Has anyone here read Pavel’s new book on body weight exercises or know if his combat training tapes are worth getting?
Yes. Most of the info was available on the net by him previously though.
No. Those tapes are a ripoff.
…
Where can the information on body weight exercises by Pavel on the net? Is the book worth getting and is it better than Matt Furey’s combat book? Why are the tapes a rip off?
Whoa, I was JUST about to make a thread asking “Has anyone seen Pavel’s Martial Power tapes?” They sound pretty cool (I just got another ad for them in the mail), but I wanted to make sure before I dropped nearly $500 for them.
Also, I’ve heard his bodyweight exercise book is all about pistols (one legged squats) and one armed pushups. If you can already do those, you probably don’t need the book.
But that’s just what I’ve heard. I don’t know for sure.
So please go into more detail about why the Martial Power tapes are a ripoff.
I’d ask over on DragonDoor, but I think I’d get biased answers. You know what I mean.
Thanks.
If you have Power to the People, Beyong Stretching/Relax Into Stretch, and Bulletproof Abs then that covers about 99% of the material on the Martial Power videos. You miss a few exercises and concepts, but nothing that would justify it’s price. Even the stuff that is in detail in PTP, Stretching, Abs in the books is just glossed over in the tape set.
I’m so happy that I viewed a copy of the tapes before I made a decision on buying them because I would have been seriously ****ed off at wasting that much money on rehashed, glossed over crap. Do yourself a favor and just buy the books and tapes above. You’ll even have money left over that could go to Naked Warrior, Kettlebells, or something nice for the mrs.
The Naked Warrior stuff on the web is just from posts and articles of his. I guess if you’re a newbie, it might be worth the investment but it really only covers 2 exercises… Just do a search in his forum and one the web and you can find plenty about pistols and one-arm push-ups.
Iron,
The answer is basically in the post above. You’d probably be really angry if you dropped $500 on that set. The stuff that aren’t covered by PTP, RIS, and BA are a brief explanation of pistols, foot-to-bar leg raises, and some agility drills (hops and cone jumps basically). A huge ripoff. In my opinion, this is when Pavel started putting out questionable material.
This tape set: ripoff
He stopped printing Beyond Stretching and split it up into 2 books: Relax Into Stretch and Super Joints. The vast majority of material in both RIS and SJ is covered in BS.
Kettlebells were mixed in there as the only decent thing he’s put out in a while. I got the video and a 16kg one before a book was even available and he started cashing in on seminars for KB’s.
Naked Warrior covers basically the 1-arm push-up and pistol. Similar rehashing with tension technques from PTP and power breathing from PTP/BA, etc. The unique material could be covered in a pamphlet and sold for a lot less.
Dunno. I know it’s about making money, but everything I’ve gotten of his since PTP, BS, and BA (with the exception of KB’s) has me shaking my head.
I just can’t see spending $500 on video tapes of anything, and especially Martial Power - That’s 20 hours of private instruction with my sifu.
Originally posted by Ford Prefect
This tape set: ripoff
Spoken with Maddox-like authority 
He stopped printing Beyond Stretching and split it up into 2 books: Relax Into Stretch and Super Joints. The vast majority of material in both RIS and SJ is covered in BS.
I knew there was something fishy about that. I have RIS. Thanks for the explanation.
I think I will order the book and not the tapes. I have all of Pavel’s books, especially all his kettlebells books. I like kettlebell and I have only one pood bell at home. Pretty expensive tool, but it is fun and effective. FordPerfect, I see you are fellow kettlebell student. Good for you, bro.
Doing leg legged squats with kettlebell or even an bar over your head is bad arse in my opinion as well as single arm push ups using the “Power Push II” cable tool. I believe these are pretty functional movements especially for any martial artists. This doesnt mean martial artists shouldnt do weight training!!! I do believe in the basic power compound movements of such as squats, bench, and deadlifts should practice in addition to classical methodology of martial arts training.
Originally posted by FooFighter
I do believe in the basic power compound movements of such as squats, bench, and deadlifts should practice in addition to classical methodology of martial arts training.
Hooray!
I don’t want to start a thread for this, but I am now considering buying some of this Pavel guy’s books to guide me. I see there are quite a few, and they are fairly pricey (for me).
I do kung fu and started lifting weights somewhat consistently.
Which books do you reccomend?
I see that Power to the People is quite popular, and you guy’s seem to be happy with Bulletproof Abs. Which of the three flexibility books should I get? Anyways, some input would be greatly appreciated!
My collection has grown. I now have PTP, BA, RIS & SJ. I’m happy with them all, but I could’ve saved my money by searching for the info online probably. I do follow PTP fairly religiously at the moment. I do Janda situps and Swiss ball crunches 3x week as well as ab roller 1x week. All are in BA, but I don’t need the book to tell me how to do them. Good read, though.
