"It Just Took One Workout to Understand..."

Bulgarian Training Bags

As you can probably tell, I don't limit myself to just "one" style of training, instead, I take bits a pieces from many different areas in order to come up with my own "style."

Along those lines, I view every sport as a combat sport, so much of my training comes from exercises that have always been popular with wrestlers and boxers – and this is how I stumbled upon the Bulgarian Training Bags.

It was a little less than a year ago when we made them available and now they are more popular than ever.

Sure, plenty of wrestling teams and clubs have ordered them from us, but so have police academies, military bases, MMA Athletes and even a couple D-I college football
teams.

Not bad company!

Anyhow, being that I actually "train" – and train with the equipment that I feature, I know just how valuable and effective it can be – and I wouldn't make any of it available otherwise.

Fortunately a lot of people "get" what I am trying to promote, heres someone who certainly gets it now:

John, I just got my 27lb bag two days ago. I'm always looking for new and fun ways to train. All I can say about this training bag is WOW!

At first upon seeing and handling the bag I was thinking "how is this little thing gonna do anything" but I banished any negative thinking and decided to go all out and see what I could do with it.

I did the "upper body" exercises on the DVD. I did 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps, or as much as I could do if I couldn't get 10. It's been QUITE awhile since I've been so exhausted from a workout that I could not physically undress myself to go shower, but this thing managed it. I could not lift my arms above my head and feel now (two days later) like I've been hit by a Mack truck.

My abs, forearms, shoulders, tris, obliques, neck and hams are all screaming. My wife tried it last night and she just called me saying how sore she was, she loves it. I'm going to use this for a full body workout once a week in addition to my normal lifting. Thanks for introducing people to products that actually work! I'm ordering the TRX bodyweight system next.

Thanks again. I emailed now cause I'm getting ready to go do "lower body" and might not be able to drag myself back to the PC today. haha.
--
Casey Blackburn

CB, I know exactly what you're talking about – it happened to me too. Don't know if you caught it but the University of Iowa just won the NCAAs last weekend – Last fall, Tom Brands, the head wrestling coach And a damn good wrestler in his own right, ordered some Bulgarian Bags for his team.

A few months back, Ivan's Greco-Roman team took home the World Championship for the first time ever – every competitive Greco-Roman wrestler in the United States is currently training with Ivan's Bags.

The bottom line is that when you train with Ivan's Bulgarian Training Bags, you are training just like some of the best – and toughest – athletes on the planet.

After just one workout, Casey now knows the value of this kind of
training. You can too:

Ivan Ivanov's Bulgarian Training Bags

As Ive mentioned before, we have all size sin stock and ready to ship Asap, however, I recommend starting with the "Medium" – yes, it's a lot tougher than you think…

Imagine where you'll be after a few months of this kind of training...

Train hard,
John Wood

Memories of Karl Gotch

Karl Gotch and MMA fighter Josh Barnett on the January,
2007 cover of Weekly Gong Pro-Wrestling Magazine
(Life is Movement, Movement is Catch)
It's 2:30 in the morning and I just got the news that Karl Gotch passed away just a few hours ago. It doesn't sound like it was unexpected nor that he was sick or suffered during his last days which is a good thing, although news of an unexpected death is never an easy thing to take.

I was fortunate to have met and trained with Karl back in June of 2001 when I went down to Tampa, Florida to train with Matt Furey.

Let me take this opportunity to say that some of the things that have been posted about Karl and Matt Furey are flat-out untrue. -- I would know, I was there and saw things as they were with my own eyes.

Now, however, is not the time to discuss that, but what I will do it tell you what it was like to train with Karl Gotch.

Let me back up a minute.

I had already been in Tampa for two days – and had already had three Workouts, when Matt told me be ready a few hours early today (a Sunday) because "we've got to pick up Karl first."

That's right, Sundays were the day when Karl would attend Matt's training sessions. Thing is, Karl lived at least 90 minutes away so if he was going to be there, we had to go get him – and take him back afterwards, obviously quite a commitment -- and very well worth it.

