Warrior Conditioning 2: The Zulu warrior workout

They were fast

Zulu Spear and Shield

They were strong
They were relentless
You couldn't outrun them.....even if you tried

They were Zulu.

On the battlefield of Ulundi stands a domed monument, and let into the wall of the south passage is a simple marble plaque bearing the inscription

                                     'In Memory of the Brave Warriors who fell here in 1879

in Defence of the Old Zulu Order'

The Zulus were initially a small, insignificant African tribe who had to constantly fight to defend their grazing lands. Eventually they were transformed into ruthless, aggressive warriors by the brilliant military leader Shaka Zulu.

In 1816, Shaka Zulu took power of his Zulus after distinguishing himself in battle, both physically and strategically, and began a campaign of conquest to unite all of the clans in the region under his rule. By 1824, Shaka had conquered all of his neighboring tribes and grown his original small army to more than 40,000 skilled warriors.

Shaka's Zulu warriors or ‘Amabutho’ were truly legendary and stories of the grueling and often cruel training are innumerable. Forced marches of up to 70km per day carrying weapons and surviving on what they could find in the bush, proficiency in handling their weapons and the methods of dispatching the enemy were the order of the day.

Shaka soon discovered that the crude sandals traditionally worn by Zulu men hampered speed and agility and as a result the army marched, ran and fought bare foot - on sharp stones, through thorn bush, in deep sand, rivers and every type of terrain possible.

During training, young men were forced to toughen up by fighting for food, stomping on thorns in bare feet and traveling distances of 50 miles in a single day. Zulu warriors were trained to be confrontational and engage in hand-to-hand combat.

However, Shaka never expected his men to do anything he couldn't or wouldn't do himself, and he set the example.

They could travel fast and were highly mobile, able to cover around 20 miles in a day, or twice that distance in an emergency, and fight at the end of the journey.

(To be Continued)