The Perfect Warrior?

All the talk over the movie 300 and the workouts they performed got me thinking. What would be the perfect warrior if you had to go into battle in hand to hand combat?

Let's imagine a scene. 100 men against 100 men. Let's take weapons out of the equation since with weapons you'll have a certain amount of technique. This is simply about physical prowess in a battle that could last for a whole day or more. With that in mind I have had a hypothetical look at some of the most popular training methods out there today. I have tried and trained in many of these myself so although this is my opinion it's also based on real life experience.

Crossfit
Let's begin with the Crossfit guys. These guys are conditioning junkies with some nice skills and excellent bodyweight strength. The best Crossfit guys look to weigh around 175lbs or less. The workouts they perform are painful and varied. My only concern is a lack of physical stature and overall bodily strength, particularly in the lower body.
Endurance - 9
Toughness - 8
Speed - 7
Strength - 5
Overall - 7.25 (total divided by 4)

Crossfit has built up some excellent athletes with superb gyms like this.

 

Strongman
Top strongmen are huge! Terry Hollands is a massive man at 6ft 6" and roughly 30 stone or 400lbs in bodyweight. Mariusz Pudzianowski may not be as tall but he just as huge.  Mariusz is probably the best there has ever been.  Imagine an army made up of guys like Terry, Mariusz and past champions like Jouko Ahola, Gary Taylor, Jon Pal Sigmarsson and Bill Kazmaier! Frightening to look at and certainly the most daunting opposition physically to see coming at you.
These guys are fast over short distances.  Their strength levels are off the planet.  I'm not sure they would really enjoy  going hard for more than an hour though with little or no rest. Their huge muscles would fill with lactate acid fast and slow them down to a walk. Unless you had 100 Mariusz's of course! This may be their only weak point though.
Endurance - 5
Toughness - 9
Speed - 7
Strength - 10
Overall - 7.75

Near perfect? Mariusz Pudzianowski looking incredible as usual.

MMA
Could the MMA guys be the perfect warrior? They certainly have all the credentials. Their endurance is incredible. Wrestling, boxing, kickboxing, ju jitsu, weight training, conditioning, plyometrics is all in a days work for these guys. Their strength is better than the Crossfit guys but certainly not at the the level of our top strongmen. Some of these guys are fast too with lightning strikes and take downs. Plus they don't come much tougher than be able to take punches and kicks to all parts of the body and then  wrestle  till near exhaustion whilst fighting for a submission at the same time.  These guys are good!
Endurance - 10
Toughness - 10
Speed - 8
Strength - 8
Overall - 9

In the 90's Ken Shamrock epitomized the look of the ultimate warrior.

Gym Jones 300 athletes
These are the stuntmen and actors that trained in the style of Gym Jones with the 300 workout and much more. From what I have read they did a combination of routines similar to Crossfit but with more emphasis on body composition for the look required for filming.  I would put these guys in a similar category to the Crossfit guys but with the added skills of stunt work which means coordination and the ability to take knocks day in and day out.
Endurance - 9
Toughness - 9
Speed - 7
Strength - 6
Overall - 7.75

Canadian stunt performer Stephane, looking lean and mean.

On this 'evidence' and remember this is a just an article to get you thinking, nothing more nothing less, the MMA guys come out on top. Not surprisingly since they are the ones who are actually going into battle hand to hand.

From my experience I believe that the strongmen could be adapted to be the most troublesome to our MMA guys. I can adapt to Crossfit type training very quickly. Within a few weeks I can put up decent times in many of their workouts. However, I doubt that many Crossfit guys could hit big squat numbers or carry 300lb Farmer's Walks without years of work. The 105k Strongmen would come close to the ideal because they are faster and have better endurance than the heavyweight strongmen whilst still possessing excellent strength. (Although I am sure many top heavyweights would disagree!)

In essence that's what I believe Beyond Strong is. Greater than average strength levels combined with excellent endurance, maximum speed recruitment and a toughness to compete with the best in the worst situation. If you add that combination to ANY sport you are going to do very well indeed.

So what is the best?

