Got a message from a reader of the Farmer Burns course, Lessons in Wrestling and Physical Culture:

Matt,
I got my Farmer Burns course a couple weeks ago and started doing the breathing exercises on page 7 the first day. These exercises are incredible. The Farmer is spot on. When I first read the descriptions I thought no way these are too simple. But whenever I get thoughts like this I check my ego at the door and see what happens when I do them. Oh my. You were right when you called these a type of American Chi Kung. I find them better than the Chinese stuff that’s so popular these days. Now I’ve been doing the breathing exercises on page 20 for the past week and I am totally sold. My energy is up. My digestion is improved and the flabby gut is going bye bye  On top of that, my bedroom skills are no longer waning. I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned that these exercises improve erectile issues, but they sure have for me. Anyway, enough already. Just want to thank you for all you do to promote health and fitness. 

Johnson 

My reply:

Glad to hear about your results, Johnson.

Reminds me of the lady who called our office several years ago to rave about how she rid herself of urinary incontinence using the breathing exercises in the course. She had tried everything to eliminate this embarrassing malaise, and she said that the F.B. exercises were the only method that truly worked.

With this in mind, it definitely stands to reason that you may be able to improve functioning throughout the nether region with these exercises. Thanks for bringing this UP. Perhaps some others will write to mention the same thing.

Matt Furey

Earlier today I did a coaching call with a man who has a habit of working out for three weeks straight. Then, for some unknown reason (to him), he runs out of steam and takes three months off.

Then he jumps all over himself for being a lazy slackoid, begins another program, and finds the same situation being reactivated.

Sound familiar?

You bust your rumpus in the beginning, going full throttle. Then you run out of gas, lose momentum, and end up becoming absent-minded about exercise – and other matters.

Ever wonder why this happens?

You might think it’s because you lack will power.

You might think it’s because you are lazy.

You might think it’s because you haven’t found the ideal program yet.

The reality is that you’ve probably bought into the notions that tell you:

a. to train to failure
b. to always give 110 percent
c. to push until you puke

Over the years, I have followed these same ideas, to my detriment.

And whatdyaknow, all these ideas I bought into as a youth, or later on in life, I’ve proven that there is a better way.

But first…. keep the following in mind:

Training to failure harms your brain and nervous system.

Second, there’s no such thing as giving 110 percent just as there’s no such thing as “massive action.” Remember, no matter how hyped up you are for massive action, you can only take one step at a time.

Third, stopping long before you feel fatigue or before you puke will give you much better results than giving it all you’ve got.

el Furecat, who does nothing extreme in his workouts, who isn’t banging his head against the Great Wall, with ideas of training to failure or fatigue, or achieving the unachievable ideal of 110 percent – continues to kick ass.

I never miss a day of training. Every day I am exercising. On most days I exercise three times. And I continue to be amazed at the progress I am still making, even when I don’t look as through I’m “trying.”

The other day someone told me about his experiences with my Dao Zou program. He told me that he’s never done a workout that made him feel so good with so much ease.

When he finishes his Dao Zou routine, he is energized and relaxed, almost beyond belief. He feels his calves, glutes and hips in a way that cannot be reached with weight training or any other type of exercise. And he is blissed out for hours after he finishes.

There are many reasons this happens. One of the biggest is that you unconsciously give up the caveman, “me give 110 percent” mentality, when you perform Dao Zou.

When you leave caveman mode behind, you turn off the reptilian part of your brain and nervous system. This means you’re no longer in fight, flight or freeze.

Once this happens, your central nervous system is working FOR YOU instead of against you. Anger, angst, nervous tension and other gloomy negative emotions evaporate.

You get results that seem unfathomable.

And you do this without giving 110 percent. Or 100 percent. Or 75 percent.

In fact, your best results often come when you give it 50 percent, or less.

I know this goes against the grain of the caveman mentality, but I’m telling you, it’s true.

I’ll be putting up a few videos in the members site this week, showing how this works for me each day. You will be stunned at what you personally discover when you implement my suggestions.

That’s it for today.

Kick Ass – Take Names,

Matt Furey

P.S. Dao Zou is now available via digital download as well as on DVD.

Nearly 20 years ago, I wrote about a gorilla who scaled the wall of its habitat at Animal Kingdom in Kissimmee, Florida.

The foreman in charge of constructing the habitat looked over the walls of the enclosure, making sure there weren’t any small cracks. The reason was simple. A gorilla’s hands (and body) are so strong, if it can place a single finger-tip inside a crack within the wall, that’s all the leverage the primate needs to pull himself up and over the wall.

