Toughness is strength and then some; It's strength forged by adversity. If you want to be tough, you have to expose your weaknesses ruthlessly and eradicate them. You have to embrace challenges that are tougher than you—for now, at least—and spend your hard-earned time and money to do so.
You need the following qualities to be tough:
Strong grip and arms for carrying or grappling
A core that can withstand a heavy load or a hard blow
A cool head, even when in physical pain
The ability to focus amid action and distractions
Enough cardiovascular endurance to persevere in an emergency
Legs that don't quit, but can also explode into speed
The ability to recover quickly and get ready for more
We need an unyielding determination to complete our respective missions, regardless of the adversity we face in the process. That's the toughness we seek, and it's in the background of everything we do inside of the gym and out of it.
Many people begin the fitness journey by hating themselves, and this leads to unhealthy or downright dangerous health and fitness habits. Walk into a gym and you're likely to see people going through the motions of training in ways that are detrimental to their health, all for the purpose of looking like someone else.
The fitness journey isn't only about being thinner, bigger, stronger or fitter; it's about discovering who you really are inside. When you get into the gym, discard any preconceptions you hold about your appearance (indeed, the mind often makes us look far worse than we really look). Focus on the workout at hand, crank out as many sets as possible, and Go home happy and fulfilled.
A few months ago I encountered a 60-something year old Indian psychotherapist on a flight from Mumbai. This elderly man was impressively vibrant and flexible for his age. In fact, he was capable of performing a full split and he displayed this ability, attributing his extraordinary flexibility to a strict regime of Yoga training.
Yoga teaches us how to adopt a new lifestyle, which is the key to permanent change. It offers the practitioner what few other physical exercises can: a potent combination of ancient science and self-mastery, tools that facilitate the self-reflection required to discover why one gained weight in the first place, and the ability to literally (as they say in yoga-speak) "let it go."
Where yoga really shines is when it stays true to its origins, as a science that fosters the union of all aspects of being, rallying us to discipline, helping us to slow down mentally, teaching us to distinguish between the urge to eat and the emotional impulses that sometimes drive us to eat, and helping us to discern what we are truly hungry for.
Yoga can be practised from the comfort of your home. All you need are some comfortable clothes and a yoga mat and you are good to go. It is light on the joints and the chances of injury, if done initially under the guidance of a trained professional – are minimal.
The incredible message you receive with yoga is that it's not about achieving, or losing weight—although most people do. It's about being, which is really just accepting yourself just as you are
A gym peeve of mine is seeing people working out with too little intensity (intensity refers to how hard you work). I often see gym goers lifting far less weight than they should be working with, reading novels, and carrying out animated conversations during their workouts. As a general rule, if you can carry on a conversation whilst you are working out, then you are not working at the appropriate intensity. You should feel like your muscles have been thoroughly worked out, but you should not feel so utterly exhausted that you can't do anything else after the workout.
You can improve your workout intensity by working out for shorter periods of time whilst increasing weights and distance, cross-training, working out on an incline bench, and maximizing your body weight while working out, by using a weighted vest or ankle weights.
Research has shown that the higher the intensity, the more calories you burn, not only while exercising, but after you leave the gym, when your body benefits from an“after-burn” mode. Research also indicates that strenuous exercise blunts your appetite after workouts more effectively than longer sessions of easy exercise do.
By increasing the intensity of your workouts, you save time and improve your fitness, helping you to achieve and exceed your fitness goals much faster.
I fall into this trap from time to time. I carry out some sets with maximum intensity, and in the process of taking a short break I strike up a discussion with a friend or acquaintance. Within a short time the 'short' discussion becomes an hour long conversation. At the end of the session, I leave the gym feeling distinctly unfulfilled and knowing that I could have achieved much more with the time I spent in the gym that day.
However, I have been able to combat the temptation of socialising during my workout time by following these simple steps.
1. I plan out my workout beforehand and I ensure that I meet every limit set in my workout plan. This prevents me from wasting time
2. Get to the gym very early, before the time wasters start arriving.
3. Cut down on classes if they are not HIIT based. Many classes involve lengthy warm up and cool down sessions which eat into your training time.
