Iron and the Soul – By Henry Rollins

This was first shared on the Combat Ready blog over two years ago by one of our instructors, Lee.  Apologies if you have read it before, but it is so good that it is worth another go around. It's wisdom is timeless.

"I came across this essay on Ross Enamait- Henry Rollins and thought I would share it with you all.

Iron and the Soul – By Henry Rollins

I believe that the definition of definition is reinvention. To not be like your parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself.

Completely.

When I was young I had no sense of myself. All I was, was a product of all the fear and humiliation I suffered. Fear of my parents. The humiliation of teachers calling me “garbage can” and telling me I’d be mowing lawns for a living. And the very real terror of my fellow students. I was threatened and beaten up for the color of my skin and my size. I was skinny and clumsy, and when others would tease me I didn’t run home crying, wondering why. I knew all too well. I was there to be antagonized. In sports I was laughed at. A spaz. I was pretty good at boxing but only because the rage that filled my every waking moment made me wild and unpredictable. I fought with some strange fury. The other boys thought I was crazy.

I hated myself all the time. As stupid at it seems now, I wanted to talk like them, dress like them, carry myself with the ease of knowing that I wasn’t going to get pounded in the hallway between classes. Years passed and I learned to keep it all inside. I only talked to a few boys in my grade. Other losers. Some of them are to this day the greatest people I have ever known. Hang out with a guy who has had his head flushed down a toilet a few times, treat him with respect, and you’ll find a faithful friend forever. But even with friends, school sucked. Teachers gave me hard time. I didn’t think much of them either.

Then came Mr. Pepperman, my advisor. He was a powerfully built Vietnam veteran, and he was scary. No one ever talked out of turn in his class. Once one kid did and Mr. P. lifted him off the ground and pinned him to the blackboard. Mr. P. could see that I was in bad shape, and one Friday in October he asked me if I had ever worked out with weights. I told him no. He told me that I was going to take some of the money that I had saved and buy a hundred-pound set of weights at Sears. As I left his office, I started to think of things I would say to him on Monday when he asked about the weights that I was not going to buy. Still, it made me feel special. My father never really got that close to caring. On Saturday I bought the weights, but I couldn’t even drag them to my mom’s car. An attendant laughed at me as he put them on a dolly.

Monday came and I was called into Mr. P.’s office after school. He said that he was going to show me how to work out. He was going to put me on a program and start hitting me in the solar plexus in the hallway when I wasn’t looking. When I could take the punch we would know that we were getting somewhere. At no time was I to look at myself in the mirror or tell anyone at school what I was doing. In the gym he showed me ten basic exercises. I paid more attention than I ever did in any of my classes. I didn’t want to blow it. I went home that night and started right in.

Weeks passed, and every once in a while Mr. P. would give me a shot and drop me in the hallway, sending my books flying. The other students didn’t know what to think. More weeks passed, and I was steadily adding new weights to the bar. I could sense the power inside my body growing. I could feel it.

Right before Christmas break I was walking to class, and from out of nowhere Mr. Pepperman appeared and gave me a shot in the chest. I laughed and kept going. He said I could look at myself now. I got home and ran to the bathroom and pulled off my shirt. I saw a body, not just the shell that housed my stomach and my heart. My biceps bulged. My chest had definition. I felt strong. It was the first time I can remember having a sense of myself. I had done something and no one could ever take it away. You couldn’t say shit to me.

It took me years to fully appreciate the value of the lessons I have learned from the Iron. I used to think that it was my adversary, that I was trying to lift that which does not want to be lifted. I was wrong. When the Iron doesn’t want to come off the mat, it’s the kindest thing it can do for you. If it flew up and went through the ceiling, it wouldn’t teach you anything. That’s the way the Iron talks to you. It tells you that the material you work with is that which you will come to resemble. That which you work against will always work against you.

It wasn’t until my late twenties that I learned that by working out I had given myself a great gift. I learned that nothing good comes without work and a certain amount of pain. When I finish a set that leaves me shaking, I know more about myself. When something gets bad, I know it can’t be as bad as that workout.

I used to fight the pain, but recently this became clear to me: pain is not my enemy; it is my call to greatness. But when dealing with the Iron, one must be careful to interpret the pain correctly. Most injuries involving the Iron come from ego. I once spent a few weeks lifting weight that my body wasn’t ready for and spent a few months not picking up anything heavier than a fork. Try to lift what you’re not prepared to and the Iron will teach you a little lesson in restraint and self-control.

