Showing posts with label physical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label physical. Show all posts

Saturday, December 14, 2013

1.4 Composure in battle

Greetings, young HTBs!

You must be thinking, what the heckie am I on right now, right? Composure in battle? Like, no shit Sherlock! Well, you'll be surprised at just how many people don't know about this. It is an important thing, keeping your composure in a fight. Don't freak out, try not to panic. In most cases, panicking is the worst thing you can do. Of course it keeps you on the balls of your feet, but too much can cause you to collapse under the pressure, making you a big blaring target for your attackers.

Try meditation, yoga, t'ai chi. They will help you calm down. Trust me, the life of a superhero is hectic, once you're in, you're in for life. It follows you everywhere. Suspicion plagues a guilty mind, my friend, so just calm down. Everyone needs to calm down, especially people with such high intensity jobs like heroing. Be sure to drink lots of water, keep hydrated, don't skip meals. Take care of yourself, a stressed hero is a dead one.

Why is self-help so important, aren't I supposed to be protecting people, you ask? Well if you can't even help yourself, how the heck are you supposed to be able to protect others? Think about it. Take it with a grain of salt. You come first. Ever watch those airplane safety videos when they say cater to yourself before others in your care? It's the same thing. If you can't survive, how will they survive?

This is a short post, I'm sorry, but it's mostly to say keep calm, keep your cool. Don't get to agitated, stressed, or anxious about things. It leads to your downfall, trust me. I know from experience. This does, however, wrap up Chapter 1! You must be thinking, wow isn't this a short chapter? Well, there's not that much to it.

To summarise:
• You come first, you always come first. Take care of yourself before others.
• Try to invest in training classes for self-defence (priority) and then offensive techniques, like kick-boxing etc.
• Stay calm in battle, it's important
• Get yourself checked for any health complications (Asthmatics may not make the best heroes if they have an attack.) Check yourself before you wreck yourself!
• Remember, a dead hero is a dead one. Seriously, if you're dead, you're dead and there's nothing you can do to help yourself or others. So protect yourself.

Toodaloo, young ones!
- TM

Friday, December 13, 2013

1.3 Training and Offensive Tactics

Hello young ones, long time no see, eh?

In the previous post, I talked about training and self defence, and it's only right to start talking about offensive techniques along with it. That should be your next goal once you learn how to protect yourself. There's one word for this: Practice. Keep practicing and you will get better. Practice with friends, it's best to get some training down before you throw yourself head first into a dangerous situation.

Why do you need offensive techniques? Let's face it. Not all of us are born with superpowers, it's the sad truth. That still doesn't stop us from dreaming to be superheroes, and it shouldn't stop you from becoming one either. Batman didn't have superpowers, but he became a hero, so why can't you? Of course, it means a lot more hand to hand fighting, and getting acquainted with weapons. Try not to be too trigger happy, that never rubs off well in the superhero world and turns you into an antihero of sorts instead.

What kind of tips can I give you for offensive techniques? Well, firstly, don't throw yourself into situations needlessly, especially if you can tell you are threatening your own life. Of course, step in and help if you know that you can handle it. Try not to fight alone against a whole gang, that's just silly. Be prepared, be ready. Practice with sandbags, take kickboxing classes, anything that will help you learn how to attack.

What's a hero without weapons anyway? If you're a normal human, well, I'm sorry to say but you're probably going to need a weapon. Even if it's just a baseball bat, it's stronger than your two fists, and more helpful. Do sports, sports is a good way to build up stamina and strength too, plus it's great fun. Practice archery, learn shooting, anything really. It all adds up in the end, trust me on this one.

Oh, but what about guns? I'm not against guns. They are a perfectly viable weapon. I, however, am against the unnecessary killing of people. I find that it's rather, gory and kind of sad for all these people having to die. However, sometimes it is necessary and you can't get away from it. That's just how it goes. Be warned, if you live in a country where guns are illegal, I have to say it's best to steer away from them and find other alternatives of weapons. If you get arrested for being in possession of a firearm, there's nothing you can do to save yourself, you'll just have to deal with the consequences of what you've done to yourself.

Honestly, what can I say about learning offensive techniques? All I can really suggest is learn how to fight. You don't want to get beat up during a battle, you want to be able to not only defend yourself (which should be your priority) but also fight back and take out your attackers and protecting whoever needs protecting. I know that the idea of putting yourself first seems pretty selfish, but trust me once you have that self defence nailed, you don't even have to think about it. You'll be protecting yourself while fighting and protecting the victim at the same time, how great is that?

Try not to get lured into the seductive idea that guns are the best and only way to win a battle. It's not. Even if your attackers pull a knife or a gun on you while you're unarmed, there are ways to take them down and avoid getting hit. Practice, that is all I can really say.

