Strength Training

[onefocus]

if you are learning hung gar, then you might want to look into the kettlebells, or maybe the powerblocks. lift and hold them from ma bu, until you are exausted.

this should help to train your gripping and pressing skills, to some degree. and if you practice right, it will stretghen your endurance as well. you can do other things to train cardio.

peace.


onefocus.

[LeiYunFat]

Kettleballs? Bwe? Powerblocks?

I think I might know what powerblocks are, but the kettles and the bwe escapes me.

I've got some dumbells, but I don't know what you mean bout the supplementation of the excersizes.

[Firbolg]

I'm guessing bwe is body weight exercises? or maybe not..

would also like to know what are kettles and powerblocks?!

And while on the subject.. what are pilates?

[Greenknight2]

Well the original question was about retaining strength. I think alot of it has to do with diet also. BTW, one of the black belts at the dojo/gym I go to has a bowflex. He spent some time working at it alone and he's coming back. It's good but it's not good in and of it'self. I personally prefer some hand weights, a weighted bar(I like doing forms with it), or a medicine ball.

I would recommend doing some reading about training, might I suggestweight training for martial artists . My personal experience doing weight training, if your doing it more than three times a week you need a supplement. Too bulky and you put on fat.

[onefocus]

lyf, if you have some dumbells, thats great! now try this and see how you hold up.

stand in the horseback with the arms straight out in front holding the dumbells, see if you can do it for five minutes. it's more than a notion. then when you can do it for five, do it as long as you can until you reach an hour. then ask about strentgh again.!!!! just the training alone in a static exercise like this increases your strentgh, balance and endurance. most americans dont have time for that type of training regiment though. oh, did i mention that it trains your ability to stay in one place?

try it out, tell me what you think.

peace

onefocus.

[onefocus]

firbolg, the kettlebells, are a weight. similar in function to the chinese lock. the biggest difference being that the kettlebells are round, and made of iron or rubber.

check them out at kettlebells.com

peace.

onefocus

[shaolinstylee]

um, why not train that strength in the full range of motion... holding them there, in one spot, will help you hold things, there in that one spot.


Yes, bwe = body weight excersises. pushups, squats, lunges, crunches, handstand pushups, calf raises (on a stair) etc.

[onefocus]

you can and should, train the full range of motion, in time. the reason you train in one place, is to develop firm rooting, and solid extension abilities. creating a stronger and faster punch. try it out for a few months, then ask a few questions. see the difference for yourself. the training pits the long and short muscles of the arm against each other, for maximum strentgh in punching, gripping, throwing, and arm sweeping.
but dont take my word for it, consult a traditional training professional.

peace.

onefocus.

[shaolinstylee]

firm rooting, and solid extension abilities

???

OK, I know what rooting is, but please explain the correlation of extension ability (what exactly is that anyway) and static training.

[zachsan]

the best way to train for a faster punch is to throw a lot of fast punches. using the muscles of the arm to resist its own movements won't do anything for the fast-twitch muscle fibers that one uses to throw a quick punch.

by the way, those kettlebells are 100 bucks for an 18 pounder. what happened to the "poor man's workout"?

[shaolinstylee]

lol, yeah, but you can do a lot with them.

By the by, I'm not against "traditional" training by any means, but seriously, there are better ways to achieve some of this stuff.

[blooming tianshi lotus]

Seems like over the last few days, this thread has turned into a really good discussion. As for getting advice from traditional gongfu instructors, the short and sad of that is, unfortunately alot of the folks aren't even qualified in any health and fitness training and likely may never be. No doubt they may offer you something, but IMO , these boards are probably the best places you'llever get the most accurate advice to train with


Bwe ( body weight exercises ) are priceless and for myself, have been a huge part of my daily fitness regime for several yrs. A typical sesh taking aout an hour or so or 20 mins dircetly after coffee and a vit b/c/ guarana complex ( )

looks something like this :

50 - 100 squats to mabu ( finish each 50 with a good monkey stance tucking and tilting pelvis as verticle to the ground as poss, extend spine )

2 - 4 sets of 50 ( 50 being my regular body weight set rep no calf raises ( flat to tippy toes ) stretching after first 50 then again after the last ( best stretch being cross ankles while standing , bend from hips, straight back on way down , grab back of ankles or put palms on floor and press them into the ground / or run chest along lower legs as far as poss thenrelaxing shoulders , round back and roll up vertabrae by vertabrae )

sets of 50 pushups to max limit of sets ....... ( feel free to spilt sets up over the workout or throughout your day...each set should take a few mins only )
If you do manage more than one set, it's a good change of pace to do some as slow and strong and alternate respective sets with explosive or one armed , diamond / tripod hands etc )

1 - 2 sets of tricep dips ( fingers fwd, palms flat, legs straight out in front, knees bent for beginner lvl ) and lower and raise your body by bending your elbows .) before I( do this I always find it easier if A. I do first tri set pre pushup and B. if I do a good wrist forearm stretch by placing finger tips over palm, sqare elbows off and press back to limit, hold until comfortable at length, then stretch a little further until you feel forearm engaging. Release and let relax for 3-5 secs , then roll your wrist down by pressing your knuckles or the back of your hand again to limit. ( good tip is when it starts to pull, the more you relax, the easy it is ) ...........for a deeper stretch , include your thumb.

sets of 50 lower back extensions ( layflat on your stomach toes poined behind you, and keeping pelvis square to the floor at all times , raise your legs straight ( and remind yourself to keep the movements strong ) and lower.
For a variation on this, you can also raise your chest off the floor, hands by your sides, straight in front of you or resting on your lower back to feel the contraction as you do in a contcentration bicep curl.)
Another good follow up set is to do one leg at a time, pelvis engaing the floor the same way, but using small strong fast pumps, counting 4 pumps as one rep.

sets of 50 Chest raises ( hands under chin and raise chest off ground while keeping torso firm and ribs working toward your spine) . For advanced lv either pump arms straight infront of you one at a time, or after you come up , squeeze shoulder blades together by taking your elbows back to also open up through your chest.
This goes well before or after your lower back exercises or even as an in between to allow you to rest one part before you come back for your nxt set. If you've never done them before, 2 sets each and you should be totally kicking as* !

While your there anyway ( on the ground on your stomach) you can also get to those hamstrings and do some curls, toes pointed pumping your ankles into your butt. Keep it strong and try to engage your glutes ( butt ) as well. Do these both one leg at a time then both together.

Finally I also like to do my butt thigh and calf isometrics . Isometric is term meaning to hold a contraction for a period of time , the idea being to increase intensity as you hold longer. To be an iso though, just short sharp burts will also work ( and as far as these go, do 1000 and try your suqats the next day for proof of just how well it's conditioning you).
So sit against a sofa or just free and unsupported. The strighter your spine is ( and if you can postion your pelvis so you're aimied to pee on the folks in China ( directly under your spine ) this'll help too and also build dynamic flexibilty. From there its just a squeeze and hold or a pulse. If you can get your butt and quads to enagage well, you should see a nice slab of muscle pop up with each squeeze . If you change where your toes are pointing ( as in to the ground or to the roof - plantar or dorsi flexion) it also works different muscles and enables you to also bring in your hammys and hip flexors. I do 100 at each angle and widen just a little for the next set until I get to 500 then slowly bring it back in, stopping for another 100 at each point on the way back.
I find it also helps my flexibilty through a better rom in this exercise to stop at each 2nd point and grab my ankles or lower calves either singularly or both at the same time and try to get my chest or chin on the floor. Don't sweat if you can only go to your kness, because only a few times more and obviously you get more supple.

Extension abilties is just schmancy term for flexibilty through length. You can help this out by adding a lateral ( horizontal ) twist ( strong and slowly ) to your movements in stretches and gently at the same time pull the limb away from your torso from your neck through spine ( for arms and shopulders etc while pushing palms into a wall for example ) / spine through hip while legs arte extended stertching down through your ankle til it cracks ( like you do a knuckle ) and gives more . I also like to shake my anlkes out through my bwe sets and pull through my hips with a lateral twist and I find it helps me finish my sets more comfortabley. Must dissipate glucose or something that's a while other discussion.

Static training I'll have to get back to you on ( if no one gerts there first) because I've gotta run.

hope it helps

BL

[LeiYunFat]

...pee on the folks in China?

1.) I don't know what that means

and

2.) If my assumption is correct, then I am a male and cal pee on the folks from a variety of different angles and postiions.

Also, isometrics=invisible chair? Cause it's such a coincidence you mentioned that, I was just realizing that I haven't done invisible chair and was gonna get back on it just yesterday.

Unfourtunately I haven't done it...yet. lol.

[onefocus]

stylee, "extend" your arm out in front of you. now you know.

zach, you are right kettlebells are costly. however, they are only a means to an end.

as far as poor mans workouts go, there are buckets of water, bricks or cinderblocks, jars full of sand... again the list is infinite.

traditional training has the ability to develop a person, without them really seeing the results. its that yin, yang, thing. but for the record, i'm no pro trainer. even so, you wouldn't want to be the guy trying to bully me.

when I speak of training, I'm talking about training to fight, in the event that you have to fight. I'm not into the sport aspect that much. but freefighting further helps to hone those skills, in terms of being decisive and having a plan of action.

lotus, most martial arts instructors are not fitness trainers, but on the other hand, most fitness trainers don't know a lot about fighting or war. you wouldn't bring sand to a beach would you??? I think that in order for you to learn properly, you have to have an honest relationship, with yourself, your teachers, and your class. in that order. fighters don't become the greatest because they are invincible, they become the greatest because they strive to know their own weeknesses, as well as yours. and they train to exploit them.

peace.


onefocus.

[zachsan]

when I speak of training, I'm talking about training to fight, in the event that you have to fight. I'm not into the sport aspect that much.

well that's the idea of MA, but conventional wisdom dictates that being stronger in general could give you another edge in a fight. so it's a good idea from the martial standpoint to train for strength alone, in addition to MA practice. the point is that MA teachers are not usually the best informed on the subject of developing strength alone.

if you're practicing xing yi or some other kind of internal art, that's a different story.