4. Get yourself a nice personal music player with your favourite tracks. Once you pop on your headphones, your concentration should be multiplied.
By following these steps, your training time will be maximised and you'll see results much faster than before.
I believe it is essential for women to be fearless in order to survive in today’s world. I recently started teaching unarmed combat to a few women from my gym and they have all reported feeling more empowered to negotiate their daily lives after undergoing some sessions of self defence training.
Self-defence is a psychological endeavour. Unfortunately, women who come to my classes often feel that they aren't young or fit or flexible enough to defend themselves from attackers. This is the first issue that needs to be addressed, as fear is what the attacker counts on.
I usually start by improving the client’s fitness levels and building their confidence alongside. I then repeatedly put them in situations when they are under attack and teach them how to combat the threat. It’s an elaborate process that aims at empowering them, and more often than not, the ladies rapidly rise to the challenge, pushing themselves to levels of performance which they never believed they could achieve.
The name Gina Carano may not ring any bells - unless you're an MMA enthusiast, in which case she's a household name. But if you've watched Fast and Furious 6, then you would recognise her as Agent Riley, the really hot female FBI officer who betrayed Agent Hobbs (The Rock).
Carano, 31, a former stunt professional on the TV game show "American Gladiators," was ranked among the top mixed martial arts fighters in the world before she retired to work in Hollywood. Her breakthrough: a starring role in the Steven Soderbergh-directed 2011 thriller "Haywire."
At the age of 21 Gina began training in Muay Thai, a form of Kickboxing, with Master Toddy at the suggestion of then boyfriend Kevin Ross. In pursuit of a life-changing experience he ended up at a local Las Vegas Muay Thai Gym and she tagged along. A trainer approached her, telling her point blank that she was fat and needed to lose weight. She weighed around 175 lbs. and had no direction at that point in her life. She began training and became addicted. Master Toddy saw potential in the way Gina handled herself. She took naturally to fighting with strong punches, deadly elbows and knees, a impressive overhand right, and rib-cracking hard kicks. Immersing herself completely in the sport, she advanced quickly. Months later she found herself in a "fight club" situation in San Francisco where she took on any female fighter plopped down in front of her. Since then she hasn't looked back.Her Muay Thai career is comprised of an impressive 12 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw and she becomes the first American woman to win a title in Thailand. Classified by the Unified Women's MMA Rankings as the third best 145 lb (66 kg.) female fighter in the world, her current MMA record stands at 7 wins and 1 loss.
Gina is engaged to Henry Cavill (Aka Superman) Henry and Gina are the epitome of fitness in the realm of entertainment. Both have physically fit features, stays active and a herald a lifestyle that could apply for fitness models.
"Construction" was a widely despised punishment during my secondary school days, along with squats, isometric arm holds, and a gauntlet of as many sadistic exercises and positions as could be imagined by the human mind.
Looking back, as much as we hated the punishments, we were very strong, we would be woken from bed to run about 10 Km (with the threat of being whipped if you didn't keep pace), and our injuries healed faster. Apparently, what couldn't kill us made us stronger!
This exercise basically involves sitting with your back against a wall in a squat position, or for the more adept, performing the position in mid air and simply holding the position for as long as you can. It is important that the legs are at a 90 degree angle. Apparently you are not supposed to rest your hands on your thighs, but instead to hold them above your head or even in front of you to work your shoulders. The exercise builds isometric strength as well as endurance in the quads and glutes – a favorite exercise to perform for the running season, or if you're interested in the martial arts.
This is one exercise you can perform just about anywhere, with no need for gym equipment. With practice, you should be able to increase your muscular endurance and hold on for longer times. My longest time was above 5 hours ( I had a sadistic prefect standing over me with a belt!!). I wasn't smiling at the end, I assure you.
So, everyone who reads my blog knows that I love to exercise. I suppose you could say I am a little addicted. I can’t live without it. But that isn’t such a bad thing right? What’s wrong with keeping yourself active and healthy? However, I was surprised to find that too much exercise can actually be a bad thing for those of us who exercise for weight loss. That’s because too much exercise can actually cause our bodies to store fat rather than burn it.
