Loren W. Christensen - Solo Training 2: The Martial Artists Guide to Building the Core

I want to thank the many readers who bought Solo Training (also published by Turtle Press), my first book on training alone, and helped propel it to bestseller status for well over two years, and where it continues to reign at this writing. Also, many thanks for your nice emails and the positive reviews on a host of web sites. Im especially thrilled when readers tell me that my training tips completely changed their workouts for the better, that the book helped them to overcome plateaus, and that it even helped them to win tournaments. Ive had several police officers tell me that a technique or a fighting concept saved my bacon. As a martial arts teacher and a writer its wonderful to hear these things. Its especially interesting to hear about a readers success in a tournament since most of my writing is on street oriented martial arts. Im glad that they were able to modify the exercises and drills to fit their needs in the ring.

While I always give myself a thumbs-up in the mirror when I get positive feedback, I also pay attention to those readers who have complaints and suggestions. Sometimes someone will just make an observation, like the guy from Japan who said that he really liked Fighters Fact Book and he especially liked that I looked like an average guy who drinks beer and loves his kids. That was really a review! Well, Im not much of a beer drinker but I do love my kids. I especially pay attention to reviews that have valid and constructive suggestions. It was because of those that I penned this second volume on solo training.

Lots of readers said they liked my easy and sometimes amusing writing style, so Ive continued to use it. I use a lot of humor in my classes, finding that laughter relaxes students and helps them learn faster. Readers have also said that my books always contain tons of information, sometimes beyond what the book is about, and always more than the cost of the book. For me, this happens because one idea begets another and another, and so on. That is just the way it goes when studying the martial arts and when writing about it. Ive done that in this book, too.

A few readers said that while they liked Solo Training, they thought the material was basic and aimed at colored belts. Well, I would not agree that the material is basic, but I would agree that its not complex. That is because I dont believe in being complex when it comes to defending yourself. Fighting should be simple, especially self-defense.

I own a few martial arts videos and books that contain complicated and intricate offensive and defensive movements. Some of them are so complex that they are laugh-out-loud funny. My educated guess is that these authors have never applied these techniques when their heart beat was machine gunning at 175 to 200 beats a minute from a combined surge of fear and boiling adrenaline. At that level, untrained people fight with wild arm swings and bear hugs. Trained people, that is, people who have been trained to function in high-adrenaline situations, fall back on their basics reverse punches, backfists, front kicks and roundhouse kicks. This is a truth I learned from personal experience during my 29 years living the warrior life in the trenches as a cop and soldier, and learning from a host of martial artists, soldiers, cops, warrior trainers and warrior scholars. Therefore, I only write about the simple stuff and how you can make it stronger, faster and more ferocious.