Coordination and agility are hallmarks of movement mastery. Success in the dynamic sphere of sport is often determined by your ability to turn the off-season strength, endurance, and speed gains you’ve built into complex, improvised movements on the field of play. That requires a different approach to training, one that focuses on channeling these attributes into neurologically sophisticated movements.
The Scorpion Base Switch is an example of such a movement.
It transforms pressing strength into elastic buoyancy. It conditions the vestibular system through constant rotation, which means you get used to rapid changes in orientation. And it opens the sides of the body by using gravity to lower the leg.
We often use this movement with grapplers because it conditions them to immediately right themselves and exert forward pressure when tossed over by a foot in the hip. They learn to quickly rotate around themselves and press down, removing further openings and reorienting in a new position, such as side guard.
You don’t have to be a grappler to practice it – anyone can benefit.
Remember to train both sides. Begin with continuous reps on one side, and then increase the challenge by working one side and then the other in a seamless flow.
Want more ‘odd exercises’ like this? Check out my Forbidden Fitness program, it’s filled with functional exercises drawn from more than two decades of real ninja training.