Anyhow, we made our way to pick up Karl at his apartment. As Karl approached I got out of the car and introduced myself. Aside from a cordial hello, Karl didn't say a word to me for the rest of the trip which was not a surprise as it took a while for Karl to warm up to anybody (if he ever did at all, which I guess wasn't often)

Many miles later, we arrived at the gym and met a few more of Matt's students who were there for the session.

The session itself was split up into two parts: first half was conditioning, second half was sparring/ submission work.

As we began, Karl, who had just had hip surgery, sat on a chair in the corner and watched everything going on like a hawk.

I was on the far side of the room working on my wall walking. I had only been bridging for less than two weeks at that point and still learning the ropes.

Karl came over to me and said, "Let me show you how to do that right." We started with basic wall walking which I was pretty good at and Karl seemed pleased.

Once that was finished, it was time to go unsupported at the bottom position. – This can be pretty scary when you aren't used to it, but fortunately I'm a fast learner and was able to get at least a passable grade. Then it was time to wall walk but walk while keeping my chest on the wall at the bottom.

The first few times I couldn't get it and Karl barked "you must master this step if you are going to learn bridging gymnastics"

He was right, if you can't get your chest out over your chin, it just wont work.

After some more tries, I could just about get it, although Karl helped out by pushing my chest against the wall and making me hold it for a few more counts than I would have been able to otherwise.

"That's how to do It," he said, "now let me see you fall into a bridge."

Fortunately about a week before I had learned to fall into a bridge, by using my hands as support. I did so.

"Good, now do it without using your hands"

Truthfully, I was scared to that I would break my neck if I did that and was hesitant. I kept not bending far enough and ending up flat on my back as most people do

Karl's solution was to grab my hands in order to slow the speed down and get me used to falling backwards. This helped quite a bit although I never did make it on my own that day. (I got a no-hands falling bridge about a week later)

"Now bridge," he announced as if the whole world should start doing it, Karl went off to correct a few other students there. When he got back to me he said, "let me see you kick over."

I hadn't quite mastered that either yet but could almost do it. Karl seemed pleased with what little I was able to do. "Here's how you work your neck," and he proceeded to do manual resistance in every direction while grabbing my head like a cantaloupe.

"I hope you don't have to drive anywhere tomorrow because you won't be able to turn and see the traffic light when I get done with you." (He was right)

The last exercises of the day were what he called half-moon pushups; performed on a small "board" I guess you would call it. (I dont know the correct name, but it was something from traditional Indian physical culture.)

This board allowed for a greater stretch for various kinds of pushups. In any case, instead of telling us how many to do, he said go until I say stop (which was about 10 beyond what anyone was able to do.)

I was the last in line so at least I knew what I was up for. As I was fighting for those last few impossible reps, Karl said "relax your face, you look like you're giving birth."

(How’s that for a line?)

"You must stay relaxed at all times, especially when giving maximum effort," was Karl's coaching point.

At this point, the conditioning period was done and it was time for sparring and submission practice. Understand, this was like taking a math lesson from Einstein or a singing lesson from Caruso.

In a word, amazing: Karl's ability to dissect each and every move was truly remarkable. He taught us the correct way to apply the front face lock – the chin lock, and how to pop a guys elbow out with the flick of a wrist. It was with good reason why he was known as "The God of Wrestling."

Bear in mind, I have yet to see this information demonstrated any where else, even to this day. Once the session was over, it was time to take Karl home.

We loaded up the car and I sat in the backseat as Karl and Matt talked.

About half way through the trip and halfway through a conversation with Matt when Karl turned back to me and said "John, you must lose the weight around your middle." I told him I would work on it. He said "good" and went back to his conversation with Matt.

We arrived back at Karl's apartment and said goodbyes. Karl said it was a pleasure working with me. Later Matt told me he rarely said that to anyone.

All in all, it was an honor to have trained with the man. His teachings directly and indirectly had a permanent affect on my training, something which I will always be grateful for.

Thank you Karl, I appreciate it. Rest in Peace.

John Wood

Who Was The Toughest President?

"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far"
Leadership has many qualities, and toughness should be one of the most important. --You cant be tough if you arent in shape.

A man who is 'fit to lead' should be just that - fit. Since today is Presidents day, I am going to tell you about such a man:

He was born on October 27, 1858. During his early years, frequent bouts of asthma prevented him from running or playing like most children and left him small, frail and weak.