A recent study showed that too much cardiovascular exercise at too high an intensity can cause the body to become depleted and worn down and this can actually slow the body’s metabolism as we go into survival mode. This means that our bodies will try to hold on to our fat stores rather than burn them. In such situations its not uncommon to actually lose muscle and preserve fat. Not what we want!
So how can we ensure that we are exercsiing in a way that will ensure we burn fat not muscle?
1. Firstlly make sure that you enjoy exercise. Keep the workouts at a level that ensures you still enjoy what you’re doing. If you work so hard that you begin to totally dread every new workout and feel drained, chances are you are doing too much. It doesn’t have to be pure agony for you to derive benefit.
2. Make sure that you add resistance training to your workout regime at least twice a week. Too much cardio and not enough resistance can cause your body to stop burning fat effectively. This can be in the form or weights or just by using body weight exercises. Using our muscles and building them ensures that we don’t lose muscle.
3. Try to reduce cardio if you are pushing yourself too much. 2-3 cardio workouts a week of 30-45 minutes at moderate to high intensity is sufficient for most people.
4. Try using intervals as a way of breaking up your workouts. You can speed up your metabolism and burn fat whilst spending less time exercising. Replace long runs on the treadmill with short 15 minute interval circuits to help boost your metabolism.
5. Ensure that you get plenty of sleep. This helps your body to repair and recover from the day’s stresses and strains. Look at ways to reduce your stress if you have trouble sleeping.
6. Eat a healthy balanced diet and don’t cut out food groups or starve yourself. Sensible eating and portion control ensure that you eat a balanced diet that will give you all the energy your body needs.
I hate Leg training, but I know that if I don't train my legs as hard as possible, I'll have a fantastic upper body and spindly legs.
This workout starts with Heavy Volume Sumo Deadlifts. Sumo deadlifts incorporate your legs and your back. Stop each set when you can't exert anymore, or when you feel like that next rep might put you in a precarious position to injure yourself. Put the bar down and take your rest, and then resume the attack.
You have to perform 100 heavy reps in as few sets as possible. This of course implies that you may have to go easy on the weight, lifting only as much weight as your body can handle for such an extreme repetition range.
easy
Hard
Heavy Leg Press
After exhausting your lower body with the deadlifts, move over to the leg press machine and crank out 100 heavy reps, using as much weight as you can manage. Start with the heaviest load you can take and reduce the weight when you can't do one more rep at the set level.
Weighted Lunges
At this point, your legs must be shaking, but it's not over yet. Your next action is to pick up the heavy dumbells and crank out some weighted lunges. Your aim should be to deliver 100 repetitions per side. This exercise hits the quadriceps, calves and hamstrings at once.
Bodyweight Squat Jumps.
The Squat Jump works your lower body and burns major calories. squat jumps offer a new take on the traditional — one that you're definitely going to feel in your quads and your deep glutes. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and slightly turned out, arms resting on your hips. Bend your knees and plié, then jump up explosively. Keep your core engaged. Land with control, lowering your body back into the squat position to complete one rep. Do 50 reps.
How many times have you heard that "time is money"?
Do you remember the time tables we used to have when we were younger? these tables provided certainty, you knew exactly what to do, when to do it, and the penalty for not doing it.
Time management has been the rage in the past decade. As people work harder and have less time to devote to what they love to do, the impulse is to drop any difficult activities, such as going to the gym. Unfortunately, our bodies will not keep themselves in shape, and we need to take responsibility for our physical fitness and wellness.
In these busy times, customising your fitness schedule around your time availability and your needs is essential; you can't afford to live your fitness to chance, the same way you wouldn't leave your clothes to chance.
With the advent of time management and productivity improvement tools, it has become easier to manage your fitness schedule with the required discipline. Tools like your phone calendar, Google Calendar, or you could design one on Microsoft Word. You could also download and print out a workout calendar from http://www.workout-calendar.com/
In designing your calendar, start with your goal (health,fat loss, muscle gain), the location of your exercises (home, office, gym), duration (30 mins, 1 hour...), the equipment you will be working with (weights, bars,) and the commencement time of the workout.
