Christian Martialism on a Budget, 10

We are approaching the end of this series of posts. There are some subjects I have not touched (knife, stick, defense against multiple attackers), but if you follow the program I've laid out, you should have the basics of close quarters combat and handgun defense. You can build on that foundation later.

One area I've not yet addressed is warrior fitness. Strength training is, I believe, the key to warrior fitness. If you structure your strength training in terms of circuits and intervals, you can get a good cardio workout as a bonus. You can achieve this with 20-minute workouts 3-4 times per week, without barbells or other equipment.

The resource you'll need to accomplish this is John E. Peterson's Pushing Yourself to Power. It is a cornucopia of bodyweight exercises you can do anywhere, including cramped quarters. It also contains several short biographies & photos of some athletes, strongmen, and others who have built their strength and physiques through bodyweight-only training.

The photographic illustrations are detailed enough so you can see how each exercise is done. The text is easy to read and understand. And I know that it works, because over the past six months I have gained muscle (although I've cleverly camouflaged it underneath my personal survival food storage program -- er, fat).

Peterson professes faith in Christ, which is a plus, but his witness is more of the soft evangelical variety than the robust proclamations of, say, Luther or Knox. Nevertheless, to read a training book in a Gospel rather than a New Age or Buddhist context is refreshing.

Pushing Yourself to Power sells for $19.79, and if you waited to order The Gift of Fear, you can order both at once and get free shipping.

One more important training topic I've not yet addressed has to do with the lower end of the scale of force: verbal techniques to deflect potential violence. For this I recommend George J. Thompson's Verbal Judo. I reviewed this book in "The Best Self Defense System, 4". It sells for $11.16, and you can get free shipping if you order it with the two books I mentioned above.

That brings your total expenditure to $98.38, just under the $100 budget for a year. You don't have to purchase everything at once, either. There is plenty of free material for you to work with, and you can expand your training as funds become available. The important thing is to train as well as to study. To become an accomplished Christian Martialist, you must do both.

One more post on this topic should do it. I want to list a few more free resources, and wind up this topic by asking for some discussion & reaction.