Displaying items by tag: mastery

The great Bruce Lee once made a comment about MASTERY, my friend - and practice, daily practice, loads of it, which ties into mastery. 

"I fear not the man who does 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who does ONE kick 10,000 times". 

Now, what did Lee mean by this. 

The answer should be obvious if you're reading between the lines i.e he was referring to "mastering a skill". 

Along with that, what remains unsaid is this - ONCE you master something (although Lee would be the first to tell you never really, despite how much you might think you know about something or some skill - master anything - you keep learning your whole life!) - you cannot just sit easy and "rest on your laurels". 

"Success is a fickle bird, if you pause to rest on your laurels, it flies away to go to another - plenty more waiting to take your place!" 

I keep having to remind my daughter of this, whose English is admittedly far better than her peers - but she's falling behind when it comes to the REAL deal, pretty much because COMPLACENCE sometimes takes over. 

We constantly get her to read new books - more advanced words - and new phrases, figures of speech etc - that she may or may not have in her current environment, but she NEEDS. 

Thats how I did it - albeit on my lonesome when I was young. 

And thats how she must too (in all regards). 

Everyone has to. 

Back to Lee - the man who is a legend bar none, and in terms of fitness, a true fitness freak - and fit like no'one's business. 

A man who could .. 

According to the available data, Bruce Lee could do around 1500 push ups with both hands in one go, 400 on one hand, 200 on two fingers and 100 on one thumb.

Now, thats some going, I'd say. 

And if Bruce Lee was a huge, huge proponent of the Hindu pushups and fingertip pushups that I myself cannot rate highly enough - that the Great Gama of India swore by - then there must be something to them, no? 

A man like Lee, I dont know about you, but I'd stop and listen - very hard - to what he says about training. 

Even if you're not a martial artist, even if you dont fight for a living, even if you all you want is to get into decent shape - Bruce Lee is a role model for almost anyone given the right situation. 

And pushups, my friend, along with jumping rope and some other movements in the 0 Excues Fitness System - or all, actually - formed the bedrock of Lee's system. 

Take to heart what I say about MASTERY in that book; I dedicate an entire chapter to it. 

Take to heart also, the exercises I teach you in both Jump Rope Mania! - and Pushup Central - because they (and the workouts in them) are modeled on what the GREATS did, and what the greats of today do. 

And if you're looking to get in great shape, you simply must get both those courses too - period. They make for an unbeatable combination, my friend. 

Get them now, and join the pantheon of the superhumans and greats TODAY. 

Best, 

Rahul Mookerjee

PS - That little thingI keep telling ya about doing something everyday - I'd say Bruce Lee agreed, and then some!

I’ve written about this before. Mastery of any exercise.

ANY exercise, no matter how simple.

And I’ve devoted a whole chapter to this very important topic in 0 Excuses Fitness.

Most skip right past it, but hey, big mistake right there.

Ever hear people say, for instance that “pushups are easy! Pooh!”

Well, my friend, did you know that easy or not, the easiest or toughest or not, MASTERING, truly so, any exercise is an ART UNTO ITSELF?

And something most people do NOT accomplish, no matter how accomplished they are.

Bruce Lee being one.

Despite his obvious physical skills, this man would be the first to tell you the above, as he constantly worked at improving the basics (particularly fingertip pushups in his case).

You may not ever get to the point that Lee did which was popping off sets of ONE finger pushups (50 reps/set) in front of goggling audiences and onlookers.

But do you have to get to those extreme levels?

NO (not unless you want to).

You can gain all th strength, muscle and CONDITIONING you need for your ENTIRE LIFE by mastering, really so, the basics!

Let’s take the basic pushup.

The REAL basic stuff.

Can you, for instance, do ONE pushup that takes you FIVE minutes to do cumulatively up and down, and maintain perfect form while at it?

Or, can you pop off 100 perfect ones in a row?

Or, can you do 10 sets of 10 pushups followed by 10 sets of 10 pull-ups with very little rest?

Or, can you do 1000 pushups daily (many boxers do)?

Or, can you . . .

. . . ah, but you get the drift my friend.

There is always a way to make it harder and more challenging. TRUE MASTERY is something the masters will tell you themselves that is nigh on impossible to get to, because we are always challenging ourselves and improving!!

Even if you answered yes to all the above, guess what.

Can you knock of 100 pushups in a set in perfect form with a minute break at the bottom of each pushup?

And so forth.

You get the point!

And adopting this mentality in your training will not only make you as close a “Master” (or “Mistress” as the case might be! ?) at the exercise as you humanly can be, but will also build WORLD Class levels of strength and conditioning to boot.

Yours truly likes to, as I’ve said before focus on a LIMITED number of main exercises per workout.

And for now, and for a few months now, for me it’s been rope jumping and pull-ups.

Sometimes you have no other option but to do the above, and other times (like now) you DO, but in both cases, focusing on less and really HAMMERING it is better.

In all regards.

Believe me, when your cranking out 2000 plus reps on the weighted jump ropes without a break in record time . . . or even without a break, period, you’ll know what I mean by the above!

Or when Animal kingdom workouts seem like nothing even when you combine them with 100 pull-ups per workout . . .

Or, . . . you get the picture!

Mastery, my friend, is what you should always be aiming for. And while you may never get there, you’ll get pretty damn close if you TRY. That I do guarantee.

And that point, you’ll be saying and writing about the same thing yourself! ?

Best.

Rahul Mookerjee

PS – Here is where you can pick up the BEST damn course out there on pushups – Pushup Central. Truly the best, most challenging and most EXHAUSTIVE – I CHALLENGE you to find something better!! ?