Keep cool, young HTBs!
- TM

Monday, December 2, 2013

1.2 Training and Self-Defence

Hello again, Young HTBs!

Here, we will be looking at training and self defence. You can't be a hero without training of some kind! That would be stupid. It would be like running into an Formula 1 racetrack in your underwear. You'll die, simple as that. Training, it's not the hardest thing in the world. Any sort of self-defence training will suffice. Knowing human biology is also very helpful when it comes to self defence.

Oh, why is this important you ask? Well, if you are attacked you want to know how to defend yourself. You need to know how to protect yourself first before you learn how to protect others. If you have ever sat on an airplane and had to go through all the safety procedures just in case of a probable crash, then you have probably heard the whole 'attend to yourself before others' talk. If you can't help yourself, how are you supposed to help others?

The most appropriate thing to do is to take lessons. If you are really invested in the idea of becoming a superhero, it would be best to learn first hand and train with masters. I suggest things like Tae Kwon Do, Aikido, or classes specific to self-defence training. This is the best way to learn. If you already have a belt in Tae Kwon Do, or other similar styles, then good job you're about 3/4s of the way there! If you're a master, then I don't see why you're here because obviously you don't need training anymore.

Obviously, I know that not everyone has the time or the money to join these sorts of classes. There are other ways, of course. For example, make a friend who is good at Tae Kwon Do, and ask them to teach you some simple self-defence moves. Tell them you want to make sure if anyone tries to mug you, that you want to make sure you know what to do in that situation. If they're nice enough, they will help you. If not, then I'm sorry that friend is useless to you, go make another friend.

Here are some videos that demonstrate some simple self-defence techniques that you can practice with friends without having to pay for lessons! Of course, be careful, take caution, don't be stupid. Stupidity is useless on a superhero. Be sure to take these all with a grain of salt, don't get too anxious to try this out on a real person.

3 Street Fight Tips (one attacker):


Multiple Attackers Tips:


All of the above videos belong to their rightful owner, of course. I own none of it, and please don't hold me or the creator accountable for any mishaps that may happen during your practices.

To summarise for those who do not wish to read through it all: If you can, take self-defence lessons or train in Tae Kwon Do, Aikido, or something similar. Take care of yourself before others. A dead superhero is a useless superhero.

Stay solid, young ones!
- TM

Sunday, December 1, 2013

1.1 Physical and Mental Health

Hello, Young HTBs!

Before we dive into the world of costumes and capes and spandex, there are a few preparatory things you must consider before you decide to become a fully fledge superhero. First things first, it is your physical and mental health. You must be thinking, this is silly why do we need to listen to this? This is so obvious. Well, young HTB, if you have seen the movie Kick-Ass you will know that the protagonist of that film is grossly unfit for a roll as a superhero. Why, you ask? Because even though he's full of hope and dreams, he's not physically healthy and fit enough to do much at all.

So, before you embark on your journey, I suggest you work out a bit. And by a bit I mean a lot. You want to go to the gym or out to the park to go running every morning to build up your stamina and your cardio. The worst thing a hero could do is pass out half way through a chase due to a lack of energy. You want to do squats and sit-ups and push-ups to make sure you've got enough core muscles, which are very important for stability. Lifting weights is not essential. Don't waste time building up too much muscle, just work on your stamina and core strength, the lifting weights can come in later. If you do decide to lift weights, start small. Never feel embarrassed by having to take a small weight, if you immediately go for the big one because you think you can do it, you'll be in for a bad time and a pulled muscle.

That's the physical health stuff sorted. As a measure, if you can run a half marathon in 1 hour and 30 minutes, you're good to go. You must be thinking, "But this is only teaching me how to run away! I want to fight!" That will come next, do not fret young HTB. Just know that you cannot put up a good fight if your stamina is low and you core muscles are weak.

Next, mental health. Why should you care about mental health? Well, because it's important. Think about it this way, would you want a person with Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED)? I don't think so. Honestly, if you had to deal with the Hulk al the time, I think you'd get tired of his uncontrollable, unexpected rage times. Try to get yourself diagnosed for any mental illnesses you may have, hopefully none. It is not impossible to be a hero even if diagnose with a mental disorder, but it'll be harder for you in the long run. Imagine if you have ADHD, sure that'd keep you active and excited all the time, but as a hero you need to be able to focus. Not to mention it's probably best to not be on medications while heroing.

Once you have all of the above sorted, you'll be able to move onto the next section, which is training.

Tip: Eat healthy! Lots of vegetables, carbohydrates for energy, don't consume too much oil. All these things will help you stay fit for work and make sure your stomach doesn't feel like throwing out its contents while you're out and about being a superhero. Avoid fast food when you can, the preservatives can really irritate sometimes. Also avoid energy drinks such as Redbull as they will just cause hyperactivity most of the time.

Keep solid and well, young HTBs!
- TM