This is an article I wrote in the mid-90s. It was almost published in Martial Arts Training magazine. (There was a problem with the photos.) Here it is with minor edits. Note that we still do this drill every week!

It is not uncommon for martial artists to demonstrate their defensive prowess against punches by saying "Throw a left jab" or "Okay, try to hit me with a right hook." The result might be a forceful block followed by a series of lightning counters, or a gap too wide to allow the punch to reach followed by an impressive kick combination. While such displays may be entertaining, they have nothing to do with defending against a real attack. The problem is not with the defense but with the foreknowledge of the attacking technique.

The Punch Defenses Drill (PDD) provides martial artists with a progressive test of defensive ability under sub-optimal conditions that more closely approach reality than traditional one-step sparring or similarly static exercises. It can give a new, possibly disturbing, perspective on the relative effectiveness of various defensive techniques.

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It's no secret that I take exception to how planks are usually performed. I've written about it more than once, most recently in the post Plank Lines . But while fixing them can be difficult, we may have stumbled upon a modification that can help.

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I'm a sprinter. Not a competitive sprinter. Not a particularly good sprinter. But when I run, I usually sprint. The farthest I ever ran was 5 miles and that was one time. I'd have to look up the last time I ran a mile. Most of my running is incline sprinting on a treadmill or sprints (220 meters is my favored distance) at the track. I just like to run fast. (Fast for me anyway.)

But it was only relatively recently that it occurred to me (an epiphany?) that the preference for sprinting extends to much more than running.

On the rowing machine, I mostly do 500-meter sprints. Anything more than 1k bores me. (In addition to exhausting me, of course.)

On the indoor bike, I mostly do 20-second sprints.

And my favorite workout is, of course, wapping...which is all about short, high-intensity effort.

But another, less obvious example is lifting weights. Specifically, I like lifting heavy with fewer reps: short duration, high-intensity effort.

It seems that being "born to sprint" covers much more than only running. That might explain a few things!

Be seeing you.

-gary

The home equipment list continues, slowly but surely, on to one of my personal favorites: the heavy bag. It's sometimes just called a "punching bag" but it's useful for much more than punching (although that's definitely a fun one).

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Planks have long been a popular core exercise. They're simple, require no equipment, and can be an effective way to improve core stability. (But not to reduce belly fat or get a six-pack. Just sayin'.)

But like all exercises, form counts. The Form Cop has talked about this before. I'd like to revisit it here with an easy way to check for proper plank form.

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And the home equipment list continues, this time with some DIY items. First up is boxes. They seem pretty boring, but they're actually quite useful.

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