C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

  “Good advice has been cast at me throughout my career.  I tend to ignore it when it comes in a dull package.” ~strength coach Dan John I start with this quote from strength coach Dan John so that you will understand this is NOT a glitzy essay, one packed with shiny “new” things that might be all the current rage in the muscle-building world.  It IS, however, informative and filled with good advice. 1977 issue of Muscle Builder & Power ; Muscle magazines have always been full of "lists." I like lists for lifters.  Short lists.  Easy-to-remember lists.   Lists of what foods are best for you to eat (depending on your goals).  Lists of the sort of exercises you should be doing; exercises that can help you achieve your goals in a shorter period of time. For the longest, I touted what I referred to as the “Big 5.”  The Big 5 is a list of the 5 things every lifter should do each and every week without fail—male or female, big or small, whether your goal is fat loss or hypert

  Part One: A Basic, Full-Body Power Rack Program  (Inspired by the Legendary Charles A. Smith) illustrations as they appeared in one of Smith's rack training articles for Muscle Power I keep a notebook on my person at all times to jot down ideas for articles and essays as they come to me.  My sons, of course, explain to me that I could make it easier if I just use a “notepad” on my cell phone.  But I won’t budge.  I’m pretty stubborn in that way, but it’s also because I don’t think we should be so quick to “throw out the old for the new.”  I bring this up for two points.  The first is that, looking through my notebook(s) of ideas, I realized that I haven’t written anything on “power rack training” in quite some time.  The 2nd is that you shouldn’t be so quick to get rid of “old” training ideas in favor of whatever “new-fangled” ones appear to work better; and, unfortunately, the lifting world seems to have forgotten some of the great exercises that can be done in the power rack. 

The Everything is Budo Practice of the Edo-Era Samurai Suzuki Shosan Suzuki Shosan has long been one of my favorite “Zen” samurai, and I have, for some time, wanted to write a profile on him.  I think more budoka need to know about him.  He simply isn’t as famous or well-known as other writers (of Budo Zen literature) from the early Edo period, such as Musashi, Yagyu Munenori, the zen priest Takuan Soho (author of the Unfettered Mind ), or Yamamoto Tsunetomo.  However, instead of writing a more “straightforward” profile of the legendary Tokugawa samurai, I have decided to write (either two or) three essays dealing with some of his viewpoints and “techniques” of Budo Zen that I think are important for modern budoka.  In doing so, I will also touch upon parts of his life that I think you will find interesting. In an earlier essay, as part of my series translating and commenting upon Musashi’s Dokkodo , I briefly discussed Shosan regarding his views on “do not fear death while following