Gear Report
Power Putty
Power Putty is a simple and cheap way to increase your grip strength. It has the familiar feel of Silly Putty, except it offers much more resistance. It is similar in some ways to regular spring grippers, except that you can do more exercises with it, including finger extensions. An interesting property of the putty is that the harder you squeeze, the more it resists. It is an excellent way to build up your grip strength with the minimum amount of time and fatigue. Pavel wrote about Power Putty in newsletter #13, praising it for its concentric-only action. Read this newsletter!
Power Putty comes in four different levels of resistance. I have only tried the blue (hard) and green (extra hard), but they should be sufficiently challenging for most people. Hardcore comrades might have to put it the freezer for a minute or two in order to challenge their "G.I. Joe Kung Fu grips". At the very least, they are a good break from the challenge of regular grippers. Also, they come in slick fist-shaped containers. I found mine for $9 each at the local REI. Stores that sell climbing equipment are a good place to look. You can also purchase them online at BodyTrends.com
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For you nuts out there, you can buy some interesting putty at Crazy Aaron's PuttyWorld.
Movie Pick
"Ultimate Kicking Drills"
Many gireviks are martial artists as well, so I thought I would point out a great video tape on improving your kicking abilities. The video covers flexibility, coordination, power, timing, accuracy and training. Sang H. Kim, the presenter, does a good job explaining all of the drills and their importance. He also demonstrates all of the drills, himself, and does them quite impressively.
The production quality of this tape is top notch, and there is DVD version as well. The graphics are well done, the video crisp, and there are many helpful diagrams. The audio quality is good up until the scene at the Korean training hall. You will know what I mean when hear it.
One of the guys watching with me is an experienced kickboxer and he was impressed with most of the drills. He had seen a few top kickboxers performing these same drills. However, he did say that the video was geared more towards Tae Kwon Do, meaning point fighting instead of free fighting. This is definitely true, especially when you get into aerial kicking. I agree that this is not very effective in the ring, but doing it for training purposes develops proprioception and balance. The section on flexibility shows both static and dynamic stretches. Unfortunately, it does not cover PNF principles. Some people might worry that he demonstrates ballistic stretching, but from everything that I've heard, this is fine for martial artists.
His section on training is actually pretty well done. He even mentions that heavy lifting for low reps is good for martial artists. Although, he also advocates high reps if they are done rapidly. Both of these principles work quite well with the Party line. My only complaint is that most of the weight training he demonstrates in single joint and on machines. Some of his ab and core drills were unique and I actually liked them quite a bit. The best part of the training section is the explosive drills for improving the speed of your kicks.
This is a video that I would recommend to any martial artist. I think most fighters would fight it useful as well. It is a finely crafted production and is one of the nicest looking instructional videos I have ever seen. Ultimate Kicking Drills lives up to its name.