Okay, I put this exercise together a score of years ago, and it has proven to be one of the best Martial Arts Body Conditioning System ever. Oddly, I've seen bits and pieces of it in various arts, Drunken Kung Fu, Capoeira, that sort of style, but nobody has ever put the whole thing together. Too bad, it really is easy and fun.

First, draw a box on the ground. Then place your hands and feet on the box. You should be in a spread out sort of push up position.

Now, switch your right foot and your left hand. Over or under, I don't care, I just want you to twist your body so it is facing in a new direction. You should end up looking towards the sky.

Now, continue moving. Don't go backwards, keep going in the initial direction, do a dozen moves before you reverse direction. And, when you have worked both directions to a frothy pitch, return to the beginning posture and change the left foot and the right hand.

Doing this is going to work your upper body like you wouldn't believe, and it is going to strengthen your core muscles and make them like iron. Now, to really exploit the exercise, add some kicks. Front or back, or even to the side, somebody pushes you to the ground and you can do some low level kicking that'll knock the seeds right out of their little saplings.

Now, to full work this drill, and to avoid injury by trying to catch yourself if you are pushed to the ground, do shoulder rolls into the box. That's what I call this spread out push up posture, 'The Box.' And I call the whole thing the 'Monkey in the Box.'

So somebody gives you a nasty push from the rear, and you roll and are suddenly thrusting a kicking back towards his oversized imagination. He is going to be one startled mugger. He was pouncing, counting his ill gained wealth, and suddenly he is going to find himself grabbing his future and hurting.

There is more to this exercise than I have said here, of course, and the real fun comes when you start playing with it and 'open the box' to find all the goodies. Kicks, throws, some rolling takedowns that you wouldn't believe, and so on. Mind you, I don't always advocate going to the ground, but if you have to, or if you just want the Best Martial Arts Body Conditioning System in the world, the Monkey in the Box is where you start.