NOTE: The only way to obtain sustainable results is by DISCIPLINED, CONSISTENT, HARD WORK.
These are the experiences of people who took charge and decided to change their body to fit their desires.
After transforming my body through 12 weeks of show prep, the physical
and mental results were something I knew I didn't want to live without
ever again. Living fit allows me to set goals, both big and small. Working toward goals every day fuels my passion......
Living fit drives and keeps me convinced that this is the right way to
live because of the balance and structure it provides. Working out and
eating clean energizes me, keeps my mind clear, and allows me to stay
focused in all aspects of my life. Of course, I have days where this
isn't the case, but overall, fitness has greatly improved my quality of
life. It has made me a better mother, wife, friend, and person. We're
all busy people with obligations and responsibilities outside of the
gym. Finding balance is important; with all that goes on in my life with
kids, training, college classes, etc., having balance allows me to
enjoy the journey. It is truly rewarding.
My view of myself definitely changed. I realized I have an incredible
amount of determination and drive inside of me. I never knew it existed.
I figure, I'm just a regular dude, so if it it's inside of me, then
it's inside of everyone.
If you’re concerned about the best way to keep your body and baby
healthy during pregnancy—or how you’ll ever lose the excess weight
afterward—you’re not alone.
Many women dread pregnancy; it is a well known fact that most women feel uncomfortable, bloated, emotional during pregnancy. Unfortunately, not many trainers know how to work with mums-to-be, thereby worsening an already difficult situation.
I embarked upon research on how pregnant women can keep themselves fit, healthy and happy throughout the pregnancy and I realised that pregnancy need not be a miserable period, it is a beautiful time in the life of a woman. Being a mum does not mean you have to be uncomfortable in your own skin; you need to create a plan for yourself which will fit into your often unpredictable life and the life of your baby.
I looked through the internet and I found this really nice Baby Bump Fitness system, which is an exercise and fitness programme designed for the pregnant woman. click----->>>Here<<<------
to find out more about this programme.
Here are some tips I found in my research.
The extra 300 calories a day you are supposed to eat during pregnancy for the development of your baby should not consist of nutritionally empty and unhealthy foods.
It is important to keep your body fit and strong during pregnancy by exercising through each trimester; however you must ensure that your training program is tailored to your trimester.
The extra weight you will gain during pregnancy will not just slip off after the baby is born, you have to go the extra mile to make it go away.
To lose weight effectively, your workout should be broken into short, manageable chunks of exercise which will recruit as many muscles as possible at once. This of course means you have to think outside the box.
Your cravings will not go away, you need to find a nutrition plan, foods and recipes which will satisfy all your cravings in a healthy way while allowing you get back into your favourite jeans after pregnancy.
Being proactive is the best way to get back in control of your body.
I truly believe all women should be fit, strong,healthy and confident during their pregnancy. Exercising and eating right during pregnancy is much more than getting you into your slim jeans, its about keeping you and your baby healthy during the process.
The Olympic games have come and gone once more, some countries left loaded with medals, while others like my beloved Nigeria, left empty handed.
The Olympics celebrate the athlete, the individual who dedicates his life to training and honing his physical abilities beyond normal human limits. From Usain Bolt to Rafael nadal, top athletes are getting fitter, faster and stronger than ever.All sports, particularly professional sports, are constantly on the lookout for superhuman performers who can transcend what people thought was possible and the paying public demands as much.
Steroids, suits, and Technological advances aside, How do athletes get fitter, faster and stronger within the relatively short periods between competitions? I did some research on the question and here are my results
Mental Tenacity
Mental tenacity — and the ability to manage and even thrive on and push through pain — is a key segregator between the mortals and immortals. Tom Fleming, a two-time winner of the New York marathon and a distance runner who was ranked fourth in the world, says there’s a reason he was so fast.“I was given a body that could train every single day - and a mind, a mentality, that believed that if I trained every day — and I could train every day — I’ll beat you". The hypothesis is that elite athletes are able to motivate themselves continuously and are able to run the gantlet between pushing too hard — and failing to finish — and underperforming. To find this motivation, the athletes must resist the feeling that they are too tired and have to slow down. Instead, they have to concentrate on increasing the intensity of their effort; that takes mental strength, but allows them to perform close to their maximal ability.
