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Training Tips
Here I am going to give as many training tips as I can, so that it can help your
training no matter what type of system you come from. There are many different
types of training tips that can help you develop certain area's of study, each
one centering on a certain area. Many of these training tips can help you
develop that punch that you wanted to develop to a higher degree. Or that kick
that you wanted to get to a faster or more powerful level. Maybe you just ran
out of methods that you all ready were training. I will try to show you ways to
sharpen your throwing skill, various ways to find and use nerve strikes to a
higher level than you already had. I am sure that anyone that comes here from
other systems or even some of you that have been with us, will find something
useful. I really hope that this is going to be educational for all of you. Some
systems concentrate on kicking, some on punching, some on throwing, some on
weapons, some on attacking nerves, and cavity strikes, hard style usage, soft
style usage, medium soft style usage, and so on, we will have something for all
of you, one thing that the Chinese martial arts systems are known for is that
they train in every area, unlike styles that just focus on one area, it is the
systems that give you knowledge in all area's of study.
Hurdle Stretch
Stretching is one of the most important aspects of martial arts training. But to
stretch properly is even more important. One of the things that you always have
to remember is never to hold your breath, always make sure to breath, make sure
to listen to your instructor and breath properly.
Below is a picture of the hurdlers stretch. Sifu James Gallant is sitting
comfortably on the floor, with one arm stretched out along his leg. Make sure
when you start this stretch, you do not grab your leg to pull yourself down, not
at the beginning, after around three months that is when you can start to pull
yourself down by grabbing your ankle. When you go down, always make sure that
your knee stays on the floor, do not bend your leg at all. Also when you go
down, breath out, slowly and surely. Make sure that all of your breath is out by
the time you reach the bottom. As your rise back up, breath in, very evenly and
slowly again. Do not hyperventilate, always make sure to breath as normal as can
be. Also one of the most important issues to breathing is when you come up, make
sure that you sit up straight, you will find this hard at first, but as time
goes by, you will find that you can sit much straighter then when you started.
Now make sure to do ten times on each side of your leg, and ten times to your
knee. Work up to that point, meaning do five on each side first, five to the
knee, and then work up to doing thirty for the whole routine. Now when breathing
and stretching as I have pointed out here, this is a type of yoga, and is one of
the most important stretching exercises that one can do. You will notice that
you back will become more flexible, your legs will become more flexible, and you
will have a feeling of walking much lighter as time goes by.
Kicking Tips
One of the best ways to develop the fastest kick that you will ever imagine, is
to make sure that you bring your leg back faster then when you put it out.
Unlike some styles that do what is known as a lock out, "Which in fact can hurt
your joints" not now, but twenty to thirty years after doing them continually.
Write down a report and start by doing ten kicks on each leg every day with this
method, pulling your legs back, faster then you threw them out to the target,
make sure that they are quality kicks, and not just throwing them out there for
nothing. Kick with good form, balance and speed, and make sure that you pull
your leg back faster then kicking it out. Just watch the difference in time. One
thing to note, if you do fifty rotten kicks a day, you will only ever have kicks
that look rotten. However if you do only ten kicks a day on each side per kick,
but with excellent form, excellent style, and excellent speed, your kicks will
be incredible with in six months you will start to notice the difference.
Remember quality, or quantity, that is the difference between being taught by
someone who knows how to teach properly, between those that do not know how to
teach properly. The outcome of each one is completely different, tell me which
one would you want.
