Training Journal

[James Hallmark]

Hey all,

Just want to make this first post an introduction. As you can see I am brand new to this forum and am very excited to be a part of it. I've been looking desperately for a site like this, as I am very proud of my European heritage and have been longing to express it via martial practice.

A bit about me...I am 22, live in New Jersey, I am English, Irish, German, Scottish, and Basque. I have a boxing background with a bit of karate and brazilian jiu-jitsu. I have been dedicated to reviving pankration and will now be dedicated to reviving RMA as well!

I hope to make this section my training journal but I hope that you will comment (good or bad) in this section as well.

The reason I am creating this training journal is because no-one in my area is serious about training RMA, and even if they were, I simply do not have the time or money at the moment. I am in college, work part time, and am trying to start my own eBay supplement store slowly but surely. So, the most I can do is eat right and train with weights, calisthenics, and my Wavemaster heavybag for cardio/technique....FOR NOW.

I'm almost done with college, and would like to make sure I'm in the best possible shape I can be in when I start seriously training in RMA. Also, to supplement my training, I will be reading voraciously about the different types of swords and history of RMA that is provided online, although my main interest is in unarmed combat (aside from RMA, I also like to practice reality based self defense that includes gun and knife disarms, upping your psychomotor skills, and bludgeon defense).

Anywho, thank you all for providing me with a place to exercise my new found passion and look forward to posting!


Ok, on with the training... so far for this week: (each set between 8-12 reps)

Monday
5 sets of Dumbbell bench presses
5 sets of Tricep kickbacks

Tuesday
5 sets of upper back rows with Dumbbell
5 sets of standing bicep curls
20 minutes on heavybag


Today's goal is going to be: 5 sets of bodyweight squats (do not have a squat rack or a gym membership) and 5 sets of abs, followed by 20 minutes on the heavybag

I'm going to see if my brother (BJJ background) wants to spar a bit outside just to get more combat in there so I'm not just working out all the time.




Diet for today:

Breakfast - 1 scoop of protein powder in low fat milk

Before school snack - 1 apple, water

Lunch - Turkey and miracle whip on wheat bread, water

Dinner - grilled chicken breast and mixed veggies

Pre-bed snack - scoop of protein in water.

[Sal Bertucci]

First off I would recomend that you get a good waster. They're great for exercise!

Secondly, as a Nutritionist I had to stick my nose in and say that unless you are doing much more exercise then you are commenting here the only thing you are doing with those protein supplements is making it hard on your kidneys.

[Stewart Sackett]

Same advice I give everyone:

You're at college. Before you leave, see if your school has a wrestling program. If it does, beg the wrestlers to throw you around & try to pick up anything you can about grappling on your feet. It will get you in good shape & help you to understand & apply the material in the fightbooks.

The people of the Renaissance loved the sport of wrestling & most likely learned sportive wrestling before being trained in kampfringen. Follow their example.

[James Hallmark]

Thanks for the input guys. I really appreciate the advice very much. I will cut down to one scoop of protein, and have it immediately after my workout.

And as for the wrestling, my college does not offer a wrestling program unfortunately, so I'll have to stick with grappling with my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu trained brother, with a focus on the clinch.


As far as the protein goes, I know it's not much mass, but I worked hard to get the little mass I do have on my frame, I'm hoping by cutting my protein to one scoop per day I do not lose any, as I am much stronger due to the 20 lbs of muscle I put on in the last year:

Before mass, after I lost 100 lbs: http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.c ... eID=676968

After mass: http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.c ... eID=676934


I'd like to add even more mass and as a certified personal trainer with an emphasis on nutrition, we learned that if lifting you should have at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. I know the lifting doesn't seem like much, but that's all I've been doing to gain muscle and it's been working so far. To lose the initial 100 pounds, all I did was cardio on an empty stomach everyday and eat six times per day.

Perhaps I'll stick with the two scoops of protein and simply bump up my lifting to 7 sets per exercise as oppossed to 5 sets per exercise

[James Hallmark]

So I began my academics yesterday by watching every video offered on the "arts of mars" and the transition into the modern world and learned so many things. I have a new found appreciation for the skill of fencing with the longsword, back when fencing had a lot more cultural "fiber" if you will, and a lot more practical skill involved due the environment that created a necessity for that skill.

Going to hit my seven sets downstairs in my musty basement gym and blast some good ol' AC/DC in a bit.

Going to check out the Articles & Essays section and educate myself further on RMA.

Some notes I'd like to make is how AMAZINGLY close modern day military manuals and RMA manuals are in terms of unarmed technique and dagger/knive defense technique. I saw a video on youtube showing the similarities and they truly are amazing.

I realize how non-practical longsword practice is, but you know what, I think that training in it (will be ordering a wooden longsword as soon as my tax return comes) will give me a huge appreciation for fighting as an art and as a science, that is, training in its origin.

I must say, I am however partial, and always have been, to the gladius hispaniensis over the longsword, just for cosmetic reasons.

[Sal Bertucci]

There's only so many good ways to kill people up close.

The longsword will grow on you.

Once you get your waster in, spend some days and just to cuts in repetitions of 50. (Or work up to it) Lifting weights will give you muscles that will work hard for a short period of time, but as a swordsman you will need muscles that can work all day long.

[James Hallmark]

You're absolutely right Sal, the longsword is growing on me already and I don't even have my waster. And thank you for the advice on the workout, I will definitely do that the first day it comes in!


I'd like to announce that today will be my last day with an energy drink. For about the past three years I have had one energy drink every day. I have always wanted to quit and reading the ARMA credo gave me the inspiration to do so. I read about how the ARMA is much more than simply techniques and timing, but more deeply about being better than you are now, through discipline and repetition. So, starting tomorrow, not another energy drink.

When I tried to go off last time, I got horrible headaches, and would end up having to take excedrine, in which case I would simply just go back to the drinks the day after in a depressing defeat. But not tomorrow, I will probably get a headache, take some excedrine, and continue on this path, until no headaches occur, and that is when I will know my body has kicked the physical addiction to the energy drinks. I assume this could not take longer than one week.

And it wouldn't matter anyway, how long it takes that is, because after tomorrow, no more. They're a waste of money and precious health (I always drank sugar free/calorie free energy drinks, but my main reason for kicking them is due to the huge amounts of caffeine in them, especially after seeing my father with his recent aneurysm).

[James Hallmark]

Grr...tax return came in and immediately had to pay bills with it leaving me virtually no money for a waster. So, unfortunately, this will have to be a slowly but surely kind of thing. I saw on http://www.swordsofhonor.com/2hawosw.html that there is a two handed waster for 40 bucks. Being in school and working part time, that is the only one that is really in my price range. The ad says it can take the abuse of sparring, so lets hope it's good quality. I'm going to have to save up for it; between bills and business expenses, I'm guessing it'll take me about a month to get it. It doesn't matter anyway, since nobody in my area trains in RMA. Anywho, as far as training is concerned, I have been...

1. Eating 6 smaller meals per day

2. Drinking more water (to the point where my urine is clear)

3. Keeping my carbs low

4. Lifting, but dropping my weight and increasing my reps, for the purpose of building functional strength over brute strength.

5. Studying unarmed fighting methods and researching the different types of swords and their history

6. Practicing combos on my heavybag to build endurance and striking skills.


I have been thinking about training with my bokken from when I used to do kendo in the past, just to get the feel of a sword again. I would use the bokken, however, I would use it with a waster training program, just until I can pay for my two handed waster.

[Stewart Sackett]

About number 4:

I think low weight + high reps will give you more lean muscle but it won't necessarily be more functional. Think about what it is you're trying to do. Fighting isn't a slow jog & it's not a single big exertion it's a series of connected sprints (incidentally, wind sprints are great). Worry less about weight or reps & more about explosiveness & pacing.

For my part my workouts are pretty much exclusively through training either in HEMA or Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. That’s enough for me right now & frankly all I can fit into my schedule but if I either was unable to train or no longer needed to work (as a result of some financial miracle) I’d check out crossfit:

http://www.crossfit.com/

[Joshua Hintzen]

Mr. Hallmark, I just read your posts. Its really inspiring, I gotta say! I am a RMA newbie, but I am very fortunate that I live near an experianced individual with whom to train. That you lost 100 pounds is really amazing, and not just lost it, but became quite fit to! I have been trying to lose weight and get in shape, not just for RMA, but its hard to keep motivated running in the early morning when all I want to do is go back to sleep.

And your kicking your energy drink addiction. While I am not quite in the same boat there (I don't even like to drink soda, Its water, tea, milk, and juice only for me) I do have a love of sweets and munchies. You have inspired me! Just as your kicking energy drinks, I am cutting out sweets and munchies from my diet. No more!

Now, time to change up my exercise routine!

[Joseph French]

Mr. Hallmark, great work so far. I encourage you to keep it up. I am like you in that I am trying to find training partners and get started in RMA. As far as you lifting goes, its clearly been working and you should continue on with it. The whole idea behind exercise is to gain strength, speed, and endurance. Lifting weights in an explosive manner is a great way to do all three.

While its obviously true focusing specifically on endurance will better increase endurance than working on strength and speed too, there is no reason that weight lifting can't do all three. You're heavy bag work also provides some of the best endurance training you can do (I am an experienced boxer and kickboxer and IMO nothing kicks your butt like a good heavy bag workout).

As far as being trained specifically to wield a sword all day, the best way to do that would be to wield a sword all day (duh, right?). This secret to success is true for all activities, be it basketball, soccer, swimming, etc. Nothing you do in the gym will train your neuromuscular system to do what is required of it when wielding a sword (I mean specific "muscle memory," not general conditioning). So to attain good skill and endurance in fencing, keep up the general conditioning, but also practice fencing.

Final piece of advice, start running. IMO, running, swimming, and lifting weights (to include bodyweight, IE calisthenics) are the best conditioning methods around. Bon travail, keep it up.