Shadebound is a no-equipment combat-centered RPG fitness program based on ninja training and conditioning. It’s designed to take you on a journey from acolyte to ninja master, in 30 days in a fun, mentally immersive adventure that will engage your mind as well as your body. The workouts range from light to very challenging with active rest days sprinkled throughout to help you recover and ninja-on.
The program does not require an advanced level of combat training but it does include kick combinations and it includes hook kicks.
This is a fun role-playing adventure that also happens to make you fitter, leaner, meaner and most definitely - harder to kill.
Day 1
So, it came to pass that on the appointed day a supreme ninja would arise out of the ranks. One who would guide his fellow ninjas through the tricky path that lies ahead, preserving the honor of his vows and integrity of his skills and navigating the complex tension between the powerful ninja clans and the Emperor's jealousy that threatens their existence. The way to that moment begins with the first of a series of challenging tasks no mere mortal could perform. The very first of them tests your ninja climbing skills. There is a sacred scroll that lies at the very top of a tower being guarded by the Emperor's troops. That scroll contains the secret to the ninja ascension, the long-lost sacred ceremony of initiation that crowns a lone warrior into the supreme shadow warrior that he becomes, validating his claim of leadership over all ninja clans. Test yourself by climbing the tower undetected and stealing the sacred scroll that will begin the ceremony of initiation. The challenge to overcome here is that to evade the troops guarding the tower on your way out you must be on your hands and toes and keep a low profile for a full minute.
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Day 2
Congratulations on having successfully stolen the sacred scroll of the ninja ascension. Unfortunately, your success has stirred an hornet's nest. The Emperor is suspicious and has ordered his top Samurai to amass the troops in preparation for a campaign. The ninja's most powerful weapon is information. Without it you cannot understand the nature of the threats you face nor determine what is the best form of action to take. Your task, this time, is to remain undetected and infiltrate the enemy camp by crawling on your hands and knees to evade its sentries. Once you've infiltrated the camp and learnt of the enemy's intentions and plans you will need to make a fast getaway.
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Day 3
Young ninja warrior you did it! The enemy is preparing for war. Armed with this knowledge you know that you will need reinforcements. You will now join the cadets to instruct them in your own exalted skills of evasion, infiltration, spycraft and defense. Remember these are new recruits in awe of your skills and uncertain about what lies ahead. Lead by example, keep the combat session light, precise and fast. Finish up with some solid, lower body work as a ninja's legs are the workhorse of his engine.
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Day 4
A ninja warrior's work is never done. Having finished instructing and inspiring the cadets you now have to do some serious training with your fellow ninja warriors so you can maintain the high level of your combat skills. Great balance, precision, control and accuracy are key as always. But so is limb speed. Finish the session with a minute-long speed drill using your trusty side kicks that have helped you get out of a tight scrap more than once. Pay close attention to the retraction of the kicking leg in this exercise. You want to achieve the maximum output. The exercise is like this one here in the video. Notice the position of the hands to help maintain the balance as you transition from one kick to the next and the flatter trajectory of the kick from the floor to the target, at waist height, which helps make the kicks a little faster even though the form is not perfect. Also notice the standing leg foot does not pivot as that would slow down the kicks.
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Day 5
Ninja warrior, the coming troubles ahead mean your clan needs provisions. Your ninja cadets need equipment and all of that requires money. To generate the needed cash you've agreed to undertake a difficult mission for money. You need to prepare your body and mind for what will happen next. This is your chance. Practice the way through mind/body exercises that combine breathing and movement. Feel the force inside you become replenished and amplified. Renew your sense of purpose. Find your center. Finish off with some meditation. Luckily, as an experienced ninja warrior, you have gone through the carefully guarded secret Darebee's guide to meditation. You know what to do.
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Day 6
Your mission begins. A local High Lord needs an escort to pass through territory menaced by bandits and rogue Samurai. You will provide protection. The journey is long and arduous. The terrain is harsh and full of danger. This will test your lower body strength and your ability to stay alert throughout. But, you've trained for this ninja warrior. You can do it, plus the money your clan will receive as a reward are key to provisioning and preparing for the future.
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Day 7
The success of your last mission has provided a much-needed boost to clan finances. You are now getting well provisioned. This makes it necessary to prepare for the future. Remember, a ninja warrior's greatest skill lies in the ability to acquire and then use information. There are rumors that the Emperor is preparing for a trip. Your task is to steal the plans for the planned Imperial trip and help your clan make better, future plans to help its defense and growth.