Yes, this foreman knew a gorilla could do scale a wall this way, in part because it happened before.

Amazing, eh?

Imagine having the grip strength of a 400-pound silverback gorilla as you train. If you do this, I’m betting you’ll not only enjoy your workout more, but you’ll get stronger as a result.

Positive mental imagery positively affects how we perform.

And when you combine gorilla imagery with sensory specific exercises, such as those shown in Primate Power and Gama Fitness, you’ll start going ape over your newly-acquired strength.

Do what gorillas do.

Do what animalistic athletes and martial artists do.

Stun your friends and family with the changes taking place inside of you.

Kick ass – take names.

Matt Furey

Back in the “olden days,” certain fitness people used to get royally pissed whenever I wrote about doing abdominal exercises.

“You can’t spot reduce,” said Mr. Nay Sayers.

“Is that so?” I replied. “And who said I was saying that?”

“Well, you’re telling people to do these exercises that will burn fat off your waistline,” he replied.

“Nay, how do you think most excess body weight is eliminated?”

“You shit it out,” he said.

“Aaah,” I replied. “Do a little more research. You’ll find that deep breathing plays a major role in how much and how often you shit – but you’ll also find that most of the weight people lose is actually excreted through the breath in the form of carbon dioxide.”

“What? That makes no sense at all.”

“True. It makes no sense until you do the exercises and you start filling the toilet with debris. When that happens the images in your brain tend to reorganize themselves so you can see reality better. Even so, no matter how big your stools, you’re still breathing out most of the weight that you lost.”

“Look, I’m willing to give these exercises a try if they’ll improve my digestion.”

“Trying doesn’t work. You either DO the exercises or you don’t. That’s it. No trying.”

“Alright, I’ll do them then.”

“Good to hear. Let me know how much crap you spot reduce.”

Back in 1914, Farmer Burns nailed it when he wrote: “Breathing exercises alone, if done RIGHT, will make many a weak man strong and many a sick man well.”

When you DO THE EXERCISES, something extraordinary happens. You get stronger, leaner and more flexible. Your body changes inside and outside. And yes, your digestion improves dramatically – and this is verifiable when you go to the toilet.

Not only did the Farmer use his teachings on deep breathing and bodyweight calisthenics to train future world wrestling champion, Frank Gotch, but he regularly performed strength feats that are beyond the level of the Shaolin monks, most notably, the hangman’s drop (not something I recommend anyone try), regardless of neck size and/or strength.

By the way, I must mention, the Farmer had an 18″ neck at a bodyweight of 165 pounds, so I guess you can say he knew what he was doing strength-wise, can’t we?

Farmer Burns was on the physical culture scene many years before Charles Atlas. So it’s possible that Atlas’ course was inspired, in part, by the Farmer’s. During that era, people understood that you cannot become a great wrestler or boxer or fighter of any sort, without great conditioning methods – and those methods involve using your breath in a deep way. 

Burns, unlike Atlas, wasn’t a bodybuilder. He focused on functional strength, speed and stamina – but he combined these teachings with the idea of creating superior health.

I continue to learn a ton about strength, health and fitness from the Farmer Burns course. I have not only studied it in earnest, I keep going back to it.

How on earth did Burns, for example, do the hangman’s drop and not get injured, much less put himself six feet under?

Well, the Farmer doesn’t reveal the secret to his hanging stunt in the course, but when it comes to flattening your stomach and giving yourself washboard abs, that six-pack look, as well as increasing overall body strength and speed, he most definitely does.

After I began practicing the exercises the ole Farmer taught for flattening your midsection and increasing speed and power in your hands, it was only a matter of days before people noticed that I looked and moved differently.

And that’s when I began to realize I must do my part to make this course available to people throughout the world. Why? Because the exercises are simple yet profound. And because you don’t need much room to move, they can be taken with you anywhere.

The exercises don’t require a gym or an investment in fitness machines, gizmos or gadgets. In fact, once you have the exercises in mind, they are with you for life. No one can ever take them away from you.

And the most important exercise in the course can be done in the shower, while sitting in a chair or while waiting at a traffic light. You can do it while lying in bed or as you stand in line in a store. You can do it while cooking or talking on the phone.

It’s truly amazing when you think of the versatility of an exercise that focuses on how you breathe and tighten specific muscle groups.

It feels almost miraculous when you consider the positive effects, not only on your waistline, but on your digestion. Years ago I referred to these breathing exercises as a type of “cosmic fiber” and I still use that term today.