If you cross Mariusz's strength, power and endurance with Randy Couture's iron will and stamina would you have the perfect athlete? How about the power and speed of Mike Tyson in his prime with the devastating strength of Andy Bolton and the athletic ability of 200m and 400m Olympic Champion Michael Johnson?

Who knows.

In the end this is purely a theoretical view of what 'could' be achieved but... if nothing else, it's cool to think about this stuff!!

Nick

Comments

[Guy List]

Having worked as an Ass/bodyguard instructor and been a soldier as well as a stuntman and doorman i feel fairly well qualified to comment on the perfect warrior if there indeed is such a thing! Heart Heart Heart. The old adage says it aint the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. So true and bottle and motivation are also important. A man defending his home and his family will fight with a passion and ferocity difficult to match.But if they all trained as well then you have the perfect situation. Lets not forget our ancestor's who trained to be knights! They could and often did fight all day in full Armour in thick mud soaked with blood and severed limbs! Tough buggers all of them and id put them up against anybody these days!!

[Nick McKinless]

Exactly Guy! I wrote this from the perspective of which training method and group of athletes would create the best overall warriors. However, you just added the missing element! You can't train heart, it's something in built and no matter what it's there or it's not. You can toughen people up and bring the fight out but usually those with it in their make up come out on top. Excellent point!

Nick

[Guy List]

Cheers dude! And keep up the good work bro!!

[Matt]

Hmm...

Ninjas vs. Pirates vs. Gladiators vs. NFL Linemen.

It's really hard to say but I have always liked the Ninjas.

It takes a good mix of great body conditioning, training and passion(the will to act/fight). The MMA guys have that already plus the experience of fighting. Who knows what would happen if you gave that same experience to crossfiters or even some guys that were really scrappy/fast (streetwise) but not necessarily strong. Interesting thought experiment, it causes some introspection to my own situation.

Thanks

[Pat]

The skill difference for the MMA guys is really what would win the day. I honestly would take Randy Couture over Mariusz in a battle any day of the week. Now if Mariusz is allowed to throw rocks and tree trunks at Randy, I may have to think about it. :)

[Guy List]

Mariusz was Polands heavyweight boxing champ before he took up strongman! Think he would be a handful for anyone and boy is he quick for a big fella!!

[Jaako]

Maybe not so relevant but I would admire the general who could arrange the logistics for 100 Mariusz soldiers. Just imagine the amount of food that would need to be suplied for just a week of warfare...

And if the relocations of the army was supposed to be by foot and maintain some flexibility in a battle plan I would choose lighter soldiers that can quickly be fresh for battle.

[Vlad]

Based on your criteria, i believe you should have included olympic lifters. It is the only sport where you develop strength and speed at the same time. I think you'll find those guys to be very flexible and have a good level of endurance. As for toughness - you gotta have balls to lift overhead and not rely on assistance from spotters to save you if you stuff up !

[Nick McKinless]

No doubt Vlad...infact I could have included all kinds of sports from Rubgy to Grid Iron to Hockey etc....fortunately this is what discussion is for and this topic has sparked plenty of that! Excellent comments guys...

Nick

[Christian]

I am the biggest fan of Mariusz Pudzianowski on the bloc. I found your blog because I was searching for « Pudzianowski » pictures on Google XD

The reason I like so much Mariusz is simple... He, like myself, practices Kyokushin Karate and trains in a gym to become strong!

I always hated to watch strongmen, because all of them were so fat and I couldn't associate myself with any of them.... since my childwood was being bullied by «fat» guys! I have always thought that « Fat » guys were, in general, stronger than a personn with less body fat... And I still believe it is true, because, the fat one eats all the time... He gets more calories and fat, but also a greater protein intake! On the long run he gains bigger muscle...

The only way a low fat guy can be stronger... is if he trains and eat a lot of protein... than the two of them will become equal...

When I saw Mariusz... a lean man without any fat... It showed me than it is not only pur mass that gives strenght... but it really is the muscle!

So, because of all this, I would still hope that Mariusz wins.. and will be cheering for him all the fight!

[Daimon]

The perfect warrior would be somedy that trained from young age in real combat enviroment....somebody that was born in a warrior society...somebody that would be afraid only of shame and not death...somebody that does not know anything else except fighting...therefore i would say historicly spartans were the perfect warriors