RIS and SJ come in useful for me too. I do some mobility and stretching exercises infrequently a couple of times a week from both. I do mainly shoulder mobility stuff from SJ and hamstring, groin and hip type stuff from RIS. Depends on what you want. RIS is more stretching, SJ is more mobility drills with less emphasis on stretch. IIRC, most of the drills in SJ you won’t feel a stretch. What’s the 3rd book? If it’s the older stretching one, then apparently it contains most of RIS and SJ anyway. Pavel just realised he could make more money if he split it into 2 books.
My muscles and joints from the hips down are in really bad shape imo. A lot of them hurt when stretched, and theres some awkward pains in the right hip joint. I was hoping to gain some insight into some stretching techniques which might let me strengthen as well as stretch these muscles. The SJ book sounded good mainly because of my joint problems.
From the reviews I’ve read, some people complain that KA requires you to buy Pavel’s contraption, and that the majority of the exercises are focused around it, this true?
I get strains every few weeks in the hip/groin etc from heavy leg lifts. The stuff in RIS is good for it. My two favourites are:
(1) kneel down like the bottom position of a lunge. Concentrate on “pushing” your front foot forward and your back knee back (literally and mentally). Sink your hips down vertically towards the ground. Good for hamstrings, butt and hips. Don’t rest your hands anywhere because it sort of negates the effect. Leave them hanging beside you.
(2) The same, but bring your chest down towards the ground. Lowest I can get is with my forearms resting on the ground. My elbows are kind of just next to and behind my front foot. Focus on opening up the stretch by sinking your hips down again. Doing this one I like to push my back leg backwards as far as possible.
(3) The same as (1) but holding your back ankle up high near your butt is an excellent quad stretch.
I’ll try to remember to read through SJ and RIS again tonight, but from memory I prefer RIS for leg and hip stuff.
As to BA, I made my own Janda machine. Cost almost nothing. His books do read like infomercials at times. The last 20 or so pages of each is ads for his other books and products. But the Janda machine was easy. Jandas themselves, OTOH, are not so easy. Concentrate on form - it makes or breaks the exercise. Even easier than making a machine is convincing a partner to hold your legs for you. I sometimes get my wife to do it and it works much better than the machine. From memory, Janda situps make up the 1st or 2nd chapter of the book, then the rest is alternative exercises that you don’t need expensive equipment for. e.g. Dragon flags, ab roller, various bridge-type pushups, breathing exercises, etc.
Toby - the stretch you described is great for the hip flexors (psoas) too.
I made a janda machine too. I basically put one of those door way mounted pull-up bars at ankle height. $9.99 instead of $130. Not too shabby. Even with that I prefer the Ab wheel, Dragon Flags, and hanging straight leg raises. The Power wheel is cool too.
I made a Janda machine, too. It’s called put-a-heavy-textbook-between-your-knees-and-squeeze-it-while-you-do-situps.
Cost: $89, because college text books are freaking expensive. 
But you could use a phone book. Cost: $0. I find that the heavier the book you have, the better it works.
Ok, it’s not EXACTLY like a Janda machine, but it still works well.
But there’s one more thing you have to do. In addition to squeezing it with your knees, consciously dig your feet DOWN and TOWARD you into the floor. THIS will activate the hamstrings and deactivate the hip flexors (hopefully). If you have good feel of when your muscles are contracting, you’ll get it. It’s not as easy as using a real Janda machine, but if you practice you can have some success with it.
Janda Sit ups
I dont know but I dont like wasting money. I didnt waste my hard earned dollars on Pavel’s ab machine. LOL. You could use a small 15-25 cm stability ball and do the same movement as the Pavel’s ab machine.
I just clasp my hands in the small of my back, pull my feet flat into the floor, and do extended range semi-Janda crunches - I can only do about 12.
OK ComeToJesus, I checked them out again last night. IMHO, RIS is the best for leg and hip area by far. More exercises and they seem to work my muscles and joints better than the SJ ones. There are some good ones in there (RIS) that might help you. Besides the ones I mentioned you could try cossacks, reverse cossacks and a few others that I forgot the name of.
Re Janda situps: most important is form, regardless of what equipment you use. Ask if you ever want a description of the exercise although it’s probably been described in this forum before if you search. If you do them wrong, you’re wasting your time. E.g. I can do Jandas to failure on my homemade jig or with my wife holding my ankles, then immediately lie next to it and do crunches or situps (using psoas) until I get bored with no trouble. As I said before it’s much easier and (IMHO) better if you can get a training partner to help.