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Solo Training 3: 50 And Older
This book isn’t about keeping up with 20-year-olds in the martial arts. It’s about developing speed, power, flexibility, good health, and street savvy so you can keep on training, progressing, and being safe for many more years. Here’s what’s inside. Targets To End A Fight Quickly Hitting A Downed Attacker Mental Attacking Innocent People Train Every Position To Be A Fighting Stance Speed Training Mental Defining Words With Movement Smart Aerobic And Anaerobic Training The Importance Of Training Consistency Kata Training Build a Powerful Core Movement Specific Resistance Training Smart Use Of Repetitions Prevent Injury and Slow Aging With Easy Stretching Fuel Your Body Properly To Progress Understanding Don’t Worry About What You Can’t Do Know Your Train For More Years Getting In Shape For Surgery And Training After A Dozen 20-Minute Solo Workouts & 20, 1-Minute Workouts Loren W. Christensen has been a student and teacher of the martial arts since 1965, and has earned an 8th dan in American Free Style Karate, 2nd dan in jujitsu, and a 1st dan in Modern Arnis. He has authored over 50 books, fiction and non-fiction, and has written for the martial arts magazines for over 30 years. In 2011, Loren was inducted into the Masters Hall of Fame, garnering the Golden Lifetime Achievement Award.
- GenresMartial Arts
318 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 5, 2015
71 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Loren W. Christensen
99 books100 followersLoren W. Christensen is a Vietnam veteran, retired police officer, a martial artist since 1965, and a prolific author of books and magazine articles.
As a writer, Loren has penned over 70 books and dozens of magazine articles on a variety of subjects. While his target audience is most often what he calls “the warrior community” – martial artists, cops, soldiers – his writing has become popular among high school and college students, parents, professionals of every kind, and people interested in a side of life outside the norm.
Loren is most thankful to his many friends, associates and fellow writers in the warrior community for their continual support and expert advice.
Biography:
Bachelors of Science - PSU
Vietnam veteran – 716th Military Police
Career police officer (ret) – Portland, Oregon
Street patrol, gang enforcement, defensive tactics instructor, bodyguard
Script advisor for the motion picture Best of the Best 3
Martial artist since 1965
Earned a total of 13 black belts in three fighting arts
Starred in 7 instructional DVDs
Author of 70 books and dozens of magazine articles
Nominated for the Frankfurt award
Co-author (with Lt. Col. Dave Grossman) of “Evolution of Weaponry” in Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict, Academic Press
Wrote regularly for Black Belt, Karate Illustrated, Inside Kung fu and many others
Currently writes regularly for Black Belt and Police and Security News magazines
Book Solo Training was ranked in Amazon’s top 3 for three years in a row
Named in the 2007 - 2008 Heritage Registry of Who's Who in publishing
As a writer, Loren has penned over 70 books and dozens of magazine articles on a variety of subjects. While his target audience is most often what he calls “the warrior community” – martial artists, cops, soldiers – his writing has become popular among high school and college students, parents, professionals of every kind, and people interested in a side of life outside the norm.
Loren is most thankful to his many friends, associates and fellow writers in the warrior community for their continual support and expert advice.
Biography:
Bachelors of Science - PSU
Vietnam veteran – 716th Military Police
Career police officer (ret) – Portland, Oregon
Street patrol, gang enforcement, defensive tactics instructor, bodyguard
Script advisor for the motion picture Best of the Best 3
Martial artist since 1965
Earned a total of 13 black belts in three fighting arts
Starred in 7 instructional DVDs
Author of 70 books and dozens of magazine articles
Nominated for the Frankfurt award
Co-author (with Lt. Col. Dave Grossman) of “Evolution of Weaponry” in Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict, Academic Press
Wrote regularly for Black Belt, Karate Illustrated, Inside Kung fu and many others
Currently writes regularly for Black Belt and Police and Security News magazines
Book Solo Training was ranked in Amazon’s top 3 for three years in a row
Named in the 2007 - 2008 Heritage Registry of Who's Who in publishing
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 4, 2015
Outstanding and practical book
I downloaded this book to my kindle yesterday and just put it down this morning completed. Loren W. Christensen has written many books I have read and his practical insights in how to train in the context of real world situations is outstanding. The book is easy to read with practical training solution to us old dogs who still breath the fire, to serve and protect. I highly recommend this book.