I have never met a truly strong person who didn’t have self-respect. I think a lot of inwardly and outwardly directed contempt passes itself off as self-respect: the idea of raising yourself by stepping on someone’s shoulders instead of doing it yourself. When I see guys working out for cosmetic reasons, I see vanity exposing them in the worst way, as cartoon characters, billboards for imbalance and insecurity. Strength reveals itself through character. It is the difference between bouncers who get off strong-arming people and Mr. Pepperman.

Muscle mass does not always equal strength. Strength is kindness and sensitivity. Strength is understanding that your power is both physical and emotional. That it comes from the body and the mind. And the heart.

Yukio Mishima said that he could not entertain the idea of romance if he was not strong. Romance is such a strong and overwhelming passion, a weakened body cannot sustain it for long. I have some of my most romantic thoughts when I am with the Iron. Once I was in love with a woman. I thought about her the most when the pain from a workout was racing through my body.

Everything in me wanted her. So much so that sex was only a fraction of my total desire. It was the single most intense love I have ever felt, but she lived far away and I didn’t see her very often. Working out was a healthy way of dealing with the loneliness. To this day, when I work out I usually listen to ballads.

I prefer to work out alone. It enables me to concentrate on the lessons that the Iron has for me. Learning about what you’re made of is always time well spent, and I have found no better teacher. The Iron had taught me how to live. Life is capable of driving you out of your mind. The way it all comes down these days, it’s some kind of miracle if you’re not insane. People have become separated from their bodies. They are no longer whole.

I see them move from their offices to their cars and on to their suburban homes. They stress out constantly, they lose sleep, they eat badly. And they behave badly. Their egos run wild; they become motivated by that which will eventually give them a massive stroke. They need the Iron Mind.

Through the years, I have combined meditation, action, and the Iron into a single strength. I believe that when the body is strong, the mind thinks strong thoughts. Time spent away from the Iron makes my mind degenerate. I wallow in a thick depression. My body shuts down my mind.

The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened to their true potential, it’s impossible to turn back.

The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds.


Cheers

Lee"

The dreaded weigh in

Let us stop this societal obsession with weight and the inherent value judgements that comparisons inevitably cause. You are not your friend, your neighbour or your favourite celeb. Your body is different to theirs as is the way you live your life. The scales are only one of many tools in the arsenal of preventative health. They are a guide, an indicator and not an absolute. They are to be used in conjunction with a healthy diet, a well thought out exercise routine, regular physical check ups and a healthy pinch of plain old common sense. Do not allow them to derail your good habits and training or, indeed, allow them to give you a false sense of security. Being 'light' does not necessarily mean healthy and being 'heavy' does not mean unfit. Look in the mirror. Pay attention to how your clothes are fitting. What are you eating? How often are you working out? What are you doing in your training?  These factors should all take priority over the numbers you see in the bathroom

KEEP THOSE HANDS UP

Don't confuse yourself with a professional fighter.  Yes, aspire to be like that, but you keep those hands up and you keep yourself protected unless its part of your strategy to force them take that shot using your attack by draw principle.  Also, out in the real world you need those hands up as there might be more than one opponent and you don't want to get blind sided.  The typical Krav Maga stance has the fists clenched and up at either side of the face protecting the jaw line.  The legs can defend the low line and the hands can look after the head and torso.  Just think about holding and big old phone up at your head.  

Small Changes - Big Results

One less sugar in your coffee

One less Coffee

One less pint at the pub

One less pie and chips

One more portion of fruit per day

One more training session per week

One less training session per week

What else can you think of? Share your thoughts with the rest of the Combat Ready community. What have you found that works for you?

Should You Dread Your Training?

In a way yes you should.  There should be a little fear of the unknown, that little step outside your comfort zone that keeps you sharp.  If you are doing your own programming and you ain't dreading it a little then you are not working as hard as you could be.  I remember years ago heading up to Arbroath to train with Mark Davies and the guys in the car would all be nervous and talking about what pain and torture would be inflicted on us.  It kept you sharp and afterwards gave you something to talk about.  Every time you step on the mat or in the gym you should have a little fear about what is in store.  Embrace it and make yourself stronger and more adaptable.  Don't let it consume you and use it as a reason to stop.

Gym closed this Sunday June 9

Hi all,

Header says it all really :). No classes or open mat at all this Sunday June 9. Gym will be completely closed. Have a great weekend and may the sun shine on all of you. Rest up and see you all on Monday for a new week.  Bring your 'A' game and be ready to work.

Use of force

In training we often talk about 'the force ladder' and 'the use of force' and legal ramifications.  The law is set in regards to self defence and differs in each country. There are differences even between Scotland and England.  You don't really need to have a good understanding of the law as it is merely common sense, like most of the laws that govern us.  If someone attacks you, or lays hands on you, then you as an individual will know the perceived level of threat.  Someone touching your arm is not as serious as someone trying to bludgeon you.  However, the touching in another scenario may be just as serious.  