You can begin doing these exercises immediately when you leaf through Farmer Burns classic Lessons in Wrestling and Physical Culture.

With your order we will also send you an autographed copy of “yours truly” on the cover of an MMA magazine.

Let’s Go…

Matt Furey

P.S. For those of you interested in submission grappling or olde-time catch wrestling, I recommend getting the full blown Farmer Burns video course – where I take everything in the 12-lesson printed course and give it even more LIFE, which isn’t easy.

Yes, flexibility and aging tend to go hand-in-hand.

Show me someone who is stiff and inflexible and I’ll show you someone who is aging far faster than necessary.

On the other hand, show me someone whose muscles and joints are loose, pliable, supple, strong and flexible –and I’ll show you someone who is turning back the clock, someone who is defying the aging process.

My Combat Stretching system can help the super stiff unlock their tight muscles in one evening!

What you’ll discover with my stretching system will blow your mind and put slack in your muscles and joints.

Especially when you get hold of and practice the 1 Simple Stretching Secret that gave me the flexibility I still have today, at nearly 60 years of age.

I’ve been teaching this secret for over two decades, and every single person I have ever personally worked with made extraordinary improvements in his or her flexibility during the same session.

Come get some NOW.

And begin living life with more gusto than EVER before.

Matt Furey

When I was growing up in Iowa, three of the best wrestlers I ever saw were from Coon Rapids, a town located about 28 miles away from my hometown. All three of them were built like brick-shit houses.

They were what we called “farmer strong.”

Freaky farmer strong.

None of them lifted weights.

They had what we called “tendon strength.” The same sort of strength the late great Farmer Burns taught “city slickers” in his 1914 by-mail course, Lessons in Wrestling and Physical Culture. 

Half of the course is for those who want to learn the old-style techniques of pro wrestling. The other part is chock-full of isometrics and calisthenics that build freaky farmer strength.

The exercises in the course not only make you super strong, they help heal nagging injuries to your shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers and back. Do the movements, along with the deep breathing methods recommended, and you can notice the excess flabbage in your midsection melting away. Digestion improves as well, along with the functioning of the organs in the pelvic area.

I’ve been recommending this course for almost 25 years, with no end in sight.

Order NOW and I’ll send you a surprise gift that will doubly inspire you. It literally kicks ass and takes names.

Matt Furey

P.S. If you’re interested in learning the contents of the entire Farmer Burns course, and then some, from video, then be sure to take a gander and the Farmer Burns DVD Course. 

In early June, the Fure-cat family flew to Las Vegas, rented a car and began a 3,500-mile voyage through various national parks. 

We visited Lake Mead one day, followed by the northern rim of the Grand Canyon the next. 

Then we journeyed to Zion National Park, the Red Canyon and Bryce Canyon. We were definitely putting in some miles, and just getting warmed up.

So we thought…

At Arches National Park, we read the warning signs, telling us to prepare two quarts of water and some salt, per person. We walked about a mile before thirst kicked in. Strange how you aren’t sweating when it’s 104 degrees (yet, you are), and you need water NOW.

After the Arches we drove to Salt Lake City, where we spent the night. Then it was off to Idaho and Montana, two of seven states I hadn’t visited before. Was nice to see where Evil Knievel tried to jump the Snake River Canyon on his motor-psycho. 

We got a distant view of the Grand Tetons as we took the back roads into Montana, where it was snowing (on June 13). After seeing a flashing sign on the side of the road stating YELLOWSTONE CLOSED, we were a bit disappointed, but having an alternative plan was a far better option than our vehicle becoming part of the river, eh?

Major flooding prevented us from going into Wyoming to see Yellowstone, so we headed west toward Butte, then south toward Dillon, then back into Idaho and Utah, and back to Las Vegas, all in one swoop. We arrived at our hotel at 1:45 AM and because our rooms were mistakenly given away, we were given a free upgrade to the penthouse suite. How about that? Another negative turns into a positive. 

The next day we rested by putting in 20,000 steps, walking around town, checking out the newer hotels, shops and restaurants.

I figured we had another day of rest before heading home, but my son, Frank, kept prodding me to visit Death Valley National Park in California. 

“It’s 120 degrees there. It’ll be great,” he said.

“You must be nuts,” I replied. 

Well, being nuts won the prize.

The next day we drove into the pits of hell, stopping at Furnace Creek for a 120 degrees Fahrenheit photo-op. From there we drove to Badwater Basin, where it was even hotter. I jumped out and did a set of Hindu squats, as shown in Combat Conditioning, as well as a few Death Valley Hindu pushups. 