Mental Rehearsal
This is a time-tested practice used by successful athletes and even non-athletes in all assets of life. Mental rehearsal is repeating in your mind over and over the actions and techniques required to achieve success. If you are a basketball player, you rehearse each individual phase of the jump shot over and over in your head. The goal with mental rehearsal is to create automation. When you watch incredible athletes like Lebron James you think that the game just comes naturally to him. Well it does now, but that wasn’t always the case. He trained his mind for years and years on every little detail in every step, dribble, and shot he takes. Break down the skills of your sport and repeat them over and over in your mind, visualizing yourself performing them with perfection. With time, the skills will become second nature and you won’t even have to think before executing them.
Support Team
Mental toughness can come from within but it can also come from outside. Having the right individuals around you is critical to achieving success. Always surround yourself with like-minded people who are as driven as you are to push hard, be the best, and achieve success. Negative people, or the “haters” as they are sometimes referred to serve no purpose in your life. Eliminate them and there’s nothing holding you back. Having a strong support team such as your family and friends is also great for defining purpose. Not only will you want to succeed for yourself, you will also want to succeed for them and that is a remarkably powerful motivator.
“The 36th Chamber of Shaolin” (a.k.a. “Shaolin Master Killer”), directed in 1978 by Liu Chia-Liang, is essential viewing for any serious, self respecting martial arts movie lover. This movie claims responsibility for the whole “good-guy-gets-his-butt-kicked-and-undergoes-martial arts-training-to-exact-vengeance” storyline that’s been used so many times in the martial arts movies since.
In the movie, anti-Manchu patriot San Te (Gordon Liu) is a humble country boy who is cast out of his village when Manchu soldiers (led by the villainous Lo Lieh) slaughter his parents, orphaning him. He manages to claw his way to the famous Shaolin Temple, where he is nursed back to health by the monks living there, and soon undergoes a rigorous and dangerous regiment of training to master the 35 “chambers” (styles) of Kung Fu. In seven years time, he completes his training, mastering all 35 styles, invents a brand-new weapon (the three-section staff), and suggests creating a 36th chamber to spread Kung Fu beyond the Shaolin Temple’s walls and bring it to the masses.
What gets this movie going is its rousing training sequences. These are not the run-of-the-mill stuff we’re used to seeing in these movies. San Te’s quest to become a martial arts warrior is a tortuous journey of self-actualization, a kind of virtue commonly lacking in the genre; San Te genuinely becomes a better person as a result of his experiences at the Shaolin Temple.
For the purpose of this article, I will focus on the physical training methods used in the movie. The movie shows how everyday materials could be used to build and maintain functional strength, muscle mass and definition. I experimented with the techniques immediately after watching the movie, and a lot of people have been commenting on how good I look ( now that's a fast result for you!!!)
Training 1: Bucket Flyes
In the arm chamber, San te is told to carry two buckets filled with water to the top of a steep water pipe, and empty the contents of the bucket down the pipe; all this is performed with sharp knives affixed to his upper arms, which cut him whenever he attempts to drop his arms, thereby forcing him to keep proper form while lifting the buckets. At the end of his training in this chamber, San Te had built insane shoulder and trapezius strength, as well as balance and cardiovascular endurance.
To apply this system to your training program, mark out a spot about 20 feet from your starting point, fill two sturdy buckets halfway with water, lift your arms till they are parallel to the floor, and carry the buckets to the marked point. When you get there, rest for 10 secs then carry the buckets back to the starting point. repeat 10 times, while reducing your rest breaks with each rep.
Dont use the knives at home
Training 2: Working with Iron rings
In this training sequence, San Te practices his punches and kata with heavy metal rings around his wrists and lower arms. This has the effect of training his biceps and triceps as well as improving his punching power and overall strength.
Punching styles and forms to practice with your weights in hand
Applying this to your training will require the use of dumbells, filled water bottles, any heavy cylindrical object, or even a brick. Hold the weights in both hands and practice different punches and strikes . You could also hold the weight with your arm outstretched for about 1 minute. this isometric training is very good for the arms.