At the end of the day you are entitled to keep yourself safe, and if you feel threatened then you can use physical force.  You should of course try and exit or verbally de-escalate. However, you can't always run away and in some cases the de-escalation opportunity has come and gone. You must remember to be proportionate in your use of force and never to be excessive or cruel.  Common sense would tell you not to stamp on someones head, for example, unless you are in some sort of military life and death situation.  Then again, a multiple attack situation can be viewed as being as dangerous as being attacked by a single person with a knife.  At the end of the day most of us will never have to get physical, thankfully.  And if you do, then remember the use of force and make good decisions quickly.  Report a situation to the police, and a solicitor will argue in court for you if need be.  

Make your training micro reality.  Sometimes use break away techniques and verbal de-escalation.  Other times go all out.  

Opportunity

EVERY ONE GETS A SECOND CHANCE ITS CALLED TOMORROW

So a Monday is the hardest day of the week for many people to get motivated and get doing what they really want to be doing.  With the weather being so unpredictable at the moment people often don't want to venture out to train when its torrential rain.  At the other end of the spectrum we get a few hours of sunshine and people naturally want to sit outside as opposed to training.  It's Scotland, the weather can be awful but Monday is the start of something fantastic - a new week.  It's a chance to be a new you.  Last week is the past, when your training was mediocre, your diet was terrible and you felt like you made little progress.  Well here you go. You get to do it all again, but only better.  Don't let it be like groundhog day. Take that week by the scruff of the neck and tell it how great you are going to be. How you are not going to let a day called Monday make you feel bad, and how this week you are going to train 4 days instead of 3.  You're going to eat healthy all week and even add in some fasting.  Your going to cut out all sugar as well.  It's your life and you get one shot.  You are dying every day you wake up, and as you get older you will find birthdays come around quicker every year.  Don't sit about waiting for something great to happen to you. Get up and make it happen.  As for the weather -don't let some rain put you off going anywhere or doing anything.  You're waterproof already.

Power Development

We are concentrating heavily on squats, jump squats, deadlifts and push press to name a few exercises.  These explosive movements have been worked on along with the kettle bell training.  This is all to enhance your ability to strike an object at any given time with maximum force.  Now that object can be close, where you might employ a knee strike, or it might be further away where you can use a regular front kick. What we want is to be able to deliver as much power as we can as quickly as possible.  So in our training, be it bodyweight or under load, we need to move fast, to flow and have great form.  

It is the little things that count and often we can overlook them. Do you have your core engaged when you strike with your knee, or are you lazy and simply deliver the force thinking about your leg only?  If it's the latter, and you strike hard, think how much more force you will deliver when you have your core braced. Sometimes in class, people are so concerned with simply getting through a round they don't think about their body as a unit.  For example, when punching, it's all arms with no hip twist, or kicks with all legs and the legs look like spaghetti flying everywhere.  The fact of the matter is, your body is a whole and we need to use it all together - not parts in isolation.  Let's use a punch as an example. It starts life in the guts, moves down a leg into the foot, rebounds off the floor, back up the leg, through the guts, up through the chest and the shoulder then down the arm delivering the strike with the fist.  That's a lot of stuff going on to through a punch, but that's how it is done correctly. 

If any of this sounds familiar think about how you can correct it in class.  Take more time during a round or combative set.  Think about your start and finishing position and the movements in between.  Think about your timing, rhythm and tempo and be smooth like glass.  I guarantee in a few weeks your power delivery will have increased. 

Krav Maga round up - Monday May 20

Last night the guys warmed up with a quick bodyweight drill.  From there it was straight into a multiple attack drill with the guys using sticks, knives and the body shields so we could drive the kicks in.  I stressed to the guys the importance of not stopping, even if being held and stabbed. It's not over until you die and you can be lucky and get stabbed 18 times and still live (or unlucky depending on how you look at it).  The drill is designed to get you thinking tactically and get you working under pressure.  It's good to train like this every so often, along with your pad work and combative sets. However it can detrimental if all you do is this - like being a boxer and just sparring all the time. None of the training we do is random and it is all planned out beforehand with a clear goal set by the coach.  The more often you come and train, the more you are exposed to and the better you will get.  So get down to training because if you want to be better than everyone else then you need to put the work in and get the hours under your belt.  There is nothing stopping you being great at this except you.  You can always find money and time.  If you think you can't then you are not being resourceful, and resourcefulness is what you need to end a confrontation.  Think outside the box. Win at all costs.  Most importantly have fun and learn.