

When I met her at her office downtown we checked the tickets sure enough we had the wrong date, the game is actually being played tonight (Saturday)

So we did the most sensible thing we could – we headed over to the Joe to see if they had any Aerosmith tix left, (They did) so we scooped em up and took our seats.

The warm-up band, Hinder, wasn’t bad, then, just as expected, Aerosmith rocked Detroit city for two solid hours. They put on one hell of a show.

Hard to believe Steve Tyler, Joe Perry and the other guys are in their late fifties and have been rocking since before I was born.

Not only have they made a career of doing what they truly love, but they have kept it up for the long haul.

You cant do that if you aren't serious.

Success in training is the same way. The great ones don't just begin - they keep at it. Heck, I can’t play a lick of music but you can bet that thirty years from now, Ill still be trainin' as hard as Aerosmith is rockin'. (They might still be at it too)

Now, we're off to catch the 'Wings.

John Wood