About Me

I'm an internet guru.

The term is usually perjorative, and it means somebody who has no actual knowledge but only repeats whatever the conventional wisdom is on the forums, blogs, and websites they visit. 

I'm not going to deny that the above description applies to me, but I would like to explain.

I began my fascination with physical culture and martial arts training as a child.  I was obsessed with the idea that an out of shape, pudgy, bookish kid could learn how to train and turn himself into... take your pick.  Into somebody who looked strong.  Into somebody who was fit.  Into somebody who could fight.  I can sum up the thought process like this: compare John Wayne and Bruce Lee.  John Wayne was a tough guy who played tough guys.  Bruce Lee was a scrawny kid who built himself into a fighting machine who played scrawny kids who trained themselves into fighting machines.  If you're not born a tough guy, and I certainly wasn't, then the Bruce Lee model is much more compelling.

I trained for a while and got... tougher.  I learned as much as I could about training, which mostly consisted of reading Muscle & Fitness magazine and reading all the articles.  I got into decent shape, earned a black belt in Seido Karate, then fell out of shape and got fat and lazy. 

A few years ago I decided to get back into shape and back into karate after a 12 year layoff.  The biggest difference?  I was 12 years older, sure, but over that period of time Al Gore invented the internet!  Instead of getting my information from Joe Weider and the other students in my karate class, I had access to the best minds in strength training worldwide.

It made a difference.  A big difference.  I got into better shape, stronger, and more flexible, while working out less than I had in my teens and twenties.  As a nigh-forty year old I'm in better shape than I was at 22, and I owe it all to things I learned from the top strength and conditioning coaches in the world, through their blogs, podcasted interviews, articles published online, and books and DVD's I've purchased because of positive online review.  The internet has completely transformed my training.

This blog is about my fascination with physical culture, the martial arts, and all things associated with them.  Enjoy and comment!