Training with Giants

I’m approaching my mid-fifties, it’s an age where I’m thinking about my end of days, or at least my retirement days. We review our partner retirement planning spreadsheet on a 6 monthly basis, keen to make sure we’re on track and that I have enough set aside to fund my fitness gadget habit.

Trouble is, the financial figures don’t pay any heed to my health trajectory. If you’re familiar with the concept of Peter Attia’s Centenarian Decathlon you’ll note that if you want to be hill walking in your 70’s you probably need to be hill running in your 50’s.

My mobility has been a bit shonky to be frank and it doesn’t bode well for a future 70 year old intent on buying and using the latest functional training gadgets available. So, this year I decided I would divert some of my savings so I could work with giants in the functional fitness world and reverse the rot.

I have to say, I am old enough to remember mobile phones being introduced as bricks in brief cases. No one who had one, dared to make a call unless their company was paying the bill. You wouldn’t touch mobile data unless you were prepared for a £1000 data bill. Now I can have an hour long zoom call with a guy from Nashville or North Carolina and it costs nothing!!! Mind blowing.

Edward Troise - ET Strength

Edward is one of the athletic, agile, brutes that work closely with David Weck. His mantra is “Strength of an Ox, Prowess of a Cheetah” and there’s no denying he’s absolutely nailed it.

I tentatively approached Edward because I wanted to work with him but why would he want to work with me? This guy is a fantastic communicator and translator of all things WeckMethod, he should be working with the elite but luckily for me he was happy to help me in my journey to explore balanced locomotion and to unlock the power of the spinal engine.

I already had his massively comprehensive rope flow course but by buying a block of one on one zoom sessions, I was hoping to get the equivalent of a Weck method workshop delivered to my own back garden

I have to say the experience was a delight. Edward is bloody fantastic. He was able to scale everything to accommodate my limitations and he is so patient with my rhythmic challenges.

I despaired sometimes at my inability to metaphorically rub my tummy and pat my head but Edward was able to see exactly where I was going wrong and slowly, slowly we’ve made progress.

After 10 sessions I would say my landmine university moves are looking somewhere closer to decent, I’m beginning to really understand rope flow mechanics, exploring some more athletic moves (like alternating sneak switches) and most importantly my walking mechanics are improving.

I long to be a graceful ox and I trust that Edward can help me get there.

I’d absolutely recommend getting a series of sessions booked in with Edward if you are serious about exploring the themes of Weck Method. If this is financially out of your reach though, Edward has recently set up a Skool community where he shares his weekly workouts for inspiration along with guidance tutorials, all for a very low monthly cost.

Jared Michael Thomas - Mace Flow with JMT

Jared Michael Thomas (JMT) is an absolute master of exploiting momentum for joyful expression. He wields mace, sandflails, clubs, rope, kettlebells and really practically anything, and moves it and his body with such freedom that my body aches with envy.

The aching ends here! I signed up for a block of remote classes and have been exploring mace flow for the last couple of months.

I’ve absolutely loved it. The mace is an exacting master. With my rope flow practice I often find myself wondering what the rope is telling me, where does it want to go. With the mace there is no question, it drags me along for the ride and my challenge is to tame it.

Jared has eeked out new moves week by week and given me extremely comprehensive homework.

Since joining forces with him I’ve been doing a minimum of 200 360’s per day and even knocked out 500 on one day. That has been a massive increase and has challenged my mental barriers of what is possible. I’m now setting my sights on mace swinging competitions like the King of Swings at Valhalla because I can see myself as a steel warrior.

I’d previously only seen mace flow as a choreographed artistic practice that didn’t really gel with me. Watching Jared wield a mace just makes me smile and want to sling heavy shit. I am super excited to see where my journey goes with JMT, I’ve already got more control over my sandflail and I’ve started to explore the pumpkin paraslush from Slushropes.

Buying a block of calls with Jared also comes with access to his online WhatsApp group, his Steel Mace Swings course on Somble but also recordings of your zoom sessions so you can go over them AND a full week of programming for homework. It’s an intense mace flow immersion.

I’d also like to point out that Jared is an all round decent guy and he already has an exceptionally good intro to mace flow course available on Somble for FREE. If you are even remotely interested in mace flow, I suggest you get hold of this course.

Training with Giants

I might not be able to afford to continue weekly sessions with these master instructors but I am delighted to have had the opportunity to build my own workshop experience with them. Each perfectly tailored for my body and my schedule. It’s been an absolute blast and I’m hoping I can build on these relationships, refining the skills I’ve learned and popping back for fine tuning and guidance.