Indigenous Ability

  Pehlwani [Hindu wrestlers] have their baithek [Hindu Squats.] Power Lifters have their back squats. Well, turns out the early athletes on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean [circa 1800s] had their King Squats. [For a breakdown of how to use a single repetition of a King Squat as a strength, stamina, balance, stability and injury test see The Old School Squat Test. For how to program King Squats and the 5 Auxiliary Old School Bodyweight leg exercises in a mere 5-minute per day program see here. Unleaded: Thighs/Hips Anterior & Posterior. The King Squat is a masterfully simple bodyweight exercise that was used by early combination men, boxers, wrestlers, and, well, it was used by many. Mose Velsor [more on him later] in his series of articles “ Manly Health and Training, with Off-Hand Hints Towards Their Condition” written in 1858 for the newspaper The New York Atlas refers to them off-handedly with the assumption that all knew what he was speaking of. The dat...

  This is Part 1 of an 8-part series on codifying Old School Rough n Tumble Combat. To razor-hone the definition… ·         These are The 5 Spheres of Unarmed Combat ·         We will discuss how to use the 5 Spheres to Construct our own Solo-Training. ·         We also offer how to subdivide our training into 10 Hemispheres that might best be used in class settings where beginner/intermediate students require a bit more refinement. ·         The Sphere approach allows one to develop larger spheres of interest without allowing any single sphere to diminish or vanish completely. Ignoring spheres, or short-shrifting creates weak-points in an interlocking chain of circles that should more resemble the linked rings of the Olympic symbol. ·         The Spheres are NOT ranges. ·    ...

  Bobby Pandour Here’s a fascinatingly simple way to illustrate the Old School physical culturists’ laser focus on balanced strength, equilibrium stability, contra-lateral robustness, “strength in the holes,” and deep-joint articulation all in one easy test. The Inseam Squat Test You’ll need… ·         Your own body ·         A tape measure [a cloth tape is ideal] ·         A plyo box or flight of stairs. ·         A weight plate or book or two to bring the height into measurement accord. The Preparation ·         Measure your inseam, the measurement is from crotch to ankle bone. [The Medial Malleolus , the bony protrusion on the inside of your ankle.] ·         Once you have your measure, subtract 4”. ·         Example :...