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Day 8
Alert! Your forward scouts have spotted a band of desperate, roving bandits looking to raid likely targets. They don't know how well your temple is protected nor do they have much information about your clan and its powers. They are therefore planning to attack, steal your provisions and kill all those they find inside. Ninja warrior prepare your fellow ninjas and the new recruits you have been training to meet this threat and teach these roving bandits a lesson they are unlikely to ever forget. Remember who you are! Keep your combat moves sharp and focused. Be spectacular in the way you move.
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Day 9
The battle against the roving bandits proved just how well the new recruits have been trained by you. You have done a marvelous job indeed getting them ready. But they still have a lot to learn and moving like a ninja requires flexibility and agility they still need to develop. It is time to put the new recruits through their paces and take them all to a new level of skill. As always, when training new recruits, you lead by example. Make everything you do precise, focused and look amazing. The new recruits look up to you for inspiration as well as guidance.
Day 10
Without a doubt, the way to this moment has been with many ups and downs and a constant struggle. These always take their toll. This is your chance to recharge and recover ninja warrior. Use this workout to re-center yourself, find your inner balance, allow your spirit and body to recover and psychologically prepare for the long and difficult journey ahead. Focus on your breathing in the way your body moves when you stretch and do not neglect your mind. Your meditation, brief as it may be, is a central element of your personal recovery plan.
Day 11
There are tumultuous times and the work your clan is called upon to do is seemingly endless. There has been rioting in the Capital. Merchants are losing goods as their warehouses are broken into and looted. Public order is at breaking point. Your clan is hired to help restore order by quelling rioting and fending off the looters from the city's mercantile district. Times being what they are you cannot afford to allocate all your forces in one go. That means that a select group of you will have to work extra hard. Go to it. Pay attention to form. Do not let fatigue diminish your intensity.
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Day 12
Your success in restoring order and fighting off looters in the Capital has not gone unnoticed. A High Lord needs protection and he is willing to pay for the best his money can buy. The best means you, ninja warrior! Get to it. Provide the protection he needs by fighting off all threats to his residence. This is hard, tiring work. At the same time it is going to get your clan even more money to acquire more resources which should help it survive.
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Day 13
With your mission completed it is time, ninja warrior, the head back to base and your clan's temple for a debrief, to regroup and recuperate. Self care, ninja warrior-style, is quite active. Tend to yourself, get your head straight, focus on your breathing and on releasing stress from tight muscles. Feel your body and revel in what you are and who you are. The days ahead will be full of challenges and being able to recharge your batteries a little is a much-needed respite.
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Day 14
Alert! Just as well you had the respite you did because your temple is, once more, under attack. Unspecified enemies have seized the opportunity to launch a raid. Thinking you are weak they intend to rob the temple of its resources and kill all the members of your clan. Now's the time to teach them a lesson they won't easily forget. Rise to the occasion ninja warrior, defeat the enemies, protect the temple and help your clan secure its place in the ninja world.
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Day 15
You did it! You successfully fought off the marauders, routed them and taught them not to trouble you again. Unfortunately, these are troubled times. War is coming and your clan will be called upon to fight to save itself. Prepare for the coming onslaught with a set of exercises designed to strengthen you for what is coming and help you build resilience inside and out.
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Day 16
The day you were expecting is here! The battle for survival of your clan will take place upon the plain. This calls for precision work, speed and explosive power. Make your movements count. Exercise full body awareness and supreme self-control to survive the battle. This is going to be a test to your endurance as well as your skill. It is the perfect opportunity to show off perfect form as well as speed.
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Day 17
Ninja warrior the battle was a success! Your skill, focus and combat skills have helped your side come out victorious. You're now back to base in the safety of your temple. Things however are not easy. True to form you use this quiet moment in what is happening around you to sharpen your body, increase your flexibility and prepare yourself even better for the challenges that lie waiting in your future.
Day 18
Just because civil unrest, war and pitched battles against marauders are taking place doesn't mean life stops. The ninja clans know that, if anything, now is the crucial time to make the right choices or fail to survive. The search is on for the ultimate ninja warrior, the one with the poise, focus and ability to rise to the very top of the clans and become the leader of all the ninja clans. To find the best candidate to lead them the ninja clans get together to hold ninja trials: physically grueling tests that will put you through your paces and seek to find the limits of your cardiovascular and aerobic endurance. Ninja warrior, this is your opportunity to shine!
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Day 19
During the ninja trials you placed amongst the top candidates in your field. There will now be one more trial in the very near future to pick the supreme ninja warrior from the handful who have made it this far. Unfortunately there is no downtime. The villagers around your temple are rioting to protest against their High Lord. You have no choice here. The High Lord hires you to quell unrest and deliver peace so that the villages can prosper and the High Lord can tax them. You will need speed, dexterity and agility to get the job done. Numbers in your reps really count now, especially towards the end.
