January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
The (martial) art of keeping fit
The sport is a form of Chinese freestyle fighting that incorporates a mix of martial arts and traditional boxing skills.
James Whittaker caught up with Bean, ahead of the big event, to find out just what it takes to become a San Shou fighter....
How did you develop a training programme and what does it involve?
I put my own programme together. I consulted with various experts in different disciplines, different martial arts, and incorporated their ideas into my training.
It's constantly changing. After every performance, whether it is running or fighting, I re-evaluate what my strengths and weaknesses were and adapt my training accordingly.
I do a mix of yoga, meditation, weight training, boxing, martial arts skills, various running drills, callisthenic and plyometric drills. That's squats, jumps - anything that involves compression and then expansion. The aim is to develop explosiveness.
We do various strength and conditioning drills at the stadium - running or hopping up the stairs, piggy back runs, wheelbarrows, animal walks where you start on all fours before going up into a running position.
What people generally call the core is the most important part of your strength training - for any sport. That would be your hips, abs, lower back - the middle part of your body.
In karate they call it Hara in Chinese, which is more San Shou, they call it Den-Tian, but it all means the same thing - centre.
Before you can run, you need a strong core, before you can fight, you need a strong core. It supports your upper body and your lower body. It's from there that you get the power to kick or to punch or to run. It's important in any sport.
What aspect of your training has helped you the most?
Hill running, I've discovered, is like a secret pill for building strength and speed. You are using virtually the same muscle groups that you use for sprinting so hill repeats improve your speed by building your strength.
There's a hole at Port Royal golf course, which has a huge hill of about 400m. I sprint from the bottom to the top, timing it to around a minute, and then jog down for two minutes. I repeat that routine ten times. I sometimes vary the length of the hills, but that has had an amazing effect on my running.
Other techniques like fartleks (speed play), intervals and tempo running have also helped.
How important is running to your training as a fighter?
Running is a pivotal element of my conditioning for martial arts. I consider myself an intermediate runner - not anywhere close to being a professional or competitive runner.
I do find that running is very important to help me increase my lung capacity and improve my cardiovascular conditioning.
During a fight it could be when dashing out a flurry of combinations or am in defensive mode, absorbing punches in order to get into a position to counter-attack. It's during those spurts of intensity you feel that kind of training kick in.
It's hard to imagine that running a half-marathon and Chinese free style fighting would involve the same training.
That's why it is a combination of things. You need aerobic training, particularly in the latter part of the second round going into the third round to get you through the fight to help you handle stressful situation.
But you also need anaerobic training for the short, explosive bursts and combinations. If you think of a 100m runner they will go down the track in one or two breaths. That's your anaerobic fitness. In San Shou you need the aerobic fitness to last the distance and the anaerobic fitness to put in the combinations.
You also need the explosiveness that plyometric training helps provide and the skills that martial arts and boxing training helps perfect.
How important is the mental side of training?
I'm always trying to keep my body and mind and emotions balanced. If I have a lack of equilibriam emotionally it will have an impact physically.
I meditate for a minimum of an hour a day. It's a case of shutting off the outside emotions and the world in general and focusing.
It allows you to think in the moment under extreme stress and turn a negative into a positive. In a fight if someone is attacking you and is on top of you, you can take that as an over-extension or overconfidence on their part, and plan a counter. That kind of focus allows you to shut everything else out and perform under pressure.
What is your ultimate goal?
To realize our goal as a group (the San Shou Association) to participate in the Olympic Games in Beijing and to continue to teach martial arts as an avenue to improve ones self.
What do you consider your greatest achievements?
In 2004 I started the Jiketsu Martial Productions and put together a business plan that allowed me to share the wisdom and knowledge of martial arts with others.
Also in 2005 forming the Bermuda San Shou Association, which allowed for us to be the sanctioning body for San Shou in Bermuda and to be able to try and qualify for the Olympic Games.
We now have seven individuals that compete in San Shou on a regular basis and 12-15 that train with us, so the association is definitely growing from just myself and Garon (Wilkinson) in the beginning.
What do you enjoy the most about training/competing?
I enjoy building and preparing for an event because you not only see, but you feel the difference in yourself and in your body as the event gets closer.
It's like a transformation - that six-eight week period as you build up to fight or a tournament.
You know from the beginning that what you put in you get out and you can see it happening. To that end I put in 1,000 per cent.
How does your rigorous routine impact on your family/social life?
It is difficult, not being a full-time athlete, but putting in a training schedule that is close to that of a full time athlete.
It is a great sacrifice, but with great sacrifice there is tremendous reward. I balance my life to the best of my abilities and I continue to love my family and those close to me as I continue to aspire towards my ultimate goal.
In martial arts your ultimate goal is not defined by winning or losing but in the perfection of ones character.
I'm not worrying about what the judges think, though I need their validation to win a fight, but more about my performance - 'did I perform to the best of my ability?'.
Knowing that is where the satisfaction lies.
What's on your i-Pod when your running?
I listen to the breeze blowing across my ears and the birds chirping in the trees. That's all.
I like to train in the same environment that I will compete in. You won't have that to help you in the fight so I don't have it when I'm training. That's just a personal thing.
What's your nutrition plan when your training?
Fish and vegetables. I make sure my amino acids are there. I'm a vegetarian, as much as I can be, so I eat a lot of beans to get my protein as well as different protein shakes.
Alcohol is a no-no when I'm training but I like a glass of red wine as much as any French man when I don't have a fight to prepare for. I like a good vintage red.
What's the best piece of advice/knowledge you could give to anyone who wants to compete at a higher level?
There's a statement on my website (www.jiketsumartialproductions.com) that I think is the best way to explain that.
"As your body becomes that which you eat, so your mind becomes that which you think. Ones focused attention is the energy and vital force, that when manifested mentally, will begin to attract the right people, condition and circumstances, thus enabling one to achieve their goals in life, be they in martial arts, business or their personal life. Your subconscious mind will begin to accept these affirmations as being true - this will hasten the process and the absolute reality of your affirmations. What you focus on in your mind will, over a period of time, eventually become reality. Moreover, the ultimate aim is not to nourish hatred, fear, guilt or mental inferiority, but rather exemplify the sensitive essentials of unconditional love and compassion."
That sums up what any discipline will give you just commit to it fully. It doesn't have to be martial arts, it could be music, it could be any love of your life.
Have the passion and the discipline to carry it through.
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