Kicking Tip two:
Another way to train your kicks whether you are an advanced student, or just
starting, is to always do what is known as four phases. When you are in your bow
stance, put your hands by your sides and pretend to be holding onto two heavy
things each side of your body, hands down to each side. This will help your
balance, and give you good stability, but remember this is just for training,
not to real combat. Now the first phase if you are doing a front kick, is to
bring your kick up to a crane stance position. "this means on one leg, with knee
pointed out leg hanging down", but remember to always hold the knee as high as
you can, it will become higher over time, "this is most important". Second phase
is to put your leg out straight in front of you, and then hold it their while
you pull your toes back and make sure you extend the ball of your foot to your
imaginary target, again with leg as high as you can hold it, remember it will go
higher with training, everything takes time. Third phase is to bring your foot
back to your crane stance, hold it there for awhile to make sure that you have
good balance, with knee high. Forth phase bring your foot back to its original
starting position, making sure that you stepped back into a good bow stance. Do
not step back to narrow or wide, put your foot in exactly the same place as when
started. This whole procedure is known as "four phase kicking" you can do this
with all of your basic kicks. When you do this hold it out in every position for
a few seconds, and make sure that you have good balance, let your subconscious
mind take in the exact position of the pose, and then bring it back to the
original position, each time holding it for a few seconds in each phase. In time
you will notice that you will have much better balance, your legs will become
very strong, and it will become as in a meditative practice, very good for your
mind to see the move very clear. If you practice your kick fast and sloppy from
the start, and do that every day, your kick will be fast and sloppy forever. All
I ask is if you do not, or have never trained this way, please give it a chance,
try it for a few months and do it every day five times on each leg, with your
three basic kicks. Front snap, side thrust, and Roundhouse. Also remember never
ever to extend your kick all the way out, always keep an inch of play in your
leg so that you never snap against the joint. I have had so many friends that
have trained in other systems and all they ever did was do lock out kicks, and
they fully extended their legs all of the time, because of poor instructors not
knowing how to teach properly. Well they do not kick any longer, their joints in
their legs are worn right out. If you are young and say that you do not feel
what I am talking about, this takes awhile to do damage to your joints, and in
time you will hurt your knee joints so that you will not be able to kick when
you are older. If you kick the way that I have explained up above you will kick
up high in the air with power and speed until you are 80 years of age, by the
way, the same thing happened to their elbow joints from being taught to punch
incorrectly, by always punching to many times improperly, snapping their joints,
again wearing them out, three friends are like, they all trained in sport karate
styles, and all have worn out joints by the time they reached fifty years of
age. In fact it is because of them, that I write this.
Same thing with your punching do not ever extend your arm fully to the end of
its reach, never ever punch like that snapping against your joint every time you
punch. Whether you do a thrust punch, or snap punch, make sure you keep a little
bit of play in your joints of your elbow. You will be very happy that you did
this because in time you can ware out your joint. Never lock out your joint.
Kicking Tip Three"
Stand in a bow stance and bring your leg up to a cocked position standing on one
leg, then throw your kicks out standing on one leg. Do ten at a time, and every
time that you bring your leg back to its starting position, make sure that you
come back all of the way, before you kick out again. This is a very good way to
develop balance and at the same time develop good strength, speed and accuracy.
Stance Training Tips
Now in these modern days "Stance Training" is being over looked by the more
modern schools that spring up for the western student who want to pass through
the ranks with much easier methods so that they can simulate real traditional
training and pretend to possess the same levels of mastery of what was trained
hundreds of years ago. This makes a mockery of the traditional methods and helps
neither the student, nor the future of our once powerful arts.
The saying, "three years of horse stance" served to discourage people who had
bad intentions and gave the teacher an opportunity to test the moral and
physical fiber of each student. This traditional stance training developed as a
way to help solve a problem: weeding out potentially unworthy students. It also
taught the values of patience, loyalty and discipline, thus helping to establish
the trust and obedience necessary for the proper instructor-student
relationship. The student would be able to accept instruction earnestly and
without question. This is a dying philosophy these days, with a dollars for
diploma's type attitude going on at many clubs.
Stance training has many important values, besides the mental conditioning it
provides, stance training is an important tool in conditioning the legs for
decisive, powerful footwork. Kung fu fighting techniques involve lots of body
contact using the shoulders, hips, elbows, head, finger tips, toes, shines,
knees, knife hands, fists of all types, and many different foot formations. If
the leg foundation is not strong enough, the practitioner cannot fight
effectively. However even if one does not become involved in sparring, the fact
remains that a student needs an excellent stance in order to learn forms, from
the basic forms, to medium level forms, without proper stance training, when you
start your advanced forms, you will not be able to take ten steps, how would you
want to have it, the easy way, or the right way. I know what you want, so please
make us all proud.