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Day 20
Ninja warrior, your journey to this point has been exhausting. With the surrounding villages once again quiet and villagers living in relative peace, seize the opportunity to replenish your inner resources. Focus on your breathing, give your body some respite and train your mind to perform at the higher level required by improving your ability to let it relax and recharge. Focus on the glory that awaits you should you succeed in becoming the supreme ninja warrior that will bring all ninja clans together.
Day 21
It is a good thing you found some respite ninja warrior because things have kicked off again! There has been unrest among the ninja clans, some have refused to accept the outcome of the ninja trials and some dispute your victory during those trials. As a result there is now war among the clans. Ninja is pitted against ninja. Your temple is once more under attack, this time by warriors that not too long ago you counted as allies. Defend your temple against their assault. Teach these disrespectful upstarts a lesson and keep your clan safe, once more!
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Day 22
Another day, another battle! You may have just fought off those upstarts that challenged your clan's safety but it is not enough. The time has come to teach them a lesson. Thanks to your endeavors your own clan has grown in prosperity. You have the resources, trainees and weapons to launch an assault upon the capital and teach those who would oppose you and threaten your clan's safety, a lesson they won't soon forget. Speed of execution and precision of movement are key now ninja warrior. Be the fierce, awe-inspiring opponent you have always been meant to be.
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Day 23
Your victory is convincing but far from total. As a ninja warrior you must know how to be strategic, attack when you must and withdraw without incurring losses. You stormed the capital, you won the day but now you must escape before the enemy regroups, amasses more forces and tries to counterattack. You need to be nimble on your feet and capable of great endurance, ninja warrior. Make sure your form is perfect and that you always pump your arms to drive your legs.
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Day 24
Fresh from victory and re-energized by your successful escape from the capital you launch yourself into training, readying for the ordeals that are sure to come. This is what, in your world, ninja warrior counts as downtime. Put yourself through your paces, launch yourself wholeheartedly into this most demanding of training sessions. Don't forget to employ correct breathing to enhance your workout. Be precise, controlled and focused.
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Day 25
As you well know ninja warrior, your success in combat comes from the fact that you train your body in so many different ways and apply your mind so you are always disciplined, focused and self-aware. This means that now you also need to work your tendons to help release the power you've been building by training your muscles. This may appear like an easy workout but you will definitely feel its effects and it will certainly help you in your ability to be more than those around you, as befits a ninja warrior.
Day 26
Just as well you have been honing your skills and working on your tendons, ninja warrior. The Elders of the ninja clans announce that the time has come to pick the one from your number to be the leader who will take all the ninja clans into the next era. This means fresh ninja clan trials and dexterity, speed, accuracy and strength. You have but a little time to get in one last workout before the trials begin and you intent to make the most of it. Clear your mind, focus your will and prepare to take your strength capability to a new level.
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Day 27
The day of your ninja clan trials dawns. Young ninja warrior, this is your chance to shine; rise aboce the rest and assume the mantle of supreme leadership that is rightfully yours. Everything here is complicated, a challenge to the brain that moves the body as well as the body that performs each movement. Get through this trying day and get ready to ascend to the top of the leadership ladder of all ninja clans.
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Day 28
Ninja warrior, congratulations! In the ninja trials you excelled. You showed yourself to be totally worthy of the role of the leader of all ninja clans. There is one last hurdle for you to overcome. The ninja clan Elders task you this day with endless, menial errands. This is the ultimate test of ninja clan leadership, to test how humble you can be, how easily you tame your ego and how diligent you are in performing even the most menial of tasks. Hurry about today, carry out all the errands and be quick, tireless and always pleasant to those around you.
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Day 29
Ninja warrior you are the new supreme commander of all the ninja clans. It has been a hectic, crazy ride to this moment with many ups and downs. Time for you then to celebrate with a little "me time" as you recharge your batteries, replenish your psyche and help your body heal from the tribulations you had to put it through on your way to this moment. Build better balance, practice as befits a true ninja clan leader.
Day 30
Let the ninja clan scrolls record that on this day the great ninja warrior officially assumed the mantle of Total Commander, leader of the fearsome ninja warriors, vanquisher of the Imperial Hordes, defender of all the ninja clans against marauders and trainer of fresh ninja recruits. This is a celebratory ceremony that revitalizes body and mind and helps develop the wisdom necessary to guide the clans into a new age of ascendancy where, through the shadows, their power will grow, their legend will spread and their reputation will be one of them being fearsome opponents and awesome allies. Shadebound to be a whisper in ordinary mortal minds, they're also the epitome of achievement of mind and body.