I downloaded this book to my kindle yesterday and just put it down this morning completed. Loren W. Christensen has written many books I have read and his practical insights in how to train in the context of real world situations is outstanding. The book is easy to read with practical training solution to us old dogs who still breath the fire, to serve and protect. I highly recommend this book.
October 20, 2016
I started martial arts just at the end of my 40s and have recently earned my 2nd degree black belt. It has been sitting in the back of my aging noggin that the day may be soon approaching when I might need to move to something easier, lighter and more gentle on my mellowing physique. So I was quite interested when I picked up "Solo Training 3: 50 and Older" by Loren W. Christensen, 8th Dan in American Free Style Karate, retired Law Enforcement Officer (LEO), and senior citizen. This 316 page self-published paperback goes right to the heart of what I've been thinking, and gives a resounding "No!" to my question.
Christensen lays out a rationale and regimen for starting on martial arts or continuing your training even beyond 50, 60 and into the 70s. It's a motivating read with helpful practicalities and reasoned purposefulness. The book contains truck loads of descriptive information sensibly fitting for those 50 and older on ways to enhance a reader's martial arts training alone, at home, and back in the dojo. There are even training exercises for ending a fight quickly and hitting a downed attacker, with some levelheaded warnings. It's obvious that the author's LEO experiences keeps his karate real - it is a martial, or combat, art.
"Solo Training 3" has a few typos and grammatical faux pas here and there and could have used an outside editor, but none of those are show-stoppers. This is a readable, usable, employable volume good for anyone 50 and up. It would make an ideal addition to any martial art school library. But more importantly, it should be in the hands of anyone over 50 who is either beginning martial arts, or wants to keep what they've worked so hard to obtain. I highly recommend the book.
Christensen lays out a rationale and regimen for starting on martial arts or continuing your training even beyond 50, 60 and into the 70s. It's a motivating read with helpful practicalities and reasoned purposefulness. The book contains truck loads of descriptive information sensibly fitting for those 50 and older on ways to enhance a reader's martial arts training alone, at home, and back in the dojo. There are even training exercises for ending a fight quickly and hitting a downed attacker, with some levelheaded warnings. It's obvious that the author's LEO experiences keeps his karate real - it is a martial, or combat, art.
"Solo Training 3" has a few typos and grammatical faux pas here and there and could have used an outside editor, but none of those are show-stoppers. This is a readable, usable, employable volume good for anyone 50 and up. It would make an ideal addition to any martial art school library. But more importantly, it should be in the hands of anyone over 50 who is either beginning martial arts, or wants to keep what they've worked so hard to obtain. I highly recommend the book.
July 25, 2017
Excellent book for all martial artists - young & old
good step by step walk thru drills for all martial artists to include in their training. practical and logical approach towards safe training..
good step by step walk thru drills for all martial artists to include in their training. practical and logical approach towards safe training..
November 29, 2015
Solo Training 3 50 And Older is chock-full of information, drills, and exercise for the aging martial artist. Don’t let the title fool you; this book is great for any aging martial artist. I’m just hitting my mid-40s and I found the information in this book very helpful. I had the opportunity to borrow this book for free using my Prime Membership, and I’m glad that I did. If you find just one idea that you can put into use in your own training, then the time it took to read the book was worth it. I found plenty, and I was reminded of some drills and concepts that I had forgotten.
Christensen covers a wide range of subjects. He spends a good deal of time on resistance training—a very important aspect of solo training for any aging martial artist. He also covers proper diet, training your core, and speed training, among other topics.
This book is subtitled Karate, Kung Fu, and Taekwondo. That’s an important distinction. Christensen wrote the book with the traditional stand-up martial artist in mind. But even if you practice non-classical or reality based self-defense styles, I think you’ll get something out of it. Kata training is also covered. I’ve always felt that kata was best practiced at home anyway, leaving the time in class for drills and sparing that requires partners.
