<span class="color-accent">Category:</span> <span>Uncategorized</span>

April has been a busy month. On the 7th, we went to Triangle Jiu Jitsu in Durham, NC to film some fight scenes for the movie. We had several talented actors from Charlotte (Mike Gutowski, Brittany Bass and Jennifer Williamson) and local incredible actor Tony Basile present for a great day of filming. Kenji Saykosy was directing as myself and several stuntmen spent hours in the cage knocking out some great scenes. Sean Pollock and Daniel Calvert were the cameramen and Jonathan Carvajal was running sound.

On the 14th we had a huge night of filming at the local bar Mosaic here in Raleigh, NC. Except for one person, we had the entire main cast and crew together. This was the first time we had this many main characters together since the photo shoot for the movie posters last year. Once again, the energy was incredible and we filmed until about 2 am. Many thanks go to the extras and supporting actors who stepped up to make it a great night.

For the weekend of the 20th, Kenji headed out to Wisconsin for the Lao International Film Festival. Kenji did a martial arts demonstration and showed the music video from the movie (also released this month), our initial trailer and a promo reel. The reception was great and many new friends were made for the star of Lao Warrior.

We look forward to what May brings as we plan to film several more great scenes for the movie in addition to training a lot to make the fight scenes great. Thanks.

Weight Training

I was in the gym yesterday, and overheard a conversation between a personal trainer and her client that prompted me to want to share some of my experience with weight training.

I began serious weight training in 1984 when I joined a gym as part of my family’s membership. I was excited because there was a lot of equipment and a lot of people to learn from. Whenever I saw someone, male or female, who had an impressive physique, I would ask them for some tips. I asked a lady what she did for legs, a guy what he did for lats, and another lady what she did for abs and so on. I worked out with several friends my age or older and we exchanged tips and ideas over the years as well as trying any new exercises we discovered. It was a great social environment but also a great learning experience.

Weight lifting has been a long time hobby and I have concentrated my work outs into exactly what I know works for me. I use a Push/Pull routine, doing Pushing exercises one day, Pulling exercises the next day, and then resting at least one day. I use this method because if you have a Chest day, the exercises work chest, shoulders and triceps. If you have a Back day, the exercises work back, shoulders and biceps. If you have a Shoulders day, the exercises work shoulders, chest and triceps. If you have an Arms day, the exercises work biceps and triceps but also back, chest and shoulders. This leads to over-training and takes away from your overall performance.

I work legs on my Push days and do about 16 sets in addition to the 12 sets I do for chest and triceps (plus I do about 6 sets for abs). I don’t do a lot of shoulder exercises because you work shoulders on almost every upper body exercise you do. Your shoulders either work directly or stabilize your arms while you work triceps and biceps. I also like to do a few sets for upper body, then do some abs, then do a few sets for legs so I keep blood flow even and I don’t take any breaks, to make the workout more like a cardio routine. I am including a copy of my exact workout routine as well as many more tips and guidelines in the second edition of my book FOCUSING MARTIAL ARTS POWER. which will be out later this year. Thanks and hope you are hitting the gym.