Date Eiji's Training

One of our readers suggested I tackle Date Eiji's training, so we're gonna go for that. Date had a meteoric rise to the top of the Japanese boxing arena and then he took the world by storm to challenge the Champion of the World: Ricardo Martinez.  Unfortunately, this ends the young challenger's bid for world dominance in a face-shattering beatdown. Several years later, at his wife's behest, he begins again; his eyes at the top of the world.

Date Eiji's Training

Morning

1. Run 5 Miles, with a paper mask
2. 50 Push-ups
3. 50 Sit-ups

Afternoon

1. 3 Minutes Easy Shadowboxing (Loosen Up)
2. 50 Waist Twists
3. 5 Minutes Speed Bagwork
4. 10 Minutes Double-End Bagwork
5. 3 x 1 Minute Rope Drill
6. 3 x 3 Minutes Jump Rope
7. 3 x 3 Minutes Mitt Work
8. 3 x 3 Minutes Heavy Bagwork
9. 3 x 3 Minutes Shadowboxing 
10. 3 x 3 Minutes Sparring
11. 10 Corkscrew Straights to Double-End Bag (BE PREPARED TO DODGE!)
12. 10 Corkscrew Straights to Focus Mitt
13. 10 Corkscrew Straights to Heavy Bag
14. 50 Wrist Curls w/10#
15. 50 Reverse Wrist Curls w/10#
16. 50 Speed Wrist Twists Each Side
17. 50 Speed Neck Twists

Notes:

• The paper mask is to help improve your endurance. It's actually arguable whether or not it actually helps, but the idea is that, because it makes it harder to breathe, you get used to running with less oxygen. The run is going to be at a steady pace, no sprints. 
• In your shadowboxing, you'll want to focus on being loose and twisting your limbs to practice the corkscrew. 
• The waist-twisting will help with upper body flexibility.
• The speed bag and the double-end bag will help with the timing and accuracy necessary to land the Heart Break Shot. 
• I pictured Date as a very textbook boxer, apart from the obvious difference with the corkscrew blow. 
• When you hit the double-end bag with the corkscrew blog, GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY! Otherwise, it's likely to come back and knock the living crap out of you. 
• Be careful not the hit the person holding the mitts, because the corkscrew can tend to get away from you if you aren't used to throwing it. 
• The heavy bag will require you to pull back on your power with the corkscrew to keep from hurting yourself at first. Trust me, once you learn how to throw the punch, you'll realize why I'm advocating that. 
• You'll need exceptional wrist strength for the corkscrew blow, so the wrist curls and the wrists twists are very important. The wrist twist is just twisting your fist in its full range of motion at high speed back and forth. 
• The neck twisting should be done quickly, but be careful at first until you get used to it. The double end bag combined with the neck twists should help with learning Date Eiji's neck spin technique, used to neutralize incoming punches. 
• If you are unable to complete the workout, feel free to scale it back and build it up as you need. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this workout. I realize some of the boxing workouts can get repetitive, so I try to make each workout fit each character's style and technique.

That's all for today! Until next time, good luck and train hard!