Evolutionary Self-Protection

Consterdine, Peter and Thompson, Geoff. The Pavement Arena Part Four: ‘Fit to Fight’. Legend Video Productions. 1994.

Review: The Pavement Arena Part 4: ‘Fit to Fight’:
by Josh Nixon, ESP

This article is part of a series. Part one can be found here, part two can be found here, part three can be found here, this is part four and part five (sort of – it follows on from this video but isn’t part of the Pavement Arena series) can be found here.

Part four of the Pavement Arena series focuses on how to cultivate the mental and physical attributes required to train efficiently and be more likely to survive a violent encounter. While the physical benefits of fitness training are transient, the mental benefits are the focus of this video’s approach. The desire not to be victimised and the will to ensure that this does not occur can be bolstered with the psychological elements of perseverance and determination that can be gained from fitness training.

The video goes through resistance training for a good balance of muscle endurance and strength, with a lot of advice on using machines and weights for resistance training. There’s also some information on cardiovascular training and elements of HIIT in particular, which is recommended for any respectable fitness training routine. Later, there’s some exercise that doesn’t require gym equipment (some requiring partners and some which don’t) which is fantastic for general fitness as well as for combative training.

There are some exercises that are combatively focussed, but anyone can do them and you don’t have to be a martial artist or a self-protectionist to do them or to benefit greatly from them. The running and kicking drills in particular are great for flexibility and explosive power, as well as being good cardio. There’s groundwork in here and bag work too which adds a lot to this training’s usefulness for anyone doing a martial art, combat sport, self-defence or self-protection. At the end there’s a section on training outside with and without partners which, again, is full of excellent ideas.

All in all, I would recommend this as essential knowledge for fitness training in general, and definitely for anyone who is also combatively interested. If you’re new to fitness training or how to factor it into your existing combative training, this is definitely for you.

This video is available on DVD or for digital download (much cheaper, understandably) from http://www.peterconsterdine.com/store.htm. Further information and a download link can also be found at http://www.peterconsterdine.com/arena4.htm.