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Secrets of Combat Fitness Set

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T-Jack Admin
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Join date: May 2004
Location:
Posts: 118

The "Secrets of Combat Fitness" set includes a book by Charles Staley and three VHS videos including Physical Preparation for Combat Sports. For more info, checkout Integratedsportsolutions.com.

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storey420
Level 4

Join date: Dec 2003
Location: Texas, USA
Posts: 577

Pro's:

Excellent witten and video demonstration of the Max Jones Quadrathon.

Very clear, concise information.

Videos are well done and easy to follow.

Con's:

VERY basic info as far as the weight training.

Not much as far as martial art specific training drills, stretches.

How was the quality of the books and videos?

The look of both the video and book was good.

What was the most interesting thing you learned?

The dot drill, MJQ

Would you recommend that T-Nation readers buy this product?

Some perhaps--see comments.

Overall rating:

Comments:

Let me first say that I love Coach Staley's ideas and think his insights are brilliant. T-Nation readers however would probably be disappointed if they bought this if they have been keeping up with Staley and his info here on the site. The book was basically--lift heavy to gain strength in the combat sports. So if you're already familiar with EDT and have studied other martial art materials, this one isn't for you. Unless of course you really want to know how to do the Max Jones Quadrathon. That was the most valuable aspect of this set. The dot drill is a killer too. All in all if I bought this I'd probably be a bit disappointed and would rather spend my money on boot camp videos. Again though if you have been wondering how to really do the MJQ this is the series for you. So if you are a coach wanting to incorporate that test with your athletes just PM me and I'll pass it along to you.

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Ramo
Level 4

Join date: Jan 2004
Location: Virginia, USA
Posts: 1014

Pro's:

1. Coach Staley has a knack for clear writing; his ideas are always well presented.

2. Use of modern strength training protocols is long overdue in the martial arts; the notion that becoming strong is somehow 'cheating' is absurd, but is still argued in many dojos around the world.

3. The Max Jones Quadrathlon is a valuable assessment tool with which all speed/power athletes should be familiar. If you receive Coach Staley's newsletter, you already know about it. Coach Staley does a good job of describing the components of the Quadrathlon.

Con's:

1. It doesn't seem like anyone edited the text. Some of the 'praise for Coach Staley' blurbs at the beginning are repeated, there are numerous spelling errors...not a big deal, but not as professional as you might hope for.

2. For anyone who has followed Coach Staley's work, you may be disappointed to find that there is nothing new in here.

3. The sample protocol is clearly geared towards the beginner; nothing revolutionary.

4. The first two parts of the book deal with the Max Jones Quadrathlon and a drill where the athlete jumps to and from various dots on a floor. The third part of the book deals exclusively with strength training. It would have been nice to see a more complete presentation of conditioning methods for combat athletes.

5. In sum, I think this work is geared more towards someone taking martial arts classes a few times a week who has little experience with strength training. There's nothing wrong with that, just not what you'd expect from the title 'Secrets of Combat Fitness'...there are no secrets in here.

How was the quality of the books and videos?

The quality of the book was fair; sound and picture quality on the videos was good...

What was the most interesting thing you learned?

Being familiar with Coach Staley's work, there wasn't much new here...I'd known about the Max Jones Quadrathlon before, but the in-depth descriptions of its components was useful.

Would you recommend that T-Nation readers buy this product?

Overall rating:

Comments:

Let me say first that I have an enormous amount of respect for Coach Staley; his contributions over the years have been staggering. That said, there is nothing compelling about this product. I'm left wondering what the 'secrets' are. I agree wholeheartedly with the message that maximal strength is foundational to speed-strength, strength-speed, and strength-endurance, and that for that reason it should always remain a training focus.

But most of us knew that already, and Coach Staley is really just rehashing what he's been writing about for the past few years.

The sample training protocol provided is nothing to write home about; I cringed at the leg-extension/leg-curl superset, but that's another argument...

Despite this, combat athletes, much less practitioners of more traditional martial art disciplines, have because of dogma been reluctant to pursue serious strength training. There is a huge market that would benefit from these ideas; but probably not anyone on these forums who's put in their work under the iron as well as on the mat.

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monkey_space
Level 4

Join date: Sep 2004
Location: North Carolina, USA
Posts: 536

Pro's:

Book

The book was informative and easy to read. The layout provided a legend on the outer margin explaining the paragraph(s) beside of it.