Another aspect of stance training focuses on chi, sinking the breath to the tan
tien (an inner point 3 inches below the navel). While holding each posture in a
certain stance, the breath is calm and relaxed. If the breath is strained or
uneven, this training may have harmful effects, even cause cancer if trained
incorrectly, that is why many Masters leave out many of the old breathing
techniques, "they either do not know them, or if they do they do not want to
share them with the "westerners". Chi training, is a very high level part of
kung fu that few practitioners in the modern types of martial arts train these
days. But it can be done, and we do have a few high level students who have
reached these levels, it is hard, but it can be accomplished with the right
teacher, and a combination of excellent students, and of course adhering to the
old methods of training.
Punching Tips
In the Chinese Martial arts there are many different types of punching
techniques, and drills. Some of the systems even contradict each other. I have
been trained in three different systems to a high level, and some of the Masters
that I trained with did not agree with each others method. I was very happy that
I had this type of training however because for me it was good to see the
different points of view, and there was no way that I was going to be led down
the garden path, by only believing in one method, that would have been closing
my mind. I really respected the Masters that I had for their beliefs, but for
one to believe that you had to have your thumb on top of your fist when your
fist was held sideways out in front of you, and that was all there was to it, or
the other to say that the thumb on top of the fist when your fist was held out
in front of you sideways would never ever work in a real fight, it was amusing
to say the least, because they were so much against each others methods. Their
own way was the best and that was all there was to it, everyone else did not
know how to punch. Again I would have to say for me to see and hear these things
were very good, because I got many points of view, so when I was with one master
I agreed with him and made sure that I trained his method. Then when I was with
the my other Master, I made darn sure that I trained his method and not the
others. I made sure that I only brought up the topic once and that was it,
because sometimes it really brought out a passion that was just so closed minded
that I did not want to go through that again. Both were highly trained in Mantis
systems, but their Mantis systems were taught completely different. Both only
believed in what they were taught, and I believed in what both were taught, so
who do you think learned more. Who do you think was more educated in the long
run. Well we will leave it right there, because the whole thing is it can bring
out a passion that is something I hate to see especially in a negative light.
Basically what I am trying to say to you is listen to your teachers, and make
sure that if you ever are taught by someone else, and they teach you a different
method, don't cause a fuss, make sure to say yes, agree with them, and do not
rock the boat by saying you know of some other teacher that is teaching you this
way, and why do you teach it that way. All I can say to you is that you will
close doors, not open them, agree with what you are being taught, go home
practice what you are taught, and find out which method suits you best, some of
the punching methods work better for different body types, other methods work
better for different personalities, and so on. So this is my advice to you, do
not close doors, keep them open, and learn as much as you can.
Sparring Tips
Sparring requires patience as well as perseverance. The Chinese are more willing
to wait for the best opportunity, one in which the opponent can be totally
controlled and completely destroyed. They have concepts about war that go back
as far as history itself, being some of the most war like peoples in the world.
Just as in anything that is good, it takes longer, yet the effort and wait are
well worth it. Sparring in Kung fu is so vast, their is no one way, their are
many ways, and you have to train each and every one of them to really benefit in
the true traditional sense of the word. In many times in the past twenty years,
some of the other martial artists would come in to watch or participate in our
sparring. They would all leave and each one with a different story on what we
did, because every time some one came we were training a different method. We
have over ten methods to train sparring, and as I have said you can not just
train one way, you have to train them all. Some have to do with something that
looks like full contact with gear on, " yet it is not the same". Some forms have
to do with being blind folded when sparring, some with no gear and full contact
is used with no rules, and I have found that there is much less injury when you
have two people that are highly trained and they both know that if they make a
mistake they can be hurt. Some types have to do with just using the hands, some
with using the feet in a certain way, but every single way has a different
purpose and to train every single method can really make you aware as to what
movement is about. How to move, when to move, why to move. It is all very
important, and if you only train one way, they you will be left in the dust.
More to Come
Sifu Fiedler doing his pole training, it is also called a
wooden dummy with no arms. When someone is trained properly with this type of
pole, they are trained to walk around the pole in different stances, hitting the
pole with different hand formations, also the forearms, shoulders, and elbows.
Start by grabbing rope, with feet three to four inches higher
then ground.
Excellent for hand strength
Pull your body up and over, touching feet to wood over head.
