Martin Rooney - Ultimate warrior workouts

Contents

Roger Gracie controls Jon Olav Einemo en route to an ADCC Superfight victory.

F or nearly one hundred years, my family has been involved in martial arts, dedicating their lives to Jiu Jitsu and passing that legacy on to the new generations. For us, fighting is not a temporary commitment or a job to make money; it is a way of life. Growing up as a Gracie, there is constant pressure to succeed. From birth you are expected to be a fighter. With both the pressure and the high expectations, combined with the fact that Jiu Jitsu is now practiced by more people on the planet than ever, becoming a champion is not an easy task.

Along my personal path in the martial arts, there have been two phases in my training: amateur and professional. During my career, I have trained with, alongside, and under many great people. In terms of my physical preparation for the martial arts, Martin Rooney is the man who showed me the difference between amateur and professional. I began training with Martin at the end of 2002, just before I competed for the first time in the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) World Grappling Championships. This was the first time in my life when I realized how important physical preparation was toward achieving potential. Training with Martin not only changed my physique but gave me increased strength, speed, and endurance. Since then, by following his Training for Warriors system, I have continued to physically improve and develop. This system, along with the constant support of my family in our martial art, helped me win the 2005 ADCC in unprecedented fashion by submitting all eight of my opponents, and winning multiple Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Championships, including the 2009 title, in which I submitted all nine of my opponents.

When it came time for a new challenge, I decided to take my Jiu Jitsu skills and test them in the world of MMA in Japan. I immediately learned that to succeed, not only would I have to learn about several other martial arts beside Jiu Jitsu, but I would have to physically train like the artists of those styles as well. This cross-training was difficult, not just because there was a lot of work involved, but because there was not one source of information I could use to gain even greater direction in the process. I believe that Martin has solved that issue with the philosophy, history, and training that he has researched and delivered in this book.

In addition to having been my trainer, Martin is also a good friend. Because of this, I know what he has put into the mission that is this book you now hold in your hands. For almost two years, Martin traveled the world to put together this book, and I can say with confidence that there is no book like it on any shelf in any store or library. This book is especially interesting because it not only educates the world about many different martial arts but also shows how they have many similarities in philosophy, development, and training. If you are a martial artist, or interested in learning more about the martial arts, it is impossible not to benefit from this book.

Martin once told me that if you train a man he might improve his fitness, but if you teach a man to train he will be fit for a lifetime. Just as my family developed and then spread Jiu Jitsu to expose its gifts and principles to the world, Martin has compiled the fruits of many martial arts so that you can improve yourself. If you think that this is just another workout book, you are only scratching the surface. This book, just like Martin, goes much deeper than that.

Roger Gracie

London, England

August 2009

A fighter mentally prepares for battle at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

I believe that everything that you see in this world first started out as an idea in someones mind. I will not forget the major step in how this book went from an idea to the actual object in your hands right at this moment:

After discussing the success of my first book, Training for Warriors: The Ultimate Mixed Martial Arts Workout , with my editor, I asked a simple question: Since this book is doing so well, when do I get to submit another idea for the next book? She replied, Do you have another idea? From that simple question, this book was born.

The idea for this book was that I would travel around the world and investigate the individual martial arts that are most commonly practiced in the growing sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). I expected this to be an amazing adventure in which I traveled to distant countries and trained hard in the martial arts developed there. What I did not know at the time was that I would also meet and befriend interesting people, experience new languages and cultures, try new and exotic foods, visit famous monuments, and better understand the histories of those countries. I also had no idea that I would personally learn as much as I did about my own physical training.

Thanks to the incredible individuals I met during the two years researching this book, I have come to realize that the martial artsand this bookare reliant on three attributes that are harder to train than muscle and bone. The first is courage. Before you can be either a successful martial artist or a writer, you must first have the courage to decide to become one, and then develop the grit to actually start. In the martial arts and life, it is often the start of anything that is the stopping point for most people. Have the courage to begin, and much of the battle is already won.

The second attribute is discipline. Once you have decided to begin, only consistent action will allow you to accomplish anything. Simply put, if you want to be a great martial artist, always show up. If you want to be a great author, always write. The black belt is much less commonly the man with the most natural talent as he is the man that continued to train while everyone else gave up from some self-created excuse. The discipline to take consistent action over time will eventually help you to defeat anything.

The final characteristic of a successful person is patience. All too often, we know what it is we want to become, yet we dont have the willpower to suffer through the plateaus along the way. Know that time is on your side and that you will win the war to achieve whatever it is you want to achieve... as long as you stick it out long enough.

This book is the product of the courage to put forward an idea multiplied by the discipline and patience to stay the course and see the vision through to completion. One simple idea can lead you on the greatest adventures of your life. I know that in the case of this book, it did for me.

I sincerely hope you enjoy this book on many levels. I consider it far beyond a fitness book. If fitness is all you are looking for, its here. But if you are also interested in the history and philosophy of numerous martial arts, or in experiencing the cultures in which they were created, this book may help you find the idea that leads you on your next adventure.