Buhurt is the most physically demanding combat sport in the world. There I said it. I will wear that statement on my chest. A million other sports may be rigorous, but none of them involve putting on a full suit of armor and fighting for your team and your life. I cannot stress this enough, you are not strong enough, not fast enough, and not athletic enough to compete at the level you wish to be at. Is that condescending? Absolutely. But hey, twinkle toes, grow some tough skin. If you can’t handle being told you’re behind the ball, you can’t handle an axe strike. Time to get fit for buhurt.
Get Fit for Buhurt
So now onto the meat and potatoes to get fit for buhurt; how do we get you up to snuff to compete at the level you want? It’s not easy or simple, and it requires some skull sweat and some elbow grease. You must be ready to include Strength Training, Mobility and Balance, Compound Lifts, Sprints and Interval training, Hand, Eye and Foot coordination, and Reaction and Fight IQ. Some of this does require equipment and I will get to that in a moment.
First let me ask, how athletic are you? If you were to give a number from one to ten, what would your athletic ability be? To be honest, after my last knee injury, I am at about a six or seven. Be honest with yourself. Are you injured? Do you have a nagging injury? Is it inhibiting your training and your mental mindset? You must ask yourself these questions and be ready to work within your ability. One final idea I want to add is that you should leave your workout feeling better than you did going in. Yes, I expect you to be tired, but I want a smile on your face afterwards, not a frown.
Equipment
Let us chat for a second about equipment and what you need at home. Before you start saying “but coach, covid is making weights expensive and I can’t buy anything”. I get it, 2020 is a tough year and even tougher if you want to train like a beast. Who said you can’t make your own equipment? The hardware store has metal poles, concrete, coffee cans/paint cans, and all sorts of stuff to make dumbbells, barbells, and to create resistance bands and reaction balls. Like I said, skull sweat. If as an Army veteran, we found a way to make gyms in Iraq and Afghanistan, you can figure this one out too. In my home gym that I have set up since covid, I have some kettlebells, resistance bands, a barbell set, and some hodgepodge dumbbells. The rest of my equipment I have created myself.
I’ll give you a sample of some work I have put together for past clients and athletes and it is perfect to help get fit for buhurt. For the sake of time and word count, I am going to simply put the names of the lifts and it will be up to you to google them. You can also email me, and I will gladly help you out. This workout is a full week of training for camp, including eight weeks or less from fights. As a final note I suggest only adding only one day a week dedicated to strength because you will get stronger working out every day.
Monday – Sprint Interval and Cardio recovery
Dynamic Warm Up:
High Knees/ Butt Kickers/ Karaoke’s/ Squat Jumpers/ Sideways Shuffle/ Forwards Skips/ Sideways Skips/ The Perfect Stretch/ Arm Circles Front/ Arm Circles Rear/ 10 pushups.
Workout:
Cardiovascular Output and Recovery: Sprints on a quarter mile track or treadmill @90% output- 60 secs Sprint 120 seconds recovery. 10 rounds. On your recovery rounds, breathe through your nose only using good diaphragmatic breathing to lower your heart rate. You are looking to be at a decent recovered place before starting the next sprints.
Sprint Output and Recovery: For this you will need to use five things as “cones” to mark off distances for your sprint recovery.
Set up your cones in a straight line so as you have 7 meters between each cone- if your space is limited you can do just cone to cone rushes as well with just two cones set 7 meters apart but it may feel a bit hamster wheelish.
Goal to sprint between each cone ranging from 80%sprint output to a complete stop at each cone. 10 rounds.
Tuesday- Mobility and Balance.
You will be tight and probably sore after sprints on Monday, so I use this.
Warm Up:
Yoga for 10 minutes: shooters preference here I have my own type is use.
Workout:
Balance: Place a small ball (tennis ball or the like) about half a meter in front of you. Using only your left arm and your left leg bend forward and grab the ball with your left hand. Use your right arm and leg as counterbalances. Do this 10 times on the left- then 10 times on the right.
Hip Mobility: Goblet squats w/ weight of your choosing- goal to get your butt as close the ground as you can each rep- 3 sets of 8.
Shoulder Mobility: 3 sets of 8- Cuban press with light weight resistance band/ Arnold Press w/ dumbbells.
Balance and Agility: 10 somersaults/ 10 cartwheels in each direction and 10 back or forwards handsprings. (Word of caution, if you are unfamiliar with these either work with a spotter or find a padded gym to work at- foam pits rock!)
Wednesday- Strength and Conditioning
Warm up:
10-minute Jump rope/ on Bike or treadmill. Butt kickers/ High knees/ sideways shuffle/ forward kicks/ 10 pushups/ 10 cobra pushups/ 10 Lunges.
Workout:
6 sets of 12 for all movements. Romanian Deadlift/ Bent over rows/ High pulls/ Zercher Squats/ Shoulder press/ Back Squats.
This is meant to be done as a circuit. You want to move from exercise to exercise without putting down your weights during the entire interval. Rest between intervals should be no more than 2-3 minutes. I suggest using dumbbells to help improve grip strength.
Thursday- Wrestling and Boxing Condition
Warm up:
10 minutes of shadow boxing. 10 minute of Footwork drills- (google these! There are a million to choose from!)
Work out:
Snap downs w/ a 50lbs resistance band or higher: 2 minutes on 1 minute off. 5 rounds.
Resistance band Chest press: 2 minutes on 1 minute off 5 rounds.
Reaction ball tosses: 2 minutes on 1 minute off. 5 rounds.
1 legged squat w/ light weight w one leg on a chair or stool- 30 seconds on 30 seconds off for 2 minutes each leg- 2 sets. (this works wonders for level changes) 1 minute of rest in between.
Floor Press w glute bridge using medium weight (I use 25-pound dumbbells) 3 sets of 10.
End- 3 rounds of 2 minutes of shadow boxing.
Friday- Skill Day
Grab your favorite weapon and hit the pell! This one is 10 2-minute rounds with 1-minute rest in between. Follow this schedule, Rounds 1-10:
1- warm up @ 25% percent of your overall effort
2-Switch stances/ offsides
3- power
4- Speed (as many good strikes you can land in the round- no garbage shots)
5,6,7- Fight output-these three rounds it like you’re fighting your opponent- mix it up
8- Level change/ Drop Shots
9- Strike Output
10- Power
Are you ready to get fit for buhurt?
This is just a sample of what you can put together to obtain your goals and to get fit for buhurt. There is no substitute for hard work, no shortcuts, and no bullshitting your way out of it. The last nugget I am going to leave you with is the why. Why are you training and why is it important to you? The why is always important, it’s more important than the how in most cases. You can scream, you cry, you can puke, and you can pass out, but you are not allowed to quit! Hopefully, I will see you in the list soon enough!
And until then, check out some great articles on arm bars, head control, striking power, and the underhook!