Mike Lee Kanarek Blog

so many people want results but are not truly commited to put the hard work in it. When you truly want something it will come for a price. I have seen so  many poeple over the last few years start a training regiment to only stop it as soon as their body resisted it. Is your body going to be sore after tough workouts? You bet your ass it will….take it as a sign of change, soreness tells you you have made the damage and your body now has to rebuild. Thats the stage muscles are building, in the recovery stage after you have done the hard work. Don’t give up when you’re in pain, Use That Pain!

I have always been intrigued with the benefits of Kettlebells.  A few years ago one of my fellow Joe Lewis Fighting Systems Black Belt, Danny Dring from Arkansas, asked me : “Hey Mike, You Do Kettlebells?”  I said : “No, Why?”   Danny said: “Bro, you and your students are missing out its Great functional training!”  Since then I have been waiting for the right opportunity to get involved in Kettlebells…in hight performance gym across America , such as BB3 in Sunrise FL, trainers are using Kettlebells with their clients to make them healthier and stronger. It is truly a great “Simple” tool and piece of equipment with so many benefits all packeg in one package.

So needless to say I have been waiting for the right opportunity to get involved. That opportunity happened October of 2009 when I went to pick up a couple of belts for kids that were about to test and graduate for their next rank here at my school at a local Martial Arts supply store. While I was in the store a flyer postcard caught my attention :  CrossFit/ATP-Kettlebells of Dania Beach in FL to host Andrea Du Cane first ever appearance in South Florida! Level-1 Kettlebell Workshop…   I was in!!!

I attended that 6 hours workshop on November 7th , 2009 and was blown away how strong Andrea Du Cane is Pound For Pound, unbelievable!!! Andrea is one of only a few Master RKC Instructor directy under the highest authority in KBs, Pavel…she is VERY detailed in her teaching style and is one of the best teachers I have ever encountered…

After completing the workshop I contacted one of my HaganaH Black Bets from Chicago, Prentiss Rhodes and he indeed reinforced that Andrea was a world class Master RKC Instructor . Prentiss is an RKC KB Instructor and he recommeded me to go for my RKC Instructorship under Pavel, so in the spirit of my thurst for knowledge for myself and for my students I started the proccess by attending the 1st Level Instructor Certification in Pavel’s System the HKC.

I just completed the HKC Kettlebell Instructor Certification under RKC Master Instructor Andrea Du Cane, this is the Original Russian Kettlebell system under Pavel.  This ouststanding event was Sponsored and Organized by Christine Bagiotti and Juan Bacca of ATPkettlebells from Dania Beach FL.

long ass day of swinging Kettlebells lol   day started at 9am and ended at 7pm….

Wow , what an Instructor Certification, it was outstanding!

a lot of people have been asking me about my H.I.I.T Cardio workouts.

Typically I do cardio 5 days a weeks , monday to friday, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. On weeks that I have an intense physical activity on the weekend, such as this coming weekend, I will not do any cardio on friday and let my body and mind rest to be at full potential level capacity for the weekend activity.

I have 7 different H.I.I.T. Cardio module, and I shuffle them constantly so my body does not end up counting my cardio as a regular daily activity and dismisses it as an additional workout…also all 7 modules are under 40 minutes with 3 of them being under the 25 minutes mark, 2 of them under the 30 minutes mark and only 2 of them reaching a full 40 minutes…its more about intensity than length of workout for me, or as one of my friends in the Fitness industry, Billy Beck III, says : Its All About The Heart-Rate Mike!

here is one of those H.I.I.T Cardio modules, it is done on a treadmill:

3 minutes warm-up/walk at 3 miles per hour rate

2 minutes run at 7.5 miles per hour rate, 30 seconds rest (getting completely off the treadmill)

2 minutes run at 7.5 miles per hour rate, 30 seconds rest (getting completely off the treadmill)

2 minutes run at 7.5 miles per hour rate, 30 seconds rest (getting completely off the treadmill)

2 minutes run at 7.5 miles per hour rate, 30 seconds rest (getting completely off the treadmill)

1 minute walk at 3 miles per hour rate

1 & 1/2 minutes run at 8 miles per hour rate, 30 seconds rest (getting completely off the treadmill)

1 & 1/2 minutes run at 8 miles per hour rate, 30 seconds rest (getting completely off the treadmill)

1 & 1/2 minutes run at 8 miles per hour rate, 30 seconds rest (getting completely off the treadmill)

1 minutes walk at 3 miles per hour rate

1 minute run at 8.5 miles per hour rate, rest 30 seconds (getting completely off the treadmill)

1 minute run at 8.5 miles per hour rate, rest 30 seconds (getting completely off the treadmill)

1 minute run at 8.5 miles per hour rate, rest 30 seconds (getting completely off the treadmill)

1 minute walk at 3 miles per hour rate

45 seconds run at 9 miles per hour rate, rest 30 seconds (getting completely off the treadmill)

45 seconds run at 9 miles per hour rate, rest 30 seconds (getting completely off the treadmill)

