It is very important to have a well rounded fitness and conditioning

program to enhance our fighting and self defense training. When you get

tired and are fatigued, your physical and mental skills suffer. On the

street if you get tired, if you quit, if you give up, it's over. That is

why cross training is essential to developing our total fitness. Fitness

isn't just about how strong you are or how fast and far you can run.

It's about balance, flexibility, agility, coordination and endurance. We

incorporate all of these technologies into our program through various

training drills and exercises. We use partner drills, obstacle courses,

medicine ball training, speed drills etc. to help us develop the skills

we will use in an encounter. We also do plyometric training that helps

us to create explosiveness in all of our movements especially for

striking. The conditioning also makes us mentally tough, pushing us to

go on when we sometimes feel that we have nothing left. Remember, it's

not a fight untl you want to quit and you have to continue.

Some people say they like to zone out when they do their work out. I do the opposite. I make the physical workout a mental exercise. By this I mean that I try to hear all the instructions the *first* time. That includes hearing them thru the noise of the music. I try to notice what is going on inside and outside the room, even recognizing what music is playing or if there is a theme to it.
I do this because it adds to the challenge. For me it does help pass the time. But most importantly people don't think well when they are tired stressed, or physically exhausted. The skill to do anything comes from doing. And this is just a different aspect of conditioning the mind as well as the body when put under stress or distress.