Despite his weakness, his mind was strong and when he turned eleven, his father offered him a challenge.

"You have the mind, but you have not the body, and without the help of the body, the mind cannot go as far as it should. You must make your body."

And so it begun - an open air piazza was converted into a gym and he started devoting his time to increasing his physical strength.

When he was thirteen, he was unable to defend himself when he was bullied by two boys while on a trip.

He understandably did not want that to happen again and took up boxing lessons. He eventually became good enough to become a member of the Harvard University boxing team. During his Junior year, he competed as a lightweight, and went all the way to the final round of the lightweight boxing championship.

He would go on to become the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, and he never stopped training when he took office.

Even while he lived at the White House, he never stopped leading an active lifestyle; boxing, wrestling, jiu jitsu (he reached brown belt level), tennis, swimming, horse riding...

With this attention to physical fitness in mind, its no surprise that he would go on to found the first U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, soon popularly known as the 'Rough Riders.'

A regiment, consisting of over 1,250 men, from all over the United States who could ride, shoot and were in shape, and thus could be ready for war with little training.

Speaking of training, I would imagine that the type of training that Theodore Roosevelt did was very simple.

Plenty of bodyweight calisthenics, dumbbell work, running, swimming,
rope jumping, bag work, pushups, breathing exercises, rope climbing and just practicing wrestling, boxing and martial arts. - which can get you in pretty good shape by themselves.

When speaking to a group of school childrenTheodore Roosevelt once famously said:

"There are two things that I want you to make up your minds to: first, that you are going to have a good time as long as you live - I have no use for the sour-faced man - and next, that you are going to do somethingworthwhile, that you are going to work hard and do the things you set out to do."

... which is a good lesson to keep in mind in training and in life.

Train hard,
John Wood

A Simple Upside Down Workout

Of all the different types of training I have ever tried, there is nothing quite like this one. All you need is a stopwatch and a floor (or ideally, a wrestling mat.) Just kick up in a hand stand against a wall and hold for five sets of one minute.

Man Vs. Pitbull

In the early morning hours on January 31st a man named Von Pardue, went out for a walk near his home in Conroe, Texas. It was something he enjoyed doing and made it a point to go for a walk several days per week - that day, however, he was within sight of his home when an 80 lb pitbull crossed his path. Like a standoff in the old west, it was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop - the dog looked at the man, the man looked at the dog... Who would make the first move? The dog charged at full speed toward Pardue but he did not panic As the dog lunged at him to go for the kill, this man timed a perfect strike which landed to the side of the dogs head. This blow merely stunned the dog, and within a spit second he was at him again. When the dog lunged a second time, the man was not as successful and he had no choice but to wrestle the dog - literally fighting for his life. During the melee, the man saw an opening and hit the dog again as hard as he could in the ribs. Again, this stunned the animal and gave Pardue one chance, - the one he had been hoping for -a chance to grab the dogs collar and hang on. Pardue took it, and another force overcame him. He dragged the dog back to his home and by the time he had covered thetwo block distance, he had strangled the dog to death. Quite an amazing story and a big thanks to our buddy Dave O. for sending it our way. In his note, Dave mentions how 'this is a 'real world' example of how a fellow just might need real grip strength and the will to live, even in mundane circumstances and when he is NOT looking for trouble.' I very much agree, I have always viewed my training as a means of preparing for whatever comes next. When the you-know-what hits the fan, there is only the quick and the dead. Sure I can do a few impressive feats but the ability to do all that is secondary - and in my point of view, merely a byproduct of productive training. Maybe you're training to sack the quarterback, maybe you're training to knock people out or maybe youre just going for a walk like Von Pardue. Regardless of why you might be training, you have to ask yourself if that training is going to make a difference when there is something right in front of you, staring you in the face, that is not a afraid, that will not back down andthat wants a piece of you. Train hard. John Wood P.S. Waving around pink plastic dumbbells aint gonna get the job done when Zero hour hits. If you want to build real combat strength, I recommend checking these out.

Comin' at ya

Bulgarian Training Bags are Here!

Bulgarian Training Bags are in - check 'em out.

Train hard,
John Wood