Deletion Under Constraint: W.E. Fairbairn’s System, Reconstructedh Through Dmitry Samoylov — and Through the Body W.E. Fairbairn’s close-combat system is often remembered through a handful of techniques: the chin jab, the edge-of-hand blow, low-line kicks, and a small collection of emergency responses. In popular memory, these movements are frequently described as “gutter fighting” — brutally... Continue Reading →
More Than Techniques: The Positional Logic of Fairbairn
Some months ago, I was overjoyed to edit and publish the best book anyone could imagine about Fairbairn’s system, by Russian scientist Dmitry Samoylov. Dr. Samoylov reconstructed what we might call Fairbairn’s “programmer’s notes,” namely the complicated calculus by which Fairbairn decided what to include in his system, and (more consequentially) what to exclude, and... Continue Reading →
Fourth Musketeer
“A wrestling tournament crash-landed at a Renaissance Fayre and they all intermarried,” was my thought. I'd tagged along with a trio of friends to SoCal Swordfight, a weekend-long HEMA competition: That’s “historical European martial arts,” three days of armored people fighting politely but hard with steel longswords, rapiers, daggers, and sabers. I’ve been practicing with... Continue Reading →
Before Buff: Why Were Dad Bods Admired In the Early 1900s?
Ever look at old-time photos showing their era's paragons of manliness? Ever notice how many of those turn-of-the-century sex symbols are proudly repping dad bods? It actually gets stranger: other models from the period look every bit as sculpted and Grecian as Brad Pitt in Troy, but no one seems to care. There's no indication that anyone in 1900--the photographers, the models, or the audiences--preferred the buff guys to the dad bods. What changed?
Chest Rigs: A Love Song
Other than kettlebells, if any object screamed aloud for the attention of Lean, Solid Dogs, it would have to be some kind of (a) surplus outdoor equipment (b) made to carry heavy loads over long distances, (c) especially in hot, dry climates, and (d) with a Communist parentage. What if I told you that such... Continue Reading →
Camping AAR: Bivvy, Boots, and Freezer Bags
After prolonged talk and little follow-through, I finally camped in the Marijuana Highlands for the first time this year. Since the lockdown, I've seen over 10 times more people up there than ever before, but as usual everyone is exceedingly neighborly. Hikers being almost non-existent there, people in trucks and ATVs routinely slow down to... Continue Reading →
Reset
What I've been busy with Lean, solid dogs, it's been entirely too long. I've missed you! Since I last posted, I went "operational" on the county Search & Rescue team and started climbing a steep learning curve in any number of training courses--K9 search operations, swift water rescue, rope rescue, emergency medical response--and a handful... Continue Reading →
Girevoy Sport (Pt. 2): The Snatch, “Tsar of Kettlebell Exercises”
In the snatch, if you’re going to last the full 10 minutes, you must spare your grip. How? Use your legs. After you “pull” the bell up, bend at the knees and dip down. That way you won’t have to pull as high. Even more importantly, when you drop the bell back down, rise up... Continue Reading →
Selouyanov on Endurance (Pt. 1): A Guest Post by Dr. Smet
Russian training methods and Russian sports science. Raise your hand if you (a) love these things but (b) don't read Russian. Then you probably owe almost everything you know to Pavel Tsatsouline, THE great interpreter of that subject and almost the most influential voice in American exercise. Pavel created an appetite for English-language popularizations of... Continue Reading →
Power to the People!
Part 6 of our series "Tao of the Lazy Badass" and part 7 of our retrospective series, "Twenty Years of Pavel Tsatsouline." (Follow the links to find all previous installments.) In our last post, we talked about “fragmenting the load,” a fancy way of saying that you should chop up your workload into small, easy... Continue Reading →