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Today’s masters of functional strength training stand on the shoulders of giants as they reach back into the past and look towards the future.
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Like the tempered steel of the warrior’s blade, the art of functional strength training has been forged over the centuries by the fires of preparation for life and death combat. These methods still survive today and are the province of a rare breed of modern warriors, martial artists, strongmen, and strength coaches…. Certainly, what could be more functional than specific exercises and training methods devised to excel and survive in mortal combat? The training methodologies that were developed and past down by warriors were the ultimate in what we would today call “Functional Strength Training”. Boxing, wrestling, javelin throwing, discus, sprinting, endurance running, equestrian, feats of strength, tests of agility, team competitions – were ALL specific physical preparation for combat. The original purpose of sports, aside from fun, entertainment, and distraction, was preparation for war. Thus tribal games, and eventually more formalized games – like the original Greek Olympics – were created to practice the skills of the warrior without having to actually go to war. And what was more necessary, and prized, for the survival of the tribe than a highly skilled hunter/warrior, especially living at a time when certain death lurked around every corner of the ancient world?īecause these skills were so essential to survival the ancient warrior class needed a way to hone and perfect them in a real and practical manner without killing one another (at least not on purpose). Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. (Please note that I am not romanticizing or making any moral judgement on this.) This, along with the hunter, was a prominent and extremely vital role in society. The role of the warrior was to do all that he could to ensure the survival of his tribe and the continuity of his people. Thus the warrior had a vital role in a prehistoric tribe – to protect and defend the people, and also in many cases, proactively and aggressively engage enemy tribes and wage war. It was this omnipresent threat of death by fellow human beings that provided the impetus for the birth of the warrior in ancient tribes. Life was, as Thomas Hobbs one put it, “Nasty, brutish, and short.” Everything could potentially kill you: a cut, an injury, an infection, the wrong plant, spoiled meat, a virus, an insect, a wild animal, and – most especially – another human being! Regardless, the past, especially the distant past was never all sunshine and rainbows – even for Pocahontas! As humans we have a tendency to Romanticize things of the distant past – Knights in shining armor, damsels in distress, Prehistoric eating habits, the idea of the Noble Savage, Warrior Princesses… Perhaps it’s Disney’s fault.