Q & A: Where does your motivation come from?

Question: Coach John, you always give us a good motivational talk at the end of each training session, and I love it. In fact I look forward to it. My question is: where do you get YOUR motivation from?

Signed, R.C.




Answer: Thanks R.C.! That always means a lot to me when I get feedback from members of the gym-most of the time I never really know if get through or not! So where does my motivation come from? A few different places really:




1. Mentors: I believe in having mentors, people who are further down the road than me in life, business, health, etc. They become valuable resources in tough times when I need some direction, and also in good times, when I’m not sure how to make the success continue. The pick me up when I’m down and give me that swift kick in the ass when I need that too! But most of all, they represent what I can become in the future if I keep doing what they do- and THAT excites me!

2. You: when I see people who enroll into my program and get the results they’re looking for, I get excited! I watch people like you come in consistently, train hard, focus, push themselves, sweat, punch, sweat, kick, sweat, do push-ups and sweat some more and I love it! Because when people can begin to change physically, they will quickly change mentally.




3. Desire: I have my own personal missions in life and one of them is become more than I was the year before; a better athlete, writer, speaker, businessman, fiancé (soon to be husband!), son, brother, friend, etc. I learned a long time ago that perfection is the direction NOT the destination- no matter how hard I try, I’ll always fail. Yet, the paradox is that success is ALWAYS built on failure. And if I’m failing, that means I’m trying, and if I’m trying that means I’ll get there soon. (I hope! LOL!!)




4. Motors: I place people into 2 groups in life- anchors and motors. Anchors hold me down and motors push me forward. I try to spend little to no time with people who are negative or have no ambitions in life and attempt to maximize the amount of time I spend with people who inspire me, educate me, push me and challenge me. Look at who I'll be married to in a few weeks!! Mary is always training her butt off and eating right, and when I hang around someone who is so focused and driven I can't help but to get caught-up in her slip stream as she surges through life with passion, desire and drive!

Q & A with Coach John

Question: Coach John, I’m trying to develop my kicks for my kickboxing. I want them to be faster and have more power. You’ve said that if I do the technique correctly and with speed, then I’ll have power, but I still don’t feel it! I want my kicks like yours, so…what do I do? David S.

Answer: Great question David and I have to say that if you’re doing the technique correctly and with speed, then you’re on the right track at least to developing powerful kicks. With that said, I tell you what I do, as well as why I do it, to develop the power and speed that I have.

First, here’s my leg workout I did last week:
200 Jumping Jacks
100 Squats
50 Squat Jumps
3 Rounds Shadow Sparring
Stretch
Run ½ Mile
10 Sprints
3 Rotations of: (all done with 100% speed and power on each kick.)
30 Shuffle Step Round (10 leg, 10 rib cage, 10 head)
30 Back Leg Round (Same)
10 Shuffle Round –drop-round
10 Back Leg round-drop-round
10 Shuffle Step Triple Drop Round
10 Back Leg Triple Drop Round
20 Front leg Round-drop-round
20 Back Leg Round-drop-round
2 Rotations of:
20 Slide Front Kick, jab, cross
20 Back Front Kick, cross, hook
20 Slide Side Kicks, jab cross
20 Jump Reverse Side Kick

Then I do Plyometrics:
100 Jump Switch Lunges
100 Squat Jumps
30 Single Leg High Step Jumps (each leg)
50 Jump Tucks



Of course my legs are fried by this time, so I just stretch out and call it a day…then vomit. In order to have better kicks, I have to kick… a lot. I have to make sure that they are explosive as well as technically correct, but what really get my kicks faster, stronger and more explosive is doing all of the plyometrics afterwards. They hit every fast-twitch muscle fiber used for kicking. Of course I do squat with heavy, moderate and light weight as well from time to time, but I will always mix in plyometrics to my training because I’m training to develop fighter’s muscle: fast, powerful and, well…simply harmful to others.

Q& A with Coach John

Question:
When will I know I’m ready to move up to Level 2 or 3? JJ

Answer:
Well JJ, that is a question that nearly everyone asks!! And the answer may seem too simple, but here it is: when you feel you’re ready, or when we tell you that you should move up, well….move up!

While the majority of members here simply want to get into shape and are not getting ready for a fight, or to earn a rank in martial arts, there is still a certain amount of skill and technical knowledge one must possess before moving up to the next level. The main reason for this is safety; it makes no sense to put someone in danger of pulling a muscle or tearing a ligament to get a workout when they don’t have the proper muscular development, body control or technical knowledge to do the moves- THIS IS NOT TAE BO PEOPLE!! Safety is essential in a sport such as this because the movements are very explosive, extremely powerful and can be jarring to the body even though our heavy bags are soft.

The second reason a person would want to take some time and develop the basics of this type of training is that they can get very frustrated when they get lost on many of the advanced moved such as footwork, head movement and multiple angle combinations. I’ve seen time and again when someone gets lost in class, they feel as if either they aren’t good enough, or that the classes are just too hard- and they quite. However, when someone gets even 4-6 weeks of basic training, they have a blast at the upper levels and reach their goals quicker than if they simple wing-it!

This is when you need to stay at Level One:

So, when do you know you’re ready?: when you’ve spent at least 4-6 weeks at Level One and find that the techniques are no longer difficult to perform, and/or you can perform them with unlimited speed and power. Also, you know you’re ready when we tell you to move up to level two and that’s because we see the progress you’re making and want you to make even more!


BUT: Please don’t feel as if you have to move up in the Levels, if you simple want the 30-35 minute workout that Level One provides, by all means, stay there! But if you want longer training sessions, more technical skill and knowledge, then please, feel free to join us at the advanced level classes!

SEE YOU IN CLASS!!