Santa Monica Training

Returning to Basics to increase T-Spine Mobility and Improve Movement Patterns

2010-05-24T13:49:00.001-07:00

The essence of all martial arts and other movement systems can always be found in the most fundamental techniques. Unfortunately, the basics are often under trained and overlooked in a rush to get to the system’s more flashy techniques. Those who have taken time to truly master basic movement patterns know how rich in value they are.

My Sifu has said on many occasions, “Ask real martial

arts masters what they are practicing and they’re likely to say that they’re drilling one of their most basic techniques.” I have always been one to brush off the basics in order to get to the “fun stuff,” and that goes all the way back to avoiding scales when I took piano lessons as a kid. But the more adept I become in martial arts and strength training, the more I see the importance of developing the most fundamental skill sets.

Recently, I have been drilling one of the first things I learned in the Hardstyle RKC system -- with great results! The Wall Squat! If you’ve never tried it, you just might find it to be the most effective, easy way to correct a faulty Dead Lift pattern. Here’s what you do: Stand facing a wall and only two inches away from it, with your feet shoulder width apart and parallel to each other. Without letting your face run into the wall, your knees collapse inward or your feet turn out -- push your butt back and pull yourself down into the Dead Lift position. You’ll quickly see what a self-correcting exercise this is!. If you don’t have enough thoracic mobility to arch your back as you lower yourself down, you will run into the wall! If you don’t stay on your heels and really push your butt back without letting your knees come forward, you will bump into the wall! The only way to lower your self WITHOUT running into the wall is to develop perfect body mechanics. This is a gradual process. Over time you use strength to help develop greater spinal mobility and to pry your chest open.

After practicing for only a few weeks I’ve seen marked improvement in my spinal mobility, and this has had a dramatic effect on my more “advanced” lifts and movements -- particularly the Pistol. To do a Pistol you must lower your self to a full squat on one leg and keep the thigh of

that leg parallel to the ground. Then you stand all the way back up without losing balance. To do this successfully, you need both great balance and great strength. The more you focus on extending and lengthening your spine and pulling your head up, the easier it is to balance and stabilize. If your head creeps forward and your back rounds, it’s harder to maintain your center of balance and you start rocking forward off of the heel of your foot. Without keeping your spine in extension you cannot properly drive off the heel of your foot using the posterior chain of

muscles that is standard in most kettlebell techniques. Practicing the Wall Squat has made it much easier for me to keep my spine long throughout the descent and ascent of the Pistol. I now feel much stronger and can hit more Pistol reps – and it all came from going back to a basic exercise to increase mobility in my T-spine.

2010-01-14T09:09:00.000-08:00

2010 is off to a great start! I've been making improvements in all areas of life --
from maintaining good relationships with people, to deepening my understanding of
the movement arts I teach, to expanding my business. I couldn't be happier!
The Tai Chi class I started at the Culver City Senior Center is going so well that
we had to move to a larger room to accommodate all the new students. I love teaching there. Everyone is enthusiastic and really understands and is appreciative of Tai Chi's restorative benefits.
The more I teach kettlebells and Tai Chi, the more similarities I see between them.
Both are arts that strive to create power through maximum efficiency in technique and body mechanics with minimum strain on the body . Both arts share the common goals of increasing mobility in the hips and lengthening the spine. Both rely on the principle of linkage over leakage
and focus on developing the posterior chain of muscles. I even hear myself giving
the same verbal cues in both classes!
As my knowledge of body mechanics deepens, my appreciation for these
two great movement arts grows more and more.

Developing Focus

2009-10-08T21:57:00.000-07:00

Many people achieve only a small fraction of their athletic capabilities. Although there are many reasons for this, one stands out more than the others for me. That reason is simply a lack of focus and intention during training. When the attention isn’t there, proper technique falls by the wayside. No progress is made and, more often then not, injuries occur. When I first started training with Dr. Cheng this was one of my main problems. I had more than enough talent and physical capability, but I was unable to focus for an extended period of time. I would laugh if I made a mistake, execute techniques in a half-assed manner, and generally train without seriousness. Whenever I trained like this, Dr. Cheng always give me a sharp look and told me to “ Tune in!” When I was younger, I thought he was being too hard on me, but over the years I came to realize just how important it is to
focus. Not only was I making myself more injury-prone, but I was also not receiving the full benefits of my training.
Gichin Funkakoshi, the founder of Shotokan Karate, once said, “Karate is like boiling water: without heat it returns to its tepid state” Without the right mindset behind any physical art form, the movements lose their meaning and understanding at a deep level is lost. In kettlebell training, maintaining a focused mindset is crucial. Anyone who has ever been put through the RKC snatch test knows that the sooner you lose the fire in your eyes and the determination in your mind, the sooner gravity will rip the bell out of your hand. Being able to focus at all times is very important for fatigue management and injury prevention. As fatigue starts to set in, its easy to tune out and let your technique unravel. This is what often results in injury. And there’s no time when focus is more required than when you are fatigued. That’s why one of the first things I tell people when they start training with me is that the exercise isn't over until the kettlebell is safely on the ground. I’ve seen people put their bells down in unsafe ways that pull on the shoulder or jerk the body in a less than ideal way. That's why it’s so important to maintain focus all the way through the entire workout.
The ability to stay focused brings long-term benefits also. Often, the difference between Person A who trains for years in a physical art but never reaches a high skill level, and Person B who trains for half the time yet far surpasses A – has less to do with natural talent and more to do with attitude! There are only 24 hours in a day and most of us lead busy lives. Why not make the most of the short amount of time you have to train and “Tune in!”? The benefits will far surpass your expectations.

