Lately I have gained an ever-increasing interest into various new (for me= methods for strength- and fitness development. As strange as it may sound, this is in fact the first time a more methodical approach to physical culture has started to interest me.
I have been reading about things, looking into them and so on for a greater time already, but only now it is that physically I have started to engage in new activities – ranging from kettlebells to other weight-lifting, lately the use of the push-up board to replace most push-ups I do and an increasing interest in ways of fixing posture, increasing range of motion and flexibility (where some of my biggest ‘problems’ lie), and also purely increasing strength in some areas.
The title promises a quote, and here it comes. While this quote comes from an old-time strongman, and an author of excellent manuals for weight-lifting, W. A. Pullum, and is of course relevant to those seeking instruction in the old-time strength-training methods (and the various lifts they performed that are not widely practiced today), it is even more relevant to us pursuing the old-time martial arts since the connection thereto is even more dependent on the written sources.
Where the written word is your instructor, if one reading does not make everything quite clear to you, consult it again and again. For if it has been penned by a really competent man, each successive reading should more fully educate you.
With this advice in mind, I wish everybody a successful and a enjoyable new year – and those engaged in the study of the old sources I wish strength and patience to consult them again and again; however laborious it may be, together with physical practice it is the best thing we have. Let us also remember that we are a small community, and let us look forward to more friendship, more collaboration, more sharing and toward accepting each other and helping each other to accomplish their respective goals regarding the resurrection of our martial heritage!