Chapter 14 gives you a fairly thorough look at “fight enders.” Just make sure you understand use of force laws before you employ them. But as we age, we don’t have time to mess around. If you’ve mostly focused on sports with rules, this is good information to know.
At the end of the book Christensen provides tons of drills that you can implement or modify to your liking. Inevitably a few reviewers will comment that anyone with an intermediate or advanced level of training could come up with the same or similar workouts. While that might be true, I just don’t see why anyone would want to reinvent the wheel. Christensen has done all the work for you in this volume, providing a template that you can modify to your heart’s desire. Since Christensen uses these workouts himself, you know they work. And that will save you time, and the trial and error of putting together your own workouts.
If you’re a student, you know you can’t improve enough by just training during class time. If you’re an instructor, you have to put in the time before or after class for your own improvement. This is a book that will help you to improve while reducing injury. It’s a welcome edition to any martial artist’s library. I know I’ll be adding a physical copy to mine.
Christensen covers a wide range of subjects. He spends a good deal of time on resistance training—a very important aspect of solo training for any aging martial artist. He also covers proper diet, training your core, and speed training, among other topics.
This book is subtitled Karate, Kung Fu, and Taekwondo. That’s an important distinction. Christensen wrote the book with the traditional stand-up martial artist in mind. But even if you practice non-classical or reality based self-defense styles, I think you’ll get something out of it. Kata training is also covered. I’ve always felt that kata was best practiced at home anyway, leaving the time in class for drills and sparing that requires partners.
Chapter 14 gives you a fairly thorough look at “fight enders.” Just make sure you understand use of force laws before you employ them. But as we age, we don’t have time to mess around. If you’ve mostly focused on sports with rules, this is good information to know.
At the end of the book Christensen provides tons of drills that you can implement or modify to your liking. Inevitably a few reviewers will comment that anyone with an intermediate or advanced level of training could come up with the same or similar workouts. While that might be true, I just don’t see why anyone would want to reinvent the wheel. Christensen has done all the work for you in this volume, providing a template that you can modify to your heart’s desire. Since Christensen uses these workouts himself, you know they work. And that will save you time, and the trial and error of putting together your own workouts.
If you’re a student, you know you can’t improve enough by just training during class time. If you’re an instructor, you have to put in the time before or after class for your own improvement. This is a book that will help you to improve while reducing injury. It’s a welcome edition to any martial artist’s library. I know I’ll be adding a physical copy to mine.
February 22, 2023
I really liked this book. As someone who began practicing a karate-based martial art close to 30 years ago but who hasn't been that active in several years, this book has given me many ideas for getting back up to speed.
You shouldn't be deterred by the subtitle, "50 and Older". While there is some advice that really is specific to older martial artists, such as plyometrics probably being too risky, many martial artists can benefit from the training ideas and the rationale for some of the choices. While some decisions for what to train and what not to train come from the limitations of aging, some come from wisdom. If you have many years of training and are training for self-defense, then you can see why flying, spinning back kicks might not be your best choice.
I would recommend this to anyone with at least one year's worth of martial arts training. During that first year of training you are already exposed to so much information and are just trying to learn the basic form of the techniques that I'm not sure you can get as much from the book.
You shouldn't be deterred by the subtitle, "50 and Older". While there is some advice that really is specific to older martial artists, such as plyometrics probably being too risky, many martial artists can benefit from the training ideas and the rationale for some of the choices. While some decisions for what to train and what not to train come from the limitations of aging, some come from wisdom. If you have many years of training and are training for self-defense, then you can see why flying, spinning back kicks might not be your best choice.
I would recommend this to anyone with at least one year's worth of martial arts training. During that first year of training you are already exposed to so much information and are just trying to learn the basic form of the techniques that I'm not sure you can get as much from the book.
July 23, 2016
Although an avid reader of fitness and training books I found "Solo Training" reader edging and useful. The author writes from experience. Unlike many authors of the genre he never comes across as haughty or brosciencey. As a reader younger than the books intended audience (I'm 35) I'm recently encountering the seeds of the challenges...
March 27, 2017
While I'm not yet 50, I still found the material useful. I have students who are over 50, 60... Plus the author is very inspirational staying active.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews