newbie- the basics (beginning training concepts)

[shakes]

doc

so i just stumpled on this site! found it very interesting have recently developed an interest in martial arts.. not too sure where its stemmed from but anyway....

basically i was just lookin for some advice from members here regarding increasing my all round strength and fitness. like im tryin to establish a schedule to do daily or regularly. at present i dont practise any martial arts but i am considering it... theres a lot out there!!!

i particularly want to develop my forearms but am concerning myself with excercising all areas. any advice would be fantastic.

shakes

[Asger]

Many shaolin techniques require strong arms, wrists and fingers, but mostly it requires an excellent shape.
So running is a very good idea.
Before I began learning from a teacher, I ran and streched by myself on a regular basis for a year.
I suggest you do something like that. Remember, it's not something you can achieve within a few montsh or so, because it's your whole body and all of it's functions that suddenly have to work much more intensively than it's used to. But gradually everything will become more and more healthy and able to perform more.

So if you just start out by running a lot and stretching afterwards (if you want to gain flexibility faster you should also do some light stretching before exercising).

Just remember that when you stretch, your back must be straight and your legs must be straight.

Start slow, but train hard.

[Xiaobeeno]

What's your current fitness like? Are you familiar with any training techniques at all?

[doc]

Well, as with any training that you might undertake, the first thing that you need to ensure is that you are healthy enough to undertake it. Regardless of your age. Whether or not you get a physician's evaluation prior to starting any sort of difficult training depends upon how you feel, your age, and what medical problems that you might have. This varies with everyone. Your conditioning and prior medical history will dictate what sort of exercise you should focus on, and what sort of exercise you might want to stay away from. For example, running is good exercise, though, it might not be the wisest thing to do if you have knee, ankle, lower back or cervical spiine problems. Swimming is great (if you know how to swim....) As with everything else in life, you have to configure your exercise patterns according to what is going to fit you the best. What other people might do, might not be beneficial for you.

I realize that this doesn't help much, the gang no doubt will have all sorts of great suggestions. However, just keep this simple concept in mind. Do what you can, do it regularly, do it slowly, build yourself over time. And, don't do what hurts.

[shakes]

thanks for that....

im 21 no specific problems.. occassional back issues but nothing too concerning. concentrated last 6 months on my diet - you are what u eat - i live in a pretty hilly county so i try run n hill sprint to really get muscles going. not familiar with specific training techniques, i mean i dont want to over concentrate areas and neglect others.... most importantly im more settled mentally to commit to a program of some description. glad i found the site will definitely keep dropping by n absorbing some of the wise words ive already come across.

[blooming tianshi lotus]

I'm no shaolin expert compared to some around here, but I have trained shaolin gongfu in many different places and with many different standards and body types in several countries. What Doc says there is fairly good advice, but that being said, I can say also that I have personally witnessed, much to my fascination, many quite ( what I would deem ) overweight ppl, perform some of the most complicated forms in shaolin gongfu with seeming ease and skill. One that stands out to me was a kid about 22 at a school under a disciple pof DeYang who in the warm up jog was so out of shape cardiovascularly that he had to practically walk the entire jog circuit. Then we get back and do some drills before our form work and he totally blows me away , form wise being one our more advanced students !! I saw the same in thing in China many a time, like my obese principal ( at the school I was teaching at) pulling off some really strong deep stances in an amusingly impressive snake / crane / tanglong come gadknows combo set. I think the key to sucess though is all about perserverance. If you continue to practice, you will improve and if you need to start at the start, it's a good place to begin.

Good luck with your decision and as long as you work consistently and are only challenging your own standards , you'll always come out winning

Cheers

Blooming Lotus

[blooming tianshi lotus]

For practical advice and particularly for forearms, I suggest the following

1. grab yourself a broomstick ( without the head) and begin some sets of 100 each arm, cross centerline ( of body) wrist twists , turning your wrist toward the outside as it passes the center line of your body and turning again as you reach your your centre with your elbow of the same arm ( performing a figure 8 in the air with your wrist). If you want to add something extra you can drop down into a bit of a bent knee squat and put your torso into it as a weaving motion from anywhere above your hips. Don't worry if it feels awkward to begin, the moment you relax, your flow should just happen.

2. To strengthen your forearm another good excerise I personally do at min 50-100 of daily are tricep dips. To begin, find yourself a chair or sofa, coffee table , bed ( the lower the better) and palms down either side of your body on the chair ( or whatever) starting with arms straight and legs either bent or straight in front for an advanced version, and bend your arms lowering your body , straightening to come up. Repeat for sets of 25 to begin, adding 5 more reps ( repitions ) as you feel comfortable until you reach 50. When you can comfortabley do 50 , try for twice a day.

3. wrist curls. You can do this with practically anything at all from a bucket of water or sand to a dumbell to a sword to a kid ( hanging onto your hands ) and so on.
palm up and with hands in a fist, elbows in close to your body or seated and elbow resting on your thigh, lift your weight by curling your fist toward your inner forearm and slowly come back to start position. Repeat for 20-50 as above , increasing reps as you get more comfortable.
( I also find if you have a good sword handy D.....&lol at the blaz'eness ) if you hold it at the hilt and straighten your arm extending the blade and raise and lower your arm ( keeping it straight but loose as possible ) you will also increase your strength here.

Cant beat a good pushup set for arm/ shoulder and upper strength either ( and begin off a chair or elevated level to begin if you're sincerely struggling, just be sure to come to ground progressively as comfort allows and strength improves), and squats and calf raises ( to tippy toes and down slowly) for lower body.
I could go on and on with some great exercises to take away, but to begin strengthing your whole body I highly recommend you invest in a pilates dvd. A good average session lasts for about 1hr and needs at the beginning or your programme to be done only 3 x a week to see some great gains and changes in your entire body shape , tone, strength and flexibility.
I also advocate you try to incorperate a 20 min walk into your week a few days / week min. As you get more comfortable you take it up to a jog or just do it each day.

Don't forget to stretch after every session and eat sensibley ( avoiding fat and bread combos , or sugary flour products where possible , drink plenty of water ( 1.5 lts of a night is good) and eat lots of fruit , veg and proteins ( milk / eggs/ cheese/ chicken/ fish/ tiurkey / bacon / occassion meat / duck and so on.)

Enjoy challenging yourself and hang in there. It'll happen, but just don't expect it to be tommorow, don't give up and you'll be fine.

Cheers

Blooming Lotus

[Greenknight2]

I'm one of those obesse martial artists. Sure muscle strength is nice, but what is fat? Is stored energy, it's cushing. Absolutely I want to loss some fat. But it's not necessarily all about the muscles.

Personally, I enjoy long walks by myself. I concentrate on my breathing. Another thing too do is row machines, and eclipicals if you can find them in a gym. Also, what are your goals in studying martial arts? Is it to spar? train in weapons? Health?

[arhat]

to develop strong forearms nothing beats reading playboy. newstand issues.

[blooming tianshi lotus]

thanks for that....

im 21 no specific problems.. occassional back issues but nothing too concerning. concentrated last 6 months on my diet - you are what u eat - i live in a pretty hilly county so i try run n hill sprint to really get muscles going. not familiar with specific training techniques, i mean i dont want to over concentrate areas and neglect others.... most importantly im more settled mentally to commit to a program of some description. glad i found the site will definitely keep dropping by n absorbing some of the wise words ive already come across.

I'm sorry. I just found this last post of yours. I guess I just missed it earlier. So let me get this straight........you are or aren't well padded??? It doesn't really make much difference to your potential but what's your height and weight?? At least your hill runs have got you off to a good start. Awesome stuff and you're already really well prepped for tonnes of maing aspects. Look forward to touching base with your progress.

BL

[shakes]

will try the broom thing thanks for that! im about 6ft 2, probably under 12 stone so im slim only way i can really gain weight is through training id imagine. the improved diet thing didnt really make any difference to my weight but has given me more energy. was thinkin of investing in some kind of leg weights to run with? and recently used a friends chinning bar but that was difficult! i think once ive seen some progress in myself ill have more confidence to learn techniques, my main reasons for doing this are health but id like to learn to spar potentially and just see how it goes...

[Xiaobeeno]

Like Doc said. Build everything up slowly. I mean EVERYTHING!!!!

Running speed/distance, number of reps, stretching etc. The last thing you want to do is injure yourself, because then you might be unable to train a specific area for a while, and you could lose all you've gained by the time you recover and you'll be back to where you started.

Trust me, I've been there, done that. Didn't enjoy it!

[blooming tianshi lotus]

I understand your hill training because I've lived amongst the mountains myself for years and I've trained the mountains in China where the monks are doing the same thing. If you really want to add some strength to your legs in your endurance capity, there are some great weighted vests you can buy from places like perhaps www.martialartsmart.com will have one, or google a search on ma suppliers. I'm sure someone here'll have a link to someone selling one anyway. ( And if not , try leaded jockey weights slipped into a multi slit vest) and either use that in your run or even better, work with your vest through some stances and sets of squats. The weight doesn't need to be physically on your legs to benifit them if the exercise is hitting that region. If you do the vest, you can also use it for your push ups and tricep dips and other bwe ( body weight exercises) . If you're going for weights though and strength is what you're training as opposed to endurance , just keep your reps low ( 6 per set) and alternate your days training the same muscle for endurance. It's working on different muscle fibres so just be aware that they recover differently. Actually, I nearly now want to buy one myself .


There are 3 real aspects of ma training I like to cover myself. Speed, endurance and strength. I think you've got it fairly well covered for now, but maybe you should think about investing in a boxing bag for your speed training , or if you really wan t to get into it ma style , try a few rounds against a hanging towel and and see how little you can get you towel to move. This is called fajing development and trains your "snappy power". When I train my daughter, I explain it to her as " crash like a tidal wave" in your strike creating a piston type effect. Great journey you're on, I'm sure you'll enjoy what you find.


Cheers



Blooming Lotus

[arhat]

http://www.shaolinwolf.com/morechitrainharder/Stretching1.htm

[doc]

Running with a weighted vest will increase your endurance and your leg strength, but it will also put more stress on your lumbar vertebrae, hips, knees and ankles. Doing so while running on pavement makes it all much worse, especially if you're running in ****ty sneakers.

Be careful about stuff like that. And putting weights in your jockey shorts is just sheer madness.

As if we russbo men don't have enough there to start with....