Then slowly let yourself back to the original position. If you try this and
cannot bring your feet up because your hands are burning from the rope, then
hang in the first position for a few minutes daily, once your hands become
stronger, is when you can pull up and over. Remember never be in a hurry, all
great things take time.
Stand with two heavy jugs of water to your sides. Why use this
type of container, because you can change how much water is in them at any time.
This will change the weight, start slowly, and work your way up.
Now make sure to breath, and bring your arms up to your sides,
try to keep arms straight, also make sure to take your time, use a lighter
container first, then havier as you become stronger.
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Sifu Klentz, one of the only students to become expert at
throwing knives
An old hard wood door is excellent for throwing knives.
Throwing knives is very catchy, once you start to become more experienced, that
is when you really start to have fun with it. but you have to give it time, it
is a lot like juggling. When you first try, you find it very hard to achieve,
but with some perseverance, and willingness to keep on trying even when you
fail. Remember never give up, and always try, nothing is impossible, and you
will be able to do what you can't as long as you keep on trying always, never
give up.
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Learn to throw like the Pro's
Sifu Klentz getting ready to throw, here in deep
concentration, before he lets the knife glide threw the air, right into the
target which is an old hard wood door. If you are going to take up
throwing, make sure to ask your teacher to give you a few hints how to throw. If
your instructors have time at the club, they might even show you, or teach you a
lesson in how to throw when it is not a busy night.
You want strong Kicks, walk in a bow stance up hills and do
your front kicks up hills.
Holding leg in crane stance before kicking, then bringing leg
back to crane stance before stepping forward, upward
Only for people who do not give up
Step up and forward, stand in good bow stance, then bring up
your next leg, kick, hold in crane stance, do the whole thing again. Until you
reach the top, if you do this every single day for a year, your front kicks on
normal ground will pop into the target like you have never seen before, fast and
powerful.
Push Ups
Up on wood blocks
Once your push ups start to become easier, you can make yourself
some wood blocks that sit off of the ground about four to five inches. That was
when you bring yourself down, you have another five inches to go to touch the
tip of your chest to the ground. Never ever touch your nose to the ground. Even
something as basic as a push up, can be done improperly, and if your instructor
is not doing his push ups properly, what is the rest going to look like.
Remember with any push up, you touch the tip of your chest, never ever touch
your nose or forehead to the ground. That is plain stupid, and a real lack of
knowledge.
Throwing Knives
Throw correctly
To throw a knife properly, you have to throw by the handle, not
the blade, as most of us were taught when we were children, or teenagers. I used
to throw knives all the time when I was younger, as well as sling shots, slings,
cross bows, and bows and arrows. However most of those methods were incorrect
methods. The way the Chinese throw a knife is from the handle, think about it,
when you are going to throw a knife, what are you going to say, just one moment,
I have to turn the knife around to grab it by the blade so that I can throw it
at you. I do not think so. To start throwing it by the handle, aim with your
point of the blade, as you throw, straighten out your arm, with the point of the
blade pointing towards your target, and let it go, you will see that it will
turn once, if you are close, twice if you are further away, and so on. Become
expert throwing your knife close distance, once you can throw and always get it
in a one inch pattern, stand back six to nine feet, and that will be one more
turn of the knife through the air. When you throw, make sure no one is beside,
or in front of you, if anyone is standing around, make sure they are standing
behind you, the reason for this is sometimes the knife bounces when you miss,
and I can guarantee you will miss for the first few months, after that, you will
not believe how fast you will progress, as long as you practise every day. Find
an old door, hard wood, and use it to throw knives, once you have eaten it right
threw, find another, and again. Once you start to throw daily, you will go threw
a door once a month, and yes even a hard wood door. Notice in the picture above,
look at the way Sifu Dee holds the knife at the start, and where he lets it go.
Don't throw hard, if you throw soft, you can see how the knife turns easier, and
at the same time, your skill will improve much faster. If you were like me, and
were throwing from the blade as a youngster, it is going to be much harder to
get used to, but once you do, your skill will be twice as good as it was. In
time, you can throw three knives with one throw, and each will stick in, in a
tight pattern. Throwing helps to relax your mind, it brings you into a deep
concentration, and truly helps your focus for many types of training in your
martial arts.
Much more to come soon
Sifu Dee
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