Training for Longevity

2009-07-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

In order to perform any physical activity to your maximum capability, it is important to create and maintain a functional body. Flexibility, mobility, strength, and stability are all necessary for achieving excellence in any sport or physical art form. When I first started studying Tai-Chi, my Sifu, Dr. Mark Cheng, told me an analogy that, I feel, applies to all training. Imagine that your chosen art or sport is like a aged, expensive, fine wine, and your body is a receptacle for that wine. In order to fully receive the true benefits of the art or sport in the most efficient way, you want your body to be like a fine wine glass. Unfortunately, due to years of bad training, accumulated injuries, poor posture and bad body mechanics, many of us have bodies that are more the equivalent of a paper cup. They are not suitable to receive the wine or sport in any real or beneficial way.
In order to insure that our bodies are like that fine wine glass, we have to take the time to rehabilitate injuries when they occur and make sure that we train in a way that prevents other injuries from happening. Often when people don't take time to fully rehabilitate an injury, they risk turning a minor injury into a life long one. Trying to train through an injury is one of the worst things you can do to yourself, whereas the benefits of taking time to craft your body into a well functioning machine are immeasurable.
Grand Master Bong Soo Han, with whom I began training at age 15 in Hapkido (the art of coordinated power), was a quintessential example of the finest wine poured into the finest wineglass. He always placed a heavy emphasis on posture, attention to detail and efficiency in motion. Even into his seventies, Grand Master Han had perfect posture, would continuously sprint up and down the mats throughout class, and could drop into the splits at will. If he hadn't taken the time as a young man to turn his body into such a fine container for his art, the physical feats he routinely performed until the end of his life would have been virtually impossible.
These two masters of movement -- Sifu Mark Cheng and Grand Master Bong Soo Han -- instilled the importance of training for longevity in me from an early age. Think about the training you do now. Are you training in a way that is injury prone, or unhealthy for your body? Think about what the effects will be of your current training on your body 20 years from now.

Training Update

2009-07-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

Training has been intense lately! The two main goals that I have set in my crosshairs are to reach my RKCII requirements and to test for my black belt in Combat Shuai Chiao. Kettlebell training has been going great lately. I continuue to make strength gains and can see the explosive effect they are having on my martial arts training. Over the past several years, my twin brother Mo and I have been meeting with Dr. Cheng on a bi-weekly basis to train Shuai-Chiao and to "Worship at the church of gravity," as he likes to say. Over the past six months of training with Mo, I've noticed that our technique has become a lot cleaner, more efficient and, most of all, instinctual. Lately, Dr. Cheng has been doing a lot more sparring with us and really giving us an understanding of how to make the techniques work in a live situation. I have also been focusing alot on Tai-Chi, specifically push hands. Although I usually get my ass kicked, it's fun to stop my mom (also an avid Tai Chi practitioner) wherever I might find her in the house, and challenge her to a round of push hands. I've definitly seen an improvement with that kind of grease-the-groove training applied to Tai-Chi push hands.
If you haven't come to check out the group class I run with Nikki Shlosser on Tuesdays and Thursdays, now's your chance! We have a good base of really dedicated people, and we're getting more and more newcomers all the time.

Kettlebells for Martial Arts

2009-06-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

Recently, I have been using the Hardstyle Russian Kettlebell swing to improve the mechanics of a Combat Shuai-Chiao throw that I’ve been practicing. The mechanics of how the throw is performed use the same ballistic hip movement that is used to swing a kettlebell. The throw demonstrated in the picture is Bao. My twin brother Mo, Rickson Gracie blue belt, is my partner.
As you can see in the first picture, when I wrap my arm around Mo’s waist, I dynamically load my hips in preparation for lifting him up and throwing him over my shoulder. In order to do this safely and without injuring my back, I have to load my hips just like I do at the bottom of a swing: I pry my hips back and arch my back, pushing my chest forward. This makes sure the lift is truly ballistic, coming from the locking out of my knees and hips and not at all from my back. Power is force multiplied by distance and divided by time. Therefore, the faster I accelerate my hips and knees into the hardstyle lockout position, the more power I’m able to create and the easier it is to execute the throw.
To practice this, I’ve been swinging the 70lb kettlbell and trying to accelerate my hip on the accent of the swing as fast as possible. The effects of training like this were almost immediate! Although my brother is light, it was obvious that the training made this throw much smoother and more efficient, enabling me to lift him with much greater ease and power.

KBLA Kettlebell training at sunset!

2009-06-17T12:38:00.000-07:00

Looking for kettlebell training in Santa Monica? Maybe you've already tried some of the other KBLA classes or maybe you've never even picked up a kettlebell before. On Tuesday and Thursday nights, Nikki Shlosser and I co-teach a group kettlebell class at 7 o'clock on the south east corner of clover park by the tennis courts. If your looking to improve your strength, flexibility, body composition, and over all well being. I strongly recommend making it out to one of our classes. Like all KBLA classes we have a heavy emphasis on safety and technique over mindless reps. we have a great group going with lots of very nice people who're all very supportive with one another. Only 20 dollars a class now is your chance to see for your self what all the hype for kettlebells is about, and reap their incredible benefits. Also, I will now be posting every work out and every bit of exercise I do on twitter. If your interested to see my routines or think you can keep up with me, check it out!

HardStylers Welcome!

2009-06-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the blog of Anton Summers RKC! I will use this as a training log to show how I train and the progress I make throughout my workouts. I will also be using this blog to give any news or updates about the Tuesday and Thursday night class I co-instruct with RKC Nikki Shlosser. I will share my thoughts, ideas, and advice on the Hardstyle system of Russian Kettlebell training, as well as post pictures on a weekly basis.