Training 3: Wrist Training
The exercise in the Wrist Chamber was devised to strengthen the hands and wrists, to create and unbreakable grip on one’s own weapon or an opponent’s weapon or body. San Te strengthened his wrists by striking a gong with a 15 pound hammer affixed to a 10 foot long bamboo pole for as long as the wrist of one arm could take it before moving to the other arm. Now I tried this one with a barbell weighted at one end, and believe me, It hurt like hell!!! In the movie, San te progressed to the level where he could strike the gong quickly and easily due to massive wrist strength.
the Wrist room
You can perform this exercise with a mop soaked in water. hold the mop at the very end of the handle and use the head of the mop to gently strike a wall. In time this will build the muscles of your forearms as well as the tendons in your wrist, thereby giving you a crazy grip.
Training 4: Kick Training
This form of training is designed to create muscular endurance in the abdomen, feet, thighs, hamstrings and hips. The student performs a particular kick technique 100 times or more with each leg. By the time the student has practiced 5 kicks, he would have performed about 1000 repetition!! (how's that for strength). In the movie, San Te wore weighted shoes while practicing to further develop his kicking power.
This technique requires no equipment and can be performed anywhere, even in the privacy of your room. With discipline and determination, a person can quickly burn fat and build quality muscle.
"I find that my core is ostensibly the toughest part of my body to firm and shape up!!! It has been a frustrating venture for me as I have had 3 children and it unfortunately shows in the areas of my person that I do not want this to show. I don’t know if I can do it" - Worried mother
Your core is the corset of muscles and connective tissue that encircle and hold the spine in place. If your core is stable, your spine remains upright while your body swivels around it. The core comprises of all the muscles and tendons between your knees and your rib cage, partivularly these 4 muscles—the rectus abdominis muscle (the six pack), the internal and external obliques (those muscles at the sides), and the transversus abdominis. Abdominal muscles have many important functions such as contributing to breathing, they are responsible for the acts of coughing, and sneezing, as well as maintaining posture and speech.
The rectus abdominis can be worked out with the basic crunch, the vertical crunch, the reverse crunch, and the full vertical crunch, and when at a low enough body fat percentage (10-12% for males, 15-18% for females) the individual parts of the muscle become visible; many refer to this visible separation as a six pack. By exercising the internal and external obliques the stomach can be flattened while the waist line can be reduced
Here are some crazy exercises that will help you flatten that stomach and build a solid core within a reasonably short period.
The Fireman Stair Climb
Fill a back pack with books or any heavy objects (the weight should be at least 20kg for this to be really effective). Try to run up and down 10 stairs 6 times within 3 minutes. this will build your core, leg and heart to new highs.
The Mighty Plank
The plank exercise is a great way to build endurance in both the abs and back, as well as the stabilizer muscles. This move is also great for building strength for pushups, an exercise that requires quite a bit of core strength. You can add some weight on your back to increase difficulty.
How to:
Lie face down on mat resting on the forearms, palms flat on the floor.
Push off the floor, raising up onto toes and resting on the elbows.
Keep your back flat, in a straight line from head to heels.
Tilt your pelvis and contract your abdominals to prevent your rear end from sticking up in the air or sagging in the middle.
Hold for 20 to 60 seconds, lower and repeat for 3-5 reps.
Capoeira is a highly intensive martial art, and the amount of athleticism and conditioning that it builds is apparent when you see a Capoeira artist. It's like Yoga, Bodyweight Exercises, Plyometrics, and Dance all in one workout. The physical demands of Capoeira, let alone the techniques and reactions involved, cannot be approximated by even the craziest and most overboard workout schemes.
Cross-training is one of the most effective ways to prevent injuries in capoeira. Many of the most common capoeira injuries (knee problems, back pain, etc.) can be avoided by staying in proper shape. Developing strong leg muscles, for instance, greatly reduces the strain capoeira puts on your knees and ankles. Strong abdominals and back muscles can keep your spine safe. Capoeira, as we all know, is very physically demanding, and joint injuries are the price a capoeirista pays for not meeting those demands. Cross-training can help bridge the dangerous gap between a day spent hunched over a computer working on an Excel spreadsheet and an evening spent attempting back-flips in your academy.
