This is my first message in the forums, and I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Gonn, I'm 24 years old and I'm from Israel. I practice Karate, which is my main art and love. After I was released from the military about 2 years ago, I sought to condition my body, so I began to scout my way at different physical activities. At first I was influenced by the main dogma that reigns (at least in my surroundings) and states: Physical fitness = aerobic exercise. If you want to be fit, start running. So I began to run. A lot. A bit afterwards, I also signed to a gym. As I had no clue whatsoever, I went like any beginning trainee to the instructor at the gym for him to build me a training program. As predicted, he gave me a typical bodybuilding routine, which included 4 different variations of biceps curls, and other things of this sort. I had no clue at the time, so I followed it obediently.
As time went by, I started to read more and more in the internet about training, and my knowledge grew rapidly. I had an epiphany when I stumbled uppon Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength program. I then read his books as well. This was a huge transition for me, as I abandoned the bodybuilding routine which served me no good, and started doing intense compound exercises which worked my body as a whole and increased my strength substantially. I relised that this is what I wanted from the beginning.
My second epiphany was my exposure to bodyweight exercises in general and coach Sommer's book in specific. I completely felt in love with both the simplicity of bodyweight exercises which don't require much instruments if any, and especially the elegance and power of mastering your own body in space. For me this is the highlight of physical fitness, as I am interested in conditioning my body as a whole, as one harmonic unit. This is what serves me best as a Kartake.
So now my routine includes only bodyweight exercises and Squat. The squat is the only weighted exercise that I perfom (and actually the squat is also a bodyweight exercise, altough we tend to forget it due to the very heavy loads that can be lifted in adittion to the bodyweight itself), as he is still the king of exercises, and will continue to hold his throne. I currently work on building a solid handstand, on the front lever, L-sit and natural leg curls. I also want to start working on planch progression, but I think I will begin with back lever first, according to coach Sommer's recommendation in his book. I also want to start with one arm chin up progression. I still run from time to time, as aerobic endurance is important, but not like I did before when I thought that it is the sum of physical fitness.
So I'm glad to be in this forum and I will surely have many questions to ask. 