What impressed me the most was that even after driving 3,500 miles over a period of days, my flexibility and range of motion were still immediately available. This, I credit to the training I have done over the years, not only from my book, but from the flexibility exercises in Combat Stretching.

Don’t leave home without them.

Better yet, get them NOW.  

Kick ass – take names.

Matt Furey

P.S. With your order of my book and/or DVDs, while supplies last, we will send you an autographed copy of a martial arts mag that I graced the cover. You’ll love it. 

Just received a question about morning stiffness and the best way to eradicate it?

If you wake up in the morning and your joints feel stiff, tight and a bit achy – then heed my words. The fastest way to get into a groove and eliminate stiffness is NOT doing things fast, or even at a normal pace.

You want to slow things down. Way down.

You do NOT immediately jump into the calisthenics I teach in Combat Conditioning – unless, of course, you do them SLOWLY.

The easiest way to start is with the deep breathing exercises as taught in the Farmer Burns Course. Slowly inhale as you extend your arms and exhale just as slowly on the rebound. As your brain and nervous system get the signal to wake up, your body is soon to follow.

Even so, you still don’t want to rush it.

That’s why I advise the dynamic joint loosening exercises I teach in Combat Stretching. These not only help you wake up and overcome stiffness, they are also instrumental in helping you eliminate joint pain.

These exercises, in and of themselves, are a great way to start your day. You can stop after doing them and get on with your day. Or you can proceed to something much more involved. But heed my words, avoid going at it hard until you are loose.

If you get loose first, you greatly reduce the chance of injury. If you force yourself before your body says, “I’m ready,” you will pay for it.

Here endeth the lesson.

Matt Furey

P.S. If you are a grappling and/or catch wrestling enthusiast, take a look at the 12-volume home study course I put together based upon Farmer Burns classic course. You’ll love it.

We are hearing a lot about the benefits of deep breathing these days. And it’s funny to me how many people view deep breathing exercises as a “new thing.”

Farmer Burns wrote about the power of deep breathing exercises in his 1914 by-mail course, Lessons in Wrestling and Physical Culture.

But he didn’t teach deep breathing with the primary objective of helping you to relax, as is so often promoted today.

Relaxation is one of many deep breathing benefits, but this alone will not give you an enhanced experience of personal power.

When you watch a great athlete or martial artist, you are not watching someone who is 100 percent relaxed. When someone is totally relaxed, there’s no vigor or vitality. As Farmer Burns would put, you want “snap and ginger.”

Why do I say that relaxation alone is undesirable? I say it because when you’re too relaxed, there’s nothing holding your body together as one unit.

In order to demonstrate power, you want to move in a connected, animalistic manner. This means you need to have enough tension to hold your body together so you can move forcefully. Without some tension, you have nothing.

Students of modern approaches to deep breathing are often confused because they are not being told about the “in-between space” – the part where relaxation and tension co-exist and support each other.

Martial arts teachers often fail to explain this concept of relaxed-tension accurately. Much of the difficulty is a result of mistranslating the word “relax.” Let me assure you, in Asian cultures, their mental image for “relax” does not mean empty or totally soft, yet that is how the idea is communicated in the west. 

Being relaxed is a wonderful thing when you’re stressed and rattled. But when you want to exert strength, power, speed, agility, explosiveness, as well as flexibility, relaxation alone will get you nowhere. You must have a certain degree of tension within your relaxation – or a fair percentage of relaxation within your tension. It’s that yin and yang concept, all over again.

100 percent relaxation is an erroneous objective.

80 percent relaxation and 20 percent tension is a good place to start, if you want to think in terms of numbers.

But the truth is you will figure out how much tension and how much relaxation is ideal for you when you follow the exercises Farmer Burns laid out for you in Lessons in Wrestling and Physical Culture. 

As you do the exercises each day, you don’t need to think much about how much of one or the other. The answers will come to you. Your brain and body will tell you how much tension you need to use.

Within days of beginning the exercises, you’ll notice that you’re going about your day with much stronger feelings of personal power. These strong feelings will be supported by the appropriate level of physical and mental relaxation, for YOU.

In many cases, you will feel the changes taking place within you the first time you do the exercises.

You’ll feel vim and vigor, snap and ginger. And you’ll dig it.

Get the Farmer’s book NOW and begin experiencing the difference it will make in your life.

Matt Furey

P.S. Already have the Farmer’s book? Then you may be ready for the Farmer’s kick butt video course.