Almost nobody is born with the type of exotic athletic aptitude necessary to master a wide variety of capoeira movements without the investment of time and training.Targeted cross-training is one of the best ways to overcome one’s physical limitations. Strength, flexibility, and agility can all be greatly improved with proper training and dedication, allowing us to break through our personal glass ceilings and discover the capoeira within.
Here are some basic capoeira techniques which can be added to your daily workouts.
Ginga
The ginga is a basic step in capoeira. Other techniques often flow out of the ginga. Perform the ginga by moving your right foot back behind your left foot. Sink into a stance with your left knee bent and your right leg extended. Bring your right forearm up in front of your face just below eye level. Switch arms and legs to perform the ginga on the other side. Continuously flow side to side while practicing this exercise to the rhythm of music. The ginga gives you a cardiovascular workout, strengthens your legs and improves your coordination.
Esquiva
The esquiva is a capoeira technique you can incorporate into your ginga practice. The esquiva is a defensive technique that allows you to quickly evade kicks. To perform the esquiva while doing the ginga, bend your torso over your front leg. Execute this move without touching your hands to the floor. Keep one arm up in front of your face as a protective measure. By bending at your waist, your core muscles get a workout. The esquiva also increases the burden on your leg muscles, thereby giving your legs a nice workout.
Esquiva Lateral
Martelo
The martelo is known as the roundhouse kick in other martial arts. In addition to strengthening your legs, this capoeira technique improves flexibility and balance. Try the martelo while you practice the ginga. Raise your rear leg off the floor and kick horizontally with the top of your foot. If you kick with your right leg, protect your face with your left arm. Return your foot to the rear position after your kick.
Martelo
Aú
The aú is a cartwheel. This technique has several applications in capoeira. For example, perform the aú to move around your opponent or avoid his attack. Execute this technique by placing your right hand on the floor. Tilt your head down to your right side as you lift your left foot off the floor. Place your left hand on the floor as you bring your right foot off the floor. Bring both legs up over your body and set them down on the opposite side. Return to the ginga following the aú. This capoeira technique strengthens your upper body and improves your agility.
Negativa
This is a move that the Capoeirista uses to move quickly on the floor; it also work as an all purpose evasion tactic. From this move almost any move can be executed, and it can be used to move and deceive the opponent.
· Right leg bent completely and leans on the toes.
· The butt sits on the heel
· Left leg is almost straight at 130 degrees.
· Left foot leans on its blade
· Body leans forward.
· Right arm protects the face with the elbow.
· Lean on left arm. Lean on the palm. NOT on the fingers
· Left palm close to the left knee.
To switch sides-
1) lean on left hand
2) leap easily with the right leg.
3) On the second the body is in the air, leaning on the hand, switch legs position.
4) Switch hands.
In the picture, note that it's very important that the blade of the foot will be on the floor. It provides support and balances the body. It is also very important to protect the face with the opposite hand: Make sure your elbow is towards the opponent; It might be all that protects your face from your opponents foot.
Negativa
Bencao
This a really powerful kick which can be used to kick the opponent's stomach; and it will help you build an impressive stomach.
1) From the basic position, the right knee moves up to the stomach.
· Right foot in "flex" position.
· Right foot and the buttocks are lined towards the target.
· Body leans forward towards the knee
· Hands forward a bit more ahead than the right foot, as if "catching" the opponent.
2) As if pulling something with the hands they are bent towards the body.
· Right foot and the buttocks remain in the same height.
· Right leg is straightened.
· The kick is a push movement meant to push the foe away from you.
· The foot in "flex" position.
Bencao
A sample workout using the above move would be
Ginga for 10 mins, try to perform 20 esquivas per side
10 Martelo's per side
10 Bencao's per side
10 Negativas, switch sides with each rep
Execute an Au, landing in the Negativa, stand up and deliver a Martelo. repeat 5 times.
You should be sweating heavily by now; sit and meditate upon your training.
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