1 minute walk at 3 miles per hour rate

30 seconds run at 10 miles per hour rate

3 minutes walk/cool down at 3 miles per hour rate

so many people jump into something without a well thought out plan. A plan is a map to a destination, without that map you might get derailed from the path and eventually not reach destination. What ever your goals are, if you just about to start that journey give yourself a wait/planning “slack” before you actually pull the trigger…Israeli Self-Defense or Combat Fitness are both well worth conquering , enjoy the journey to succeeding in it!

tonight in the FIGHT class at the National HaganaH Headquarters we covered Angle 3 and Angle 4 Knife Defenses and went into  2 drills with the techniques.  First in the angle 3 knife defense I had to clean up a few of the more beginners in the class with the concept of catching the attacking hand , the hand holding the knife, with a proper “Battery Concept” grip. This is a common mistake beginners do, but I tend to be Very picky with this concept from the beginning of a programing of my students so they build good entries from the very beginning. If the grip is not establish in a “Battery Concept” the attacker will be able to free his hand easily and change his angle of attack…further, if the grip is improper and the attacker doesn’t yank his hand free , the overlap going into the Point Of Reference (POR) will be completely incorrect and the grip on the attackers arm will be of two positives or two negatives rendering that hold completely ineffective!

After cleaning up the grips we moved on to angle 4 knife defense and covered the “By-Pass” into the POR…aggressive entries were emphasized to establish proper smothering on the “By-Pass” so the control would be tight and completely secured at the end of  it overlapping into a completely secured POR.

then we began with the first drill…attacker either attacked Angle 3 or Angle 4 , that forced the defender into “Reading” the in-coming angle of attack, learning to detect the negative outside of the body silhouette motion of the blade to ignite the proper direction footwork. As the footwork was fired, the students then went into total muscle memory of what they did in the class prior to the drill. You could see on some of the students faces the ” Holly Shit, I can actually do this”….then I gave them a reality check and put the entire class room in a circle formation putting one student in the middle and told the students in the circle to attack the defender one by one choosing to attack with either Angle 3 or Angle 4 attack. This is where things got tricky…student in the middle went from one attacker to the next thinking she was doing good on all attacks, while in reality she got  killed in 40% of the attacks. The best part of the class was that the students in the circle were actually realizing when she was getting killed. At the end of the drill I pointed out where she had been killed and how, she said : “on that one , afterward , I actually knew I messed up but it was too late” . Under stress all mistakes get amplified and all correct techniques get more effective! An improper POR because of a failed “Battery Concept” entry ends up being a fatal mistake. Lesson learned by all that attended the class…it was a Great Class!

this is a simple , but yet very effective format to teach these 2 knife defenses, that any FIGHT Instructor out there can easily implement on his/her mat. Have a Blast with it

***I have no doubt the next time that student does the drill she will perform better and pick up her survival rate to a higher percentage…

a lot of people become obsessed with their fitness goals that it almost blinds them, and they end up failing reaching their desired goals. I have learned over time that reaching fitness goals has to do with 3 major elements:  1) consistency  2) a well laid out plan (goals in a step by step method) 3) a realistic nutrition plan that fits your life style and that will help your goals

I get a lot of emails and facebook messages about people reaching out to me for help on their fitness goals. First let me start by saying “I was where you are now, I know the feeling” , yes what you hear is true. I was out of shape a few years ago due to a variety of issues…but then one day I woke up and said no more! And my journey into reaching my Fitness goals began

starting monday I will post a daily outline of my 14 weeks Boot-Camp. This will include daily workouts outlines,mental toughness daily tips,  nutrition plan and recovery plan…all you will have to do is follow step by step, day by day, week by week….this Boot-Camp has been Very succesful here at the National Headquarters of HaganaH in Davie FL. and I look forward to sharing it with you here on my blog…if you have any questions don’t hesitate to post it here as a comment. I will answer it

I am Very excited about this certification…it has been a long journey to formulate this program since I first met James Cooper in Lubbock Texas at the first ever FIGHT Instructor’s Certification! both Coop and I really looking forward to teach this kick ass certification.

This certification is designed to educate and train the participants to teach and run a proper and safe Combat fitness workout/class for their students/clients.

This is a “Hands-On” certification covering the first 3rd of the entire Combat Fitness curriculum…you will learn the first 30 stations/exercises of the 101 Combat Fitness stations/exercises, 3 F.I.T.2FIGHT modules and 2 of the 7 S.U.B. outdoor hardcore workout modules.

Class Structure, Class Time Management, Weekly & Monthly Themes will also be covered…

This is going to be a Blast of a weekend that will kick-off Combat Fitness Nationwide, if you were thinking about joining this revolution..

This is a video from the combat fitness class as students work hard to get in shape and make it happen. It was taken at HaganaH headquarters in Davie Florida.

Combat fitness is going to full blast at HaganaH HQ with Mike Lee Kanarek.

We are rocking various different exercises throughout the week that keeps us mentally fit and challenged. One of the best things about combat fitness is the group of dedicated individuals looking to get in better shape.

It is the time we spend on a consistent basis that really makes the difference and the energy and variations in combat fitness make it fun and it works bottom line. Time to SUB and keep working!