Not a lot of time was spent on irrelevant subject matter. It was clear and to the point.

Video

Charles Staley exhibits experience and knowledge as he addresses the subjects covered, and in answering questions.

The MJQ tests are thoroughly explained.

Both

With the title of this product, Secrets of Combat Fitness, I was thinking it would be more focused on martial arts. I was pleased, not participating in any form of martial arts, that the information provided in the book and videos is applicable to my current goals. I am sure the techniques would improve someone in martial arts, but I find it useful for those wanting to improve overall strength and fitness.

Con's:

Book

While the book was easy to read, it was a bit choppy at points. A few times, when forgetting to reference the legend in the margin, I would get confused not realizing that the subject matter had changed. I think it would have been better to provide a heading at the beginning of each paragraph starting new subject matter.

There were several misspelled words and places were words were missing.

While the information provided was helpful, it felt like something was missing. It just didn't feel very substantial.

Video

While audio is clear for the person addressing the camera, the audio for everyone else is muffled. In the Physical Preparation video, the questions asked by those in attendance were not understandable, and Charles didn't repeat the question, he only answered it. Sometimes the context and information provided in the answer indicated the question, and sometimes it did not.

How was the quality of the books and videos?

The book was decent quality. Not as high as I expected, but good enough to not be distracting.

The video quality was decent, but the audio suffered at points, especially when people asked Charles a question.

What was the most interesting thing you learned?

I had heard of the "Dots Drill", but was not familiar with how to perform or score it. This was explained in detail, and after trying it, I was glad nobody was there to witness. :)

I also learned a few techniques of stretching that I found very interesting. Like how to stretch for different desired end results. I have implemented some of the stretches this week, and have been very pleased with the outcome.

Would you recommend that T-Nation readers buy this product?

While I found the information to be informative and insightful, I have to be honest and say most of the information in this product can be gleaned from this web site. For someone involved in competitive fighting or martial arts, it might prove to be more useful overall. But for those looking to increase mass and strength, I am not sure you would pick up enough information to justify the purchase of this product.

Overall rating:

Comments:

I was excited when the box from Biotest showed up on my front door step. I immediately opened the package and made sure everything was there. After reading the instructions provided, I went to http://www.integratedsportsolu... research what claims were made about the product. Then I sat down and read the book, making notes along the way. Next I watch the videos, also making notes. Prior to my workout that evening, I incorporated some stretching techniques learned from the product. I also performed the dot drill, and was embarrassed with the outcome. Before writing this review, I read the book three more times, and watched the videos one more time. My wife also looked over the material, and was interested in incorporating some of the stretches in her routine. While watching the videos the second time, I decided to give something he mentioned a try. I have been trying to break a plateau on several different press lifts (I have always been stronger with pulling than with pressing), and incorporated a technique he mentioned twice this week. I am very pleased to say it allowed me to break my plateau. This, along with the stretching techniques learned, made reviewing this product worth the time and effort involved.

However, I must be honest and point one thing out; it just always felt like something was missing. The book just didn't feel substantial, and provide a lot of in depth information, as compared to what I have learned from T-Nation. So, with that said, I am not willing to say this is a definite buy. I think "newbies" would benefit greatly from this product, simply because everything is all in one place, but more experienced folks may not feel enough is provided to justify the cost of the product.

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Phill
Level 4

Join date: Aug 2003
Location:
Posts: 12798

Well I figured I would jump in here also and add to this as I have recently had the opportunity to read this as well.

I found it a nice very informative read that covers a lot of Staleys principles all in one book without delving to far into any one of them. I feel it would give the trainee looking to add to his fighting abilities a great resource, as well as being a great book for anyone to begin with the works of Charles. You could use it as a stepping stone to pick which path you are most interested and off shoot from there.

All in all, like others said I am not sure that I learned anything new from the read, but it is a nice resource to get a whole overview into Charles' thoughts on each type of training/etc., when and why they are applied. I nice refresher book that can be quickly read and looked back upon to rehatch past reads.

Only negative from my standpoint would be SMACK the SH%* out of the editor. There were quite a few little missed mistakes. Nothing I couldnt figure out but, it kinda detracted from it in a way.

Great Work and I feel worth the purchse.
Keep em' coming

Phill

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