Fighter’s Mind Fighter’s Body is a comprehensive training manual aimed at the competitive martial arts fighter with hundreds of exercises available to pepper your training programme. Lesley Jackson finds out more as she falls on her nose trying a plyometric hand-clap press up.
“Become stronger, faster, tougher” - Tony Li has presented us with an all-encompassing guide to becoming the ultimate fighting machine, whereby you will learn to fight harder, faster and smarter and if, after you have mastered the eye-watering plyometrics exercises, possibly fly as well! After reading this comprehensive and thorough training manual, you won’t be short of ideas to flavour your training programme although you will need to make sure you are part of the book’s target audience and are physically strong enough manage some of the exercises suggested.
Although Tony Li is credited as being an instructor of the Vietnamese martial art Hiep Tihn Mon and often draws his exercises from this source, such as the interesting “frog breathing”; this book is relevant to all people wishing to fight competitively. There is a massive bank of exercises to choose from, nearly two hundred pages worth in fact, which are usefully divided up into the various body concentrations relevant to the different genres of martial art be they striking, kicking or grappling. Like all good scouts, Tony Li’s best advice in preparing for a big competition is to be prepared, “The one trait that has separated champions from losers is an unwavering dedication to mental and physical preparation, and it always pays off.”
The training programmes included in Tony Li’s text range from the beginner to the advanced and although he is quite resolute in his dedication to training for a big event, he also errs on the side of sensible as he advises readers to stick to the relevant programme suitable to your level of fitness and to build in the active recovery to enhance performance; whilst the opposition not in the know can over-train themselves into defeat. Technique is also emphasised, “It’s not enough to just have a needle; you need to know how to use it,” as well as a useful training log and CD rom.
However, as useful as this book is, there are some details which must be taken into consideration before spending a chunk of your money on it. First of all, this is a book aimed primarily at men. There are no pictures of women at all, apart from the obviously female hands massaging Tony’s tired shoulders on page 80. Also, there is an emphasis on testosterone levels, which is of course important if you are a male fighter but no discussion on how this would be relevant to the female fighter. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with a book aimed at the male athlete (after all, we wouldn’t question a book aimed at women), but some indication on the cover who the intended audience is would be useful.
As well as the physical, there is also some discussion on the mental aspect of a fighter’s well being which is relevant but slightly skewed in places. There is, of course, a need for a fighter to be mentally tough and Tony rightly links the mental aspect to a fighter’s performance, “...avoid making an artificial distinction between ‘mental’ and ‘physical’. Ultimately, they’re one and the same.” Some of the tips he offers are very useful, such as developing the pre-competition “poker face” and to, “Smile if you can between rounds. If you can muster the energy, skip the stool and stand.” However, when applying the fighter’s will to win to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Tony’s argument doesn’t quite work as, “A person seized with passion will forgo Maslow’s needs.” This would work up to a point but the idea of the hierarchy of needs is to establish what a human being desires and what they need for survival. So yes, when a fighter’s red mist has descended and is gripped in the will to win, he or she may well forgo the immediate desire for food or a designer handbag but without air or water, you will be dead and that won’t help you win a competition.
Having said all this, ‘Fighters Mind Fighter’s Body’ is a comprehensive training manual with a lot of good ideas for exercises to make you a stronger fighter. The recipes at the back are a nice addition as well; I personally can vouch for the Chinese Beef and Broccoli, yum!
Fighter’s Mind Fighter’s Body is a comprehensive training manual aimed at the competitive martial arts fighter with hundreds of exercises available to pepper your training programme. Lesley Jackson finds out more as she falls on her nose trying a plyometric hand-clap press up.
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