Greetings and salutations, and a warm welcome back to this fine tradition of weekly QAs.
I haven't really done this in a while because things have been quite chaotic, to say the least.
They are still quite chaotic, but I have decided to try my very hardest to make this once a week anyway.
And previously, I've done them on Wednesday in honor of Odin, but now I will do them on Fridays in honor of Frey and Freja.
I think this is reasonable.
And then also, you can come back after a long week at university or at work, and then you can come back to listen to my soothing voice to get in the mood for a prosperous weekend.
So, anyway, the questions I will read in a moment are taken from my Patreon, and that is where I will host the coming QA threads as well.
And that's also a good way for you to support the channel if you do appreciate the work I'm doing here in the Imaterium.
Very much appreciated, indeed.
Now, without further ado, I will delve into these profound questions.
So, the first question is, what muscles do you think would be the most useful to work on regarding martial arts and Muay Thai clinch in particular?
A very interesting and good question.
So, the first key to enlightenment in regards to the Muay Thai clinch question is what muscles are you using in particular for that?
Obviously, a Muay Thai clinch is, as anyone will know who has done it a lot, a quite unpleasant experience to say the least.
Well, I mean, it's like all hard training, it takes its toll.
Anyway, with that said, two things.
Neck training is one aspect of it.
And this is, and here we have to be creative.
A good way to train it is just to do a lot of clinch work.
And this is also something if you're new to Thai boxing and you go in for your first session and there is a lot of clinch work, you will feel DOMs guaranteed in your neck the next day.
So, that is one component that is very important.
And that is simply to be able to keep the head upright.
Because if your opponent manages to break down your head, you will be in a less beneficial position because you want to be as upright as possible and you want to break down him.
Now, in order then to break down him or break down his head and also to control his head or his neck, is to be strong in your arms.
So, training your arms and especially your forearms can be done in the Temple of Iron by doing a lot of pulling movements without straps.
So, for me personally, I use straps for heavy deadlifts, heavy rows, and heavy shrugs.
And speaking of which, I have to showcase these absolute beauties here as well.
And obviously, if you are a true friend, you are following the Legio Gloria Instagram, so you've already seen this.
But I'm going to show them here as well.
So, we have straps incoming, and this will be available for order in a week or so.
But, yeah, for more information on everything like that, follow Legio Gloria on Instagram.
Now, with that said, I use straps for heavy deadlifts, rows, and shrugs.
Everything else, I try to do without straps.
And what that does is obviously to train the hands, train the forearms.
And if you get really strong in your hands and forearms, this is not only good for Thai boxing clinch, but also when you're grappling, especially Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with the GI.
If you have a strong grip, it is very, very beneficial.
So yeah, get strong in your grip, in your forearms, and then you will be in a good position when it comes to all grappling, no matter if we're talking about Brazilian jiu-jitsu or if we're talking about Thai boxing clinch.
And then obviously more generally speaking when it comes to martial arts, a good, well-rounded, strong physique.
So if you have a strong core, very important.
Very important if you're going to absorb blows as well.
And if you're going to absorb knees to the midsection.
A knee to the midsection is excruciatingly painful.
It can be, but it can be mitigated to a certain extent at least by having a well-developed core.
So do your work in the Temple of Iron if you want to be a good athletic advantage when it comes to the fighting game.
So hopefully that answered the question.
And this is obviously something I will talk more about in the coming time.
And perhaps I will make some sort of additional instruction videos.
Who knows?
Now, next question, also a training related one.
And a good question indeed.
And that is, greetings, have you ever incorporated swimming into your exercise routine?
If so, were there any noticeable effects from it?
I haven't really incorporated it on a regular basis, but when summer comes, which is soon, I've actually had my first bath of the season.
Well, technically I had that in January, which you all saw in my pagan ritual video, but the first bath in reasonably nice weather was the other day, actually.
But anyway, on to the question at hand.
No, I haven't really, but when summer comes, I do try to swim a lot just because I like swimming and it's an enjoyable activity.
And if I'm trying to get shredded, I try to increase the amount of activities I do.
So it doesn't have to be seen as training, it just have to be seen as increased activity to incorporate some different things into my routine.
But I wouldn't say that swimming is something I've done on a regular basis, so I can't give a solid answer in Gaj to that.
But, you know, objectively, just looking at swimming as an activity, it is good for the cardio and it's much better to do than to run if you are overweight, for example, because it doesn't put any pressure on your ligaments, etc.
So if you want a good activity as cardio, swimming can definitely be a good thing right there.
And as I said, it's really enjoyable as well.
So and also a note here, I have a, hopefully will be an epic video where I will have a GoPro on my head when I'm swimming in the ocean or in some sort of sea and then that will be hopefully epic.
But we'll see about that.
It will be in a month or so.
Now, last question is from a glorious man named Jack.
What is your thought process when making decisions?
Do you go with your gut or do you break it down and visit each component of the decision separately?
Glad to have the weekly QA's back.
I'm also glad to have them back, actually.
It feels good with a solid routine in the YouTube game and hopefully you will appreciate it as well.
And to answer the question at hand, it is a threefold decision-making process.
So first and foremost is the application of cold hard reason and logic.
You go through the various components of whatever needs to be decided upon.
So this can be in regards to relations or business or training or whatever really.
So first and foremost you go through with cold hard logic and reason.
If everything checks out then you go to the next step which is does it feel right and this is obviously your heart or your gut that has something to say to you and obviously this can mean something especially when it comes to relationships etc.
If something feels good it is probably because your ancestors are talking through you via your biology.
So if something feels right it's probably because it is right and if something feels bad or it feels unnatural or and you're not really comfortable with it yeah it's probably a sign from thousands of years of evolution saying that it's a bad idea.
So it can always be a good idea to listen to your heart.
Now anyway the third component of a solid decision making process is to consult a trusted friend and then you ask him does this sound reasonable and then he says to you either you're absolutely retarded mate or he says this is the best idea I've ever heard or he says something in between.
He might say you know what this sounds like a great idea but you might want to change this particular thing or he comes with some sort of insights and this does not necessarily have to be a hour-long conversation about a tiny detail.
This can just be like a quick confirmation that you haven't missed anything.
So you make the decision all by yourself and then run it by someone you trust who has a good insight into the matter to just get that confirmation.
And yet again this doesn't have to be the longest decision in the world.
It's just a second opinion is always good to have.
